And the beat goes on...

[gigi]

I'm back! I decided to visit this forum again, years after I originally found it.

My story? I was diagnosed with acute anterior uveitis and acute idiopathic scleritis in 1995. This was one year after I had been injured in a fall. I am currently experiencing episcleritis. These bouts are always unilateral, in the right eye. It seems that flareups happen about every two years for me. None have been as severe as the 1995 episode. The opthalmologist who made the original diagnosis seemed to think I was in the early stages of an autoimmune disease, and told me to bear this in mind for the future.

There is still no explanation for any of this, 11 years later. I am HLA-B27 negative, Rh factor negative, everything inconclusive. There are many aches and pains that limit my activities, and overwhelming fatigue. Yes, the SI joints hurt and I have immobility in my lumbar spine. This is constant, but the eye problems are not.

This most recent eye episode landed me in a drop-in clinic when my own doctor was not available. This would normally make me shiver, as it seems eye conditions are broadly misunderstood. However, luck was with me, and I left with Voltaren eye drops.

The doctor at the clinic seemed keen to see a patient with an unusual problem. He walked in the door, examined my eye and told me it was episcleritis. He said he knew it from the instant he saw me, because he is familiar with this condition. He did the usual poking and prodding, found some new sore spots and ordered tests. He suspects Inflammatory Bowel Disease. We will see where this goes: I've had lots of tests, but never an explanation. However, I understand that HLA-B27-negative AS can be considered as a diagnosis when the clinical presentation includes inflammatory bowel disease. That is where this doctor is heading. This is news to me, but I saw a diploma for supplementary rheumatology training on the office wall.

Best of all, I hadn't volunteered any information. This was all generated by the doctor himself, who asked the right questions.

My message from all this? Physician awareness of eye conditions is improving. I don't have any answers yet, but perhaps I will some day. Diagnositic criteria change as knowledge changes. Who knows? A chance visit to a different doctor might have been a gift of fate. I can always hope....