What Is Lupus?

Have you ever heard a straight answer about this?

The most they'll say is "It's really hard to diagnose," but what is the "it" that they're trying to diagnose?

Here's my guess, triangulating from several medical sources.  I think lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) really means "autoimmune disorder, not otherwise specified."  If you have an autoimmune disorder that is attacking your thyroid, they call it Graves or Hashimoto's.  If you have an autoimmune disorder that is attacking the exocrine glands of your eyes and mouth, they call it Sjogren's.  And so on.

But if it's more widely systemic, they call it lupus.

Weirdly, if it's attacking the kidneys, or the skin in the form of a rash, it's also called lupus.  I suspect this is for crazy historic reasons.  So you get doctors making weird statements like "Many autoimmune disorders can be mistaken for lupus, making it difficult to diagnose."  If it's attacking your kidneys, it's "real" lupus.  If it's attacking your thyroid it's not, and must be distinguished from "real" lupus.

Dudes, quit arguing over the words.  The patient has an autoimmune problem.  The only useful question then is which bodily systems are under attack.

What's useful here for me, though, is a clearer understanding that what I've got is really "not otherwise specified."  I test positive for double-strand DNA antibodies.  My muscles and joints hurt.  I'm tired all the time.  And that (knock on wood) is all.  That's what makes my case lupus.