
Chest Pain, Purple Feet, Difficulty Swallowing. Diagnosed With Sjogren's, Raynaud's And Interstitial Cystitis. Want Advice

I sympathize with you and appreciate your guts in facing so many medical problems at one time. If I may summarize, the main issues you are facing are with - 1. Chest pain 2. Sjogrens 3. Raynauds 4. Asthama.
1. Chest pain. Though costochondritis is a possibility, other possible causes of chest pain could be fibromyalgia, Vitamin D deficiency or osteoporosis. Of these, latter two are very much treatable. You might want to suggest tests to rule out these conditions to your doctor. Fibromyalgia will partially respond to medication called pregabalin.
2. Sjogrens. Unfortunately not much can be done on this front except for constant consumption of liquids. There are certain prescription medications to increase salivation, but they help only partially. It appears that you area also suffering from neuropathy (heaviness in arms, numbness in toes) secondary to Sjogrens. This usually responds to steroids and pregabalin.
3. Raynauds. This should respond to simple measures like avoidance of cold, using warm clothing, socks, etc. Medication like calcium channel blocker (verapamil or diltiazem) also help a great deal in resolving vasospasm of Raynauds.
4. It appears that your asthama responds to advair, so it should be OK.
With so many medical problems affecting your daily life, it wont be surprising to get some element of depression. So this aspect should also be looked into. Proper consultation with a psychiatrist should be helpful.
Hope this systematic approach helps you.
Dr Praveen Jadhav

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