Because lupus tends to develop slowly and evolve gradually over time, awaiting a diagnosis can be like waiting for a Polaroid picture to develop. If you are seen by a doctor at a point in time when only one or two criteria are satisfied, it is like looking at a picture that is only one-quarter or half-way developed. No one looking at that picture can accurately identify what it is. Nor can they predict if it will develop at all or what it will develop into, or how long it will be before it is developed to the point where it's identifiable. Just as there is no good way to speed-up the development of a Polaroid, there is no way to hurry-up the diagnosis of lupus.

The length of time it takes before lupus can be diagnosed is highly variable; it may take weeks, months or years; three years is not an uncommon length of time for many people to have symptoms before being diagnosed. In some cases, it can take as long as 10 years before enough evidence has accumulated to indicate that it is lupus. However, generally a doctor has a pretty good idea, though s/he may not be certain, that a person does or does not have SLE. The important thing is to learn the signs and symptoms of lupus and if you develop something new, let your doctor know so s/he can determine if you have yet satisfied enough criteria to be diagnosed.