Feeling tired all the time..Possible sjorjens ?

[HYPERHEAD]

Hi

Lately I have felt very tired and not normal tiredness , more like extreme fatigue and low energy and have felt confused and had some brain fog and weak muscles.

My optometrist thinks I might possibly have sjogrens as I don't produce tears when I cry.

Do any of you get very tired with blepharitis/MGD

Could a blood test from my gp show indicators of sjogrens

Sorry about the bad spelling regarding sjorjens !!

[y-gwair]

Sorry to hear you are having such a rough time. Eye doctors and dentists often bring up Sjogren's when they encounter dryness conditions (known as sicca syndrome) but it's rarely the case this turns out to be due to Sjogren's, which is really quite a rare disease. Dry eye is common in many autoimmune conditions, particularly with thyroid disease, so it is worth having your thyroid levels and general rheumatological markers tested first. An underactive thyroid will make you feel tired, cause brain fog and muscle pain, and is a common cause of dry eye too, so I'd get your doctor to test that first. Anaemia can also cause very similar symptoms, including dryness, so worth getting a full blood count done at the same time. Some people have a condition called fibromyalgia, which can have all of the same symptoms, but doesn't show up in any blood tests, rheumatologist diagnose by scoring the level of pain at various muscle sites on the body and treatment is mainly pain relief.

There is a specific anti-body test for Sjogren's (Ro/La), but it isn't 100% reliable, some labs refuse to do it if other markers like ANA are normal. The only conclusive test is a lip biopsy, which a rheumatologist will only suggest if they are 90% sure you may have the condition as it is very painful. If you do turn out to have a mild connective tissue disease, the usual treatment that is offered is Plaquenil, which is very good for easing muscle pain but doesn't really help with dry eye unfortunately.