One day, the simple motion of picking up a fork suddenly became painful. As the fork fell to the floor, I was trying to figure out why the sudden ache in the joints of my hand. Because I couldn’t recall doing anything strenuous or repetitive with my hands in recent days, I chalked the dropped fork up to another sign of getting older.
Moving joint pain became common place. For no apparent reason, elbows, ankles and wrist would begin to ache. A warm compress usually relieved the symptom. I began to think about arthritis, but, in my case, there was little swelling and no growing disfiguration.
The ache was not really enough to slow me down, but it was irritating. Typing became more of a chore. Gripping pans while cooking and tools while gardening was, at times, difficult. Another symptom set was added to the growing list of things that seemed unrelated and unexplainable.
The most logical step for treating joint pain was a referral to a rheumatologist. At an initial interview, unconnected symptoms began to seem related. A search for an effective treatment of symptoms began with the rheumatologist. That search continues.
I have been fortunate in that joint pain has been intermittent and relatively minor treatable with a mild analgesic. Joint pain, for many Sjorgrens suffers is a primary symptom which can become debilitating.
If you are experiencing joint pain in conjunction with other symptoms discussed at this site, it may be more than the aging process or over activity. If you have discovered that your joint pain is related to Sjogrens Disease, please share your experiences in the comment section of this site.