Sjogren’s and Gastointestial Symptoms
Last Monday the subject of “dryness” came up at my rheumatologist appointment. I’ve been experiencing nausea, cramping, bloating, throwing up, you name it— the whole nine yards— and for no apparent reason. After discussing history and symptoms, Dr. S explained that these symptoms are often a result of secondary RA and Lupus-related syndromes, such as Sjrogren’s.
So I did some reading and initially found very little in-depth (most sites say GI issues, but don’t explain the physiology behind it) information on how Sjrogren’s affects the stomach/intestines. Well, I’ve found some and figured I’d share:
- Sjrogren’s affects mucous production in the intestines. Mucous acts as a barrier to inflammation. Less mucous = more inflammation = irritated bowel.
- Sjrogren’s often results in chronic sinusitis and post-nasal drip, and it’s common knowledge that a post-nasal drip can cause awful nausea.
- “Mild elevations of hepatic enzymes may be seen”
- “Chronic atrophic gastritis”, meaning inflammation of the stomach’s mucousal lining
- For more information on GI issues/Sjogren’s, I found these two resources particularly helpful:link one, link two (J.Hopkins)
I had no idea what rheumatoid arthritis would really come to mean when I was first diagnosed. I thought a little joint pain and fatigue could not possibly stop me in my tracks so long as I stayed on Plaquenil. Wrong. Six(?) medications later and we’ve progressed to biologics. Never in a million years did ocular/vaginal dryness, IBS and secondary syndromes and injection therapy and so on would become my “new normal.”
