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First symptoms of an enduring disease

I wasn't forty yet, I recall, my two boys were twelve and thirteen.  They were very young to undertand my sufferings. My husband, as well. Although he could know me pretty well, he didn't know I was having a rare disease: the Sjögren syndrome, also designated as Sjögren's syndrome, because of its discovery.

"Dr. Henrik Sjögren, the Swedish ophthalmologist who discovered Sjögren's in 1933, which has helped all patients find answers to their health questions."


https://www.sjogrens.org/home/about-the-foundation/worldsjogrensday-



I may have started with breathing difficulties. My chest struggled but it took me a long time to realize I didn't know how to breath. I started to suffer terrible pains in my pharynx. It was as if I had an entire arm climbing inside me making me suffer.
When I told my doctor about these pains, I remember well, I also told him I used to get better when I was partying with friends. So, I started a medication for anxiety.

My issues with anxiety never stopped and I found myself falling into an abyss. I hoped that no one would approach me during the intervals of my classes. Instead, I had to suffer because, due to my job, there was always someone interrumpting my fragile tranquility.

But going back in time, I remember now, I started to suffer from my throat when my eldest son was only five. I got repeated pharyngitis by that time and had to attend speech therapy. I can conclude now I already had symptoms of the Sjögren's syndrome when I was about thirty. Actually, my pharyngitis issues started because I didn't have saliva, which was strongly needed in my classes, of course.

But now, why couldn't I be rescued by doctors thirty years ago? Wasn't medicine developed enough? Wasn't pharmacology developed enough? How many times have I thought about getting myself killed?

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