Quote:
Originally Posted by en bloc
MAT,
Yes, anticholinergics are number one on the list of medications...and Amitriptyline does have some anticholinergic effect, so it would be expected that you have this side-effect.
Autonomic neuropathy is a subset of PN, so I didn't list it separately, but yes, it can cause the dry mouth as well. But just as I stated above, the dry mouth/eyes would typically not be that severe unless other aspects of the neuropathy (peripheral or autonomic) are likewise that severe. I just don't think you'd have cracked tongue and peeling lips so bad that you can't swallow properly and not have severe BP instability, POTS, or severe PN pain at the same time. Dry mouth/eyes IS a symptom of PN, but not a prominent one, I guess is the best way to describe what I'm saying.
Actually, you are exactly right about 'types' of Sjogren's being different and having one that presents with neuropathy. The type of Sjogren's I have has specifically attacked the dorsal root and autonomic ganglia, so I presented with neuropathy symptoms before the typical Sjogren's symptoms. They call it Neuropathic Sjogren's.
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I agree - I think I'm much more like you in the way my neuropathy is progressing than a typical Sjogrens sufferer Enbloc. I don't have the dry mouth now and I don't actually have dry eyes any longer since coming off those drugs I mentioned -but like my scalp and back they feel dry if this makes any sense? I have a frantically itchy scalp and a spot on my back and these dry eyes that feel as if I have no tears.
But when my optician tested my eyes he said there didn't seem to be any particular sigh of blepharitis and when my scalp has been checked I gave no sign of dandruff, skin doesn't look especially dry on my back and yet the itch is insane! And, having suffered from severe eczema and allergies and blepharitis all through the first four decades of my life I know the difference. The only reason I think that I do have the neuro type of Sjogrens is historic. I have such a long history of dryness and then two years of synovitis/RA that it seems more likely than some random idiopathic neuropathy.
It is VERY confusing but I think you are very right to distinguish between the severe dryness DavidH describes and the dryness caused by PN/AN/ sensory polyneuropathy. I would love to be offered IViG for mine I must say. I did ask but, like Healthgirl I have been told that the only treatment for Sjogrens is Hydroxichloraquine/ Plaquenil - which I took for 18 months but finally couldn't tolerate (urticaria/ angioderma).