So I have been asked several times since my diagnosis about lupus and autoimmune diseases being cancer. No they are not cancer. The difference in lupus and other auto immune diseases and cancer is.. in cancer a "bad" cell multiplies so fast that your immune system can not take care of it on its own. In auto immune diseases we have "confused" cells that flag healthy cells to be killed becuase they are confused and cant tell they are healthy. Basically a type of allergic reaction to our own bodies instead of an environmental source. The treatments for cancer and autoimmune can sometimes be the same depending on how severe your auto immune disease is. The goal of chemo and things like that is to kill cells that are bad or confused but from what I know chemo actually kills all cells. The rituxan treatment that I took and was allergic to is actually a lymphoma treatment and targets killer B cell production I THINK. The treatment that I want to try instead of all these pills im on is basically like a light chemo but I dont know if I will be able to take it becuase it messes with your bone marrow. Not everyone with lupus has low platelets and blood like that, some will have other blood issues or no blood issues. That is why I have not been officially diagnosed with lupus is becuase it manifest its self so different and with so many different symptoms in everyone that it is very hard to diagnose. If anyone knows anymore to add or anything that im wrong about please feel free to correct me, I want to understand this as much as possible.
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