Posted , 5 users are following.
Has anyone purchased test strips and completed this test? I see they are available to the public. I was comparing the cost of the test strips versus the doctor copay and possibly test copay.
0 likes, 7 replies
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mrsmop jj34180
Posted
My Consultant Ophthalmologist did it on me, I don't really see how you can do it yourself. Are you in the UK?
annie56356 jj34180
Posted
I had it at the Optometrist. The guy who tests your sight for glasses is qualified to do this. Difficult to do yourself as it's awkward.
annie56356
Posted
The Optometrist also visually assesses the "tear lakes" & does the other dry eye test too (for tear film dry up time).
lily65668 jj34180
Posted
Hi jj,
No, I haven't purchased the strips. I don't even know whether they're available OTC where I live. (I see you're in the US.)
My question would be: why do you want to do the test on yourself, rather than seeing an ophthalmologist? Even if you managed to do it - and as someone else has said, it wouldn't be all that easy - no doctor of any kind would accept that as a positive diagnosis.
Even if an ophthalmologist performed the test and got a positive, no rheumatologist still would accept it, so you wouldn't be able to get systemic treatment (DMARDs, steroids, immunosuppressants etc.) This is one of the (many!) problems with Sjogren's. Each specialist firmly believes it only affects the parts of the body covered by his/her speciality.
For example, an ophthalmologist did the Schirmer's on me six weeks ago and reported zero tears, which he said meant an automatic diagnosis of Sjogren's. When I mentioned I also had a dry mouth, he informed me categorically that there was absolutely no connection between the two! The only other condition he was prepared to consider as possibly being part of the syndrome was rheumatoid arthritis - and he said he didn't personally believe even that. I forbore to enquire as to how Sjogren's could possibly be a syndrome (definition: a group of symptoms) if its only symptom was dry eyes.
To add to that, the Schirmer's isn't necessarily accurate anyway, as it only gives a snapshot of what's going on in your eyes at the moment it's done. I got the diagnosis at the end of the April, on the grounds that the Schirmer's test done at that time showed no tear production at all in either eye. But in mid-May I got very upset about something one day, had a little weep and - lo and behold! - squeezed out a tear or two from one eye and produced a near-normal amount from the other (the one that's been giving me the most pain).
In summary - I'd say don't waste your money on buying an OTC Schirmer's test.
jj34180
Posted
lily65668 jj34180
Posted
I think you're right about that jj. And in any case, if your lip biopsies are negative you're unlikely ever to get a diagnosis of Sjogren's from a rheumatologist, however many symptoms you have.
Megheart jj34180
Posted
As everyone else has said, to do this test on yourself would be close to impossible. The timing has to be exact, the lighting, the positioning of the strips etc.
I'd put my trust much more in an Ophthalmologists method and result.
After doing my Schirmers test my Ophthalmologist said, based on my story of all the other issues I was experiencing and the Schirmers result he felt I had Sjögrens Syndrome. He was proved correct when eventually my blood results became seropositive.
I'm sorry Lily but I think your Ophthalmologist is either unbelievably ignorant or he is ahead of his times and has discovered a new definition for Sjögren's.....but as you say, what he believes the currently described SYNDROME part to mean, is anyone's guess.