This always seems linked to SLE or RA, never PsA, could this be why the Doctors keep looking for Lupus to show up in me? Here is a definition from American College of Rheumatology, it is not mentioned here either?
http://www.rheumatology.org/practice/clinical/patients/diseases_and_conditions/sjogrens.asp
No wonder is right! It can make you question everything when you get so many destructive and debilitating diseases!
I have a cousin on my Mother's side who has all three of my major autoimmune diseases, Psoriatic Arthritis, Sjogren;s and Raynaud's. First and only one who has this combination! She and I seem to have acquired all of the bad genes of the family!
Her Mother died of heart disease, which could have been an undiagnosed autoimmune disease that was to blame for this. When I had my stress test done, just a few days ago, the Cardiologist told me that they are finally linking heart disease to autoimmune.
I know, she is my second cousin and one year older. We seemed to have gotten it all in large doses. She is one of the nicest people you could ever meet, always has been.
It makes you wonder, it makes you mad, it makes you question everything starting or ending with God. Like Renie told me, it's like going through all the stages of anger, grief, denial, acceptance... You eventually get to some degree of acceptance and it becomes normalcy. Frightening thought, but it is truth, naked truth.
Yep, sounds like a best seller 'The Philosophy of Illness'! though surely we could come up with a more 'twisted' title than that! HA!
She is much better than me, she doesn't have that sarcastic humor about her, but her brother does, I adore him, he is the gruff version of a doll! When he met my husband he told him that he always thought my mother and I were the beauties of the family! Hard to see that now!
My Mom was a sunbather, the iodine and baby oil, and it really wrinkled her, so complains about it all of the time, and I fuss her, telling her to be glad that is all that bothers her! She is still a beauty to me, she always will be!
I'm getting further into the acceptance, but I still get angry about it! Not always for myself, sometimes it is for others, for you!
I know, so many young ones so ill, breaks your heart!
And to make it all 1,000 times worse, their loved ones turn their backs on them! That is really heart wrenching!
What has happend to make people so hateful?
Rheumatologist's office called, moved my appt up to this Thursday. Other things to discuss, like having to go for Stress test. Need to talk to him about possible Contochrondritis, but hope to have enough time to ask why you just never see Sjogren's connected with PsA, always RA and Lupus.
I had the talk about this with my Rheumatologist. He said that in his office, here in this area that Psoriatic Arthritis is the most common arthritis, and that there were many others who have secondary Sjogrens and Raynauds attatched to the PsA. He said the internet info was just out-of-date!
I see him again at the end of January, if I am not significantly improved, I move on to Humira. He keeps telling me that I have had this for a LONG TIME, so he wants to give Enbrel a good chance to get into my system. I told him that winter will be the true test, as this is the season that I really suffer!
When hurricane Sandy rolled in and the barometric pressure plummeted, I got so bad that I took the morphine and went to bed, thought it would kill me. Would have prayed it would have killed me, but had the grandson here. He hounded me to get up for a while, then realized that I just couldn't get up, so he checked on me instead.
The weather has not improved much since then, got bitter cold and the skies are still full of heavy black clouds, with intermittant rain. Brutal weather for arthritics!