- No products in the cart.
ICP Folsom Compounding Pharmacy Can Help Patients with Sjogren’s Syndrome
World famous tennis star, Venus Williams, wants people with autoimmune disease to know they aren’t alone. “Don’t be discouraged, because what [you’re] going through is similar to other people,” she says. “Talk to those people who understand you or have a similar condition, reach out to them, and build a support team. Do not isolate yourself. Never give up.”
Sjogren’s Syndrome
Sjogren’s syndrome is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the glands that makes tears and saliva by mistake. Sjogren’s syndrome characteristically has 2 major symptoms: dry eyes and dry mouth. According to Mayo Clinic, often the first symptoms noticed are dry eyes and dry mouth. Other parts of the body may also feel dry with a lack of moisture such as lips, nasal membranes and skin. The joints and nerves may also be affected with this disease.
Symptoms and Treatments
Treatment for Sjogren’s focuses on relieving symptoms and it depends on the person which is most bothersome. Some examples of how compounding pharmacists can help with typical symptoms are below
Dry Eyes
Decreased tear production can lead to dryness and burning, possibly with sandy feeling in the eye. This can be very uncomfortable for the patient and often traditional treatments do not work . Experienced sterile compounding pharmacists can make a customized eye dropsusing the patient’s own plasma called autologous eye drops.
The meaning of autologous is that the donor and the recipient are the same person. The eye drops in this case are made from your own blood. Red blood cells and clotting factors are removed, leaving behind blood serum. This is diluted with a sterile, preservative-free solution to produce a tear substitute that is unique to the patient, and contains many important growth factors and nutrients normally found in healthy tears.
Dry Mouth
Dry mouth can be extremely uncomfortable and painful if not taken care of. In addition to that, infections may occur due to the lack of moisture. People with Sjogren’s syndrome are more likely to develop oral yeast infections (thrush).
Medications may be added into an oral adhesive base to help with yeast or bacterial issues.
How ICP Folsom Can Help
ICP Folsom has access to a unique moisturizing compounding. Its polymer network provides improved moisturization that will not easily wash away. Active pharmaceutical ingredients may be added to it.
Benefits
Sjogren’s Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder
A Sjogren’s patient case study where the patient reported improvements with pain and fatigue within two weeks of starting LDN but did not have improvements with dry mouth or dry eyes. The authors noted that clinical improvement was also associated with an improvement in the measurements of inflammation through the inflammatory markers.
In an article published on 2019 March 11 (i: 10.7759/cureus.4225 PMCID: PMC6510571 PMID: 31123647), it explains LDN has clinical benefits on Sjogren’s Syndrome. Read the artcle here: link.
Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)
Read about the mechanism in which low dose naltrexone LDN works to reduce inflammation.
Abstract Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) has been demonstrated to reduce symptom severity in conditions such as fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and complex regional pain syndrome. We review the evidence that LDN may operate as a novel anti-inflammatory agent in the central nervous system, via action on microglial cells. These effects may be unique to low dosages of naltrexone and appear to be entirely independent from naltrexone’s better-known activity on opioid receptors. As a daily oral therapy, LDN is inexpensive and well-tolerated. Despite initial promise of efficacy, the use of LDN for chronic disorders is still highly experimental. Published trials have low sample sizes, and few replications have been performed. We cover the typical usage of LDN in clinical trials, caveats to using the medication, and recommendations for future research and clinical work. LDN may represent one of the first glial cell modulators to be used for the management of chronic pain disorders.
What is Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)?
Naltrexone belongs to a class of drugs known as opioid antagonists. Naltrexone blocks opiate drugs from binding to the opioid receptors, which can result in increased endorphin and enkephalin release. Therefore, this results in reduced: 1. signaling and release of inflammatory substances, 2. nerve cell inflammation and 3. autoimmune mediators.