question about heat and lupus

When you have Lupus, anything that normally stresses the body stresses it 1000x more.

If normally you might get a little hot, now your body might have a core temperature change of 4-5 degrees. If you'd maybe have no effects when in the sun, now you might be exhausted for 3 days. If normally the cold is fine, now you might have stiff swollen joints till you get warm. If normally high humidity doesn't phase you, now it might be straining a little to breathe.

Lupus is the disease of 1000 faces -- it acts a little differently for everyone. Sometimes it you just have to figure it out with trial and error. For instance, I'm ok with a little more sun *if* I'm eating and sleeping ok....otherwise I'd be exhausted and aching for quite a while.

You just have to practice and figure out what works ok for you --- then here's the *really fun* part -- some days everything just reacts differently than it ever has before!!!! So slow and easy with new things and with changing what you do...for me, if I don't limit myself to 1 thing a day, I usually crash. It may be dinner out, or the laundry, or paying bills --- can't do all 3 in one day!

(And the bad part about sun is that a little bit one day you might not feel for 5 days, then you crash out! So little dosages of primarily shade and sun-resistant clothing work best - and sunscreen.)