Key takeaways

  • A lupus flare is a period when lupus symptoms return or worsen after remission. This happens because your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, causing inflammation and damage.
  • Symptoms of a lupus flare include fever, fatigue, joint pain and swelling, skin rashes, mouth sores, hair loss, and headaches. Flares typically last a few days to weeks, though some may continue for months.
  • Common triggers include stress, sun exposure, infections, hormone fluctuations, certain medications, and lack of sleep. Your healthcare team can recommend treatment options to ease symptoms and help prevent future flares.

Lupus is an autoimmune condition that causes your body’s immune system to attack its own tissues. The most common type of lupus is known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This form of lupus affects many parts of the body and can be difficult to diagnose.

Lupus is most common in women and people of certain racial and ethnic groups, but it can affect anyone.

Many people living with lupus experience periods of time when symptoms are worse than usual, known as flares. Lupus can affect nearly any part of your body, so symptoms can be extremely varied from person to person — and even from flare to flare.

Lupus is a chronic condition, but you may not experience symptoms constantly. Lupus often cycles between periods of activity and periods of remission.

When the disease is active and there are new or worsening symptoms, it’s called a lupus flare.

What does it mean when lupus is active?

When lupus is active, it means that you’re experiencing symptoms. Symptoms may be stable and long lasting, or they may present as a flare, which is a period of new or worsening symptoms.

Flares can happen frequently, or you can experience long periods of remission between flares.

It’s not always obvious that you’re experiencing a flare. Flares may vary in severity and can look different in different people and at different times.

Lupus symptoms can mimic the symptoms of other conditions and can be subtle enough that they’re only detected on lab tests.

It can be difficult to predict the severity of symptoms you’ll experience with a flare, but most flares come with warning signs.

If you have been in a period of remission and you notice your lupus symptoms returning, you may be experiencing the start of a flare.

Symptoms of lupus

Lupus symptoms include:

  • fever
  • fatigue
  • stiff and/or swollen joints
  • skin rashes, especially across the nose and cheeks; this is called a “malar rash” or “butterfly rash”
  • mouth sores
  • hair loss
  • headaches
  • dizziness
  • mood changes
  • abdominal and/or chest pain
  • swollen glands

If you feel a lupus flare coming on, consider consulting your healthcare team. They can help monitor your health and discuss treatment options that may keep the negative effects of flares at a minimum.

Autoimmune conditions like lupus cause your body’s immune system to start recognizing healthy cells as invaders, like bacteria or viruses.

In order to keep your body healthy, your immune system attacks invading cells. In the case of autoimmune conditions, the healthy cells are recognized as invaders.

The healthy tissues that the immune system attacks may become damaged and inflamed. Symptoms you may experience as part of a lupus flare are the result of this damage and inflammation.

Lupus is a very individualized condition, so your symptoms during flares may be very different from other people living with lupus. The things that trigger your lupus flares may also be different.

Common triggers for lupus flares include:

  • stress
  • too much sun exposure
  • infection or illness
  • hormone fluctuations
  • certain medications
  • lack of sleep or rest
  • poor diet

The length of a lupus flare varies, but it typically lasts for a few days or a few weeks; or it can go on for months at a time, depending on its severity.

Research has shown that people with certain antibodies indicating active lupus, increased protein in the urine, and arthritis are more likely to have severe lupus flares.

There’s no way to know for sure how long your symptoms will take to subside, but it’s possible to manage your symptoms with proper treatment.

Your healthcare team can monitor your health to help limit damage to healthy tissues and prescribe treatments to help alleviate your symptoms.

When lupus symptoms appear, your healthcare team is your first line of defense. They can recommend treatment to ease symptoms, lower inflammation, reduce damage to the body, and even prevent future flares.

Before symptoms appear, there are also steps you can take to avoid a flare. Staying out of the sun, getting enough sleep, and taking care of your physical health are great ways to avoid common triggers for lupus flares.

Lupus can be unpredictable, but learning to manage flares is possible.

Talk with your healthcare team to find out what treatment options are right to help you limit your flares and find relief when they happen.