Plaquenil is one of the safest drugs used to treat Sjögren's. It can especially be helpful for Sjögren's arthritis, fatigue, and rashes. It is important to get two eye tests done every year to make sure that it doesn't cause any eye problems.
Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), a drug designed to treat malaria, is often helpful in treating Sjogren's syndrome. Drugs that suppress the immune system, such as methotrexate (Trexall), also might be prescribed.
Rituximab may be considered as an option for select adults with systemic disease conditions such as vasculitis, severe parotid swelling, inflammatory arthritis, pulmonary disease, and severe neuropathy.
Avoid medicines that are known to cause dry eyes. These include antihistamines, diuretics, and some antidepressants. Talk with your doctor if you take any of these medicines. Sometimes the benefits of a medicine outweigh the risks.
Avoiding foods that tend to exacerbate symptoms including alcohol, caffeine, acidic foods, and spicy foods.
Falk: What kinds of factors can make Sjogren's worse? What is the effect, for example, of stress? Jonas: Well, like all autoimmune diseases, patients who feel stressed or are under unusual stress will often have exacerbation of their symptoms. Learning to manage that stress in your life is very important.
Sweet & Spicy : Sjogren's syndrome tends to cause a dry and irritated mouth. By eating spicy or sweet food, the irritation can become worse.
Sjögren's syndrome can cause nerve damage which regulates the coordination of heartbeat, respiration, and gastric motility. This is called an “autonomic neuropathy.” Examples of symptoms include lightheadedness when standing, decreased or increased sweating, and feeling full despite eating small meals.
Aches and pains
Your joints may be painful and swollen due to inflammation, or you might feel that various parts of your body, such as your muscles, are achy and tender. Some people with this condition have headaches and migraines.
Hydroxychloroquine; first-line treatment. Methotrexate. Hydroxychloroquine plus methotrexate.
Doctors typically use steroids to treat flare-ups, when symptoms such as joint pain and rashes come on suddenly. Steroids such as prednisone or methylprednisolone are taken by mouth, and your doctor determines the dosage based on the severity of your symptoms.
The preferred first therapeutic approach for oral dryness according to salivary gland function may be: Non-pharmacological stimulation for mild dysfunction; pharmacological stimulation for moderate dysfunction*; saliva substitution for severe dysfunction (LoE 1a/*1b, LoA 8.7)
Being identified with extraglandular Sjögren's usually warrants systemic immune suppressive therapy with agents such as azathioprine, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide or rituximab.
Mild Sjogren disease has a good prognosis but those with moderate to severe disease have a very poor quality of life. The dry mouth and eyes often cause irritable symptoms which are not well tolerated.
Constipation and diarrhea can occur with Sjögren's. Increase vegetables. Try magnesium supplement for constipation. The pancreas, which releases digestive enzymes, can have low-level inflammation (20-40%) in Sjögren's.
Phase two showed that people with Sjogren's syndrome tended to have problematic sleep. These patients would have more nighttime awakenings and have lower sleep efficiency, meaning they spent more time in bed without sleeping. The patients with Sjogren's had an overall lower quality of sleep [8].
We divided SS patients into three stages: stage I is glandular SS, stage II is extraglandular SS, and stage III is extraglandular SS with lymphoid malignancy. The lymphoaggressive nature of the disease appears to lead SS patients from stage I to II and from stage II to III.
Since vitamin B12 deficiency can cause a form of anaemia, some people with Sjögren's syndrome may benefit from taking a supplement.
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted from the sun and other light sources (such as some fluorescent lights) can alter immune function and lead to an autoimmune response in the body and skin. In response to the sun, Sjögren's patients can experience skin rashes, ocular sensitivity, pain, and disease flares.
Trigger: High and low temperatures
About half the time, it occurs alongside other autoimmune conditions such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or scleroderma. Barsky points to a recent study showing that both extreme heat and cold often affect Sjögren's.
Avoid alcohol (including alcohol-based oral elixirs) because this can aggravate symptoms and mouth dryness. Tobacco. You should not smoke, and you should avoid areas where people are smoking, as this can aggravate dryness symptoms.