Perimenopause versus sjogren's?

[prunella]

Kathyx, thanks for the encouragement.  I may try it.   

My liver would thank me

beth

[irish]

When you talk HRT you get involved with lots of different health issues. I had a hysterectomy plus tubes and ovaries removed while in perimenopause. My gyn put me on Premarin (estrogen) the day after surgery and I asked him for how long. He told me to figure out when I would die and stop taking Premarin 5 years before death.lol

That was with the knowledge that they had at the time which was 1990. I was on it for 13 years although I would stop off and on when I had other heavy duty meds I had to take. I can't say that being on it made my autoimmune disease any better. I do know that it helped cut down on the amount and severity of the hot flashed.

It will be interesting to see what the docs come up with down the pike. Irish

[gold55]

I was wondering too, if SJS can be triggered by low hormones during menopause.....could some of us have avoided getting SJS if we would have gotten on hormone replacement therapy before the SJS gene was triggered???  I know we can't "look back" but I never bothered with the menopause stuff and my hot flashes were annoying.  Just didn't want to take any pills    

[irish]

I truly don't know how the hormones are involved with the sjogrens. I have had sjogrens since at least age 20 as well as myasthenia gravis.

I was really sick while pregnant with my third child and my immunologist (after reviewing all my health issues at that time) told me that it was all sjogrens. I improved after I delivered with some of the symptoms but I was still sick as I had the weakness and joint pain and total body aches.

I really doubt if the hormones will stop or start the sjogrens but I can see where they might make a difference at times in our symptoms. When I look back I wonder if I had Sjogrens when I was in my early teens, but how in the heck would a person ever know for sure. It took me till I was 60 years old to get diagnosed, for heavens sake. Irish

[gold55]

Oh my Irish!  When my Medical Director found out I had SJS he came in my office and immediately said, "you've probably had it all of your life"!  I thought that was weird....never thought of it that way but he could be right.

[gurs]

Oh, dont even get me started on this hormone and SS stuff...sure some of you are tired of me and all my hyster/meno postings.
I had SS prob all my life, was diagnosed at around 15 years old, but, my mom said that even as a baby, I wanted to sleep ALL the time..(and she thought I was a good baby)! ha ha..Im now remembering how hard it was in grade school to keep my head off my desk, the fatigue was nuts even as a child. The dry eyes/mouth kicked in around puberty.

Things got worse every year after, but it wasnt until my hyster and instant menopause 6 years ago that things just BLEW up.
My SS got 100% worse and Im not kidding. I still cant get out of bed and have tried several forms of HRT's and I cant tolerate them, and
they dont help. My estrogen is at 25, which my docs say should be around 200. I still use a little bio-estrogen cream, but get little results.
Ive been to countless hormone doctors and they say your hormones never stop changing, no matter what age your at. There is def a connection between hormones and autoimmune, that Im certain of. Some say that HRT influences inflammation, while others say we need the balance. If you can take hormones, and feel good, lucky you. Also, sometimes when I use my little cream, I feel even drier? Estrogen can cause this as well? ughhhhhh..so frustrated, but not giving up.

If you have had the dry eyes/mouth/fatigue for along time, my guess is you have Sjogrens.....all the hormone issues just add to the mix.

Gursie