Dryness

Top 5 Must-Have Products for Dry Mouth | Sjogren’s Syndrome Series

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Living with dry mouth can cause an array of complications. Image courtesy of Orthodontic Excellence.

As many of my subscribers know, I have an autoimmune disease called Sjogren’s Syndrome. One of the main symptoms of Sjogren’s is dry mouth, also known as xerostomia.

While those with adequate saliva levels may not think that this is a big deal, us dry mouth sufferers know that even a small amount of mouth dryness can wreck havoc on your health. According to the Mayo Clinic, mouth dryness can cause an array of health issues, including mouth sores (ulcers), oral thrush (a yeast infection in your mouth), increased dental decay, tooth loss, gum disease, bad breath, issues with chewing, swallowing and speech, loss of taste, and poor nutrition and digestion.

In fact, one of the reasons I first got diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome was because of my mouth dryness. I had gone to the dentist, and I was told that I had eight cavities (yes, eight!) when I had never had a single cavity in the entire 20 years of my life. Not only that, but I had a thick coating of white gunk of my tongue (yuck!), and my dentist told me that I had oral thrush. I had to take prescription antibacterial mouthwash to get rid of the yeast infection in my mouth. Finally, I was having issues with talking and swallowing food, especially if it was dry food, like crackers or chips. I was drinking loads of water each night, but nothing seemed to alleviate my thirst.

After I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s, I understood that mouth dryness was a large part of living with this chronic autoimmune disease. I was prescribed pilocarpine (the generic for Salagen) to help stimulate saliva production. However, it took an array of dry mouth solutions to help alleviate my mouth dryness. Here are my top 5 products that I would recommend for other dry mouth suffers, below.

1. Alcohol-Free Mouthwash

My first recommendation would be to switch to using an alcohol-free mouthwash. If you suffer from dry mouth, you probably know just how drying alcohol can be. Also, if you have a dry mouth, you are likely extra sensitive to how harsh an alcohol-based mouthwash is.

My go-to mouthwash is Biotene’s Dry Mouth Oral Rinse. It helps to keep bad breath from dry mouth at bay, and helps my mouth feel more moisturized after I’ve brushed my teeth and rinsed with it. It sounds strange, but I’ve found that I sleep better at night when my mouth doesn’t feel so dry. Plus, it keeps me from having to get up in the middle of the night to drink gallons of water!

Buy Now: Biotene Oral Rinse Mouthwash for Dry Mouth, Breath Freshener and Dry Mouth Treatment, Fresh Mint – 33.8 fl oz

2. XyliMelts

XyliMelts are kind of like cough drops, since they’re hard discs that you can suck on to stimulate saliva production, alleviate dry mouth, and freshen your breath. Unlike cough drops, however, they’re sugar-free (they contain xylitol), so they won’t cause dental decay, which is important for dry mouth sufferers.

Since there isn’t any chewing involved (unlike gum), they easily melt in my mouth, providing me with long-lasting dryness relief. Before I started working from home, I found that these were great to take into the office and keep in my desk drawer, so I wasn’t having to chug water all the time!

Buy Now: Oracoat Xylimelts – Mint 2 Pack

3. Moisturizing Mouth Gel

The next must-have dry mouth product on my list would be a moisturizing mouth gel. A moisturizing mouth gel is basically a saliva replacement, that you can squirt into your dry mouth to make it feel more comfortable.

Though it doesn’t have the exact same texture as real saliva, and lacks the enzymes found in it (which aid digestion), I have found that using a saliva replacement helps me sleep through the night without having to wake up to constantly drink more water. It also makes wearing my night guard/retainer at night more comfortable. Plus, it can help during the daytime if I’m having a particularly bad day, in which my mouth dryness is affecting my speech and making my voice hoarse.

Again, my go-to product comes from the brand Biotene: the Biotene Dry Mouth Oral Balance Gel. I find it is the most saliva-like among the different brands I’ve tried (the first brand I tried had the texture of toothpaste!)

Buy Now: Biotene Dry Mouth Moisturizing Gel

4. Electric Toothbrush

If you suffer from dry mouth, a regular toothbrush just won’t make the cut. In addition to frequently visiting your dentist and dental hygienist for regular check-ups and cleanings, it’s important to take steps in your own oral hygiene routine to prevent dental caries (teeth cavities) from developing.

