Many diseases could be the cause of Sjögren’s syndrome, it found more commonly in families that have members with other autoimmune illnesses, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune thyroid disease, type I diabetes, etc.

Accordingly, certain genes that are inherited from ancestors can likely predispose one to the development of Sjögren’s syndrome. It should also be noted that Sjögren’s syndrome can also be sporadic and occur in a person from a family with no known autoimmunity.

In Sjogren’s syndrome, our immune system first targets the glands that make tears and saliva, but it can also damage other parts of our body, such as:

• Joints
• Thyroid
• Kidneys
• Liver
• Lungs
• Skin
• Nerves

Symptoms of Sjögren’s syndrome can involve the glands, as explained above, but there are also possible effects of the illness involving other organs of the body (extra glandular manifestations).

When the lacrimal gland is inflamed from Sjögren’s, the resulting eye dryness can progressively lead to symptoms such as eye irritation, decreased tear production, a “gritty” sensation, eye infection, and serious abrasion of the cornea.

Dry eyes can lead to infections of the eyes and blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelids). The condition of having dry eyes is medically referred to as xerophthalmia. When the eyes become inflamed from dryness, it is referred to as keratoconjunctivitis sicca.

Inflammation of the salivary glands can lead to the following symptoms and signs:

• mouth dryness, sores and swelling.
• dental decay and cavities.
• gum disease.
• swallowing difficulties.
• hoarseness or impaired voice.
• abnormality of taste or loss of taste.
• dry cough.
• stones and/or infection of the parotid gland inside of the cheeks.

Dry lips often accompany mouth dryness. Dry mouth is a condition medically referred to as xerostomia.

Other glands that can become inflamed, though less commonly, in Sjögren’s syndrome include those of the lining of the breathing passages (leading to lung infections), rectum, urinary tract and the vagina (sometimes causing a woman pain during intercourse or recurrent vaginal infections).

Extra glandular (outside of the glands) problems in Sjögren’s syndrome include fatigue, joint pain or inflammation (arthritis), Raynaud’s phenomenon, lung inflammation, lymph node enlargement, and kidney, nerve, joint pain, and muscle disease with muscle pain and weakness. A rare serious complication of Sjögren’s syndrome is inflammation of the blood vessels (vasculitis), which can damage the tissues of the body that are supplied by these vessels.

A common disease that is occasionally associated with Sjögren’s syndrome is autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), which can lead to abnormal thyroid hormone levels detected by thyroid blood tests.

Heartburn and difficulty swallowing can result from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), another common condition associated with Sjögren’s syndrome.

A rare and serious disease that is uncommonly associated with Sjögren’s syndrome is primary biliary cirrhosis, an autoimmune disorder of the liver that leads to scarring of the liver tissue.

A small percentage of patients with Sjögren’s syndrome develop cancer of the lymph glands (lymphoma).

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of Sjögren’s syndrome involves noting criteria such as dryness of the eyes and mouth. Significant dryness of the eyes can be determined by Schirmer’s test using Schirmer tear test strips (The eye’s ability to wet a small testing paper strip placed under the eyelid.

A doctor should recommend some or all of the following tests:

• Blood and urine tests, to look for the presence of antibodies common in Sjögren’s syndrome. The results of an ANA (antinuclear antibody) test will determine if patient have an autoimmune disorder. Typical antibodies that are found in most, but not all patients, are SS-A and SS-B antibodies (Sjögren’s syndrome A and B antibodies, also known as anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies), rheumatoid factor, thyroid antibodies, and others. Low red blood count (anemia) and abnormal blood levels of markers of inflammation (sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein) are seen.
• Schirmer’s test, to see if patient’s tear glands are producing enough tears to keep his eyes moist.
• Ocular surface staining to look closely at the surfaces of patient’s eyes for damage and dryness.
• Salivary gland function scans, which look at the glands on the sides of patient’s neck, below his/her ears and under the jaw.
• A biopsy of the lip to look for inflammation of the glands that produce saliva and tears. This test can determine the type of inflammation and the severity. A biopsy of the lip is performed because the salivary glands just under the lip’s inner surface are the easiest glands to access.
• Sialo Metry, which measures the flow of saliva.
• Ultrasonography of the major salivary glands to reveal characteristic structural changes that can aid in diagnosis.

