Joint Pain Sjogrens – Autoimmune Warrior

Carrie Ann Inaba Takes Leave of Absence Due to Autoimmune Diseases

*Carrie Ann Inaba has said that she is taking a leave of absence from her TV hosting role to focus on her health.*

Carrie Ann Inaba, TV host on CBS’ The Talk and judge on ABC’s hit show Dancing with the Stars opened up about her struggle living with autoimmune diseases and chronic illnesses on her blog, Carrie Ann Conversations.

The Emmy award-nominated TV personality said that she has been diagnosed with several different autoimmune diseases and chronic conditions over the years, including Sjogren’s Syndrome, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), and she also has the markers for Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS), which causes blood clots. The 53-year-old dancer and choreographer says she also struggles with fibromyalgia and spinal stenosis.

As a result of her various autoimmune conditions, Inaba has taken a leave of absence from her role on The Talk so that she can focus on her health, reports MedPage Today.

Talking about her health journey, Inaba said: “Even if we are fortunate enough to get a diagnosis, we can quickly end up with more questions than answers. Often when it comes to autoimmune conditions there is no perfect solution or clear path forward.”

Inaba continued, explaining: “Coping with autoimmune conditions can sometimes feel quite lonely. When I first got diagnosed, some encouraged me to keep my struggles to myself, but I’ve found that it’s always been better to be honest about my needs and realities than to stay silent. I believe strongly in sharing my journey, my solutions, and the things that have helped me.”

In this spirit, Inaba has shared on her blog the products that have helped her cope with her autoimmune disease symptoms – including eye dryness, mouth dryness, joint pain, fatigue, brain fog and more – so that others can benefit from these products and see if they work for them.

This isn’t the first time that Carrie Ann Inaba has opened up about her health struggles. The starlet previously posted on Instagram about how she felt ashamed of her autoimmune diseases, and wanting “…to be what people see. And people see a healthy person, from the outside.” However, confronting her health problems made Inaba reflect on who she is as a person, besides just her identity as a “sexy dancer chick.”

From all of us at Autoimmune Warrior, we want to thank Carrie Ann for opening up about her health journey as an #AutoimmuneWarrior, and raising awareness about the 80+ autoimmune diseases affecting over 23 million Americans. Because of celebrities like her, more people among the general population are learning about autoimmune conditions, and why extensive research is needed to find better treatments, and eventually, a cure.

My #ThisIsSjogrens Awareness Campaign Submission

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Did you know that April is Sjogren’s Awareness Month? That’s right, according to the Sjogren’s Foundation, April was declared Sjogren’s Awareness Month in 1988 when New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter read it into the Congressional Record.

The 2021 theme for this awareness campaign is Coming Together to Conquer Sjogren’s. When you post on social media or other digital platforms about Sjogren’s, use the hashtag #ThisIsSjogrens to highlight your personal experience as part of the campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness about the complexities of the disease, and provide a voice to the 3 million+ Americans (and many more worldwide) who live with it every day.

As April is fast approaching, I wanted to share my personal #ThisIsSjogrens submission with the Autoimmune Warrior blog followers. Read my submission, below!

Name: Isabel

Current age: 28

Age when diagnosed: 20

Please finish with the following sentence: “Since I was diagnosed with Sjögren’s, I have learned…”
Since I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s, I have learned how important self-care is. Although you can’t let the disease rule your life, you must also learn to listen to your body and take the needed time to rest and recharge.

What are your 3 most difficult symptoms?
My three most difficult symptoms are eye dryness, mouth dryness and joint pain, although I also experience fatigue, brain fog and peripheral neuropathy.

What are ways that you cope with your most difficult symptoms?
For eye dryness, I use artificial tears eye drops several times a day, and I also take prescription eye drops to reduce inflammation in my tear glands. I also had punctal plugs inserted in my tear ducts to increase my tear retention. For mouth dryness, I use artificial saliva and take pilocarpine, a medication that stimulates saliva production, and I drink plenty of water throughout the day. For joint pain, I take a prescription medication that reduces inflammation and pain in my joints.

What is one of the ways that you’ve been able to effectively cope with symptoms during this past year in the pandemic?
During the past year of the pandemic, I have taken more time to rest which is helping to reduce my fatigue levels. Also, since I now work from home, I’m able to use a humidifier to humidify my home office environment, which helps with my dryness symptoms.

What is the best tip you would share with another Sjögren’s patient?
If I had to give a tip to another Sjogren’s patient, I would say to find a team of medical professionals who are familiar with the disease. Many medical professionals think that Sjogren’s is just dry eyes and dry mouth, and don’t realize that there is a lot more to the condition and the other symptoms it can cause.

