Hello everyone
This is my first time posting. I am 33 years old and was diagnosed with shingles in the summer of 2010. The disease affected my left facial nerve and unfortunately spread to my eye. I was cured very fast (we figured out it was shingles within a few days) but have had complications ever since then.
I am now ten weeks pregnant. I was on pred forte early for the first 7 weeks (not knowing it may have detrimental effects to the fetus) and then went off it once I spoke to my OBGYN given it is classified as a C drug. Last week, I was diagnosed with a herpes dendrite on my eye, likely re-inflamed due to my pregnancy and weakened immune system. I was able to combat this with Valtrex however now my iritis has come back. I spoke to my OBGYN and unfortunately there seems to be very little to treat this other than steroids. I have read all the postings here and it seems there have been quite a few women with my predicament. Most of what I read shows that oral steroids are bad and there is not much research on eye drop steroids so nothing conclusive on pregnancy.
I have decided to go back on Pred Forte after a week of letting it go - my eye pain has increased and the redness has become worse. I would love to hear from anyone who took steroid drops during their pregnancy and the effect, if any, it had on their baby. I am nervous that the decisions I make now will effect my baby and will be detrimental to it. Any advice is also helpful on pregnancy/dealing with iritis. I appreciate it and thank you for establishing this forum. I cannot seem to find really anything on the internet related to this.
Best,
Brooke
Hello - Pregnant with Iritis
Moderators: Mike Bartolatz, kwork
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Mike Bartolatz
- Posts: 6595
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm
Re: Hello - Pregnant with Iritis
Welcome to the group!
steroid eyedrops should have no impact on the fetus as the amount absorbed systemically is very minimal. to lessen the amount that goes down your throat, do the following: once you have put in the eyedrop, close your eye and with your head tilted back, press in on the INSIDE corner of your eye over the drain called the punctum. this will allow the drug to be absorbed by the eye and tissue surrounding the eye rather than down the drain and into your sinuses which drain into your throat causing the terrible aftertaste you get with eyedrops. hold the pressure for about a minute. make sure you shake the bottle of steroid eyedrops for the recommended amount of time especially if you are using the generic prednisilone acetate as it doesn't suspend well. about 3 minutes.
with the herpes zoster virus implicated in your disease processes of the eye, I stronly urge you to seek a consultation with an ocular immunologist. this type of virus can cause a lot of problems if it goes down a nerve and enters the back of the eye. the pregnant woman makes a susbstance which will put many forms of uveitis into remission during the third trimester; But, the uveitis can come back with a vegance shortly after the baby is born.
there is a list of these specialists at http://www.uveitis.org located in the PATIENT information section of the site. you can also ask DR C Stephen Foster about treatment during pregnancy in his ASK DR FOSTER forum.
wishing you the very best,
Mike Bartolatz
steroid eyedrops should have no impact on the fetus as the amount absorbed systemically is very minimal. to lessen the amount that goes down your throat, do the following: once you have put in the eyedrop, close your eye and with your head tilted back, press in on the INSIDE corner of your eye over the drain called the punctum. this will allow the drug to be absorbed by the eye and tissue surrounding the eye rather than down the drain and into your sinuses which drain into your throat causing the terrible aftertaste you get with eyedrops. hold the pressure for about a minute. make sure you shake the bottle of steroid eyedrops for the recommended amount of time especially if you are using the generic prednisilone acetate as it doesn't suspend well. about 3 minutes.
with the herpes zoster virus implicated in your disease processes of the eye, I stronly urge you to seek a consultation with an ocular immunologist. this type of virus can cause a lot of problems if it goes down a nerve and enters the back of the eye. the pregnant woman makes a susbstance which will put many forms of uveitis into remission during the third trimester; But, the uveitis can come back with a vegance shortly after the baby is born.
there is a list of these specialists at http://www.uveitis.org located in the PATIENT information section of the site. you can also ask DR C Stephen Foster about treatment during pregnancy in his ASK DR FOSTER forum.
wishing you the very best,
Mike Bartolatz
Mike Bartolatz
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