Congested and dry
Posted , 6 users are following.
Good evening all,
Hope you guys are doing well. Not having the best of weeks. With allergies now starting to bloom, I am so congested. I started on singulair. It worked for a bit but then it started to dry me out, throat and all. At this point I don't know if the congestion due to allergies is drying out my throat or the meds or the Sjogrens. Can anyone please give me advice on what they take for allergies? Its making the SS worse. Should I be on predisone for the nasal inflammation? Right now I am on Cevimeline for saliva and Mtx. Can anyone suggest a better coarse of action? What is hydroxychloroquine? Does it help with the dryness?
0 likes, 8 replies
mandy95 Nu2this
Posted
Regards,
Mandy
chris08587 Nu2this
Posted
Hydro/ plaquinil is an anti malaria drug. They have no idea why it works for many of us with Sjogren’s and other autoimmune diseases. I have taken it for almost a year and recommend it as it is supposed to slow disease progression. Sorry I can’t give u any advice re: sinus/ allergy stuff. I take none of that as I know it will only dry me out more. I do restasis and unfortunately has not been earth changing. But how much worse would I be without it? That’s the question that many of us must ask when we begin certain medications. I hope you feel better soon. I’m about to put cucumbers on my eyes in order to start my day.😀
aitarg35939 Nu2this
Posted
Allergies & allergic-like reactions will continue to happen as long as we are exposed to the irritant without taking some treatment. It's that simple. You can take every SS drug out there and you will still react when those things are out there in the air.
Where I live we are lucky if we have 20 days, scattered throughout the year, sans major irritants in the air-- and that's all the natural stuff, not touching pollution. I take plain clarinex year-round. You can try something with a decongestant briefly, but not necessarily good to use decongestant forever. Decongestants over time are drying; plain claritin & plain clarinex don't have decongestants. They are not as drying as benadryl.
Nu2this aitarg35939
Posted
Thank you. Thought all allergy meds were off limits. I will give clarinex a try. Docs had prescribed Claritin abd Zyrtex as well as Singular but after 3 days i am dry and don't feel any affects
aitarg35939 Nu2this
Posted
You may benefit from any or all if the following:
Saline mist: ocean or generic in plastic prepared bottles. There are best ways to use this & other nasal sprays. PM me if you want that piece of pedantry.
Nasacort aq, climate, etc: I use the 1st as the rose scent of the 2d inflames me & has caused a migraine or 3, but I'm extraordinarily scent-sensitive. Same best practices apply. These do work in ways that the pills don't, tho please don't ask me to explain.
For ultra moisture & clean out of sinuses, use a mechanical roto-rooter gizmo to force warm sterile saline further up inside the sinuses. Neti pot works for some tho useless with a deviated septum, per my otolaryngologist. These are all gross because you are flushing your sinuses. They leave me feeling moisturized even a ways down my wind pipe for several hours. Must keep the gizmo clean & I was told not to use more than 4 times daily. Mine is battery-driven from neilmed. Washes out pollen pretty well.
Nu2this aitarg35939
Posted
Hi aitarg,
Thank you for your advice. I want to PM you but for some reason don't know how on this site. Would love to know your technique with the sprays. Currently I do the saline mist but that last only about 15 min before it evaporates and im back to congestion. I have the flonase but it doesn't do much as usually im congested and the medication cannot reach my nasal passages due to the inflammation. Feels like im always walking around witha head cold.
aitarg35939 Nu2this
Posted
Nu2this aitarg35939
Posted