I thought this article was interesting, I never knew Shogrens could cause
all this stuff.
Dr. Paul Donohue
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lif...D?OpenDocument
Dry eyes, mouth only part of Sjögren's
By Dr. Paul Donohue
Monday, Sep. 24 2007
Dear Dr. Donohue: I have had Sjögren's syndrome for more than five
years. I
never have had much of a problem with it other than dry eyes and dry
mouth.
Recently I have had pain in my shoulders, arms, wrists and fingers.
The doctor
says my Sjögren's is "off the chart." He told me to take
Tylenol Extra
Strength. I need stronger pain medicine. The doctor says there hasn't
been much
research on Sjögren's, so I have no idea what kind of treatment I
should be
getting. Can you give me any help? I was also diagnosed with lymphoma.
Dry eyes and dry mouth are the classic Sjögren's (SHOW-grins) syndrome
symptoms
due to an immune-system attack on the tear and salivary glands. There
are
medicines for both.
Sjögren's can bring on joint pains, swollen lymph nodes, lung
involvement,
inflamed blood vessels, kidney and liver trouble, neuropathy and
muscle
inflammation. About 2.5 percent of Sjögren's patients come down with a
lymphoma.
Yours is a complicated case that needs the direction of experts — a
rheumatologist for whom Sjögren's is part of his or her area of
expertise and
an oncologist for the lymphoma cancer. Furthermore, other joint
diseases —
rheumatoid arthritis and lupus — can coexist with Sjögren's, and
either could
be the reason for your pain. Those illnesses call for the attention of
a
rheumatologist specialist.
Contact the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation. The foundation's toll-free
number is
1-800-475-6473, and its website is
www.sjogrens.org.
Dear Dr. Donohue: For three and a half years, I was diagnosed as
having
inflammatory bowel disease, but the doctor was vague about calling it
either
Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. I had to use the bathroom 10 to
15 times
a day. I did not fit the picture of a person with IBD, since I gained
weight. I
got a second opinion and was told I had irritable bowel syndrome. I
took
Lomotil and it helped, but I still had accidents. I mentioned to the
doctor
that I had had my gallbladder removed, and he put me on Colestid.
Today I lead
a relatively active life, eat salads and fruits and have my diabetes
under
control. People should know this side effect of gallbladder surgery.
The gallbladder stores bile and shoots it into the intestine after a
fatty meal
to aid in digestion. Without a gallbladder, bile drips into the
intestine more
or less constantly, and most people get along quite well with that
arrangement.
For a few, however, the constant drip irritates the intestine and
brings on
diarrhea.
Colestid and another medicine, Questran, absorb bile, and either often
ends
bile-induced diarrhea.
Write Dr. Donohue at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, Fla. 32853-6475.‚
__________________________________________________ ___________________
If you enjoy reading about interesting news, you might like the 3
O'Clock Stir from
STLtoday.com. Sign up and you'll receive an email with unique stories
of the day,
every Monday-Friday, at no charge.
Sign up at
http://newsletters.stltoday.com
--
Love and Hugs to all
Jo the squirrely one
Dry eyes, mouth only part of Sjögren's 
Linear Mode
