I have had very severe vasculitis in my hands and feet during the 1980 so it involved swelling and pain in my toes and fingers. on the whole it resolved when my lupus was treated at that time prednisolone was the treatment used .It consisted of red painful lumps, which leads to numbness in the feet and hands eventually. It is not pleasant ,but can lead to cerebral involvement  which can lead to strokes which did happen in my case , so it should not be taken lightly . Warmest wishes Erina

< This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message : Erina, : I'm sorry to hear that you have vasculitis.  Did I read correctly that you : did have a stroke?  I feel for you as strokes have run in my father's family : as well as My wife's family. : My wife, Kelley (43), has been battling both SLE and DLE throughout her : system since Apr01.  It has now turned on to her kidneys, heart and caused : vasculitis in her brain among a host of symptoms.  Both we and her doctors : at Walter Reed are very concerned.  We don't know what her longterm : prognosis will be (hopeful, but realistic too) : Kelley finds herself being forced to face this head on now as she was in : denial for a long time.  It is hard for me as her caregiver as I feel that : I'm standing on the sidelines only offering comfort, but it is the best that : I can offer. : regards, : Daniel Oh Daniel that is just wonderful ! .... I mean the fact that you can and are offering her comfort and support! That is so much more than alot of the members here have in their court and it says alot about your character as well as the obvious fact that you love her! I wish you both tremendous good luck and an excellent prognosis which finds you both doting on each other in your 'old age'! <g Hugs from Shelagh

While vasculitis secondary to some primary autoimmune disease such as lupus may respond to prednisolone alone, primary autoimmune vasculitides do not all go into remission on a corticosteroid alone.  A number of the primary autoimmune vasculitides require more aggressive treatment. Bruce