Living With Sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis has no cure. However, you can take steps to manage the disease. Get ongoing care and follow a healthy lifestyle. Talk to your doctor if you’re pregnant or planning a pregnancy.

Ongoing Care

Getting ongoing care is important, even if you don't take medicine for your sarcoidosis. New symptoms can occur at any time. Also, the disease can slowly worsen without your noticing.

How often you need to see your doctor will depend on how severe your symptoms are, which organs are affected, what treatments you're using, and whether you have any side effects from treatments. Even if you don’t have symptoms, you should see your doctor for ongoing care.

Your doctor may recommend routine tests, such as lung function tests and eye exams. He or she will want to check to make sure that the disease isn’t damaging your organs.

Discuss with your doctor how often you need to have followup visits. You may have some followup visits with your primary care doctor and others with one or more specialists.

Lifestyle Changes

Making lifestyle changes can help you manage your health. For example, follow a healthy diet and be as physically active as you can. A healthy diet includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

It also includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and fat-free or low-fat milk or milk products. A healthy diet is low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium (salt), and added sugar.

For more information on following a healthy diet, see the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Aim for a Healthy Weight Web site, "Your Guide to a Healthy Heart," and "Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH." All of these resources include general information about healthy eating.

If you smoke, quit. Talk to your doctor about program and products that can help you quit. Also, try to avoid other lung irritants, such as dust, chemicals, and secondhand smoke.

Emotional Issues

Living with a chronic disease may cause fear, anxiety, depression, and stress. It’s important to talk about how you feel with your health care team. Talking to a professional counselor also can help. If you’re feeling very depressed, your health care team or counselor may prescribe medicines to make you feel better.

Joining a patient support group may help you adjust to living with sarcoidosis. You can see how other people who have the disease have coped with it. Talk to your doctor about local support groups or check with an area medical center.

Support from family and friends also can help relieve stress and anxiety. Let your loved ones know how you feel and what they can do to help you.

Pregnancy

Many women who have sarcoidosis give birth to healthy babies. Women who have severe sarcoidosis, especially if they’re older, may have trouble becoming pregnant. In some cases, sarcoidosis may get worse after the baby is delivered.

If you have sarcoidosis and are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, talk to your doctor about the risks. Also, if you become pregnant, it’s important to get good prenatal care and regular sarcoidosis checkups during and after pregnancy.

Some sarcoidosis medicines are considered safe to use during pregnancy; others are not recommended.