What The Heck Is Sjogren's

According the Mayo Clinic Sjögren's syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. Today, as many as 4 million Americans are living with this disease.

In 2004 I never heard of Sjogrens. I had not gone to the Walmart for a new prescription for contacts I would have never known. The eye doctor said I had an active eye infection and put some drops in my eyes. The drops stung so bad I almost hit the roof. He said it was normal. Then he said to put one drop in three times a day. But each time I put the drops in the more my eyes stung. I called the doctor the next day and he said it was normal. Normal, for who. The next day I could not see out of my eye. I panicked and called the doctors back. He said to stop using the drops and come right in. When he looked at my eye he could not explain what was wrong with my eye. Slowly I got my vision back but I was left with seeing halos around lights causing me not to be able to see at night.

Franitc I went to an ophthalmologist. I stumped him too he couldn't find anything wrong except my cornea was scarred beyond belief. He said it was like someone got a nail file and filed my cornea. He was amazed I could even see out of that eye. The last thing he did was placed schirmer strip on on my eyes. It's a test to see how much moisture is in the eyes. What he learned was my eyes were severely dry. He gave me a bottle of dry eye drops and sent me on my merry way.

Frustrated I left with not only dry eyes but confusion. It wasn't until I had blood work because of a rapid heart rate that I learned my thyroid was not working right.

The blood test results were not good. Not only was my TSH at 6.75 and the normal is 3 I had a positive ANA and rheumatoid factor 97. My primary recommended I see a Rheumatologist. I thought a Rheumatologist only treated arthritis.

The end result––I was told I had Sjogrens. I couldn't even pronounce the word let alone heard of it. To make sure that was indeed what I had the doctor ordered more blood work. Sure enough my doctor said it was positive. I was told I had Secondary Sjogrens. My first autoimmune is Hashimoto's disease is a disorder that affects your thyroid.

Now I have a thyroid condition and Sjogrens. Living with Sjogrens is a frustrating disease because there is no cure.

Everything makes sense now. For years while I was working as a hairdresser my eyes were a mess by the time I left the shop. Hair sprays and chemicals would stick to them.

Now I am constantly putting drops in my eyes. I have plugs to help keep my tears in my eyes. But that doesn't work either. I tried Restasis the ingredient has been linked to Lymphoma. Why would I want to put that into my body when people who have Sjogren's may be at a higher risk for the cancer? The high price wasn't very attractive either. A three month supply is $300.00. Sjogren's is a nasty disabling disease with no cure.

Try writing without your eyes, It's almost impossible. I have to take short shut-eye breaks. Now that I know what works and what will not work I will share this with my readers. Sjogren's is a chronic disease that has some unpleasant symptoms.

Each post will touch upon something that will be helpful. I want to let people who have the disease know they have somewhere to go and discuss different topics. I hope my readers will feel comfortable discussing anything about dealing with Sjogrens.