Well I'm into Durezol now

[matphotocards]

Thanks for all of your tips, Mike. It is a relief to speak to others with similar experiences and learn what has helped others. I'll print out your recommendations and speak to the Doctor(s) about them, especially since I'm not please with the side effects of the ones I'm taking now.

[Mike Bartolatz]

Celebrex has side effects that must be weighed as is the case with any NSAID. all drugs have side effects. I'm praying that Luveniq will get approved soon as it will be the best drug for many of us with Uveitis. it ISN'T a steroid. it is a calcinerin (sp) inhibitor employing the molecule from Cyclosporine that stops the uveitis by indirectly impacting Interleukins, downregulating them and thus inflammation goes away. the molecular size is much smallar than that in Cyclosporine making it possible to get it into the eye to stop the autoimmune response. please read about Luveniq in an Announcement at the beginning of this forum.
another drug in investigation that has been around for a LONG time is Rapamycin,(serolimus) it is being used 'off label' through the Orphan Drug List (allows medications to be used on rare disease processes without formal studies).
another drug just approved for Moderate to severe Plaque Psoriasis is promising too called Stelara (Usetekinumab). It blocks IL23 production, IL23 illicits TH17 cells which produce IL17 a pro inflammatory cytokine seen in MANY autoimmune diseases and Uveitis it may help with HLA B27 arthritis too.

Wish you the best,
Mike

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3116 (Stelara approval by FDA)

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3357 (AIN457 trial at MERSI in Boston)

http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cf ... goryid=51=
Luveniq (LX211)

[mookermom]

Hello. I've done the predforte for at least 5 years. My flare ups have been way too frequent. I'm so dang tired of spending $10 in gas and $30 co-pay each week to have my doctor say...drop it down to 5 drops a day and I'll see you next week. This goes on for for a month or two and then I'm right there in the waiting room again because my eyes cannot take the light sensitivity. I have iritis hopping between both eyes now and the assistants just shake their heads and say or said, "oh that's terrible." I've had the injections and gone to the internal specialist who put me on celebrex. Then I had stroke to the left eye. Lost 1/2 my sight in that eye by the time I woke up in the morning. No one is responsible of course because I smoke. I'm HLA-B27 positive, but i haven't a clue what unlying condition is there.

So I finally switched doctors this week. He put me on Durezol. I swear I put one drop in my right eye and the pain totally disappeared. My doctor was very optimistic (but he's waiting for my charts from last doc before drawing any conclusions).
He did tell me that Durezol is a relatively newer drug and seems to be a better drug for iritis. He called predforte (a generic solution). Durezol is way more expensive he warned but gave me samples. I haven't had eye pressure problems with predforte so I'm hoping I don't have them with Durezol. Autoimmune failures are not fun. I do share your pain and triumphs. I wish all of you relief from the pain and suffering. I never thought I'd be thankful for a drop that caused my eye to sting so much, but dang, when the sting goes away I'm pain free for a while. Many thanks to all of you for sharing your information. I'll share anything new I learn as well.

[Mike Bartolatz]

you may never develop any condition related to HLA B27 besides uveitis but it can still bounce between eyes and it can be recurrent or chronic, I would suggest that you ask about moving on to a steroid sparing approach to treatment since your HLA B27 related uveitis didn't get you to 'off all steroids without long term no inflammation'. drugs of the DMARD class such as Methotrexate could be used to retrain your immune system to stop attacking your eyes. Durezol although an excellent drug to stop inflammation in the eye is intended for SHORT time use as it can raise intra ocular pressure. it is suggested by the manufacturer to be used for only two weeks at a time because of this. it was developed to prevent inflammation from occuring from surgery to the eye and to keep it from starting after surgery. It is however the only medication that has undergone double blind placebo trials and approved by the FDA to treat uveitis unlike other steroid eyedrops. this is because of the cost associated with doing this type of study.

are you seeing an Ocular Immunologist for consultation and treatment so that a corticosteroid sparing approach to treatment employing DMARD drugs can be tried?

you might ask to have your pressure tested weekly while on the Durezol to make sure pressure doesn't go sky high resulting in additional vision loss from glaucoma due to the Durezol. watch for Rainbows around lights and objects. and get in right away if you see them.
long term steroid use can cause this to occur as well and can damage the optic nerve.

Wishing you quiet eyes,
Mike