I’ve used several different tooth brushes over the years, and my top two would be from Oral B and Philips. These high-powered electric toothbrushes give me a deep clean, and prevent plaque from building up on my teeth and my gums from developing gingivitis. So, if you’re using a manual toothbrush still, it’s time to upgrade to some better technology.

Buy Now: Philips Sonicare, HX687721 ProtectiveClean 6100 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush, White, 1 Count

Buy Now: Oral-B Smart 1500 Electric Power Rechargeable Battery Toothbrush, Blue

5. Chapstick for Dry Lips

If you have severe dry mouth, you’ll know that sometimes your lips can get extremely dry too, even to the point where they crack at the corners and bleed! I also have a skin condition called eczema (oh, joy!) which further contributes to dryness and skin peeling around my mouth/lip area. That’s why I regularly use chapstick to keep my lips feeling moisturized and healthy.

My favorite natural chapstick brand has got to be Burt’s Bees. It’s made out of real beeswax, rather than synthetic chemicals (like the ones found in most lipsticks), which can dry out your lips even more. Plus, they come in lots of great flavors, like coconut and pear, vanilla bean and strawberry, so your lips will never be bored!

Buy Now: Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Origin Moisturizing Lip Balm, Multipack with Beeswax & Fruit Extracts, 4 Tubes

These five dry mouth products have made a big difference in improving my quality of life with Sjogren’s Syndrome. Though everyone has a different regimen that works best for them, I truly hope that this blog post helps you find dry mouth solutions that work for you. And let us know in the comments below: what dry mouth products do you use to help alleviate your dryness symptoms?

Remember, always talk to your doctor before beginning a new medication, regimen, or treatment plan. Please read Autoimmune Warrior’s product recommendations disclaimer on our About Us page regarding our participation in Amazon’s Associates Program.

April is Sjogren’s Awareness Month; Read My Story

Isabel5 Comments

Hello Autoimmune Warriors! I hope you’ve all had a great start to April, despite the coronavirus pandemic that we all find ourselves in. April is actually Sjogren’s Syndrome awareness month, and as such, I wanted to share my own story battling this autoimmune disease here on the blog as well as on social media.

Name: Isabel

Current age: 27

Age when diagnosed: 20

City/State: San Diego, California

Please finish with the following sentence: “Since I was diagnosed with Sjögren’s, I have learned…”

…that self-care is extremely important when you have a chronic illness. After I was first diagnosed, I continued to push myself physically, academically and professionally the way I would have pre-diagnosis. But it’s really important to listen to your body and take it easy sometimes, even if that means it will take longer to accomplish your goals.

What are your most difficult symptoms?

Right now, joint pain, particularly in my hands, is my most challenging symptom. However, eye and mouth dryness, fatigue, and brain fog have been difficult for me as well.

How has Sjögren’s affected your life and how have you been able to effectively cope with the complexity of symptoms?

It takes me longer to accomplish tasks than it did before, due to chronic pain and fatigue. I have to go to the dentist a lot to take care of my oral hygiene, and I see different specialists for each of my symptoms. I also take various medications to cope with symptoms like dryness and joint pain. Other than taking medications, I cope with the symptoms by connecting with others living with the disease on social media and through my blog, autoimmunewarrior.org.

What do you wish people knew about your Sjögren’s?

It’s not just dry eyes and mouth, and even those symptoms can be debilitating if they’re severe enough. This disease involves the whole body, and it’s a lot more than just a small ‘nuisance’, which is what it’s often portrayed to be.

Given recent global events amid the coronavirus/COVID-19, do you have any specific concerns because of Sjögren’s? 

As part of my treatment plan, I take immunosuppressant medication, which I’m afraid puts me at greater risk of not being able to fight off an infection, like COVID-19, if I were to catch it.

What’s your best Sjögren’s tip?

Find a team of medical professionals, including a rheumatologist and dentist, who are knowledgeable about Sjogren’s and have experience treating this disease specifically. Unfortunately, based on personal experience, I’ve found that few medical professionals are truly educated about the impact that Sjogren’s has on patients, so it’s important to connect with those that really understand the complexity of the disease and how it manifests.

