I am female, 22, and I have celiac disease. I have had two previous eye issues that were treated as unknown cause, an allergic reaction or infection of some sort but cleared up with antibiotics. A week ago I had a similar flare-up (red eyes, swollen around the eyes, discharge, slightly blurred vision, pain and pressure. The doctor gave me antibiotic drops. After a phone consult with the eye clinic at the hospital she gave me steroid drops (prednisolone). The hospital's eye clinic confirmed iritis. We threw away the antibiotics (it’s not an infection) and continued the steroid drops (for 5.5 days so far; 1 drop every hour). Also dilating drops to unstick my iris from my lens and for protection/comfort (atropine, 4x daily for 2 days). I have been off the dilating drops for 4 days now, which feels like forever as my vision is not good. I really thought my pupil would have undilated by now but through research and reading I see that this is normal for the pupil to remain dilated after such saturation with atropine.
My concerns are with how this is going to affet my every day life.. I have just finished my Bachelor's Degree in Rehabilitation Medicine and I am in the process of finding a job. I have three interviews this week that I willl have to attend with one pupil hugely dilated. I have missed 7 days of work last week. What is typical for atropine to wear off? How many of you are in your 20s and are recently diagnosed or have words of wisdom to offer? I know stress can be a trigger, and I am trying to stay calm with this all and take it one day at a time, but I am scared! and concerned and worried. My sight is precious to me, and I fear for some additional underlying issue such as another autoimmune disorder. Also, my convocation is in a little under 3 weeks - I hope, hope, hope I am much better by then.. not just for cosmological reasons but this is definitely a concern of mine!
22, recently diagnosed with iritis, new grad!
Moderators: Mike Bartolatz, kwork
-
Mike Bartolatz
- Posts: 6595
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm
Re: 22, recently diagnosed with iritis, new grad!
if you cannot get to off steroids without once again having inflammation in the one eye, and if you have a history of cold sores caused by the herpes sx virus, then it could be related to this virus. if this is the case, then antiviral meds such as acyclovir would be in order to put it back into hibernation.
often iritis starts in people in their late teens or twenties. the HLA B27 gene can be linked to this. it sounds like your earlier cases of inflammation were misdiagnosed and were probably iritis. do you have crust like formation on your eyelashes? this would be blepharitis and you may have dry eyes as a cause. did they look for areas of dryness on the surface of your eyes?
do you have a family history of any autoimmune disease processes going on? Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitiis? forms of arthritis such as ankylosing spondylitis or reactive arthritis or psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis?
once you stop atropine it can take a couple of weeks for it to get completely out of your system and if the lens isn't stuck to the iris from an accumulation of cells, you eye should return to normal. if it no longer functions, then consider herpes sx virus or herpes Zoster as a potential cause.
are you in the UK? if so there is a list of international uveitis specialists/ocular immunologists at http://www.uveitis.org in the PATIENT information section of the site. Professor William Ayliffe is highly recommended in London.
sometimes cold compresses applied to the eyelids helps to cope with the external eye discomfort.
make sure you shake the bottle of corticosteroid eyedrops, generic prednisilone acetate 1%, for at least 3 minutes to get the drug suspended into solution prior to putting the drop into your eye. then wait 5 minutes or more to give time for the steroid to be absorbed before putting in the atropine.
I hope this helps,
Mike
often iritis starts in people in their late teens or twenties. the HLA B27 gene can be linked to this. it sounds like your earlier cases of inflammation were misdiagnosed and were probably iritis. do you have crust like formation on your eyelashes? this would be blepharitis and you may have dry eyes as a cause. did they look for areas of dryness on the surface of your eyes?
do you have a family history of any autoimmune disease processes going on? Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitiis? forms of arthritis such as ankylosing spondylitis or reactive arthritis or psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis?
once you stop atropine it can take a couple of weeks for it to get completely out of your system and if the lens isn't stuck to the iris from an accumulation of cells, you eye should return to normal. if it no longer functions, then consider herpes sx virus or herpes Zoster as a potential cause.
are you in the UK? if so there is a list of international uveitis specialists/ocular immunologists at http://www.uveitis.org in the PATIENT information section of the site. Professor William Ayliffe is highly recommended in London.
sometimes cold compresses applied to the eyelids helps to cope with the external eye discomfort.
make sure you shake the bottle of corticosteroid eyedrops, generic prednisilone acetate 1%, for at least 3 minutes to get the drug suspended into solution prior to putting the drop into your eye. then wait 5 minutes or more to give time for the steroid to be absorbed before putting in the atropine.
I hope this helps,
Mike
Mike Bartolatz
Moderator
Moderator