Exhaustion is part of every college student’s life, but Sarah Fulkerson is already exhausted before she gets out of bed.
The psychology senior, doesn’t look sick. She doesn’t sniffle, shake or cough.
She was diagnosed with lupus in October 2009 after the disease flared so badly she couldn’t be in the sun, drive or attend her classes. There is currently no cure for lupus.
“I get so tired I can barely get out of bed,” she said. “I have joint pain, muscle pain, fever, hot flashes and the sun and fluorescent lights make me dizzy. I wear baseball caps to class.”
Fulkerson said she had symptoms of lupus on and off for 10 years, and her symptoms worsen with flares and get better in remission. She said she goes into a flare once a month for about a week.
Lupus causes the immune system to become destructive to any tissue or organ in the body, including the skin, joints, blood, blood vessels and major internal organs, according to the Lupus Foundation of America’s Web site. Fulkerson said she has a mild version of systemic lupus that hasn’t affected her organs yet.
The LFA estimates about 1.5 million Americans have a form of lupus, with systemic lupus making up 70 percent of all cases. Ninety percent of people with lupus are female, and the disease is more common among minorities.
Duane Peters, LFA senior director of communication, said the LFA supports medical research relating to lupus, provides education and awareness about the disease and provides support for individuals with lupus on a national level.
Peters said raising awareness for lupus among college-aged students is important because the disease directly affects people between the ages of 15 and 40. He said it’s important for people to understand the symptoms of lupus because they are initially dismissed as other illnesses in most cases.
“People with lupus have few visible signs of the disease,” he said. “It’s been described as having a bad case of the flu that never goes away. By raising awareness, we hope to improve earlier diagnosis of the disease.”
Fulkerson’s doctors thought she had depression, mononucleosis or the flu before she was diagnosed.
“It’s really frustrating when you know something’s wrong with your body, and they can’t tell you what it is,” she said.
Fulkerson said lupus has made her reprioritize everything in her life.
“When I have a good day, I am thankful to wake up pain-free, which is something most people take for granted,” she said. “It’s a really unpredictable disease. I can be fine today and be in the hospital a year from now.”
Fulkerson said she worries most about having children because lupus can cause miscarriages. She said she also worries about passing the disease to her children.
For Lupus Awareness Month, Peters said the LFA and its 39 chapters across the U.S. will host various events this month as well as observe World Lupus Day on Monday.
Fulkerson recently participated in a walk for lupus in her hometown of Houston. She said her group raised almost $1,000 for the LFA.
Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]