How does the Sjögren’s community and the Foundation give you strength?
The Sjogren’s community and Foundation help to connect me with others who have the disease, so I can build a community around me of other patients who understand what I’m going through.

What do you wish people understood about Sjögren’s and how it affects you?
I wish people understood how much having a chronic illness like Sjogren’s impacts my health and day-to-day wellbeing. I might not be able to do things that I once could due to this disease, but I won’t let that stop me from achieving my personal and professional goals.

To participate in the #ThisIsSjogrens campaign, answer the questions in the Sjogren’s Foundation questionnaire and email your answers to etrocchio@sjogrens.org.

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Autoimmune Disease & Peripheral Neuropathy

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*Peripheral Neuropathy is a common complaint among autoimmune patients.* Image courtesy of the Southern Regional Pain Services.

Did you know that autoimmune disease can cause debilitating nerve pain and other nervous system difficulties?

Many medical professionals are unaware that autoimmune conditions can cause a variety of neurological symptoms, or neuropathies, in patients. Though it is commonly known that autoimmune diseases are responsible for joint pain and other kinds of inflammation, nerve pain is often overlooked.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, peripheral neuropathy refers to conditions that involve damage to the peripheral nervous system, which is the vast communication network that sends signals between the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) and other parts of the body. Research has shown that over 20 million Americans suffer from some form of peripheral neuropathy, of which there are over 100 known unique types!

How can autoimmune disease cause peripheral neuropathy?

Systemic autoimmune diseases that impact the entire body can cause peripheral neuropathy because of the impact these diseases have on one’s nerves. Conditions like Type 1 diabetes, lupus, Sjogren’s syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis can all cause nerves to become compressed or entrapped as a result of inflamed surrounding tissues.

Some autoimmune diseases aren’t systemic, or body-wide, but rather, target the nervous system directly. For example, in autoimmune conditions like Guillain-Barre, multiple sclerosis (MS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), the immune system may go after the motor nerves, motor fibers, or the myelin sheath coating the nerves. In other instances, the small fibers are attacked, resulting in ongoing chronic pain.

How does peripheral neuropathy manifest?

Peripheral neuropathies can manifest for different people in different ways. For example, rather than a sharp, jabbing, throbbing pain, for some patients it may feel more like prickling, tingling, burning, numbness, or even a complete loss of sensation.

According to the Mayo Clinic, peripheral neuropathy can also make you feel like you’re having a sensation that you’re not; for example, feeling like you’re wearing gloves or socks when you’re not. Peripheral neuropathies can also cause you to feel pain for activities that you know shouldn’t cause pain, such as pain in your feet after they’re underneath a blanket.

What you can do about your autoimmune nerve pain

Medical Interventions

If you have autoimmune nerve pain, don’t suffer in silence. Talk to your primary care physician and see if they can refer you to a neurologist or chronic pain specialist. From there, your physician can help put together a treatment plan to ease your pain.

I have Sjogren’s syndrome and for a period of 7+ years, chronic pain was a regular part of my life. My rheumatologist prescribed me all kinds of joint pain medications, from plaquenil (generic name: hydroxychloroquine) an anti-malarial drug, to prescription-strength nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroid medications, and even chemotherapies! It wasn’t until my pain was identified as nerve pain, not joint pain, that I was able to switch to a medication that worked to reduce my peripheral neuropathy.

In addition, I worked with a neurologist to determine that I had a co-morbid condition, called benign fasciculation syndrome, which was also contributing to my pain. This is important, because many chronic pain sufferers have co-morbidities, like fibromyalgia, which can increase your pain levels or even be the real driving force behind it.

Lifestyle Considerations

Beyond medications, your lifestyle is also an important component of reducing your neuropathic pain. Vitamin deficiencies, for example, have been identified as a cause of peripheral neuropathies. This is because certain B vitamins, including vitamins B1, B6 and B12, as well as vitamin E and niacin, are crucial for maintaining nerve health. Since alcoholism can result in serve vitamin deficiencies, avoiding substance abuse is also key.

Exposure to certain toxins or poisonous substances, such as lead and mercury, can also impact your nerves and cause resulting pain. Finally, trauma and pressure on the nerves can cause neuropathies as well, so alleviating pressure on your nerves, such as decreasing repeated motions on the parts of your body experiencing pain, is important.

Do you have an autoimmune condition(s) and suffer from peripheral neuropathy? What do you do to cope with your chronic pain? Let us know in the comments below!