Venus Williams diagnosed w/Sjogren's
 

Just heard this today; not sure when she was diagnosed. Maybe that's why was lost in the first round at Wimbleton to very low ranked player.

Any other famous people with Sjogren's Syndrome? Who here is? Can you tell me a bit about your experience?

Venus was diagnosed 6 months or so ago. She had to drop out of a competition for a short time when first diagnosed. I don't know off the top of my head any other famous people with it.

I have it. I was diagnosed about 4 yrs go, but had it (active) probably 15 years before that, if not longer. Dry eyes/mouth is the tell-tale signs, but Sjogren's can wreak havoc on the body and major organs. Mine has attacked the DRG, brain, lungs, joints, heart, blood vessels, skin...the list goes on.

I am sero-negative for the disease, but a Schirmer's test and lip biopsy confirmed it.

Sjogens
 

I have sjogrens. Right now it is wrecking havoc on my nervous system, earlier in the year it caused some deafness that required me to get a hearing aid. I take plaquenil for my joints. I have had ulcers on my toes,but I quit smoking and they went away...I am very young,healthy,thin....

Not too many people come out these days to say if they have an autoimmune disease. Unless they want to be the spokesperson for it. I could only imagine how many famous people do and keep it quiet. They're just regular people like us trying to get by day by day after they find out.

It was just confirmed for me yesterday, I have Sjogrens from 2 positive blood tests. Whether it's primary or not, I don't know yet. My sister has Lupus and I've been tested for that 3 times now and all negative. But they say it could show up later. She was diagnosed with it on her 3rd blood test.

For me, I'm just really happy I 'finally' found out something. It's been 8 years knowing something was wrong and the last 2 years with much more severity in symptoms. So hellish.
Thought it was MS for 2 years with all the symptoms I had/have. With the worst exacerbation last Spring/Summer.

Wreck Tangle: Thinking back, do you have any idea what caused your really bad exacerbation last summer? I'm glad you got dx'd and are feeling better.

I had Lupus several years ago...was active and difficult a good 15 years. Had other health problems like migraines after that.

For a short time, I had mild dry mouth and dry eye.

Last year, I went through a weird, heavy duty dental problem + weird, heavy duty stress related to that and other things. Then, during that stressful time, my dry eye and dry mouth quickly worsened. Some thought my lupus had returned. Wrong. Instead, I was dx'd with Sjogren's Syndrome.

Of interest to me is that Venus Williams felt/feels that a VEGAN DIET is helpful for those with Sjogren's Syndrome. She certainly is doing better!!!!! :)

I have heard that eating healthfully is VERY important for those with autoimmune disorders. Avoiding sugar, alcohol, possibly wheat and dairy as well.

I have cut out all those and reduced meat.

But, has anyone heard of anything official saying that a vegetarian or vegan diet helps those with autoimmune disease? I am VERY curious.

I REALLY want to know as I so desperately want to feel better.

Thank you.

I have been struggling to get diagnosed for 7 years. 2 years ago I adopted a lifestyle that I refer to as "mostly vegetarian with vegan tendancies" it helped me manage my flairs down to about 2 a year instead of being debilitated for the majority of the year. I did it for many reasons, none of them related to AI, as I didn't know what I had then. However, even though my problems didn't have a name cutting out meat and dairy helped tremendiously for my health. Enough of an impact for me to keep it up for last 2 years. Now, my symptoms have a name - lupus with a possible Sjogren's as secondary. So, I can't tell you they are linked, but I can tell you the change allowed me to have more good days than bad, and that meqnt the world to me. If you're interrested in my food journey, I blogged it so I could keep a record for myself, and help others, as I found it to be overwhelming when I started paying attention to nutrition.
PM me if you want the link.
Good luck, and extra spoons to you!