Yet Another Unusual Disorder That Can Cause You Problems

[JEG325]

Courtesy of the beautiful, bright shining Starlight, I was recently made aware of a disorder called Sjogren's Syndrome. This is an auto immune disease that is caused when your immune system mistakenly attacks the moisture producing centers of your body. It's most well known symptoms are dry mouth & dry eyes. Extremely dry lips are also common. This disorder strikes women 90% of the time and is most common in those from their late 40's on. However, this disorder can be more troubling than most people realize. It can cause persistent fatigue, muscle and joint pain, liver problems, digestive disorders, dental problems & interfere with your sleep. Doctor's know little about this disorder and your common practitioners will never even think to check for this moderately serious problem. Here are some markers for possibly having this disorder. Do you have persisitent dryness that doesn't go away no matter how much you drink? This inludes your eyes, tongue, mouth, sinuses, throat, (vagina for women), ect. Do you have a low thyroid? Do you have low Vit D? There are some natural remedies that have been shown to help. Fish oil, flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil & vitamin C are all helpful. Your best option is 1 tablespoon of high quality flaxseed oil per day, plus 2 to 4 high quality evening primrose gelcaps, plus 1,000 mgs of Vit.C. This comes straight from the website, not me. A diet high in fish & moist items is also helpful. Too much salt, spicey food or hard, dry food of any kind is hard on this disorder. It is estimated that more than 7 million people have this problem, while only half are actually diagnosed. If you have a lot of these symptome plus any of the markers, I suggest you get tested for it right away. While not life threatening, it can cause all kinds of complications (some of which can be life threatening in themselves) and make a mess out of your life. Best wishes to all & a special thank you to Starrlight, my favorite ray of light out there....

[Robinrenae]

Thank you for sharing that information. I've never even heard of it. I should look into this further for myself.

Love and light to you ❤🌹

[JEG325 in reply to Robinrenae]

Thank Starrlight too. She clued me into it. I have some of the symptoms and markers myself. I may have myself tested for it in November when I start with my new doctor. Love, peace, light & tranquility to you, Robinrenae.

[Calm_mama]

Primary Sjogren's Syndrome is extremely rare. depending upon the population studied (world wide rates are different), prevalence is around 0.01 - 0.3%. Secondary Sjogren's is a little more common (already existing autoimmune condition like Rheumatoid Arthritis or lupus). I have been in health care non-stop for 25 years, most of those years in primary care, and have seen primary Sjogren's all of twice.

My gentle suggestion to people with anxiety with or without depression is to be careful about looking into very rare conditions like this. I would leave the differential diagnosis to your doc Practitioners generally do know to check for autoimmune markers when there is a cluster of symptoms and/or physical exam findings. Anxiety itself and the normal aging process will bring about the symptoms that can mimic something like Sjogren's in the anxious mind. Many other, more common and completely benign or highly treatable conditions like menopause, hypothyroidism etc can bring about these types of symptoms as well.

[JEG325 in reply to Calm_mama]

I am not a practitioner but, I have studied alternative medicine for many years. More than 20, in fact. While there is practical advice in not allowing one's mind to play tricks on itself and insist you have every disorder out there, there is also practical advice in not being so careful that you don't cover all of your bases either. Starrlight has a confirmed diagnoses of this disorder. The problem is that while the major, well known site I visited said there are probably 7 million Americans that have this disorder, only 4 million have been diagnosed. I beg to disagree about doctors knowing when to check on things or even diagnosing your test results properly. I had two different doctors completely ignore a vitamin d count that had dropped to 14.1!. They even went so far as to say I was just fine. I will continue to warn people about rare and overlooked conditions just so they know. I will add the disclaimer from now on, that people should consider carefully before acting on such information. After all, I only said that if you had the symptoms and markers that you should be tested. I guarantee you that 75% or more of all general practitioners would ignore or not even consider this rare disorder as a possible problem. There is a definite middle ground here.

[hurtingheart1]

Thanks for sharing this insight also for reaching out w/msg few days ago I just noticed it and 😊 thank you! You seem like a smart interesting researcher!!

[JEG325 in reply to hurtingheart1]

Thank you for your graciousness. A kazillion happy & peaceful vibes. Have a wonderful evening.