South East Lupus Foundation
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Persons who suffer from lupus may be eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits. This is one of the conditions that are included in the Social Security Administration's listing of impairments that are eligible for disability benefits. However, your lupus must be sufficiently severe for you to qualify for benefits you.
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Do you feel overwhelmed and confused?:
See what the answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about lupus are these days
01
Question: I have had chronic insomnia since being diagnosed with SLE. How much of role does SLE-related stress play in insomnia and what can be done to help it?
Answer: Insomnia can have many causes, including a side effect of medications. I would first recommend you speak with your doctor about this. We do know, however that stress can play a role in insomnia, even in people not dealing with lupus. The diagnosis of lupus can certainly be stressful. There are many “tips” that I have read throughout my years of living with lupus for insomnia including: decreasing or eliminating caffeine, winding down before bedtime (I read to unwind), not exercising for a few hours before bedtime and making sure that the bedroom is comfortable; dark, quiet and a comfortable temperature. You may also want to find a stress reduction technique that helps you relax. Yoga, meditation, guided visualization, deep breathing and tai chi might all be options. Lastly, I do not know if you currently do or can exercise, but this may also help reduce stress and help you sleep better. Find a form of exercise that you can do and that does not negatively impact your lupus. For me, this is walking. Some days it is only around the block and others it is a few miles, depending on how I am feeling.
02
What can I do if my life is out of balance and I cannot find the balance on my own?
There are many things you can do. There are people who “coach” others to help them balance their lives. Just like an athletic coach, this individual would help you identify the areas of your life that are out of balance and then work with you to set personal goals and hold you accountable for achieving them. This can be expensive, so another option is to recruit a friend. You will first need to identify the areas of your life that are out of balance: career, physical health, fun and recreation, financial health, mental/emotional health, spiritual health, community involvement, intimacy/romance or friends/family. Then set a few goals in that area. You will be MUCH more likely to accomplish your goals, if your friend, or a professional is there to hold you accountable. I encourage you to begin by setting small, realistic goals. The more success you have, the more momentum you will have to set more and larger goals. You may start with something as simple as walking around the block 3 times a week, or speaking to 3 people about a new career. Small, realistic and measurable lead to success! Also, many people (especially woman, in my experience) are reluctant to ask for help, or delegate. If you are time pressured, this is the only way you may be able to get a little additional time in your day. Because lupus can cause fatigue, it is important to manage that energy effectively and spend it on things that are important. Prioritizing is also key!
03
3. How can one deal with stress and not let it get you down or relax and not let it bother you?
Oh, I wish I had a magic wand to make everyone’s stress go away! Here is one of the ways of dealing with stress that has helped me the most. When something begins to bother you (the earlier in the cycle, the better), go ahead and place your attention on it. Ask yourself, “Is this something I have control over?”. If the answer is yes and there is something concrete you can do, make the change. If you can’t, you must learn to let it go. Ruminating over and over and over again about something we have no control over is very stressful and counter productive.
04
How much stress is too much stress? I get stressed at work daily and usually by the time I get home I'm hurting. Should I be concerned?
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines stress as “a state resulting from a stress;especially: one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium.” Basically, stress is your body’s way of responding to a demand. We each respond differently. An event that causes one person stress, may not bother another person at all. Remember, long, long ago we were all endowed with the flight or fight response, so that we could outrun tigers and lions. Unfortunately, today, our bodies do not know when you are stressed, if you are about to be eaten by a lion for lunch, or just angry at the driver that cut you off on the interstate, so the same chemicals get dumped into our bodies. This is why many diseases are stress-related. Our bodies cannot handle the continuous overload of stress hormones and eventually they take a toll. So, to answer your question, if everyday you are feeling stressed at work and by the time you get home, you are hurting, it certainly sounds like you have too much stress in your life. The two ways to immediately deal with this are to decrease the demands being placed on you, or increase the resources you have available to deal with them.
05
How do I balance stress when you just don’t have that support in a relationship?
Unfortunately, it sounds like you are going to need to find ways to balance your life without the support of another person. This means that you will need to find ways to incorporate stress reduction techniques into your personal life. Several are mentioned in the answer to question #1. It is also important, as mention in question #3 to identify the things that you have control over. Ultimately, we do not have control over other people’s decisions, only our own, but we do have control over many, many more decisions in our lives than we usually think. Ask yourself what needs to be changed to reduce your stress, then begin by taking tiny steps in that direction.
06
How does a person with Lupus, deal with the stress lupus puts on a family, and not let that cause one stress itself?
Lupus will cause stress on a family, no matter how much we wish it were not true. I believe that having open conversations about this between family members is very helpful. It helps to express feelings and concerns out loud and deal with them as a family. It also helps, on your good days to do fun things to offset some of the stress. Planning family events, even a game night, based on your energy helps. Do not feel that you have to be “artificially” strong for your family. This will cause you additional stress and deplete your energy. It is better to share what you are going through (depending on the age of children) than to try to hide it. I’ve found that no matter how hard I try to “hide” what I’m going through, everyone usually knows and is more concerned because I’m hiding it. The unknown is often more frightening than the known. Like you, I worry about the stress on my children and now on my elderly parents, but lupus is a reality that we all must learn to live with.