Anxiety is a natural human response when we feel that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.
Anxiety and lupus have a difficult relationship with each other. Having lupus can cause you to develop anxiety, and anxiety can worsen symptoms and trigger flares.
Anxiety and stress are inevitable as you walk on this lupus journey. Both can feed into flare-ups. Coping with it all can be difficult but is necessary. It can be challenging so you need a strategy to deal with it.
Living with lupus can have an effect on your mental health and well-being. You can experience depression, fear, sadness and other difficult emotions. These emotions can lead to some panic attacks. These bouts of sudden intense anxiety can be crippling and have an effect on your quality of life.
It is difficult to not only deal with lupus, but also with the stress that comes with having lupus. With all of the challenges lupus brings you can feel like a burden to those that help you daily. It can place undue stress on you causing anxiety on a daily basis.
Lupus can cause you some anxiety over your pain. You can often doubt if your pain is real and if it is all in your head. With pains constantly coming from every direction it can often feel unreal and unbelievable. In between feeling doubt and feeling guilty for having a chronic illness, it can cause heavy stress and anxiety.
The anxiety of not sleeping well or not sleeping at all can really take a toll on our body. Insomnia can cause flares and pain and create a cranky warrior in you. Insomnia coupled with exhaustion and fatigue can also be caused by some of the medications used to treat lupus.
This article is intended to inform and give insight but not treat, diagnose or replace the advice of a doctor. Always seek medical advice with any questions regarding a medical condition.