Can your job environment cause Lupus ???

[Finchy74]

I started a job in may 2008 in an old folks home and had had no syptoms of lupus at any point in my life, by the october it all went downhill bloodclot in my leg and then kidney failure, i was diagnosed in march 09 with SLE, ive never had such a severe flare up since *touchwood* but i wondered wether where i work could of brought it on ?

[janiceray]

Its very hard to say what triggers off Lupus,but I do know that over doing and stress can trigger a flare.keep on touching wood

All the best.

[Finchy74 in reply to janiceray]

Thankyou janiceray, its been 3 years now but still find it hard to get my head around, especially as some ppl suffer for years before a diagnosis, but because mine hit me like a hurricane from nowhere i suppose im still trying to pinpoint what went wrong lol

[chrisj]

I think any situation that causes stress aggravates SLE but whether your job was a factor I really dont know.

I can tell you when I applied for a care job a few years ago Lupus was on the application forms list of "any health problems you may have". In fact there were 3 things I saw that I suffer from and I didnt bother to apply. I think maybe your job didnt help you. Are you still able to work?

[Finchy74 in reply to chrisj]

Yes i still work there only part time though, they've been good about the amount of time ive lost through illness, i dont know if a new employer would be quite so understanding :o( think the "any health problems" question on any application form would scupper chances of a new job

[chrisj]

Well thats good - you're still working even if its part time I sometimes wonder if I should have gone ahead with my application but I wasnt confident about it. I have sciatica and at that time the pain was very bad. Good luck to you, stay with it while you can if thats what you want...

[sabine]

Hi there.

I would have to say yes a job can affect your Lupus. Once you are diagnosed thats half the battle but stress is a big factor and if you are unhappy or the workload is too much for you, you could be heading for a flare.

Lupus 'tipped my life' upside down and I had to go into another field from Administration to Hospitality while the Dr's were sorting out my meds ect

it's a tricky one when applying for a job, do you be honest and say you have lupus or only tell them when they ask? with this condition honesty is usually the best policy and the DWP seem to be waking up to the fact that LUPUS is and can be a big disability. Unfortunatly our American cousins seem to have it better

they seem to be more organised on the meds front and there is a lot of information out there about this condition in the states (See you tube)

sorry if i have appeared to have a bit of a rant but at the end of the day Lupus affects your livehood so be good to yourself !!!