The treatment of patients with Sjögren’s syndrome is directed toward the particular areas of the body that are involved and the prevention of complications such as infection. There is no cure for Sjögren’s syndrome in allopathic medicines (for treatment of Sjögren’s syndrome read below the Homeopathic treatment).

Dryness of the eyes can be helped by artificial tears, using eye-lubricant ointments at night, and minimizing the use of hair dryers. When dryness becomes more significant, the ophthalmologist can plug the tear duct closed so that tears cover the eye longer. Cyclosporine eyedrops are eyedrops that can reduce the inflammation of the tear glands, thereby improving their function. Signs of eye infection (conjunctivitis), such as pus or excessive redness or pain, should be evaluated by the doctor.

The dietary addition of flaxseed oil may also benefit eye dryness. Vitamin D supplementation may be beneficial, especially in those who have insufficient vitamin D blood levels.

The dry mouth can be helped by drinking plenty of fluids, humidifying the air, and good dental care to avoid dental decay. The glands can be stimulated to produce saliva by sucking on sugarless lemon drops or glycerin swabs.

Additional allopathic treatments for the symptom of dry mouth are prescription medications that are saliva stimulants, such as pilocarpine and cevimeline. These drugs should be avoided by patients with certain heart diseases, asthma, or glaucoma.

Diligent dental care is very important. Moist, warm compresses can be massaged onto the parotid glands to help relieve swelling and pain.

Saline nasal sprays can help dryness in the passages of the nose. Vaginal lubricant for sexual intercourse.

For allopathic treatment of rectal and vaginal dryness please visit www.dixecosmetics.com

Hydroxychloroquine has been helpful for some manifestations of Sjögren’s syndrome, particularly fatigue, and muscle and joint pains. Serious complications of Sjögren’s syndrome, such as vasculitis, can require immune-suppression medications, including cortisone (prednisone and others) and/or azathioprine or cyclophosphamide.

It is not uncommon for people with Sjögren’s syndrome to have complications of infections. Infections that are common in these patients include dental infections, eye infections, sinusitis, bronchitis, and vaginitis; Cancer of the lymph nodes (lymphoma), a rare complication of Sjögren’s syndrome, is treated independently.

Close monitoring and early treatment of these infections are keys to optimal outcomes.

Some people with Sjögren’s syndrome can develop inflammation of the parotid gland in the cheeks. This can lead to dryness of the ducts that drain the gland and stones can form that block these drainage tubes. This can be serious and require aggressive antibiotics and surgery (Homeopathy can solve these problems easily).

Homeopathic treatment for Sjögren’s syndrome

Homeopathy has a lot to offer in terms of medicines for dryness or malfunctioning glands, here are very few medicines proven in my practice since 2001 till now (Dr. Qaisar Ahmed MD, DHMS):

Natrum Muriaticum

Lids swollen, heavy, muscles weak and stiff. Letters run together. Sees sparks. Fiery, zigzag appearance around all objects. Burning in eyes. Stricture of lachrymal duct with suppuration. Escape of muco-pus when pressing upon sac. Lachrymation, burning and acidic. Asthenopia due to insufficiency of internal recti muscles. Cataract incipient.

Stoppage of nose, difficult breathing. Discharge thin and watery, like raw white of egg. Violent sneezing coryza. Sneezing. Loss of smell and taste. Internal soreness of nose. Dryness.

Frothy coating on tongue, with bubbles on side. Sense of dryness. Scorbutic gums. Numbness, tingling of tongue, lips, and nose. Eruptions around mouth and vesicles like pearls on lips. Lips and corners of mouth dry, ulcerated, and cracked. Deep crack in middle of lower lip. Tongue mapped. Loss of taste. Immoderate thirst. Constipation; stool dry, crumbling.

Manse’s irregular; usually profuse. Vagina dry. Leucorrhea acidic, watery. Bearing-down pains/Prolapsus uteri, with cutting in urethra.

