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Originally Posted by mskari85
Oh, okay. I was just reading up on Sjorgen's - don't know a lot about it, but I know it goes hand in hand with RA (a diagnosis I have) so I guess I should familiarize myself with it.
Do you mind me asking how your neuropathy started and what your progression has been like? Mine started with numb toes, then progressed to burning, stinging feet. Now my hands are burning and losing feeling and sometimes my lips, mouth, and other areas of my body burn. At first I thought it was blood sugar related, then I was diagnosed with RA, and now I'm assuming the neuropathy is autoimmune mediated. Just curious as to what your journey has been like.
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Hi. Well I don't know how aggressive/ erosive your RA is, but my rheumy was clear that, unless it is seropositive, it would not be the cause of neuropathy? So mine is seronegative, non erosive RA.
And it is important to understand that secondary Sjogren's is a very mild version of the disease, accompanying a primary disease such as Lupus, RA or Scleroderma, which also would not cause neuropathy, just the nuisance extras of sicca and dry mouth.
Primary Sjogrens is a proper systemic connective tissue disease in its own right, same as Lupus - and can cause neuropathy. So in my case I think my more unusual presentation has features of RA and Vasculitis and an ANA pattern relating to Scleroderma - and the latter two CT diseases can both cause neuropathy and other neuro features, unlike RA.
So, unless the erosive damage of a seropositive RA has led to you having a rare type of rheumatoid Vasculitis (usually only after having longstanding and active disease of about 20 years duration) you would maybe need to find out if you actually have Sjogrens as your primary disease, with RA features. Hope this helps.