Lupus - am I stuck with this now?

[MrsRussell]

So, had lupus diagnosed about 9 years ago and it's not been too much grief so far - I manage it without meds, main symptoms are dry eyes, skin flares and arthritis.
Managed to acquire a cold last week and the tag end of it I've suddenly come out in a huge whole-body rash of hives and am suffering rather badly from D&V. My suspicion is that my perimenopausal immune system has just gone into meltdown - I haven't eaten anything unusual, and nobody else in the house is affected - is this a normal thing with lupus - has it upped its game, basically -, or have I just copped for two things together due to having a crap immune system?

Any help appreciated....

Yes it can do that, but do contact your consultant asap due to your escalation in symptoms.

Sorry, chronic illnesses suck. A lot.

Thanks @Honeysucklejasmine. I wondered whether it was likely to kick off due to being in what they rather gracelessly described as "the foothills of the menopause". Bugger.

But hopefully the D&V will just bugger off like normal D&V though?

I'm not sure tbh, my symptoms are very different from yours (joint pain, fatigue, photosensitivity) which of course is what makes lupus such a tricky disease! As I say though, definitely keep in touch with your consultant and perhaps ask for a blood test to see if your immune markers are far above where they usually are? That would indicate current infection or flare up; if you have a few and they remain elevated then it might be time for medication.

What medication are you on for it atm?

I do wonder what our immune systems are up to. I have lupus/APS and at the beginning of last month I got the proper flu. It took ages to get rid of and has left me with post viral fatigue which is really debilitating. It;s as though my immune system is so busy attacking my joints, when it cones across a real illness it runs around like a headless chicken bleating "oooh I don't know what to do".

It's rotten. Yes, chronic illness does indeed suck.
And I am fed up with other people having no understanding of it at all.