Lupus Books – My Essential List

The internet is a big source of information, search engines can basically get you anything you are looking for nowadays.  Just type it in and ‘voila’!  I love the internet, I love research BUT I’m very skeptical in certain areas, especially when it comes to my health.  Sources on the internet can be misleading, unless from a reputable source, so I find its still in the best interest to carry some actual paper references (no, they aren’t considered stone age material yet).  But I just wanted to share a few of my favorite Lupus (and other) books.  Some or most of those reading this may be very familiar with these selections however if this could help a wandering newly diagnosed that happens to stop by, I’d like to share my suggestions:

(Please feel free to enter any others in the comments! J )

1)      The Lupus Book – Daniel J. Wallace M.D.

This is pretty much THE book that everyone with Lupus has and for good reason.  It’s written by a very knowledgeable rheumatologist and gives you all the facts about the disease.  Nothing too technical but no fluff either.  To this day, even years after my diagnosis, I still refer to the pages in this book and I always know where it is.

2)      Lupus Q&A: Everything You Need To Know – R. Lahita, R. Phillips

I like this book because it’s in a Q&A format and the questions are, in my opinion, the same questions that you would have when you are faced with your new diagnosis.  It pretty much covers everything that would come up in your head that you would want to know or a close friend or family member would want to know.  It gives thorough yet short, concise answers that even a lupie brain wouldn’t have trouble with.

3)      Living Well With Autoimmune Disease – Mary J. Shomon

This book gives good bits of info on a range of different autoimmune diseases as well as referencing sources for more info.  Because lupus (and other autoimmune diseases) usually don’t like to travel solo, it’s good to have a reference book just in case your doctor pops another diagnosis surprise on you.

4)      The New Sjogren’s Syndrome Handbook – Daniel J. Wallace M.D.

This is basically the same as the Lupus book but as you guessed it is about Sjogren’s.  I added this in because I have Sjogren’s as well and the material out there is very, shall we say, sparse.  Since many of the symptoms of Lupus and Sjogren’s can overlap, it does help tremendously to have ‘twin’ books written by the same author to cross reference and differentiate my symptoms between the two diseases.