Gelsemium Sempervirens

Ptosis; eyelids heavy; patient can hardly open them. Double vision. Disturbed muscular apparatus. Corrects blurring and discomfort in eyes. Vision blurred, smoky. Dim-sighted; pupils dilated and insensible to light. Orbital neuralgia, with contraction and twitching of muscles. One pupil dilated, the other contracted. Deep inflammations, with haziness of vitreous. Serous inflammations. Albuminuric retinitis. Detached retina, glaucoma and descemetitis. Hysterical amblyopia.

Sneezing. Dryness of nasal fossae. Swelling of turbinate. Watery, excoriating discharge. Acute coryza, with dull headache and fever.

Tongue numbed, thick, coated, yellowish, tremble, paralyzed. Difficult swallowing, itching and tickling in soft palate and Naso-pharynx. Pain in sterno-cleido-mastoid, back of parotid. Tonsils swollen. Aphonia. Urine retention. Vaginismus. Aphonia and sore throat during menses.

Linum Usitatissimum

Unpleasant heat in eyes, burning, dryness, and intense conjunctivitis, chemosis, swelling of lids, oedema. Irritation in lachrymal duct, nose – heated, burning dryness with indescribably scraping, itching sensation. Nasal passage completely closed. Complete paralysis of tongue. Could not articulate a word. Tip of the tongue turned upwards and backwards so as to touch the velum palate. Throat filled with large white blisters.

Borex veneta

Lashes turn inward. Eyes dryness. Visions of bright waves. Eyelids inflamed; lids cut against eyeball. Entropion. Dry crusts. Nasal dryness. Aphthae. White fungous like growth. Mouth hot and tender. Painful gumboil. Crying when nursing. Urine hot, smarting pain in orifice. Sensation of distention in clitoris with sticking. Pruritus of vulva and eczema.

Mercurius Corrosives

Pain behind eyeballs. Phlyctenule; deep ulcers on cornea. Excessive photophobia and pungent lachrymation. Iritis, ordinary or syphilitic, tendency to pus formation. Iris muddy in color, thick, and neither contracts nor dilate. Retinitis, ophthalmia neonatorum. Lids edematous, red, excoriated. Severe burning. Soreness of the eyes.

Excessive coryza. Ozaena, with perforation of septum nasi. Rawness and smarting in nostrils. Post-nasal swelling, mucous membrane dry, red, and covered with bloody mucus.

Intense burning in urethra. Urine scanty or suppressed. Stool hot, bloody, slimy, offensive, with cutting pains and shreds of mucous membrane.

Rhus Toxicodendrone

Eyes swollen, red, edematous; orbital cellulitis. Pustular inflammations. Photophobia; profuse flow of yellow pus. Edema of lids, suppurative iritis. Lids inflamed, agglutinated swollen. Old injured eyes. Circumscribed corneal injection. Intensive ulceration of the cornea. Iritis, after exposure to cold and dampness, and of rheumatic origin. Eye painful on turning it or pressing, can hardly move it, as in acute retrobulbar neuritis. Profuse gush of hot, scalding tears upon opening lids. Sneezing, nose red, sore, ulcerated. Swelling of nose. Nosebleed on stooping.

Tongue red, cracked, dry and red at edges. Corners of mouth dry and ulcerated. Sticking pain on swallowing. Swelling, with intense itching of vulva. Pelvic articulations stiff when beginning to move.

Ruta Grveolens

Eyes-strain followed by headache. Eyes red, hot, and painful. Difficult feces, evacuated only with straining. Constipation, alternating with mucous, frothy stools; bloody stool. When sitting, tearing stitches in rectum. Carcinoma affecting lower bowel. Prolapsus ani every time the bowels move, after confinement.

Bryonia Alba

Frequent bleeding of nose when menses should appear. Nose feels as if it would ulcerate when touched – dry.

Pressing, crushing, aching pain in eyes. Glaucoma. Sore to touch and when moving them. Lips parched, dry, cracked. Dryness of mouth, tongue, and throat, with excessive thirst. Lip swollen, dry, black, and cracked.

