Swollen Parotid Glands - I may have Sjögren’s

I’ve been on prednisone for Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) and Polymylagia Rheumatica (PMR) since October 2024. I also started taking Actemra last year. Recently, I woke up with a swollen left gland and I had trouble swallowing, it felt like I wasn’t making enough saliva to swallow. ENT sent me for a soft tissue neck ultrasound. Results: Bilateral enlarged parotid glands and a small hypoechoic lesion within the right parotid gland. This lesion likely represents a lymph node and a follow-up neck ultrasound is recommended.

I sent results to my rheumatologist, he expressed concern about Sjogren’s and he ran what seemed like a million new blood tests. Sjogren’s tests were negative, but rheumatologist said that doesn’t rule it out, which I’m used to hearing from my other autoimmune diseases.

In hindsight, I had been complaining to my husband about having a very dry mouth when I wake up. I’ve also noticed at times that some food felt like it was having trouble going down and I needed extra water to help. At the time, these didn’t seem like issues worth mentioning in and of themselves, but now I see the connection.

I feel in limbo again between maybe having Sjogren's and not having a definitive diagnosis, just like I did with GCA/PMR at the start. I know that’s the way it sometimes goes with autoimmune diseases, but it’s so frustrating. So being new to Sjögren’s, what can I expect from here? Especially related to the swollen parotid glands, has this been a chronic, ongoing issue or more recurrent and episodic, what have your experiences been?