I just don't understand how it all works

[freifamily]

Ok, I am new to Sjogren's so I don't quite understand it all yet.  I have a question about colds.  Ok so I have a cold right now and I woke up this morning with a bad flare up of my Uveitis too, and yesterday had a bad flare of fatigue, I am also pretty just achy today.

Well I just don't understand, if my immune system is over-active/doesn't work right, then shouldn't my immune system be to busy fighting my cold to be fighting myself right now.  I mean why is it that as soon as I get a cold my Uveitis goes haywire again?!  Why does it seem like when I get a cold my body attacks my eye and just myself more, instead of focusing on the cold I have?  Or is it just attacking everything in overdrive including myself!  I just don't know and I hate being sick.  Why can't I be like the ones on here that say they almost never get sick now that they have Sjogren's.  It has only been a few months since I have known I have it, but come on it is AUGUST!! and I have a cold, how does that happen lol.

[Linda196]

There are two functions of the immune system...defense and offense. In autoimmune disease like SjS, the offense is messed up, and. as you say, goes into overdrive and attacks everything in sight including our selves.

When the immune system is not functioning correctly, it can have an effect on both "teams" and in the case of the defensive team being effected, it causes more susceptibility to infection.

Testing for Immunoglobulin complexes in the blood can show which effect your autoimmune disease has...low counts of IgG for instance indicate an increased susceptibility to external infection, and is sometimes treated with infusions of IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin). Those with normal or high counts of IgG are the ones "who never catch anything".

As for the reason the uveitis gets worse when you would think your immune system should be busy fighting the cold, is that the offensive team doesn't really care what it's fighting...someting triggers it and it fights back against everything.