It just gets better and better...NOT | Arthritis Information

 

 

Sorry to hear about your grandbaby, Kathy. I hope he get well soon and makes a full recovery.

 

Have a good Easter anyway.

It's not a pity party hun!! I'm so sorry........when it rains, it FRIGGIN POURS doesn't it?!??!?

 

Poor baby, and poor you!! You all need a vacation!! I'm racking my brain as to where the baby could have gotten into lead.......if I have a revelation, I will let you know!!!

I'm curious as to what the health department is going to test - they always came out to the daycare to do lead testing, but all they did was take paint samples. *scratches head*

arriscolwell39178.63625Hey Kathy,

Sorry to hear you're having such a rough time right now.

A friend of mine in an older home found out that they had lead pipes coming into their house from the street. The pipes in their home were fine, but the municipal pipes were ancient and were the soucre of the lead contamination.

I hope you find the source quickly.  All the best to you and your babe.

- Joy
Take care of those eyes! I have horrible eye problems. I see the eye dr.
twice a month. I too have sjorgen's and that has caused a lot of eye
complications. I tend to get keritis and epscleritis(inflammation of the
whites of the eyes). Please use the drops...I hate them too!

I hope the lead issue resolves quickly.

BeckyI'm so sorry to hear you must go through all of this....plus the RA on top of it all.  Poor little baby, too. I ditto all the posts, let us know how you are doing...sarahAlways something ...hope things get straightened out with the lead problem and the drops help your eyes.

(((kathy))) Sorry to hear of all the stuff going on now.  I HATE HATE HATE HATE eye drops or anything near my eyes too.  My worst fear would be the dry eyes from the RA or getting Sjorgens and having to do the eye drops.  When I have needed eye drops my husband does them for me.  I close my eyes and he drops the drop on the inside corner of my eye...I open my eye and the drop goes in.  I still grumble lots about it even doing it that way.  I hope this helps you out some.  I don't wear contacts and will always wear glasses because I can not stick anything in my eye and can't touch my eye with my finger. 

I hope you find the source of lead soon.  It is very frustrating.  I hope the babe is doing ok. 

I can't help you at all with the lead. But I wish it's something simple and easily taken care of.

I can help with the eyes though. I have Sjogren's and for all those who are sensitive to putting drops in your eyes there is a solution. I have those punctual plugs which are tiny pieces of plastic that they put in the  tear duct that force more moisture to stay in your eyes. They are perfectly comfortable, take just minutes for the doctor to put in, and no one is ever going to be aware of them. They save me from constantly having to put eye drops in allow I still do that. I also use Genteal preservative free gel. I find this easier to put in my eyes than the drops which can be free inconvenient to put in at times. Make sure whatever drops you use are the preservative free.

My eyes get inflamed a lot. When my RA flares, so does the Sjoren's. Now that you have the diagnosis, you want your Opthamologist to send a report over to your Rheumy. You also may want to make an extra visit to the Rheumy and have your SED rate checked to make sure that the RA is being sufficiently controlled.

My eye doctor also has me use warm washcloths on my eyes morning and night to help clear out all the junk. That really helps. If my eyes are inflamed, however, I use ice cold cloths. I've done this even out running errands as my eyes get really sun sensitive.

I always wear sunshades. If I don't, my eyes get inflamed and the blood vessels will burst. I also have to have tinting on my glasses because of the light sensitiveness.

Taking care of your mouth is equally important and so is your sinuses. You can get mouth washes that are designed to help with dry mouth. It's really important because dry mouth can ruin your teeth. Sugar free candies and gum also help. Always keeping a drink close is essential.

With your sinuses, it can cause nose bleeds or reoccurring sinus infections. You can fight this with the saline nose sprays. These are just salt water, incredibly cheap and help keep those membranes moist.

With Sjogren's any of your tissues can dry out. This includes those wonderful female parts so don't hesitate to find some moisturizers for that as well.

But the biggest thing with Sjogren's that is secondary to RA is to keep your RA under good control and to make sure that your Rheumy knows that you've been diagnosed with it.

Everyone with RA should get regular eye checks with a good Opthamologist. Sjogren's is just one problem. If you take Plaquenil, they have to do regular color and field vision tests. Prednisone can have the side effects of Glaucoma and Cataracts. RA can inflame your eyes bad enough to require cortisone drops in your eyes. Many of these problems are not noticeable and that's why you really want to add an Opthalmologist to your medical team. I developed Glaucoma as soon as I started on Pred. My vision has been at risk from the beginning.

Good news though is that Sjogren's is very manageable even if it is a pain to get the drops in. But my eye doctor has no problem with me using the gel instead of the drops. You might ask yours if that's ok for you.
I didn't know you could get mouthwashes for dry mouth!  Does your dentist prescribe this?  I have constant dry mouth from the Lyrica and it drives me nuts.  I chew sugar free gum like there is no tomorrow!  But a mouthwash for it?  That would be awesome! 
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