Comment Reply

Please let us know what you find out about your insurance company, and your ability to go to a specialist without a referral. Some insurance companies can help you get to a specialist.

Also, even though you may have the symptoms of sjogren's, it is important to remain open-minded about diagnosis; there is a fine-line between being educated (which you are!) and self-diagnosing (which you also are!). As long as you are open to other possible causes to your symptoms, because the problem can occur with some patients that they no longer pay attention to all of their symptoms to report to the doctor; only the symptoms that match their self-diagnosed condition. Does that make sense? Of course you can tell the doctor you have read about sjogren's and are having many of these symptoms, but it is MORE important to keep a list of your symptoms separate from any self-diagnosed condition, so the doctor can rule out ALL possible causes and conditions, as well as give you a proper diagnosis.

Good luck!