I had another bout with likely salvary glands infection and googled it to see if my ENT could help. To my surprise I read that I could get a “lip biopsy” by an ENT to Disgnose Sjogrens. I am nervous
Hey PurpleLady,
Welcome to Ben’s Friends.
Can I ask are you nervous regarding the procedure or the diagnosis?
The lip biopsy itself is actually a fairly simple procedure with a small incision and sample taken.
As for the diagnosis, I would recommend not going there until you need to. By all means investigate every option that maybe available to you, educate yourself on what is available. But going there mentally before an actual diagnosis can often stress us out to the maximum. That amount of additional stress can be very detrimental, many of us have enough daily stressors without adding to it unnecessarily. I say all of this because I did the exact opposite, stressed myself and everyone else around me out to the max. I was a mess. The reality for me was there was nothing I could do about any of it. I had to wait for the Dr’s, wait for the tests, wait for the results. But the wait…OMG. By the time the results came in I was such a mess, only to find it was nowhere near as bad as I thought.
I’d recommend you take things one step at a time. Investigate your options so you are not starting from zero, but look at options rather than outcome.
Merl from the Modsupport Team
That makes so much sense, thank you.
Also, a lot of the treatment for sjogren’s is symptomatic, so it is worthwhile to bring it up to your doctor, but the lip biopsy may not be necessary.
Actually, the salivary gland infection may be part of the diagnostic process for you
My regular GP is in the loop and reordered a new antibody SSA test to see what is going on at this point. He also acted like it is a foregone conclusion that I have Sjogrens and Lupus too.
I was ok withtheglandexam Idon’thavetohave a biopsy automatically I struggle with medical procedures I have had 3 surgeries in 8 years. Ihave
You are not alone in your concerns, in fact I am yet to hear of anybody who doesn’t have any concerns.
I’ve had a few major surgeries (With more to come) and OMG I am an absolute mess before, during and after. How my poor wife puts up with me I don’t know? I have been told I am NOT a nice patient 
Merl from the Modsupport Team
Ok, my new blood test results for SSA are 4X what they were 18 Months ago and now I do also have some Anti-Scleroderma antibodies too. Yikes