Sjögrens Forum

Q: I have been diagonsed with sjogrens about 2 years ago, i had a lip biopsy to confirm.  I have a gland at the base of my neck right above the colar bone that is swollen and hurts, the gland behind my left ear is always swollen, i have gained weight and cannot lose it.  I have a large lump at the base of the back of my neck right on the spinal cord not sure if it is just  muscle or something else.  I drink constantly nothing helps.  I have tmg and chewing gum makes it worse so doing that to decrese dry mouth is out of the question.  I have severe nausea take carafate 4 times a day and protoxin 2 times a day. I have issues with cysts thoughout my body, ovaires, breast, and know im getting red bumps on my body that look like pimples but are not.  Could those be lupus marks?  (I have secondary lupus )  I have been diagnosed with gastro issues, ibs etc.  I have had 2 polyps removed from my colon.  One was cancerous but removed in time. I have a cyst on my vocal cords that the ent is probably going to remove next month. I have severe headaches, fibro doesn't help with the pain,  I drop everything and can barely open a bottle of water any more.  I take mobic, plaquinil, for the sjogrens. Is all of this related to sjogrens??

A: If your lip bx was positive (infiltrating lymphocytes), then it is possible that lymphocytes have "homed" and stayed in other tissues as well. Only way to be sure is to bx the tissue involved, but that may not always make clinical sense.

Perhaps with review of your symptoms with your treating physician, there may be some targeted lab tests that might help determine if increased lymphocyte presence or activity is playing a role in your symptoms. Then some treatment/management strategies options may be proposed.

As always, other more common reasons for each symptom have to be considered.

Figuring these things out takes detective work and patience!

dr c