One of the moderators of another site, Madere, was kind enough to forward over this Washington Post artilce on Sjogren's. Hope everyone enjoys it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-complicated-case/2013/04/15/5726897a-8736-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_singlePage.html?tid=obinsite
That was a great article. I have to say, I've been lucky in that I've been easy to diagnose. Not to say that things weren't brewing for a few years before diagnosis, but when things worsened, I was quickly diagnosed and treated. And I'm seronegative for psoriatic arthritis, my primary autoimmune disorder.
I have recently been diagnosed with secondary Sjogren's. It's been going on for a few years, and is likely the cause of most of the nervous system issues I've had on top of the dry eyes/mouth/nose, but at least now I know. But when I realized that eye drops and biotene humidifiers weren't enough, I went to my rheumy, and told her how bad things had gotten. Easy peasy.
I think that article is very disheartening. physicians I know are extremely good at checking ANA levels. Many err on the side of overchecking for it. If they suspected RA in this patient then why wouldn't you do a full rheumatological workup? An abnormal white count in a female with those symtpoms just screams for an ANA. Thanks for sharing this article, but if I was the patient I'd be ticked off with my doctors ....
Great discussion Stoney and Arabrablynn. I'm not sure specifically on Sjogren's but I've been doing these support groups for 5 years and I constantly see patients being misdiagnosed or having trouble getting diagnosed.
i am wondering what the test was that confirmed sjogrens. i had a pa about 3 1/2 years ago tell me she thought i might have sjogrens because of some mouth lesions but the md dismissed it. over the last 3 years i have been to a a few doctors including a rheumotologist with no diagnosis. they all just put me on prednisone. i felt better for a while then symptoms back again. lately the dry eyes, mouth, skin throat and joint pain have returned with extreem fatigue worse than ever. i was fed up with md's and decided to go to an alternative doc. she is a chiropractor/accupuncturist/homeopathic physician. she said she suspects i have sjogrens. right now i am being treated for what she says is yeast in my liver and other organs and other chemical build up in my system. also doing her bone crunch thing. i call it that because i have never been to one of these type of docs before. any replys to this would be helpful. oh one more thing, the rh doc did one test for sjogrens, a special piece of paper placed on my lower eye lid and when my eye watered they said i dont have sjogrens.
Have your doctor obtain a lab test called an "ANA" If it's positive they will run additional tests to see which markers you have, such as "ssa / ssb". but this is not definitive. clinical picture and presentation with further fu would be warranted.
you rock Tez!