Lupus in latin means wolf. Fear. Terror. An apt word for any life altering disease.

In my neck of the woods, there are wolves. I rarely see one. But I always know they are there.

Wolves:  the stuff of ancient fairytales. Brothers Grimm fairytales. Little Red Riding Hood. Irrational fear of wolves is in our DNA.

A healthy fear of wolves is what we have here in northern Manitoba, Canada.  We respect wolves here.  There are certain things we do not do.

Although I often walk in the woods alone, I do not do this at hunting times (between dusk and dawn).

I do not walk with food in my back pack. I do not  want to smell like a good meal.

Same with Lupus. There are features of the disease that I pay attention to and signals for how I need to manage the disease.

I respect the: knife-like bone pain, extreme fatigue, face/body itchy red rashes, scarring alopecia (bald hair patches that won’t come back)  and low self esteem.

I learn to do what I can to keep these wolves at bay. I am open to all things that help.

Any Chronic Disease Management Needs Lots of Angles: Medication and Self Care

Any chronic disease needs lots of angles.  The medical system treatment (medications and medical tests) is one part. Healthy eating, regular exercise, not smoking, and limited alcohol intake are the other parts.

Lupus: Medication, Trees, and Wolves

My earliest memories are of wolves  and trees — a sense of fear balanced by intense love for trees.

When I got my Lupus (SLE) diagnosis two years ago, it came quite naturally to head to the trees, to The Bush (as we say in Pine Falls, Manitoba).

I needed to clear my head. My heart needed mending. Being in the bush forced me to be in my body not in my mind.

Amazing things happened to me after I started walking in the woods every day.

My anxiety and depression lifted. My pain completely disappeared.

I fell in love with life again. I felt alive. I felt like my old self every single time I looked into the branches of a tree.

This rapid return to my normal relaxed self (only when I was outside) was so consistent when I was close to trees, that I began to research.

My background is nursing and as a university professor, I am trained to go to the peer reviewed clinical trails.

I found the most compelling evidence about the health benefits of trees. The research is so compelling that I had to start my website called Treesmendus.

This is what I found. The links to the research are in this recent post “The Seven Health Benefits of Walking (And Working) With Beauty Entrpreneur Jennifer Walsh” 

Medication for Lupus: Plaquenil is a “Disease Modifier”

I could not walk without the traditional drug of choice for Lupus: Plaquenil. It is also called Hydroxychloroquine. This medication is called a “disease modifier.” This means it makes the wolves at bay. After all, we are talking about a chronic disease.

It is an antimalarial medication that also mysteriously works in treating Lupus.

There is evidence it may interfere with communication between cells in the immune system. This action suppresses the normally overactive immune response in lupus patients.

It works for me. I take it. I keep the dose to low at (200mg a day) and (400 mg 2 days a week). It allows me to walk by decreasing the pain and swelling. It helps prevent joint damage.

According to a non profit kaleidoscopefightinglupus.org   studies have shown that lupus patients on antimalarials actually live longer than those who are not. ( I could not find the original research study.)

How do antimalarial drugs work to control lupus symptoms?

Here are some of the ways in which Plaquenil is used to control lupus symptoms:

• May prevent lupus flares by as much as 50%
• Reduce muscle and joint pain
• Reduce lupus related rashes
• Protect against pleuritis (inflammation of the lining of the lungs)
• Protect against pericarditis (inflammation of the lining of the heart)
• May prevent kidney damage
• May prevent lupus from affecting certain organs, central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord) and the kidneys
• Reduce fever and fatigue
• Restrains the immune system without increasing the odds for infections
• Protects against UV light
• Improves skin lesions that are not responsive to topical treatments (ointments and creams)
• Can lower cholesterol and blood glucose levels
•  May  decrease the  likelihood of blood clots
• Effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis
• Effective in treating Sjogren’s syndrome, a common overlapping disease with lupus

Accepting Things As They Are: It Really Is Ok 

I am not trying to defeat the fear of the wolf of Lupus. I am learning to accept the sadness and fear. I keep moving and accept things as they are. There is a space between love and fear. It is where time suspends. It is when I am close to trees. Overwhelm goes away. I look into the trees and know it is ok — it is really ok.

Do you know someone who has a chronic disease? There is no cure. But there are many things we can control. One of them is developing the tiny habit of stepping outside.

Facebook Group Ditch Inside For Outside Tribe 

Please join our  facebook group Ditch Inside For Outside Tribe 

And do not be afraid to go outside. As long as you have the right sun protection  

Please check out my related article here: How to Slay Sun Sensitivity (Even If You Have Lupus). 

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