Sjögren’s Syndrome

What is Sjögren’s Syndrome?
Sjögren’s Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder, where your immune system attacks your own healthy cells. . It commonly affects your eyes and salivary glands, but can also affect other parts of the body..

Symptoms of Sjögren’s Syndrome

• Dry eyes, including a painful burning, itchy or gritty feeling
• Dry mouth, making it difficult to swallow, speak or eat dry foods
• Swelling of the glands in the face and neck areas.
• Eye and mouth dryness can also increase your risk for eye infections and dental problems.

• Joint pain, swelling and stiffness
• Dry skin
• Vaginal dryness
• Persistent dry cough
• Prolonged fatigue.

• A few people will have their liver and kidneys affected.

• A few people will also develop lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes).

Symptoms of Sjogrens Syndrome

The cause of Sjögren’s Syndrome is unknown. It is more common in women, people over 40 and those who have rheumatic disease, like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.

Diagnosing Sjögren’s Syndrome
Besides your symptoms, Sjögren’s Syndrome is diagnosed through tests, including:

• Schirmer’s test – to check whether your eyes are producing enough tears
• Blood tests – to check for antibodies common in Sjögren’s syndrome
• Imaging to test how your salivary glands are working
• Biopsy – a small sliver of tissue from your lip is checked for presence of inflammatory cells.
Sjögren’s syndrome treatment

Treating Sjögren’s Syndrome.
There is no cure for Sjögren’s syndrome however, most people with Sjögren’s Syndrome are able to live normally, without any serious complications – especially if they take care to manage their symptoms.

Treatments to relieve symptoms can involve medications to increase the production of saliva, treat complications like arthritis with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or meds that suppress the immune system.

There are also ways to manage symptoms yourself:

For dry eyes –

• Use artificial tears or an eye lubricant.

• Regular check-ups with an ophthalmologist (eye specialist),

• wear protective eye-wear to avoid exposure to the wind or sun

For dry nose –

• Use a saline spray for a dry nose

For dry mouth –

• Drink frequent sips of water

• Avoid drinking alcohol

• Use artificial saliva, mouth rinses, sugarless gum or lozenges

• Keep your mouth very clean, limit sugar, regular check-ups with a dentist

For general dryness –

• Increase indoor humidity

• Use preservative-free moisturiser for skin

• Avoid drying conditions such as drafts from heaters and air conditioners,

• Avoid exposure to dusty or windy weather.

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I’m sure you are wondering what this has to do with the price of tea in China.. Well.. I originally started this post a few months back when I first started have most of the above issues. After doing a bit of research this seemed the most likely culprit. Unfortunately, my blood test came back negative. So I’m still wondering why I’m having dryness problems. Anyone have any suggestions?

About Fibro (Pt II)

This is a long read, but if you haven’t ever seen/read it, then it is most def worth the time. Because of it’s length, I’ve made it 2 posts. Fell free to use it for your own use if you so desire.

About Fibromyalgia

Being sick doesn’t mean I’m not still a human being. I have to spend most of my day in considerable pain and exhaustion, and if you visit I probably don’t seem like much fun to be with, but I’m still me stuck inside this body. I still worry about school and work and my family and friends, and most of the time I’d still like to hear you talk about yours too.
The difference between “happy” and “healthy”. When you’ve got the flu you probably feel miserable with it, but I’ve been sick for years. I can’t be miserable all the time, in fact I work hard at not being miserable. So if you’re talking to me and I sound happy, it means I’m happy. That’s all. It doesn’t mean that I’m not in a lot of pain, or extremely tired, or that I’m getting better, or any of those things. Please, don’t say, “Oh, you’re sounding better!”. I am not better, I am sounding happy. If you want to comment on that, you’re welcome.
Being able to stand up for ten minutes, doesn’t necessarily mean that I can stand up for twenty minutes, or an hour. And, just because I managed to stand up for thirty minutes yesterday doesn’t mean that I can do the same today. With a lot of diseases you’re either paralyzed, or you can move. With this one it gets more confusing.
Repeat the above paragraph substituting, “sitting”, “walking”, “thinking”, “being sociable” and so on … it applies to everything. That’s what FMS does to you. – Please understand that FMS is variable. It’s quite possible (for me, it’s common) that one day I am able to walk to the park and back, while the next day I’ll have trouble getting to the kitchen. Please don’t attack me when I’m ill by saying, “But you did it before!”, if you want me to do something then ask if I can. In a similar vein, I may need to cancel an invitation at the last minute, if this happens please do not take it personally.
“Getting out and doing things” does not make me feel better, and can often make me seriously worse. Telling me that I need a treadmill, or that I just need to loose (or gain) weight, get this exercise machine, join this gym, try these classes… may frustrate me to tears, and is not correct… if I was capable of doing these things, don’t you know that I would? I am working with my doctor and physical therapist and am already doing the exercise and diet that I am suppose to do. Another statement that hurts is, “You just need to push yourself more, exercise harder…” Obviously FMS deals directly with muscles, and because our muscles don’t repair themselves the way your muscles do, this does far more damage than good and could result in recovery time in days or weeks or months from a single activity. Also, FMS may cause secondary depression (wouldn’t you get depressed if you were hurting and exhausted for years on end!?) but it is not created by depression.
If I say I have to sit down/lie down/take these pills now, that I do have to do it right now – it can’t be put off or forgotten just because I’m out for the day (or whatever). FMS does not forgive. – If you want to suggest a cure to me, don’t. It’s not because I don’t appreciate the thought, and it’s not because I don’t want to get well. It’s because I have had almost every single one of my friends suggest one at one point or another. At first I tried them all, but then I realized that I was using up so much energy trying things that I was making myself sicker, not better. If there was something that cured, or even helped, all people with FMS then we’d know about it. This is not a drug-company conspiracy, there is worldwide networking (both on and off the Internet) between people with FMS, if something worked we would KNOW.
If after reading that, you still want to suggest a cure, then do it, but don’t expect me to rush out and try it. I’ll take what you said and maybe discuss it with my doctor.

In many ways I depend on you – people who are not sick – I need you to visit me when I am too sick to go out… Sometimes I need you help me with the shopping, cooking or cleaning. I may need you to take me to the the doctor, or to the physical therapist. I need you on a different level too . You’re my link to the outside world… if you don’t come to visit me then I might not get to see you. … and, as much as it’s possible, I need you to understand me.