Have any of you ever watched Dave Chappell? He had this skit called “Ask a black guy “with Paul Mooney, it was hilarious this is the lupus version of that. I will answer common questions I am asked about my life with lupus. The most common question lately ” Does the butterfly rash hurt?” Yes, Heck Yes it hurts like crazy, it burns, it itches. Sometimes all of them at once. Unscented lotion and Vaseline do help. Oftentimes time people want to know how much medicine I take. Currently, I am not taking any medication for my lupus. I control my lupus with my diet mostly. I limit carbs and sugar and I only eat chicken and fish. I have taken tons of meds, Prednisone (steroids), methotrexate, and Benlysta to name a few. What is the thing with lupus patients and the sun is the summertime question. This takes us back to the rash, exposure to the sun can lead to the butterfly rash and the sun drains lupus patients. Now to the more personal questions. Does lupus affect your sex drive, personally NO but I do have fellow lupus who have no sex drive because of the meds. The two last thing is not a question but an annoying statement ALL lupus patients have heard I think. Get more rest and exercise and you won’t be tired. There are two things wrong with this, first, we don’t get good rest the meds mess up our sleep. Secondly, it is not that kind of tired, we can sleep 18 hours and wake up tired. Our body fights itself every day WE ARE JUST TIRED!! You don’t look sick. What do you want us to do, come out looking like we feel? If that is the case we will be at work the grocery store even church in pajamas from 2 days ago, some flip flops, hair undone no not a ponytail bedhead, teeth unbrushed, crust in our eyes, and a cane for support.
As you can see I am open to answering anything about my life with lupus if you have questions ask away!!!