I was in a pendulum session one day when I pulled a card that made my breath catch in my throat. A health card.
I didn’t understand. I had been doing all the things. I’d had taken the tests, and I was trying to balance my work and home life better. I had been actively putting my emotional, and mental health first, while trying to sort out my physical ailments. I was perplexed by this draw.
“Do I have something else going on with my health?”
The pendulum circled clockwise.
“Yes. Thank you.”
I pondered for a moment before I was nudged.
“Do I have an auto-immune disease?”
Yes.
I wracked my brain for the autoimmune diseases I knew off-hand. I already have hypothyroidism, and years ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
“Do I have rheumatoid arthritis?”
The pendulum circled counterclockwise.
“No. Thank you.”
“Do I have lupus?”
No.
I couldn’t think of anything else so I ended the session, as I always do.
“Thank you for your time.”
The next morning I started researching. I had some odd things happen over the past few years, and I remember my sister saying the thought there was more to it than met the eye.
I stumbled upon an autoimmune disease that felt like a smack across the face. As I scanned the symptoms, I realized I was the poster child for it.
Chronic eye infections, check. I was getting them monthly at one point.
Salivary gland issues, check. My right one had been swollen, and partially blocked for almost 2 years now.
Dry mouth, check. The newest symptom, and the most annoying. It mostly affected my right side of my mouth.
Joint pain, check. My knees in particular.
Linked to hypothyroidism. Well, I’d been blessed with that almost 14 years ago.
Hell, it even explained the chronic dryness in my right fingertips. Something that started when I had Covid back in 2022. It started with my favourite finger, the middle one, and slowly spread to 3 others. The dermatologist hadn’t been able to figure that one out.
The autoimmune disease is called Sjögren’s pronounced SHOW-grens. It was discovered in 1933, by Swedish ophthalmologist Henrik Sjögren, who noticed some people with chronic eye dryness had a common set of other symptoms.
Essentially it is a dehydration disease. It causes chronic dryness through various systems. That also explained blood results I had that signalled that I was dehydrated. The only real treatment plan is treating each individual symptom, and research has found that following a strict immune protocol diet can be beneficial as well.
I am currently in the diagnostic process for this. It turns out it can quite difficult, and time consuming to get a firm diagnosis for this disease. It often takes 3-10 years from initial symptoms to see positive blood markers, if at all.
In the meantime, I have started removing certain foods from my diet to see if that helps improve some things. It is similar to paleo, but is also grain and dairy free.
I am still wrapping my mind around how I came to know this information. It certainly wasn’t something I ever expected to experience. That being said, this past week I pulled a card that proves that while my guides are wise, they also have a sense of humour.
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