Re: Em - Sjogren's

[Guest guest]

At 10:54 AM 07/04/2002 -0500, wrote:

>Well, Em, unlike fibromyalgia, Sjogren's is an inflammatory disease and

>systemic corticosteroids can be appropriate therapy for it depending on

>the circumstances. I didn't see you mention Sjogren's in your earlier

>posts. How was it diagnosed?

I had a Schirmer test -- the one where they put the paper things in your

eyes for five minutes to see how much you tear up. The reason I don't

mention it that often is because no one ever said *for sure* that I had

it. Dry eyes and mouth have been a problem for me for a long time, but

after the test -- I had a score of 5, I believe, not completely sure --

nothing was ever really said about it. The nurse who administered the test

made some comments about letting the doctor know, and also about " yeah,

your eyes are really dry, " but that was literally the last I heard of

it. *I* think I have it.

>Sjogren's can cause symptoms very similar to RA. It can exist in a primary

>form or it can be secondary to RA or other rheumatic diseases (up to 15%

>of RA patients may have secondary Sjogren's Syndrome). And fibromyalgia

>can coexist with many inflammatory conditions such as RA and Sjogren's.

>You can understand how diagnostic confusion occurs.

Absolutely. It's got to be extremely difficult to diagnose.

>You're right. Your improvement after the steroid injections is an

>important clue. Some physicians use a course of steroids as a test to

>see if an inflammatory condition is at work.

I mentioned this to my mom on the phone last night -- she was a lot of help

last year when everything just kinda fell apart -- and she said, " Em, that

stuff didn't just help. You were desperate when your rheumatologist

wouldn't give you another injection. " I don't remember being desperate,

but I'll take her word for it.

Thanks again, . I do appreciate your kind words of advice. I read up

on Sjogren's last year, but I'd started thinking maybe I just had dry eyes,

and not Sjogren's itself, when no one recommended any course of therapy for

it. I'll refresh my memory, to be sure.

Warm patriotic wishes,

Em

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Nicky's so good-natured, one of two things is bound to happen: He'll

either become a doormat and start Season 3 with 'WELCOME' written

across his forehead, or he'll snap one day, and Gil will be forced to extract

posthumous revenge after Ecklie investigates the night shift's stunning

mass murder and concludes it was all a wacky accident. "

(Sobell on Our Nicky)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest guest]

Dear Em...years ago when the (brief) consensus for me was " chronic

fatigue " and they were just starting to say " fibromyalgia " my

frustrated doctors put me on a course of prednisone, and boy, did I

respond positively, which they didn't really expect. I think I had RA

then but it wasn't diagnosed. It seems like we have to go on adventures

trying new meds & getting a sound diagnosis. Hang in there, kiddo. All

of us here care very much.

Love & Hugs...

Tess