dry eyes, dry mouth, throat feels swollen, constantly chapped lips. In fact, I never thought anything of my constant need to reapply chapstick every few hours for months until now! I've also had some acid reflux that comes and goes over the last few months. I discovered in the summer that I have an unusually low IGA, meaning my salivary gland production is very low. Could a low IGA cause Sjogren's Syndrome? Am I just being paranoid or does this seem likely?
light headed, feeling as if I'm constantly rocking on a boat inside my head, dizzy, elevator effect in head, feeling of brain shivering that then runs down my body, muscle weakness, pins and needles in fingers, ice cold hands and feet but I don't feel it, unsteady on feet.
ve had a dry eye test done and I have been on restasis since I was 23 years old. I also have permanent punctal plugs in my eyes. I have been suffering from this problem since I was 19 years old. I also switched to wearing glasses and no contacts. I'm worried that this is a sign of something more severe. I also have some dry mouth problems and I also feel dehydrated a lot.
Sjogren's or something else? I have been suffering with dibilitating symptoms since beginning Nov, 2012 after having impetigo. All blood tests are negative except weakly positive for sjogren's.
I saw 3 ophthalmologists and had all kinds of tests done. My tear quality was poor among other things. I was put on restasis and steroid eye drops which helped immensely with the irritation.
I eventually stopped the restasis (the steroids were of course a short course) and everything has been pretty good with only occasional issues that with a day or two of warm compresses have alleviated symptoms. I tried to keep a mental note of what might have caused the flare.
I have been on Restasis since before Hep C treatment. In the mid day I use Systane drops. The Restasis is a prescription and it works great. The Systane is over the counter and works for in between, but the Systane without the Restasis won't work for me. I tried it before I went on Restasis.
My Rheumatologist started me on Plaquenil for the Sjogren's. Hopefully it will combat the disease and keep it from progressing.
I am so happy for you that you have an answer and are on treatment and feeling good!!!!!!!!!! I am in the middle of getting Sjogren's ruled out myself and the lip biopsy is the next step for me because the test for the Sjogren's antibodies were both negative and so was the ANA test!!
I was wondering if you had lesions show up on brain MRI? Also did you have the antibody tests and what was your results?
Just educating myself. Are there patients showing negative on ss a and ss b or only showing positive on ss b and still have sjogren's? If yes, did you show positive on other markers such as ana, smith antibodies, anti- dsdna, sed rate or c-reactive proteins? I hope someone will respond!
m not sure how you might get Restasis (cyclosporine) check out their website. www.restasis.com Restasis is the most widely prescribed eyedrop in the US. 90% are post menopausal females; 10% males and pre-menopausal females. Seems there should be some way to get the medication. a factor raised is the cost. The drops are non-preserved and you are dispensed two dropperettes to use each day. Everyone, myself and my wife also, use up one completely before opening another.
I have used Restasis for a year now and, while it did start working well after I had used it for about four months, it stopped working about three months ago. The dry eye is terribly uncomfortable, makes my vision blurry, and causes eye pain, redness and bad discomfort in general, and OTC lubricating drops don't help. I have cataracts and holes in my retinas in both eyes.
I am a 38-year-old woman who was diagnosed with Sjogren's about 5 months ago. I have very dry eyes, mouth and lips. I am also suffer from fatigue, general body soreness which feels like the flu, and muscle weakness. I use serum tears, systane (over the counter), and restasis for the dry eyes which provides some relief. I take very good care of my teeth, use biotene products and chew a lot of gum (trident with xylotol) but still have decay and erosion.
Many, many people have dry eyes without sjogrens syndrome. We can speculate about whether you have sjogren's syndrome - but your blood test will be back soon so you can find out the real answer with your personal physician. It sounds like you have definite dry eyes, regardless, and you will need to use artificial tears, possible flax and fish oil supplements and possibly other treatments such as plugs and restasis.
I know that many patients who have Sjogren's syndrome do better with a gluten free diet. My mother was recently diagnosed with Sjogren's and was advised by her physician to quit eating wheat.
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