Depending on your symptoms, you may seek advice or treatment from a number of different types of doctors. Your healthcare team may include several specialists such as rheumatologists, dermatologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, or others.

Your healthcare professionals will develop a treatment plan to fit your needs. You and your doctor should review the plan often to be sure it is working, and you should report new symptoms to your doctor right away so that treatment can be changed if needed.

The goals of the treatment plan are to:

• Prevent flares*
• Treat flares when they occur
• Reduce organ damage and other problems

*When symptoms appear, it’s called a “flare.” These signs may come and go. You may have swelling and rashes one week and no symptoms at all the next. You may find that your symptoms flare after you’ve been out in the sun or after a hard day at work.

Treatments may include drugs to:

• Reduce swelling and pain
• Prevent or reduce flares
• Help the immune system
• Reduce or prevent damage to joints
• Balance hormones

In addition to medications for lupus itself, sometimes other medications are needed for problems related to lupus such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or infection. Alternative treatments are those that are not part of standard treatment. No research shows that alternative treatments work for people with lupus. You should talk to your healthcare team regarding any treatments.