My name is Martha, I am 73 years of age and retired.  I have three children and six grandchildren.  I was divorced in 1974 and continued to raise my then teen age children.  I have lived alone since 1981.

     At about age 60 I started having dry mouth.  I attributed it to stress, as it seemed my mouth got dry when I was in a stressful situation or was anticipating one.  My job was demanding at times.  Next it was the dry eyes.  I had swollen glands in the roof of my mouth behind my ears.  I lost my voice at least once a year.  My sick days at work reflect a record of "flu-like symptoms"-sore joints, fatigue, etc.

     After my retirement at age 64 I slowed down, but my health seemed to be in more jeopardy than before.  I attributed this to the down side of retirement.  I have never been one to go to doctors.  It seems that you always get well sooner or later, but this time soreness, fatigue and always the dryness persisted.

     A few years ago I read in a local newspaper about a retired nurse who had realized that she had the same condition that her mother had experienced.  She kept going from doctor to doctor until she found an out of town doctor at a teaching hospital who diagnosed Sjogren's Syndrome.  I was so happy to know that somebody had made me aware of this condition.  I called her in a nearby town.  She told me about a support group she had started.  I started attending and found such comfort.  All of the women in the group are of retirement age or more, I believe, except for one who is 55.  We discovered that each of us self diagnosed ourselves and sought help based on our individual symptoms.  I have a doctor whom I dearly love and I had told her for three consecutive years that my mouth was dryer than a desert and asked could it be stress or maybe diabetes?  Nothing was determined until I showed her the newspaper article.  She arranged for me to see a Rheumatologist who did the tests and diagnosed Primary Sjogren's Syndrome.

     Since then I have had punctual plugs put in my eyes, but I had a bad reaction in my left eye.  I have a cataract implant in that eye and also I had a large sty at the time of the plugs.  The plugs did not work.  I never realized any more moisture than before.  The plugs probably self destructed; they had disappeared when I went back to the ophthalmologist.  He wanted to cauterize the tear ducts, but I told him that I would have to know someone who had a real success with that procedure before agreeing.

     At this time I have great difficulty swallowing.  My taste is practically nil.  My tongue is always sore and often swollen.  I have had a great deal of dental work done the past 2-3 years; I cannot eat anything after about 5:00 or I have a continuous swallowing effect all night.  I awake about three or four or five times each night with eyes dried shut.  By the way, I have used all the eye drops there are and even tried the ointments.  The doctors seem to think the thicker the drops the more effective they are.  I have found the best thing for me is water.  I awake and feel my way to the bathroom, and with my hands under running water, I bathe my closed eyes for several seconds.  I blot them and IMMEDIATELY I have relief and can see better than I ever could with eye drops.  The eye drops made my eyelids too thick to open and close and yet require continuous use.  After using eye drops all during the night from 8:30 on, I could not read the newspaper for several hours.  With the water bathing I can read the paper immediately and have clear vision.  I even have a modicum of moisture in my eyes during the day.

     I do not take any internal medicine.  I use a Biotene mouthwash and toothpaste.  I shut down about 8:00 p.m.  I have been talking to some people about alternative ways to handle this.  I believe there is some help somewhere and we have to  keep on trying.