When we hear someone talk about coming out of the closet, we often relate the phrase to an unacceptable sexual behavior. Well, today, I am coming out of the closet in hopes that it will benefit others by sharing some helpful information.

No, the closet I am coming out of has nothing to do with sexual behaviors, but about a chronic disease that is so confusing that it is hard for me to understand and even harder for someone who is experiencing this disease through a loved one.

Yes, I have a disease that mimics so many other health issues that doctors often find it hard to diagnose, and the longer it goes undiagnosed the more damage it can do to your body.

The closet I am coming out of is for lupus, a disease that is so unpredictable that one minute you feel as if you could conquer the world, and in the next five or 10 minutes, your body is in so much excruciating pain that it brings tears to your eyes.

Because the damage is happening inside of your body and cannot be seen, except for the rashes that sometimes occur, this makes it even harder to explain what you are going through.

Yes, you look healthy on the outside, but inside your body, your immune system is at war with itself. The good antibodies that fight off germs or toxins are now attacking each other, weakening your immune system.

Lupus can cause weakness, fatigue, rashes (especially one that looks like a butterfly around your nose), chest pains, seizures, arthritis-like pain, anemia, kidney and liver failure, loss of memory and eyesight, just to name a few. Often, false syphilis tests are related to lupus too.

There are three types of Lupus:

4Discoid lupus — a skin disease that is characterized by a rash that usually appears on the face, neck and scalp, and inside the ear.

4Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) — the most serious form of the disease, may involve the skin, joints and tendons as well as other body parts.

4Drug-induced lupus — Certain drugs, notably hydralazine, which is used to treat hypertension, can trigger lupus attacks in people who have no history of the disease.

Lupus effects you both physically and emotionally, and you need the support of family and friends to help you through it. Lupus has its good and bad days like anything else, you just have to listen to your body and take it as it comes.

I am out of the closet. I have lupus, but I refuse to let it control me, instead I start each day with Psalm 118:24:

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

 

Doris A. Bell is a retired educator from the Concordia Parish and Natchez Adams School districts.