It was such a blessing to finally find a website that really seems to talk/share with one another. I am married and live in Plano, TX (north of Dallas)......I have 5 children (all married) and 11 grandchildren. My husband has been so supportive ever since I was diagonosed.
I have been diagnosed since 2009 with RA and SS. I had never heard the word "Sjogrens" until then! Boy was I surprised! My symptoms have been tolerable until this past Memorial Day weekend. Both RA and SS flared. I am still having problems with my RA flair! I just started talking Plaquenal again. Hopefully in a few weeks, I will have some improvement.
I feel for you, like many here I also suffer from SS and autoimmune arthritis, mine is Psoriatic, and it's no fun!
I took Enbrel for about 2 years, until the fatigue and recurrent infections were cause for the Rheumatologist and GP to tell me that biologics were off the table for me. I just picked up a prescription for Plaquinil today to mail in, so I'll be a little further behind you, we'll have to compare notes as time marches on. I'm hoping for good things for both of us!
I'm so glad to know that you have a supportive husband! That will help you more than you will ever know! One of the most heartbreaking things that you read on any of the groups is that someone's mate is not caring, supportive, understanding.
Wish I knew of a cure, but as yet, we are still waiting with bated breath. There are some promising things in the works, and you can read about them by clicking the 'resources'link at the page top, when you get there, click 'see all', the info we place there is under the discussions.
I'm going to see if a friend of mine would like to join this group, too, because she also has RA and SS. She's had the RA for over 15 years now so she may be able to help. I hope you do see some improvement very soon!
Welcome Judy. Sorry to hear that you are suffering through a flare right now and hope that it ends soon. Plaquenil worked for me in some ways but then I began to experience other symptoms and have been on and off prednisone for the last year in addition to the Plaquenil. Hope it works quickly for you.
My advice would be to keep a journal so you can see what triggers symptoms. It is also a helpful tool to bring to your md at appointment time. Give yourself permission to rest because touching it out will not help you heal faster.