Thank you for reading my story! If you’d like to learn more about how I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s, please visit the following article: My Struggle with Autoimmunity: Part 1.

If you’d like to share your own story, please visit the This Is Sjogren’s webpage on the Sjogren’s Foundation website to learn how you can be a part of the #ThisIsSjogrens awareness campaign.

10 Facts About Sjögren’s Syndrome

Isabel17 Comments

According to the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation (SSF), Sjögren’s is a systemic autoimmune disease that impacts the entire body, including the eyes, mouth, joints, nerves and major organs. In honor of World Sjögren’s Day, read on to learn 10 facts about this chronic autoimmune condition.

1. It is more common than you think

The SSF estimates that there are as many as 4 million Americans living with the disease, and it’s the second most common autoimmune condition. The exact prevalence of the condition is difficult to determine, however, since the symptoms tend to mimic those of other conditions, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. It can even be confused with menopause, allergies, and drug side effects.

2. It mostly affects women

The SSF states that nine out of 10 Sjögren’s patients are women, and the average age of diagnosis is the late 40s. However, the disease can impact anyone of any age, including men and children as well.

3. It causes extensive dryness

Sjögren’s Syndrome develops as a result of the body’s immune system attacking and destroying the body’s exocrine, or moisture-producing, glands. As a consequence, patients experience widespread dryness throughout their body, but especially impacting their eyes, nose, mouth, skin, vagina and joints.

4. It affects the eyes

The disease is often first detected as a result of eye-related symptoms. This includes dry, gritty eyes that feel like sandpaper when blinking and swollen tear glands. Dry eyes can in turn lead to blurred vision, infections, corneal ulcerations and blepharitis. Several of the eye tests that can be used to help diagnose the condition include a Schirmer test, to measure tear production, and a Rose Bengal and Lissamine Green test, to examine dry spots on the eye’s surface.

5. It affects the mouth, throat and nose

Sjögren’s also affects one’s mouth, throat and nasal cavity; the main symptom being dryness. This, in turn, leads to a whole host of other symptoms, such as mouth sores, dental decay, oral thrush (a yeast infection of the mouth), recurrent sinusitis, nose bleeds, heartburn, reflux esophagitis, and difficulty speaking and swallowing. Some physicians administer a lip gland biopsy as a part of the diagnosis process.

6. It impacts one’s joints too

As the immune system destroys the body’s moisture-producing glands, this results in a decrease in synovial fluid, which helps to keep the joints lubricated. This causes inflammatory joint pain and musculoskeletal pain, and can even lead to the development of rheumatoid arthritis, as shown through a positive Rheumatoid Factor (RF) reading in the blood. In fact, the main physicians who treat Sjögren’s are rheumatologists.

7. Neurological problems are also common

Sjögren’s causes a variety of nervous system symptoms, including nerve pain and peripheral neuropathy (a numbness and tingling in the extremities). Other neurological problems include difficulty concentrating and memory loss, often referred to as “brain fog”.

8. The prognosis of the disease varies

Patients may find that their symptoms plateau, worsen, or, uncommonly, go into remission. A French research study published in Rheumatology also found that early onset primary Sjögren’s Syndrome carried a worse prognosis over the course of the disease (‘early onset’ is defined as a diagnosis before age 35). While some Sjögren’s patients experience mild discomfort, others suffer debilitating symptoms that greatly impair their quality of life.

9. It can increase one’s risk of cancer

A German study found that Sjögren’s Syndrome moderately increases one’s risk of developing Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL). NHL is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which includes the lymph nodes, spleen, and other tissues. The lifetime risk of developing NHL by age 80 is 8% among men and 5.4% among women with Sjögren’s. This is compared to a risk of 1.6% of men and 1.1% of women in the general population.

10. There is hope

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Sjögren’s, check out the SSF’s video series, Conquering Sjögren’s, and their patient-published Self-Help Booklet. The foundation’s website, www.sjogrens.org, also contains a wealth of resources on the disease, including information about treatment options, survival tips, fact sheets, and even template letters for your health insurance company. You can also check out their extensive network of support groups.

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