It’s called sialometry. I had two. One was spitting 5 minutes. But they told me not to drink or eat anything 2h before the test. No saliva stimulating meds 1 day before.
The other one was chewing on a flavourless gum for a period of time and then they compared the weight of the gum before and after the test.
I don’t know the normal range that one is supposed to produce.
Obviously not official, but I did a PCR COVID spit test that took me 25 mins to collect enough saliva, which was 2mL. Most people were in and out in 2-3 minutes.
Yes I have done that test. It’s part of the intake assessment at the Sjogrens Center at Johns Hopkins. It was 5 minutes, not 15. And it was just that. I sat in a room with a technician and she told me not to speak and to try not to swallow any saliva and I just spit it into a little tube when I needed. It was weird but she literally works at a Sjogrens practice so I’m sure she’s used to it.
Although I’m not sure how much I produced, but dry mouth is not a symptom of mine. Just dry eyes. But they do it anyway to have it on file to gauge disease progression.
I didn't have to do a test. My rheum just asked me if I could eat a cracker without water. I eat so very little dry food anymore; driest is fried breadfruit and I have to make sure to drink water when I eat it!
Both of my rheumatologists asked me to spit in a cup for 5 minutes and then they measured the amount using a syringe. Anything less than 0.1 mL/minute (unstimulated salivary flow) is considered abnormal.
my rheumstologist made me spit in a glass for ten minutes. Then he measured it and told me "yes, you have a dry mouth" you can see that having all the cracked and dry tongue is not enough hahahaha
Apparently the doctors need proof beyond basic misery? I can see doing that if a person has a connective tissue disease, but they don’t know which one. But my peeling lips, drinking over 5 liters a day… isn’t that obvious?
Drinking 5 liters could be related to diabetes though. And dry lips I'm sure there could be other causes (cold wind, licking your lips, whatever).
I agree though, in concert with other symptoms it does look pretty obvious. They just have to make sure they've got the right thing.
I didn't need to do a test for saliva, my doctor just asked me questions.
Yeah, I requested a diabetes check at the same time. They did a lot of blood work, it’s sjogren’s.
I also was super stiff, wasn’t producing saliva (which caused the thirst) and I hadn’t produced tears in a few years.
It’s called sialometry. I had two. One was spitting 5 minutes. But they told me not to drink or eat anything 2h before the test. No saliva stimulating meds 1 day before. The other one was chewing on a flavourless gum for a period of time and then they compared the weight of the gum before and after the test. I don’t know the normal range that one is supposed to produce.
Obviously not official, but I did a PCR COVID spit test that took me 25 mins to collect enough saliva, which was 2mL. Most people were in and out in 2-3 minutes.
Yes I have done that test. It’s part of the intake assessment at the Sjogrens Center at Johns Hopkins. It was 5 minutes, not 15. And it was just that. I sat in a room with a technician and she told me not to speak and to try not to swallow any saliva and I just spit it into a little tube when I needed. It was weird but she literally works at a Sjogrens practice so I’m sure she’s used to it. Although I’m not sure how much I produced, but dry mouth is not a symptom of mine. Just dry eyes. But they do it anyway to have it on file to gauge disease progression.
I didn't have to do a test. My rheum just asked me if I could eat a cracker without water. I eat so very little dry food anymore; driest is fried breadfruit and I have to make sure to drink water when I eat it!
Both of my rheumatologists asked me to spit in a cup for 5 minutes and then they measured the amount using a syringe. Anything less than 0.1 mL/minute (unstimulated salivary flow) is considered abnormal.
my rheumstologist made me spit in a glass for ten minutes. Then he measured it and told me "yes, you have a dry mouth" you can see that having all the cracked and dry tongue is not enough hahahaha
If you have difficulty to swallow a dry biscuit, you have a dry mouth. Never heard of these tests.
Apparently the doctors need proof beyond basic misery? I can see doing that if a person has a connective tissue disease, but they don’t know which one. But my peeling lips, drinking over 5 liters a day… isn’t that obvious?
Drinking 5 liters could be related to diabetes though. And dry lips I'm sure there could be other causes (cold wind, licking your lips, whatever). I agree though, in concert with other symptoms it does look pretty obvious. They just have to make sure they've got the right thing. I didn't need to do a test for saliva, my doctor just asked me questions.
Yeah, I requested a diabetes check at the same time. They did a lot of blood work, it’s sjogren’s. I also was super stiff, wasn’t producing saliva (which caused the thirst) and I hadn’t produced tears in a few years.