whats the difference between lupus and vasculitis

[tracey65]

I have read alot about vasculitis and have come across lupus .i cant seem to tell the difference between the two.are they both as bad or is one serious than the other etc etc.just curious

[PatriciaAnn]

There must be similarities Tracey, but there must be differences as well. Dr David Jayne heads a Vasculitis and Lupus clinic. My own consultant works very closely with his Lupus counterpart.

You may be interested in an article in the Spring 2012 Newsletter Journal written by a lady with Lupus. vasculitis.org.uk/about/new...

Just scroll down until you see the link.

PatriciaAnn

[roobarb]

Hi tracy65

I've had lupus for many years, & have recently developed vasculitic lesions on my fingers & toes. After doing some research, the way I understand it is this - if you have one auto-immune condition you are more likely to get others. But the good news is that the secondary conditions tend to be less severe.

I hope this helps. X

[roobarb in reply to roobarb]

I didn't really answer you r question did I?! I think the symptoms of both can overlap greatly, but some of the blood tests would be different.

[crissie45 in reply to roobarb]

this is correct myself has lupus sle and my husband wegners. blood tests are slightly different. symptoms do overrlap alot.

[RichardE Volunteer]

Hi Tracey. Unfortunately I think the answer to your question is, it depends...

Not very helpful I'm afraid. But certain types of Vasculitis can be very different to Lupus. However, some types, such as Hypocomplementemic Urticaria Vasculitis, are very similar to Lupus. Some clinicians even think they are one and the same disease, which is confusing...

On our website we have a section on Urticarial Vasculitis, here :

vasculitis.org.uk/about-vas...

At the end of this we have some links to medical papers that discuss the differences between HUV and Lupus, here :

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Partway down this article are a couple of tables that compare the clinical and laboratory differences between the two.

A bit technical and confusing I'm afraid. But at the end of the day, both are likely to be treated in similar ways and both can be serious diseases.

To add further to the confusion it is possible as roobarb say above to have a primary diagnosis of Lupus with secondary symptoms of Vasculitis...

Hope this helps,

Richard.

[Voutton]

Hi there I've had SLE for many years and last year took temporal arteritis which is another form of vasculitis Unfortunately it can cause blindness so was immediately put ona very high dose of prednisolone My immune system is obviously going haywire cos I've had a very bad flare which should not happen on steroids can't get my steroids down past 30mg a day so now on methotrexate My rheumy did say that it was something that vasculitis can occur in lupies ,but a lot of women over 50 can develop it as well . This has been the worst for me for a long time ,as I knew and understood and accepted all my other problems and was able to manage them , but this I would not wish on anyone .My hairdresser friend has a customer that recently was diagnosed with vasculitis but rheumatoid polymyalgia she was always a fit and active sporty lady who now can hardly walk Reading all the info on vasculitis if you take care it can leave the body in between 2/4 years Thats exactly how I feel INVADED Hope that helps have a good day and take care