What Is Lupus Treatment?
Lupus treatment is the best way to manage your symptoms, feel better, and keep the disease from getting worse.
Treatment for lupus -- also known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) -- depends on your symptoms and how severe they are. Treatment can help you:
- Ease your symptoms
- Bring down inflammation
- Prevent and relieve flares
- Prevent organ damage and other health problems
Medications for Lupus
Anti-inflammatory drugs
If you have lupus, you may have joint pain and swelling, especially in your fingers, wrists, or knees. Sometimes, you may have a fever. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can usually help with these problems. You can buy them without a prescription.
Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs include:
- Acetaminophen
- Aspirin
- Ibuprofen
- Naproxen
Side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs
Sometimes, anti-inflammatories can irritate your stomach, so take them with food or milk. NSAIDs, especially at higher doses, raise your chances of a heart attack or stroke.
Antimalarial drugs
Some medications that treat malaria, such as hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, can also treat lupus. They might help with skin rashes, mouth sores, and joint pain. They may also lower the risk of getting blood clots, which is a concern in some people with lupus.
Side effects of antimalarial drugs
Side effects, like stomach upset, tend to be rare and mild.
Corticosteroids
Lupus makes parts of your immune system overactive, so it attacks healthy tissue by mistake. Corticosteroids weaken this immune response. Your doctor may prescribe them if lupus causes problems in your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, or blood vessels.
Taken as a pill or IV, corticosteroids work fast to ease swelling, warmth, and soreness in joints that’s caused by inflammation. They can also prevent long-term organ damage.
Side effects of corticosteroids
Corticosteroids can have serious side effects like:
- Higher chance of infections
- Fragile bones or bone damage, especially in your hips
- Muscle weakness
- Diabetes
- Cataracts
You may also have weight gain, bloating, and mood changes. Your doctor will probably give you the lowest dose they can and taper it off if your symptoms go away for a time.
Immunosuppressive drugs
Like corticosteroids, these drugs curb your immune system, bring symptoms under control, and help prevent long-term organ damage. Your doctor may prescribe them if corticosteroids haven’t helped your symptoms.
Common immunosuppressive drugs for lupus include:
- Azathioprine (Imuran)
- Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)
- Methotrexate (Rheumatrex)
- Voclosporin (Lupkynis)
In some cases, you may use immunosuppressive drugs along with corticosteroids. That way, you'll be taking a lower amount of each type of drug, reducing the possible side effects.
With both types of drugs, you and your doctor need to weigh the risks of side effects against how well they ease your lupus symptoms.
Side effects of immunosuppressive drugs
Immunosuppressives can also have severe side effects. For example, they can make it hard for your body to fight infections and raise your chances for some kinds of cancer.
Side effects of azathioprine include pancreatitis or a form of hepatitis. Cyclophosphamide may lead to bladder problems, hair loss, or fertility problems. Methotrexate can cause nausea, headaches, mouth sores, sun sensitivity, lung infections, and liver damage.
Other medications
Your doctor may also prescribe one or more of these types of drugs:
- Anticoagulants. These thin your blood to prevent clots, a life-threatening lupus symptom.
- Monoclonal antibodies.Belimumab (Benlysta) is the first drug created just to treat lupus. Given intravenously (in a vein) or subcutaneously (under your skin), it targets specific immune cells. It may help reduce your need for steroid treatment, but it hasn’t been tested thoroughly for the most severe forms of lupus. Rituxan (Rituximab) is another monoclonal antibody that can sometimes treat lupus when other treatments haven’t worked. Anifrolumab-fnia (Saphnelo) is used to treat adults with moderate to severe SLE who are receiving other lupus medicines.
- Repository corticotropin injection. A medicine called H.P. Acthar Gel may help your body make its own steroid hormones like cortisol to fight inflammation.
Side effects of other medications
Common side effects of anticoagulants include bloating, diarrhea, upset stomach, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Rarely, you may have bruising, a skin rash, a sore throat, back pain, or yellow skin and eyes (jaundice).
Monoclonal antibodies might cause problems like headache, nausea, hives, or blood pressure changes. These usually go away over time.
Acthar Gel may cause swelling, changes in blood pressure or glucose tolerance, mood changes, stronger appetite, or weight gain.
Alternative Treatments for Lupus
Alternative medicine is any treatment that you use instead of traditional medicine. Some people with lupus try to ease symptoms with:
- Acupuncture
- Biofeedback
- Massage
- Meditation
- Chiropractic treatments
- Herbs and other supplements
Studies haven’t shown that these things work in place of medical treatment. In fact, some supplements may make your lupus symptoms worse.
But some research has found that acupuncture, meditation, and biofeedback can relieve pain and stress when used alongside traditional treatments. This is called complementary medicine.
Talk to your doctor before trying any alternative or complementary treatments for lupus.
Lifestyle Changes
A healthy lifestyle will help you feel better and prevent flares. It can also help prevent problems linked to lupus, like kidney disease, heart attack, and stroke.
Try these tips:
- Eat a well-balanced diet.
- Quit smoking (or don't start) to protect your heart and blood vessels.
- Get plenty of rest to ease fatigue, a common lupus symptom.
- Exercise most days to help sleep, mood, and heart health.
- Always use sunscreen when you go out.
- Get pneumonia and flu vaccines to protect against infections.