Sjogren's Syndrome Support Group
Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disorder in which immune cells attack and destroy the exocrine glands that produce tears and saliva. It also associated with rheumatic disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, and it is rheumatoid factor positive in 90 percent of cases.
Hello everyone,
I've been on the Rheumatoid Arthritis board for a year but have recently wondered if maybe I've been misdiagnosed or maybe i have both. U
I'll try to keep this short:
2003 I had a weird fever, diagnosed with walking pneumonia. I remember having these pins & needles feeling in my feet & hands. I would take long warm baths to help sooth it. It eventually went away but I was left with a weird productive cough (not dry). I bounce back & forth from Gastroenologist, to Allergist to ENT. No one could figure it out!? I was also a smoker.
I stopped smoking back in 2007 but I'm still left with this weird productive cough. i just chalked it up to allergies. The most peculiar symptom I have is sometimes when I eat something I get a response like I just bit into a strong lemon! Those glands at the back my jaw just go crazy & I make that "just ate a lemon face"! But it could be with any type of food? It used to happen a lot but I'd say about 90% if it is gone.
Also, I have have these weird (dx'd as) seborrheic dermatitis rashes on my sideburns, between my eyebrows & side of my nose. Lupus test was negative.
However, one of the main symptoms I see for SS is dry eyes & dry mouth & i don't have that. I do have issues swallowing but that's because of the over productive drainage from my sinuses, or so it seems.
Has anyone been misdiagnosed with RA & it ended up being Sjogrens or vice versa? I do have joint pain & it used to have swelling & all the classic RA symptoms but now I just have slight joint pain, no swelling, no hot red joints & nothing symmetrical?
Sorry, it was a little longer of a post than i thought.
I've been on the Rheumatoid Arthritis board for a year but have recently wondered if maybe I've been misdiagnosed or maybe i have both. U
I'll try to keep this short:
2003 I had a weird fever, diagnosed with walking pneumonia. I remember having these pins & needles feeling in my feet & hands. I would take long warm baths to help sooth it. It eventually went away but I was left with a weird productive cough (not dry). I bounce back & forth from Gastroenologist, to Allergist to ENT. No one could figure it out!? I was also a smoker.
I stopped smoking back in 2007 but I'm still left with this weird productive cough. i just chalked it up to allergies. The most peculiar symptom I have is sometimes when I eat something I get a response like I just bit into a strong lemon! Those glands at the back my jaw just go crazy & I make that "just ate a lemon face"! But it could be with any type of food? It used to happen a lot but I'd say about 90% if it is gone.
Also, I have have these weird (dx'd as) seborrheic dermatitis rashes on my sideburns, between my eyebrows & side of my nose. Lupus test was negative.
However, one of the main symptoms I see for SS is dry eyes & dry mouth & i don't have that. I do have issues swallowing but that's because of the over productive drainage from my sinuses, or so it seems.
Has anyone been misdiagnosed with RA & it ended up being Sjogrens or vice versa? I do have joint pain & it used to have swelling & all the classic RA symptoms but now I just have slight joint pain, no swelling, no hot red joints & nothing symmetrical?
Sorry, it was a little longer of a post than i thought.
Interesting, thanks! So basically the medications for one are probably going to be the meds for choice for the other? I'm assuming biologics & DMARDS are pretty familiar to the SSyndrome crowd?
Thanks for the input!
Hi WG, yes I am RA positive but am presently in remission, or what appears to be remission. I haven't been on any medications since December & I just went through mild flare up in May/June. I only ventured into the possibility of SS due to my cough, which has always been unexplained & tossed aside as an "all of a sudden allergy", which I've never believed.