[kf1968]

I am a 48 year old female who has always struggled with being over weight. In trying to get my weight under control I begin drinking Diet Mtn Dew. I begin having excessive thirst along with other health issues such as symptoms of RA. As a result I was diagnosed with Sjogrens syndrome. I continued to drink the diet mtn dew and then begin having a rash. I went to the dermatologist and was diagnosed with being allergic to PPD. Nothing prescribed seem to help the rash. I stumbled up on an article about aspartame poisoning and decided to stop the diet drink. The rash went away after about 6 months but as a result I gained 40 lbs. I hate to admit but I am now back drinking Diet Mtn. Dew (2 liter per day) and have been for about a year. Now the rash has returned and again nothing seems to help the itching from head to toe. As of yesterday I have stopped drinking the diet soda and have been researching aspartame poisoning. All seems to think you need to detox the body after having a hair analysis. I am hesitant to do so since the Sjogrens is a disease that causes an elevated immune system and the medicine I take causes the immune system to become low. Does anyone have any information they would like to share. If so, I will greatly appreciate it.

[armyof1]

Stay way from ANY soda, diet soda, or fruit juices.
Drink water! At least 8 glasses a day. Cutting out Soda from your daily diet will greatly benefit your body in so many ways. COLD water is the best. It increases your metabolism.

[joypulv]

You gave up the worse than useless soda, so forget about aspartame - just don't relapse. You don't even know if your rash is instead a reaction to food coloring, poor diet, or something else. It just isn't that easy to find out.

I drink watered down real juices. VERY watered down, basically just lightly flavored water. At least 10:1.

I too fight to get my weight down. I cook healthy meals and then eat sweets. Sugar addiction.

As I age, I get more and more 'little things' wrong, and one of them is more sensitive skin, resulting in bumps or rashes or dry patches. Aging skin replaces more slowly, is dryer, and gets thinner. You can be more prone to yeast or bacterial infections of the skin when overweight and aging. Keep clean with unscented soap, not much of it, rinse, pat dry gently, and air out around the house, naked. Air on the skin is vital. Stay away from synthetic clothing if you can. Rinse your clothes twice.

If you have PPD, you have to give up dying your hair, of course.
If you have Sjogren's, what testing was done?

[kf1968]

You are right about the PPD. However, I have to use a hair color only made by Gold Well Products which is a special dye for people with PPD. For the Sjogrens I don't recall all the test I underwent. I was so sick I was to the point of having help from my husband with getting dressed and in/out of the bathtub. I begin having joint pain and my primary doctor ordered blood test which revealed an elevated arthritis panel. He then referred me to a rheumatologist who did additional blood work along with X-rays. I know it was about 6 months before I got a diagnosis. I take 400 mg of Plaquenil a day for it. I would love to go be evaluated by a Dr. who believes in health by natural remedies/vitamins but not sure where to start. I have read a lot on Chiropratic care but I would like to have all the analysis done at the same place. It seems what I find is you have to go to a Lab Corp for blood analysis or order a hair analysis and then take it to someone to interpret the report. Do you know anything about this?

[joypulv]

I avoid a lot of medical runaround. I spent 35 years with pain that doctors treated like hypochondria, yet a chiropractor diagnosed it as scarred sacral nerves (which wrap around to the front, so may not hurt in the back at all) in 2 minutes, just by listening to me. And he was right, because the treatments got rid of a lot of the pain. But I now have vertebrae pressing on nerves as my spine gets shorter from age, and I have arthritis, and an inflamed leg after it got cellulitus, and very sore arms and shoulders from losing synovial fluid, all from doing too much strenuous work in my 30s, AND eating too much sugar. AND taking two huge courses of antibiotics, first for Lyme, then the cellulitus, and not doing anything to get my flora back. Sugar culprit again. So... I hurt all over.
I don't go for diagnoses like Sjogrens and fibromyalgia because they just group a bunch of symptoms together without explaining the underlying causes.
As your kidneys age, that too can result in seemingly unrelated symptoms, such as skin problems, fatigue, and aches. Your blood work for kidney function may be normal.
If your diet is full of sugar and lacking good nutrients in general, cell damage results, and inflammation, just as inflaming as arthritis.
Your best bet is a good diet!
I am not succeeding myself.

I looked up Plaquenil. Skin rash and itching is a side effect. Your doctor is supposed to KNOW that!
If the drug doesn't seem to be helping, discuss getting off it to see if the rash goes away.