Sjogren's Syndrome Support Group

Hi all,

I've been gone for a while, but I'm back now. (Rheumy number two said it was definitely not Sjrogren's, it was Firbromyalgia, and since he was able to put me on meds that controlled my jont problems, I didn't care what he called it).

I was wondering about dry skin. I started have a difference in texture in the skin around my mouth from the rest of my face Monday night. Tuesday I woke up with that area dry and flakey. I've been putting crisco on it, which has helped But it's still dry. The rest of me feels dry too, but not to that extent.

I was wondering if anyone has had dry skin in that pattern before, and what people have used for dry skin.

This, combined with a few other things, might mean it's time for rheumy number 3. *sigh*

Also is there a way to search forum archives? I'm sure dry skin has come up here before.

I use CeraVe and Cetaphil and you can use Coconut oil found in the grocery store.

I'm up a bit late to look up the info you need but will get back to you on Friday with some more info.

Unfortunately when you look something up in the search box it shows all group discussions on dry skin but you can search through the older posts in the Sjogren's group.

Sorry I'm not much help right now but Friday is another day for that

I can only tell you my experience and everyone is different. My skin started getting flaky and I started to lose the oily skin I grew accustomed to. After going through trial and error I figured it was Rosacea related and after two weeks of using Metrogel at night my skin improved very nicely. Later it started reoccurring from time to time and I finally discovered a food allergy. Once eliminated my skin improved. If I miss applying the metrogel within 2-4 days my skin starts showing the old signs.

You can also try using vitamin E oil.

Drink lots of water and try to eat a balanced diet. Limit your caffeine intake.

Ask your doctor for further testing.

I use Cetaphil, cerave and sometimes Vaseline lotion (for some reason eucerin and some others break me out in hives).

I wasn't quite sure what you meant exactly with it being around your mouth. I know my lips get horribly dry and dead skin builds up on them as it does all over my face and other places. I like to use very gentle daily scrubs like a sugar scrub with pineapple enzymes I like (I think the brand is Alba) to get the dead skin off. I rub very very gently when I use it. For my lips I use a lip mask that Mary Kay sells to get the dead skin off.

It's made a huge difference since I started putting more work into exfoliating. Now it's all less peely/flaky and it seems like all the moisturizers are able to work a lot better.

I have also heard of a lot of people having similar skin issues around their mouth only as part of an allergic reaction. One woman it was a reaction to alcohol used to swab a practice dummy's mouth for a CPR class. So I might have it checked out to be sure.

Good luck!