My Story
Hello!! I'm finally getting around to starting my website/blog that my husband has been bugging me about for over a year now. So here we go!
Most of you (I assume most people reading this at least for now are my friends!) already kind of know what's been going on with me, but I'll give you some background just in case. I had originally typed "brief background," but who am I kidding? 😂
I have suffered from extremely dry eyes for years now - probably a decade or more at this point. Now I know what you may be thinking (if you haven't experienced it)... no biggie, just put some eye drops in! Those new gel drops are great - try those! :) Well, my eyes are so miserably dry sometimes that it doesn't matter how often or how fancy (read: expensive) my eye drops are, I have trouble just making it through the day. All I want to do when I get a dry eye attack (which lasts days) is lie in bed with a heated eye mask. Driving? With the air conditioner blowing in my face (a TX summer necessity)? Terrible.
So that's the main thing, because it's hard to do life with constantly miserable eyes. But I have had other weird, seemingly unrelated symptoms as well. This list is going to make it sound like I've been chronically miserable for a decade, but really all these things do come and go, which is why they are very hard to pin down or explain. Sometimes they're a major issue, sometimes they don't bother me for months.
- I have achy joints periodically, randomly - especially my wrists/elbows, ankles/knees.
- I'm constantly feeling exhausted (and this was well before having my daughter - because we all know that being a parent makes you chronically... permanently... exhausted!) My fatigue was significant enough that I got my iron levels and thyroid function tested... they were in the normal range, but I did not feel normal.
- I have fillings in basically every one of my teeth from cavities over the years, even though I brush my teeth like a crazy person. This is just a part of me, something I didn't consider it a "symptom" until I realized it actually was one.
- I get canker sores, sometimes getting several in a row as the old one heals.
- I get terrible stomach cramps that I started referring to as having "one of my episodes," though trips to a GI doctor and a subsequent colonoscopy (probably 8-ish years ago) revealed nothing of concern. Just to "be careful" about what I ate.
- In winter, my feet get so cold that I can't fall asleep at night without soaking them in hot water for 10-15 minutes. My fingers get so cold that my fingernails start turning bluish purple - once when I was working at Ulta years ago a lady said, "Oh, I love your nail polish! What color is it?" I was like... um... cold? It's just clear polish. 😳
- And finally, I have always had very dry, itchy skin all over. My husband and my best friend both make fun of me, because when I get ready for bed, I can't help myself - I just have to scratch every inch of me like crazy. So itchy!
Weird and unrelated - yes? Well, maybe not. I started Googling my symptoms (you know you do it too 😉) and came across an autoimmune condition called Sjögren's Syndrome (pronounced SHOW-grins). It's basically disorder where your body attacks its own mucous membranes. Symptoms include...
✅ dry eyes
✅ arthritis/muscle pain
✅ fatigue
✅ dental decay
✅ mouth sores
✅ irritable bowel
✅ peripheral neuropathy/Raynaud's (that's a separate condition... but basically, your hands and feet are very cold and turn blue)
✅ dry skin
Whaaaaat?!
So two years ago, I finally went in to the ophthalmologist (omg, I can finally spell that correctly on my own after trying to type it for two years now, ha!) about my dry eyes, and he said that yep - they were incredibly dry, "like the Sahara," were his exact words. 😬 He asked me a few other questions about my general health and then said...
Not that it's exciting, but MAN is it exciting to have someone put a label on all the weird, seemingly unrelated things your body is doing. Well, and also exciting to have secretly diagnosed yourself with the same thing. That was cool too. 😏
So... nothing much happened/changed since then actually - because I wasn't really sure what to do about it. There wasn't much of a plan going forward... just... more eye drops. 😒 He didn't even recommend that I get tested for it, as it wouldn't change my treatment (and I would then have a pre-existing condition if I tested positive for it... which doesn't even always happen... even if you do have it).
Nothing happened that is, until I developed my first case of Iritis (inflammation of the iris) last summer. That is a whole other post of it's own, but for now let's just say that I KNEW that all this inflammation in my eye (and presumably throughout my body) could not be entirely unrelated to the Sjögren's, and that there must be something I could do. I started researching anti-inflammatory diets & autoimmune diets. I read several books and combed through countless websites and finally came across the Autoimmune Protocol by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne (aka, the Paleo Mom). It has changed my life (and my family's!), but I will get into that in another post as well. For now, if you are struggling with any kind of autoimmune (even just suspected autoimmune issues) disorders, I highly recommend checking it out:
I'm looking forward to getting this blog going and sharing the tips and tricks I've learned along the way. I've been following the Autoimmune protocol for just over a year now, and I generally have ZERO willpower when it comes to food... so I really and truly feel that if I can do it, anyone can!
