THIS FITNESS fan has learnt to live with her lupus instead of fight against it after a suspected INSECT BITE which caused her legs to blister and then ulcerate resulted in a three-week-stay in hospital and a further FIVE-MONTHS to heal – teaching her that the auto-immune condition is unpredictable.

When wellbeing facilitator, Aminah Jagne (28) from Pontypridd, Wales, UK, was in her first year of university she started to notice a throbbing pain in her wrists, hands and feet and would feel stiff in the mornings as if she had done a heavy workout the day before.

It wasn’t until one day when Aminah stood to get off a bus but realised she couldn’t walk due to being in so much pain that she knew something was seriously wrong. This led to her lupus diagnosis in January 2011, shortly after which, Aminah was forced to leave university and move back in with her parents as she struggled to manage her studies whilst working part-time.


After being diagnosed with the auto-immune condition, Aminah decided to get into fitness thinking that by keeping fit she would be able to control the effect it had on her life. Over the years, she’s tried cardio DVDs, weight lifting, powerlifting, Olympic lifting and bodybuilding in order to try to become as strong as she can, all of which Aminah has had to stop at one point when her lupus has flared but she has now learnt to adapt her routine to how her body feels and says that fitness has given her confidence and helped her mentally.

In March 2018, Aminah decided she was ready for another challenge and started training for a bodybuilding competition but her world was turned upside down when she received what she thought was just an insect bite six days before she was due to go scuba diving in Egypt. A few days after being bitten, Aminah suffered a severe reaction which caused her legs to blister. Concerned, she went to her GP before jetting off but was told the reaction wasn’t bad enough and was prescribed antibiotics.

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