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Diane's Story

    I don't know exactly when I developed Sjogren's but my first clear memory of symptoms goes back 12 years when I had what I thought was a 6 week bout of a body flu, aching all over.  My eyes have been very light sensitive for 15 years and I have always had difficulty cutting onions as my eyes burn terribly and water like a tap, so I guess I could have had Sjogren's for much longer than the 12 years.

    I first sought help from the medical profession 8 years ago as I put on 21 kg. in weight, was very stiff and painful most of the time, became exhausted and started falling asleep in the middle of the day, was dizzy, felt sick all the time, and went off most foods as they all seemed too hard to digest.  I also had the most awful pain in my feet, I would liken this to gout pain.  My eyes were watering a lot, my face felt very drawn and dry and I had started choking at night and felt as if I could not get air into my lungs.  The Drs. response was that I was worrying about getting old and advised that I could not expect to feel like a teenager forever.  I was also told to lose weight.

    I have always been tiny, had a good appetite but never put on weight, always very active and had boundless energy, so this weight gain and lack of energy was not me.  I returned to that same Dr. again and complained about the pain in my feet and the choking but was again dismissed with comments about the very busy life I lead.

    At a later date I returned to the surgery determined to get some answers and was lucky enough to see a Locum who was filling in.  She had blood tests run and this confirmed an auto immune disease and my dry eyes, skin, and aching joints confirmed that it was Sjogren's.  I was told that of all the auto immune diseases this was the one to get as I would need to put lots of cream on my dry skin and would not get as many wrinkles as other women.  I left the surgery thinking I had done well, but soon realized that I was still in terrible pain with my feet, still choking, still exhausted etc. so returned again to the Dr. and begged for some sort of help.  The Dr. sent me to a Rheumatologist who spent 90 percent of the visit insisting I have a breast X ray as my family have a history of breast cancer.  As he was about to send me off I asked what he was going to do about my very painful feet etc.  He offered to cut the nerves in my feet so I wouldn't feel the pain and said that eventually the Sjogren's would get into my heart and lungs and that he would then offer me cortisone to ease the stress, but insisted that I hold off using this drug until I could no longer stand the pain, due to its side effects.

    A short time later I happened to see my old Dr. who had sold his clinic and was filling in.  He took one look at me and asked what on earth was going on as I had put on so much weight and looked terrible.  He ran blood tests also to confirm the first diagnosis and put me on cortisone for 7 weeks; the relief was fantastic, unfortunately, he also advised me to hold off using this drug until I had no other option and so, back to square one again.

    I went to another GP, had more blood tests done, and a scan of my throat to see if there was some other reason for the choking.  All this revealed was that I had an odd shaped thyroid.

    I started going to a naturopath but this also did nothing to ease my symptoms.  I went to a podiatrist who made inserts for my sneakers to ease the pain; this was helpful as long as I only wore my sneakers and was not on my feet all day.  I work full time in our own retail business and so find it hard to keep up with that and the house and find time to rest, so I just keep plodding on.

    My chiropractor saw me and was shocked in the change in me.  I explained what I had and that the medical profession seemed not to have any answers and so he recommended that I go to another naturopath/acupuncturist who uses a machine called a Mora, not unlike the Vega machine except much more advanced.  This machine locates the most traumatized organ/part of the body and selects the appropriate body channel to receive the treatment, then electronic acupuncture is sent down that channel to bring that organ into line.

    My first visit resulted in a diagnosis of a yeast infection of the bowel (I should add that I had suffered all my life with bowel problems and no specialist, colonoscopy, or gastroscopy came up with any answers to this), the treatment for this yeast infection was a sugar and yeast free diet for 2 weeks and acidodophillus capsules.  My bowel has not looked back since then, a remarkable 3 years.  That first treatment also gave my liver 160 pulses of acupuncture, a very large dose, but needed as my liver was in a poor state (not unremarkable when you think that the liver is the drainage system for the lymph system and the Sjogren's was killing off cells at a faster than normal rate).  My second treatment was to the lymph system and in particular to my legs which had been unable to drain through the liver due to the liver being clogged up.  I could have danced after this treatment as the relief was almost immediate.

    I continue to see my acupuncturist on a regular basis as I still have the Sjogren's and it stresses my system causing organs to malfunction, but he always seems to give me great relief from the stress the organs are under and I now have much more energy and don't sob with the pain in my feet each night. I am still overweight, very stiff and painful joints, my skin is dry but not so bad that I look drawn.  I very rarely use artificial tears now and I have not needed artificial saliva for more than 2 years.  I occasionally have a harsh dry cough especially at night, but most of this seems to be caused by the fact that I have become allergic to yeast and processed meat like ham and bacon and if I go out and ingest some of these substances, I feel it almost immediately in my lungs and start to bark like a whooping cough type of cough.  I have had 2 bouts of pleurisy this year and an ongoing infection in my left tonsil, all results of the dryness of these areas letting bugs get in.

    I have seen another Rheumatologist who said he felt I was handling the problem in the best way possible and who again said that I should hold off using cortisone as long as possible.  I am in the process of trying to find another GP who will take my symptoms seriously and have regular blood tests done and watch for any complications that may arise.  Apart from that, I am very grateful for my chiropractor who referred me to my acupuncturist.  He has been my life line for the past 3 years and has solved all sorts of problems which keep cropping up such as digestive problems, allergic reactions, bladder and kidney problems, and of course, my liver and lymph system.

    I am now 56 years of age with two grown sons, a husband, two cats, and a love bird who thinks he is human.  Life is busy but I like it like that even though I get very tired.

    My best wishes to all Sjogren's sufferers for the year 2000 and beyond, and my hopes that someone, somewhere will find the answer for all auto immune diseases and bring relief to us all.

Kindest Regards,

Diane.
2/1/2000

Story Copyright © 2000-2007 Diane

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