dry mouth and dry eyes

[JaneG]

Hi
this is my first post and i hope someone can help me please.

i have dry eyes diagnosed at the beginning of this year. As i have health anxiety i became concerned it was sjogrens. now i have a dry mouth and i wake in the night with cotton mouth.

i can generate (quite a lot of) saliva and hang on to it just so my mouth feels wet.yet it still feels dry. i am very anxious and cannot put it out of my mind.

know you cannot diagnose me but wondered if anyone else had dry mouth over time (and eyes) due to anxiety? and how you got out of this cycle?

i have been to the GP re tests who was less than helpful. Said if it was sjogrens the treatment would just be the same so not much point pursuing it.

thank you
JG

[xlouloux]

Hi Jane
Welcome and I am so sorry you are going through this. I also have health anxiety. I wake every single night with dry mouth and eyes, most evenings too. I sleep with eye drops and a bottle of water next to my bed. I can assure you anxiety can cause both of those things. Actually when my anxiety flares up, dry mouth is one of the first things that happens to me. It seems to come and go with me in phases, one month ill be fine then it hits again without any particular cause except I am more anxious. Please try to not worry as I can assure you its a lot worse due to the attention you show it and the anxiety itself

Louise

[Careful1]

It could be sjogrens which is an auto immune disorders. Personally I don't feel regular PCP is good for things like that. Ask for a referal to see a specialist for a work up.

[JaneG]

Thank you so much for your replies.

Yes Sjogrens is what I am worried about. It basically started with dry eye at the beginning of the year and I read about Sjogrens syndrome then. Saw dry mouth as a symptom and now I am unsure if my HA has just latched on to that and now it feels dry, or whether I am experiencing true symptoms and need to get it investigated.

The GP won't test me for it, said it will only increase my anxiety and the symptoms are simply treated the same way - whether it was labelled Sjogrens or not?

I don't have any of the other symptoms - fatigue (other than tiredness when I am particularly worried about health) or joint pain so I am hoping it is just anxiety.

[Careful1]

Your Dr could start with a simple ANA test... If your Dr won't listen to you find another one. People with health anxiety do at times have real medical problems. Not ever thing is health anxiety and you need a Dr who can separate the two.