Throat dryness, sticking on swallowing, scraped and constricted. Tough mucus in larynx and trachea, loosened only after much hawking; worse in warm.

Stools hard, dry, too large, brown, thick, bloody; worse in morning, from moving, in hot weather, after being heated, from cold drinks, every spell of hot weather. Dryness of nose and eyes at appearance of menses.

Arsenicum Album

Burning in eyes, with harsh lachrymation. Lids red, ulcerated, dry, scabby, scaly, granulated. Edema around eyes. External inflammation, with extreme painfulness; burning, hot, and excoriating lachrymation. Corneal ulceration. Intense photophobia. Ciliary neuralgia, with fine burning pain. Sneezing without relief. Burning and bleeding. Acne of nose. Lupus.

Face: Swollen, pale, yellow, cachectic, sunken, cold, and covered with sweat (Acetic acid). Expression of agony. Tearing needle-like pains; burning. Lips black, livid. Angry, circumscribed flush of cheeks. Ulceration of mouth with dryness and burning. Epithelioma of lips. Tongue dry, clean, and red; stitching and burning pain in tongue, ulcerated with blue color.

Throat swollen, edematous, constricted, burning, unable to swallow. Diphtheritic membrane, looks dry and wrinkled.

Rectum painful, spasmodic protrusion of rectum. Tenesmus. Burning pain and pressure in rectum and anus. Stool small, offensive, dark, with much prostration.

Belladona

Throbbing deep in eyes on lying down. Pupils dilated. Eyes feel swollen and protruding, staring, brilliant; conjunctiva red; dry, burn; photophobia; shooting in eyes. Exophthalmos. Ocular illusions; fiery appearance. Diplopia, squinting, spasms of lids. Sensation as if eyes were half closed. Eyelids swollen. Fundus congested.

Nose red and swollen. Bleeding of nose. Coryza; mucus dry, mixed with blood. Mouth dry. Tongue red on edges. Tongue swollen and painful. Stammering.

Throat dry, red, tonsils enlarged; throat feels constricted; difficult deglutition. Esophagus dry; feels contracted. Spasms in throat. Continual inclination to swallow. Scraping sensation. Muscles of deglutition very sensitive. Hypertrophy of mucous membrane.

Stools: Thin, green, dysenteric; in lumps like chalk. Stinging pain in rectum; spasmodic stricture.

Dryness and heat of vagina. Dragging around loins. Pain in sacrum. Mastitis pain, throbbing, redness, streaks radiate from nipple. Breasts feel heavy; are hard and red. Tumors of breast.

Euphresia Officianalis

Nose dry. Profuse, fluent coryza, with violent cough and abundant expectoration. Catarrhal conjunctivitis; discharge of sharp matter. Choking lachrymation; bland coryza. Discharge thick and excoriating. Burning and swelling of the lids. Frequent inclination to blink. Sticky mucus on cornea; must wink to remove it. Pressure in eyes. Little blisters on cornea. Opacities. Rheumatic iritis. Ptosis.

Rectum dysentery. Prolapse ani. Pressure down in anus when sitting. Constipation. Manses painful. Amenorrhea, with ophthalmia. Spasmodic retraction of genitals. Condyloma and sycotic excrescences. Prostatitis. Nocturnal irritability of bladder; dribbling urine.

Nux Moschata

Motes before eyes. Mydriasis. Objects look larger, very distant, or vanish. Nose oversensitive to smell; nosebleed, dark blood; dry, stopped up. Mouth very dry. Tongue adheres to roof of mouth; but no desire for water. Saliva like cotton. Tongue numbs, paralyzed. Dryness of throat. Stool is soft, and yet is unable to expel it, even with long straining.

Sulpher

Burning ulceration of margin of lids. See halo around light. Heat and burning in eyes. Black motes before eyes. First stage of ulceration of cornea. Chronic ophthalmia, with much burning and itching. Parenchymatous keratitis. Cornea like ground glass.

