Long Story Short - My Sjogren's Natural Healing Journey

  While ginger really helped me reduce my inflammation, I still struggled with morning stiffness.  Adding turmeric did the trick.  I have ulcers left over from years of traditional medication, thus turmeric pills are very hard on my stomach.  I take liquid turmeric sublingually.  I put a dropper-full under my tongue, hold for a minute, then spit it out in the sink.  I'm careful to spit down the drain as it stains EVERYTHING it touches.  I use  Planetary Herbals liquid full spectrum turmeric .  It works great for me, but a friend raves about  Leefy Organics .  I'm sure it's probably better, but it's much more expensive.  I'm feeling fine on mine and don't want to rock the boat.  Plus, I'm really cheap.  Whatever turmeric supplement you choose, it's important to remember that turmeric is very hard to absorb.  Look for one with black pepper or oils to help with absorption.  

 I started taking ginger for my arthritis after reading Ginger for Health:  100 Amazing and Unexpected Uses for Ginger  by Britt Brandon.    I learned that, in several clinical studies, ginger has shown to have the same efficacy rate as NSAIDS without all the side effects.  I now take one 550 mg capsule three times per day (with meals).  I started this to help with my rheumatoid arthritis, but I feel that this is what kept me from having any issues with muscle or joint pain from my Sjogren's as well.  This plus the turmeric and diet is what first allowed me to wean off of all of my arthritis meds and finally start on the road to recovery.   I use Nature's Bounty - works well and I can find it buy-one-get one free at Meijer.  UPDATE 4/21/22 - switched to Nature's Way when Meijer was out of my usual brand.  Found this works much better!!  Not as cheap, but so worth it!  The dosage is higher (1,100mg), so that may be why...

  My dry eyes stem from Sjogren's Syndrome.  It's an autoimmune disease that causes problems with the production of tears and saliva.  It can also cause fatigue, joint pain, and rashes.  My main issue is extreme dry eye.  I also tend to have a ton of cavities.  This blog will focus on treatments I use to treat my eye problems, both through controlling the autoimmune issues & increasing tear production through diet and supplements as well as tools I have found to help heal my eyes.   For those of you unfamiliar with Sjogren's, Dr. Axe has a great overview