Hi guys. This is my very first post here and I really apologize if this has been the subject of other topics before, but I feel like I should share this.
I know most of us suffer from dry eyes and skin due to PFS. Also, I’ve recently noticed that my tears seem “weaker” somehow and I barely have any eye sleep (rheum), and this is quite uncommon for me.
Today for the first time I woke up with a weird pain near one my eyes, which appears to come from the tear duct. Then, looking into the Sjögren Syndrome, I’ve found an interesting thing in an article:
Sex steroid hormones are also important regulators of lacrimal gland functions. (…)
Another potential mechanism by which proinflammatory cytokines might affect lacrimal gland function is by altering sex steroid metabolism. As discussed earlier, sex steroids play an important role in the immunology and physiology of the lacrimal gland. It has been shown that proinflammatory cytokines can increase the conversion of androgens into estrogens. This would result in decreased androgen and increased estrogen levels, a situation associated with SS as well as other inflammatory diseases. As discussed earlier, decreased levels of androgens and/or increased levels of estrogens have been linked to lacrimal gland inflammation and tear deficiency in SS. Additionally, proinflammatory cytokines can also alter the metabolism of other hormones and peptides that regulate lacrimal gland homeostasis including ACTH, arginine vasopressin, and prolactin.
The whole article can be seen here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361268/#!po=74.3151