Herpes across the nose. Nose stuffed indoors. Imaginary foul smells. Alae red and scabby. Chronic dry catarrh; dry scabs and readily bleeding. Polypus and adenoids. Lips dry, bright red, burning. Tongue white, with red tip and borders. Burning, redness and dryness in throat.

Itching and burning of anus, stool hard, knotty, insufficient. Child afraid on account of pain. Redness around the anus, with itching.

Frequent micturition. Burning in urethra during micturition, lasts long after. Mucus and pus in urine; parts sore over which it passes. Stitches in penis. Vagina burns. Much offensive perspiration. Nipples cracked; smart and burn.

Pulsatilla Pratensis

Thick, profuse, yellow, bland discharges from eyes. Itching and burning in eyes. Profuse lachrymation and secretion of mucus. Lids inflamed, agglutinated. Styes. Veins of fundus oculi greatly enlarged. Ophthalmia neonatorum. Subacute conjunctivitis, with dyspepsia.

Coryza; stoppage of right nostril. Loss of smell. Large green fetid scales in nose. Stoppage in evening. Yellow mucus; abundant in morning. Bad smells, as of old catarrh. Nasal bones sore. Dry mouth, without thirst. Frequently licks the dry lips. Crack in middle of lower lip. Yellow or white tongue, covered with a tenacious mucus. Burning in orifice of urethra during and after micturition. Acute prostatitis.

Varatrum Album

Eyes surrounded by dark rings. Staring; turned upwards, without luster. Lachrymation with redness. Lids dry heavy.

Mouth dries in center not relieved by water. Salty saliva. Constipation from inactivity (dryness) of rectum, with heat and headache. Constipation of babies. Sexual mania (itching due to dryness) precedes menses.

Sepia Officianalis

Thick, greenish nasal discharge; thick plugs and crusts. Yellowish saddle across nose. Atrophic catarrh with greenish crusts from anterior nose. Chronic nasal catarrh, especially post-nasal, dropping of heavy, lumpy discharges.

Eyes – Muscular asthenopia; black spots in the field of vision; asthenic inflammations. Tarsal tumors. Ptosis, ciliary irritation. Venous congestion of the fundus.

Tongue white. Taste salty, putrid. Tongue foul, but clears during menses. Swelling and cracking of lower lip. Bleeding at stool and fullness of rectum. Constipation; large, hard stools; feeling of a ball in rectum, cannot strain; with great tenesmus and pains. Soft stool, difficult. Prolapsus ani. Almost constant oozing from anus.

Oliem Jecoris Aseli

Eyes swelled. Heaviness over eyes with dry and parched hands. Lachrymation in open air. Lids so heavy, can hardly raise them. During chill, blindness. Everything turns black. Dry coryza, cough and sneezing. Nose-bleed when sleeping, due to dryness. Thyroid gland swollen. Constipation.

With proper attention and with Homeopathic treatment, the outlook for patients with Sjögren’s syndrome is generally excellent. The serious complications of primary biliary cirrhosis and lymphoma can dramatically affect prognosis if not treated properly.

P. S: This article is only for doctors having good knowledge Homeopathy and allopathy, for learning purpose(s).

For proper consultation and treatment, please visit our clinic.

Location, address and contact numbers are given below.

None of above-mentioned medicine(s) is/are the full/complete treatment, but just hints for treatment; every patient has his/her own constitutional medicine.

To order medicine by courier, please send your details at WhatsApp– +923119884588. 

Landline – +92923631023

Dr. Sayyad Qaisar Ahmed (MD {Ukraine}, DHMS), Abdominal Surgeries, Oncological surgeries, Gastroenterologist, Specialist Homeopathic Medicines.

  Senior research officer at Dnepropetrovsk state medical academy Ukraine.

Location:  Al-Haytham clinic, Umer Farooq Chowk Risalpur Sadder (0923631023, 03119884588), K.P.K, Pakistan.

Find more about Dr Sayed Qaisar Ahmed at:

https://www.youtube.com/Dr Qaisar Ahmed

https://www.facebook.com/dr.qaisar.dixecosmetics

https://www.dixecosmetics.com