Thanks for following along on my autoimmune/healthy living journey - and if you've been feeling bad and want to feel better, then I hope you'll also join me on the journey! Taking care of ourselves is often the last thing on our busy minds, but it is essential! And I'm telling myself that as much as I'm telling you. 😉 I'm certainly not perfect - in fact, my motto this year:
Most of you (I assume most people reading this at least for now are my friends!) already kind of know what's been going on with me, but I'll give you some background just in case. I had originally typed "brief background," but who am I kidding? 😂
I have suffered from extremely dry eyes for years now - probably a decade or more at this point. Now I know what you may be thinking (if you haven't experienced it)... no biggie, just put some eye drops in! Those new gel drops are great - try those! :) Well, my eyes are so miserably dry sometimes that it doesn't matter how often or how fancy (read: expensive) my eye drops are, I have trouble just making it through the day. All I want to do when I get a dry eye attack (which lasts days) is lie in bed with a heated eye mask. Driving? With the air conditioner blowing in my face (a TX summer necessity)? Terrible.
So that's the main thing, because it's hard to do life with constantly miserable eyes. But I have had other weird, seemingly unrelated symptoms as well. This list is going to make it sound like I've been chronically miserable for a decade, but really all these things do come and go, which is why they are very hard to pin down or explain. Sometimes they're a major issue, sometimes they don't bother me for months.
- I have achy joints periodically, randomly - especially my wrists/elbows, ankles/knees.
- I'm constantly feeling exhausted (and this was well before having my daughter - because we all know that being a parent makes you chronically... permanently... exhausted!) My fatigue was significant enough that I got my iron levels and thyroid function tested... they were in the normal range, but I did not feel normal.
- I have fillings in basically every one of my teeth from cavities over the years, even though I brush my teeth like a crazy person. This is just a part of me, something I didn't consider it a "symptom" until I realized it actually was one.
- I get canker sores, sometimes getting several in a row as the old one heals.
- I get terrible stomach cramps that I started referring to as having "one of my episodes," though trips to a GI doctor and a subsequent colonoscopy (probably 8-ish years ago) revealed nothing of concern. Just to "be careful" about what I ate.
- In winter, my feet get so cold that I can't fall asleep at night without soaking them in hot water for 10-15 minutes. My fingers get so cold that my fingernails start turning bluish purple - once when I was working at Ulta years ago a lady said, "Oh, I love your nail polish! What color is it?" I was like... um... cold? It's just clear polish. 😳
- And finally, I have always had very dry, itchy skin all over. My husband and my best friend both make fun of me, because when I get ready for bed, I can't help myself - I just have to scratch every inch of me like crazy. So itchy!
Weird and unrelated - yes? Well, maybe not. I started Googling my symptoms (you know you do it too 😉) and came across an autoimmune condition called Sjögren's Syndrome (pronounced SHOW-grins). It's basically disorder where your body attacks its own mucous membranes. Symptoms include...
✅ dry eyes
✅ arthritis/muscle pain
✅ fatigue
✅ dental decay
✅ mouth sores
✅ irritable bowel
✅ peripheral neuropathy/Raynaud's (that's a separate condition... but basically, your hands and feet are very cold and turn blue)
✅ dry skin
Whaaaaat?!
So two years ago, I finally went in to the ophthalmologist (omg, I can finally spell that correctly on my own after trying to type it for two years now, ha!) about my dry eyes, and he said that yep - they were incredibly dry, "like the Sahara," were his exact words. 😬 He asked me a few other questions about my general health and then said...
"I think you have something called Sjögren's Syndrome."
(What?! Yes, I think so too - high five!)
So... nothing much happened/changed since then actually - because I wasn't really sure what to do about it. There wasn't much of a plan going forward... just... more eye drops. 😒 He didn't even recommend that I get tested for it, as it wouldn't change my treatment (and I would then have a pre-existing condition if I tested positive for it... which doesn't even always happen... even if you do have it).
Nothing happened that is, until I developed my first case of Iritis (inflammation of the iris) last summer. That is a whole other post of it's own, but for now let's just say that I KNEW that all this inflammation in my eye (and presumably throughout my body) could not be entirely unrelated to the Sjögren's, and that there must be something I could do. I started researching anti-inflammatory diets & autoimmune diets. I read several books and combed through countless websites and finally came across the Autoimmune Protocol by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne (aka, the Paleo Mom). It has changed my life (and my family's!), but I will get into that in another post as well. For now, if you are struggling with any kind of autoimmune (even just suspected autoimmune issues) disorders, I highly recommend checking it out:
When I'm good about eating AIP, getting enough sleep, and keeping my stress levels down, I really do feel great! Better than I have in a long time, and most of my symptoms are gone. I haven't had a major dry eye flare-up for 9 months or so (until my second case of Iritis that is... also another post for another time. 😜). So it WORKS!
I'm looking forward to getting this blog going and sharing the tips and tricks I've learned along the way. I've been following the Autoimmune protocol for just over a year now, and I generally have ZERO willpower when it comes to food... so I really and truly feel that if I can do it, anyone can!
Thanks for following along on my autoimmune/healthy living journey - and if you've been feeling bad and want to feel better, then I hope you'll also join me on the journey! Taking care of ourselves is often the last thing on our busy minds, but it is essential! And I'm telling myself that as much as I'm telling you. 😉 I'm certainly not perfect - in fact, my motto this year:
Progress, Not Perfection.
Let's do this!
💗
Jenny
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