PMR and Sjogren's Syndrome
Posted , 15 users are following.
I was recently told that its extremely rare for a person to have both Sjogren's syndrome and PMR at the same time. Can anyone confirm this as true or false?
1 like, 28 replies
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Notes on PMR and Sjogren's Syndrome
MrsO-UK_Surrey amkoffee
Posted
amkoffee, I was diagnosed with Mickulitz's Syndrome (linked to Sjogren's) during my PMR/GCA days. It was initially felt to be Sjogren's but a wonderful rheumatologist decided it was Mickulitz's and he was proved right because the symptoms disappeared after about 7 months whereas Sjogren's is unlikely to resolve. May I ask what symptoms you are experiencing that have given rise to this question?
amkoffee MrsO-UK_Surrey
Posted
Oh the typical dry mouth and dry eyes which is been going on for years. And I'm also discovering that my nose is dry as well so I just been using saline in my nose to see if that will help the dryness. Oh yeah and my skin is horrible, especially my feet. I've heard that Sjogren's can cause achy joints but since I already have achy joints and muscles from PMR and from inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis in a few joint it's really hard to say what pain is from what disease.
linda17563 amkoffee
Posted
roxanne34010 amkoffee
Posted
I have both Sjogren's and PMR. The Sjogren's came first and when I began having PMR symptoms and four different doctors had no idea what was wrong with me, I did some research online and discovered my symptoms could be related to Sjogren's. I contacted my rheumatologist who practices about 100 miles from me and he scheduled a visit. He manipulated my joints and when I had pain, he said this was not typical of Sjogren's and suspected PMR. The markers in my blood work sounded like I had PMR so he put me on 15 mg of Prednisone. After just one dose, almost all of my discomfort went away. It was like a miracle and he said this absolutely confirmed I had PMR. Right now, I'm on 4 mg of Prednisone and we'll see what happens. I have another autoimmune disease called erosive osteoarthritis which affects my hands. So, I don't know how rare all of this is but things could always be worse.
darlene36688 amkoffee
Posted
I have all the symptoms.
Dry eye, dry mouth, dry nose, my skin is in bad shape, that feeling like a grain of sand is in your eye.
I use Biotene at night, a spray for other times, Sustayne Balance eye drops.
I use a sleep mask at night it helps with the dryness of the eyes.
amkoffee
Posted
Because of my dry mouth condition and the prednisone I'm on and I should include that I'm on a steroid inhaler, I get thrush a lot. Only my thrush does not cause the white splotches. I learned recently that if you have a very dry mouth it is not uncommon to not have the white splotches one normally sees with thrush. In any event my tongue is super sensitive when I have thrush and even after I have treated it and it's better but my tongue is still quite sensitive. So I cannot use anything with mint in it because it burns my tongue. And unfortunately practically everything I can use to help my dry mouth has mint in it.
Porgi amkoffee
Posted
I've got thrush in my mouth and throat and oesophagus and am just on occasional anitbiotics. The only thing I've found that helps my dry mouth is to constantly sip water but every morning when I wake up my mouth and lips are so dry I can hardly talk. Ice be interested to know if anyone has found something none flavoured that helps
Anhaga Porgi
Posted
I think you need anti fungals for thrush, don't you? And something which helps rebalance the microfauna in your mouth and esophagus which will have been decimated by the antibiotics.
mary19068 Porgi
Posted
You can ask your doc for a liquid mouth spray that acts like saliva...i had it when i had very dry eyes and mouth because my tongue would be stuck to the roof of my mouth in the morning. ..
amkoffee Porgi
Posted
The most common medicine doctors prescribe for thrush seems to be Nystatin. But I hate the taste of it and have started using Clotrimazole. Have you ever tried it? If not you really should ask your doctor to try it. It's a lozenge that you suck on until it's gone. 5 times a day. It tastes so much better.
EileenH Porgi
Posted
Do you really mean antibiotics? For the thrush? Thrush needs anti-fungal medication.
Thrush is often due to having been on antibiotics as they kill the good bacteria that keep our body healthy and leave space for "bad" bacteria and fungal infections to take over - like your plants in the garden dying off and leaving space for weeds. Taking probiotics after having been on antibiotic can help - and strangely something as simple as using good quality, natural organic yoghurt as well.
But in addition - such dryness sould be a sign of Sjogren's syndrome and making the thrush worse. The Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation has an excellent pdf handout on "Oral Candidiasis (Thrush) in Sjögren's." with their "Top 10 Tips for Burning Mouth from Oral Candidiasis (Thrush)" which you might find helpful - just google the bits I have put in quotes to find it on one or other site.