Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Thoughts and Ramblings on Life, Love, and Health: How Sjogren's Has Affected Me

Christine, authoress of Thoughts and Ramblings on Life, Love and Health has written a very good post kicking off April's Sjogren's syndrome awareness month:



Today is April 1st, the first day of Sjögren's Syndrome Awareness Month. Despite the fact that Sjögren's is one of the most common autoimmune disorders out there, most people have not heard of it and many doctors do not know how to appropriately treat the illness or its complications.

The Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation put out a blog post today which included an updated human diagram of the different systems that Sjögren's affects. Oftentimes, Sjögren's is looked at as solely an illness that causes dry mouth and dry eyes. To start with, the dryness that accompanies Sjögren's is no small matter. Dry eyes can cause serious ocular complications, including vision loss and dry mouth can cause difficulties with swallowing and rampant tooth decay. In addition to dry eyes and dry mouth, Sjögren's can adversely affect just about every system in the body, as illustrated in the SSF's diagram above.

I have been doing this blog for a while now, so I don't remember if I posted about my specific Sjögren's symptoms, but I seem to think that I never have done so. This blog entry is going to be about that...the Sjögren's related symptoms that I have had to deal with since my journey with this illness began. Please don't panic! It does not mean you will have the same symptoms or even have it as severely as I do. But, it is important to be as informed as possible. Only YOU  are going to be the person driving the bus towards wellness.

Continue reading here.

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