Sjogren’s Disease: Your Definitive Functional Medicine Guide To Healing Naturally

What is Sjogren’s syndrome?

Unfortunately, this autoimmune condition is rarely a stand-alone health problem as many people with Sjogren’s also have another autoimmune condition like lupus or Rheumatoid arthritis. 

Like any other autoimmune condition, your immune system ends up attacking a healthy part of your body because it mistakes it as a foreign invader, leading to chronic inflammation and destruction of healthy tissue. Because your immune system ends up attacking the mucous membranes, tear ducts, and saliva glands first, Sjogren’s is often characterized by two main symptoms - dry mouth and dry eyes. You can also experience the following symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Dry skin
• Vaginal dryness
• Swollen glands
• Joint pain and stiffness

People with Sjogren’s are also at higher risk for yeast infections in the mouth and dental cavities due to the lack of protection from proper saliva levels as well as vision problems like blurry vision and corneal damage.

Sjogren’s syndrome is more common amongst women ages 40 or older but it can affect men and women of all ages. At this time, researchers are not sure what exactly causes Sjogren’s - or any other autoimmune condition for that matter - but it is believed to have something to do with a variety of environmental, viral, or bacterial triggers.

The two most common questions I get in my clinic are “Can Sjogreen’s be reversed?” or “How do you beat Sjogren’s?”. Since it is an autoimmune condition, there is no cure for Sjogren’s but thankfully symptoms can be mitigated and even reversed with proper treatment.

Conventional diagnoses + treatment

There is no one test to diagnose Sjogren’s as this condition can mimic other health problems. But if your doctor suspects that Sjogren’s is an issue for you, they will typically run tests to look at the function of your salivary glands, the dryness levels of your eyes, and blood tests to determine the presence of Sjogren’s antibodies. This complicated diagnosis process can make it difficult for people to get real answers which leaves many suffering for years without fully understanding why they feel the way that they do.

Once you do have a diagnosis, the conventional medicine treatment route is mainly focused on managing symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. These include:

• Eye drops: Prescription eye drops work to alleviate dry eyes and inflammation by increasing moisture
• Medication: Certain medications like Salagen are usually prescribed to help increase saliva production. Anti-malaria drugs are also commonly used as an effective treatment method.
• Immunosuppressants: These suppress an overactive immune system to keep symptoms and flare-ups at bay.

Although these treatments certainly help relieve symptoms, they also come with their own set of side effects that aren’t exactly a walk in the park. Everything from weight gain, fatigue, excessive sweating, abdominal pain, and frequent urination can be just as difficult to deal with as your Sjogren’s symptoms depending on how severe they were before these treatments. 

Natural treatment for Sjogren’s syndrome

Instead of exchanging one symptom for another, natural remedies for Sjogren’s syndrome look at how to provide the most relief with the least amount of side effects. Functional medicine specially, aims to address the underlying cause of why these symptoms are happening in the first place to calm inflammation and rebalance the immune system. So what is the best natural treatment for Sjogren’s? Let’s take a look at my favorite tools for healing Sjogren’s naturally.

1. Vitamin D

Researchers are looking more into the mechanisms by which Vitamin D and Sjogren’s are connected, but they have found that deficiencies are linked to an increased risk of neuropathy in those with Sjogren’s syndrome. (1)

Since Vitamin D is one of the most common deficiencies in America, a Vitamin D supplement can be extremely beneficial - especially since it can be difficult to get enough Vitamin D through food alone. However, it doesn’t hurt to also load up on foods like salmon, mackerel, and eggs.

2. Vitamin C

We all know Vitamin C is great for immune health, but its benefits go far beyond that. In fact, studies have shown that Vitamin C along with fatty acid consumption, can actually increase production of tears and saliva. (2)

3. Turmeric

Since Sjogren’s is considered an autoimmune-inflammatory condition, managing healthy inflammation levels is key. And if you know anything about turmeric’s anti-inflammatory capabilities, you’ll be cooking with this spice every chance you get. But is it true, is turmeric good for Sjogren’s?

Because of its high curcumin content - the compound responsible for fighting inflammation - studies have shown that turmeric consumption can help regulate (3) pro-inflammatory cytokines in various autoimmune conditions such as Rheumatoid arthritis that often coincides with Sjogren’s. (4)

4. Anti-inflammatory diet

In functional medicine we believe that food is foundational to your entire health. Everything you eat either fuels disease or feeds dysfunction. Switching to an anti-inflammatory diet filled with whole, clean food sources like healthy fats, vegetables, and protein can do wonders for inflammation levels and associated symptoms. 

However, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” diet, it’s important to find out what foods trigger inflammation in your body. Check out my book The Inflammation Spectrum, to learn more about using food to fight inflammation and how to uncover your personal inflammatory food triggers.

5. Humidifiers

Avoiding a dry environment is key to not irritating dry mouth and eyes any further. Sleeping with a humidifier in your room and avoiding being directly in front of fans and air conditioning can help.

6. Avoid irritants

Things like citrus, smoking, and coffee can worsen your symptoms of dry mouth. Instead, make sure to increase your water intake.

Seeking help from a functional medicine doctor

Healing Sjogren’s naturally starts with getting the right help. A functional medicine practitioner can help you determine the right healing path for your specific health case. By looking at your individual biochemistry and addressing the root cause of your autoimmune-inflammation symptoms, they can come up with a plan to overcome symptoms with natural ways to treat Sjogren’s.

If you think Sjogren’s might be an issue for you, or you’ve been struggling with this condition for a while with little to no improvement, learn more about becoming a patient and how we can help you using functional medicine.

As one of the first functional medicine telehealth clinics in the world, we provide webcam health consultations for people around the globe. 

Photo: unsplash.com