ABC of Rheumatology: SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS AND LUPUS-LIKE SYNDROMES

[...]general practitioners' experience will vary greatly according the ethnic mix of their registered population. Factors that increase probability of associated connective tissue disease in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon Onset of condition in childhood or old age Asymmetrical manifestation of symptoms Severe disease threatening viability of peripheries Associated with other symptoms such as arthralgia, fatigue, rash, etc Associated with abnormal results of blood tests (such as raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anaemia, presence of antinuclear antibodies) Fatigue Severe fatigue in conjunction with some of the above symptoms may reflect a flare up of the disease.