Am I doing enough to get rid of the Iritis??

[Kes1561]

I'm new here. My name is "Kes". I'm new to Iritis having been diagnosed this month. I made my introduction on the introduction forum.

Currently I'm just using the Pred Forte drops. I started with 6 drops a day for 1 1/2 weeks and now I'm working down by dropping to 4 per day for a week, then 3 etc. I'm now on the 3 drops per day.

My question is this: it's not all gone. Am I doing enough? Will it continue to get better? It seems as if it might be a "hair" better today. My left eye is my worst eye. I have it in both eyes and my right eye is dramatically improved.

I believe this started right after I had a bacterial infection in my sinuses and throat. I was pretty sick. I thought I just had a sinus infection and a slight fever but my morning I had a 101 degree fever, sore throat and generally felt like crap. I had chills like crazy all night. I ran a fever for 3 days, which is unusual for me. I also had the sore throat for that length of time which is also unusual. I usually dump a sore throat within 24 hours.

My ENT said he thought my issue was bacterial in nature. He started me on a Z-pack. I finished the Z-pack and felt much better. After about a week I started getting red eyes and pain in my sinuses and around the right temple area. It really hurt! I went back to my ENT and he placed me on a prednisone pack. He didn't look at my eyes when I told him they were very red and it hurt to blink. The predisone pack helped until I was down to the 3rd day from the end.

I had a stressful situation that night in my volunteer job and had to dispatch some volunteers for mass stranding of dolphins and then go out and help also. It was right before I left that the cloudy vision started. I just thought my glasses were dirty.I also used my inhaler a couple of times too much but didn't realize it until later. I was overwhelmed by the situation. Normally I'm fine but this was so massive. I had masive heart palpitations. Then on the way home I just thoughtmy glasses were covered in seaspray from the ocean. The next day,Saturday, I thought I was going to have to go out again on a rescue and as I was getting ready I had the cloudy vision that I thought was my glasses. While trying to clean them I saw that it was my eyes! I also had heart palpitaions, I was under a lot of stress. Fortunately I didn't have to go out. Thank you God. I wasn't going to go after I realized I had a problem with my vision. I'd be a liability.

I went to the emergency room but got tired of waiting by myself in a room. The traige nurse said my heart was beating normally but just beating fast. My blood pressure was normal, suprisingly. I left after 1 1/2 hours and went home. Of course they are charing me over $400 for doing nothing! Oh well......

I saw my optometrist on Monday and he diagnosed Iritis. He said it could come from stress but was often thought to be an autoimmune problem. He asked if I have arthritis. i was in a wreck in May and my primary doctor found arthritis in my neck and low back. It's not A.S. I had been tested for arthritis about 5 years ago but it came up normal. Over the course of the next 2 weeks I got a second opinion from an opthamologist and went to my doctort who ran a lot of blood work and took a chest x-ray. So far everything is normal but we are still waiting on the Lyme disease titer and the results of the chest x-ray. All feel we may never know the reason of the attack. The opthamologist agrees with my treatment. I'm working down on the drops until I'm down to one drop a day for a week and then off the drops.

Am I doing enough for this situation?? I'm not sure if I need a specialist. No one has suggested this. I figure with 3 doctors looking at me one of them would have told me if I needed a specialist. I'm terrified that this will not go away and will come back.

Could stress cause this situation? Could it be a by-product of the infection I had or the wreck I was in? I had whiplash, backspasms and an injury to my left foot. I'm in physical and massage therapy and I'm doing much better.

Help!
Thank you,
Kes

[Mike Bartolatz]

Kess,
it sounds like you were one sick lady. It also sounds like you are getting appropriate treatment for your initial bout of uveitis. uveitis can be triggered by many things. other systemic illnesses are directly linked to uveitis. your Doctors sound to be doing a good job of looking into potential relationships to systemic disease at this time.
there are over 80 things directly linked to uveitis. for some they will only have one bout and never have another. For others it can become chronic or recurrent. those that are chronic (lasting over three months) or those that return after taper off of steroids require additional medications to stop this beast. We won't knw where you fit into this scheme of things for awhile. make sure you get back into see the opthalmologist should your vision worsen in any way. you need a 'to be seen as necessary' appointment schedule which should be mentioned in your chart so that those making appointments will work you in as required.

Stress seems to trigger recurence of uveitis; it is NOT a cause of intial inflammation.

Many pathogens can Cause uveitis and only your doctors can sort this out for you.
Infection anywhere in your body can also trigger a renewed bout of uveitis.
Various forms of arthritis are related to uveitis, most are related to the HLA B27 haplotype. Some skin disease processes and rashes are also related to uveitis./
Some autoimmune diseases are too. Please print out a copy of the Patient Questionaire used at MEEI. fill it out whith your immediate family tomake a record of all your past and present illnesses and other symptoms too.

Get some dark green Wrap around polarized sunglasses to wear. the work indoors as well as outdoors. I have additional pairs in Brown and in Yellow which I use on overcast days and at night. I also use the brown tinted sunglasses while on the computer. the yellow ones are for at night and cut glare from oncoming headlights on autos.

If this comes back a couple of times you might want to get a specialist involved. where do you live? perhaps I can suggest someone for you.

wish you the best,
mike

[Kes1561]

I'm in southeast Florida, about 40 miles north of W. Palm Beach in Port St Lucie.

I'm hoping this is a one time thing. Could it be a quick recurrence of an initial problem right after I was sick? I began having pain around my eyes right after the bacterial infection and the end of the Z-pack. My eyes were red, especially the left one. I was close to done with the prednisone pack when the stranding came in and I felt tremendous stress. I can't even discribe it. I've never had such heart palpitations that would not quit. I had them for about 2 hours after I crawled in bed. So I know I was in a stress mode. They kicked back in when I thought there was another stranding coming in. That's when my vision went fuzzy and I noticed it. Of course I started panicking!

I have prescription polarized sunglasses in green. I work in a large room with a lot of flourescent lighting and I work on a computer. I've turned down the brightness on the computer that I usually use but the off white surface of my work station is very bright. I thought about bringing a dark towel to put on the counter to cut the brightness. I don't write much so it wouldn't be in the way.

Is it possible that I had a mild occurence of uveitis at one time that went undiagnosed?

Thanks for you advice. I appreciate it more than you know!!!
Kes

[Kes1561]

<<Please print out a copy of the Patient Questionaire used at MEEI. fill it out whith your immediate family tomake a record of all your past and present illnesses and other symptoms too. >>

Where is this form??

Kes

[Mike Bartolatz]

here is the link to the patient questionaire:
http://www.iritis.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=257

please click on HOME at the top of the page. Once there select the SPECIALIST FORUM
once at MEEI scroll down until you get to Florida and you will see Dr Janet Davis at Bascom Palmer in Miami. she can help you figure this out as she is a very well trained uveitis specialist.

I'm not a doctor, just an individual with recurrent uveitis that is now quiet (thank the lucky stars!) I don't want you to end up like me with complications to the meds used to treat this as well as long term disease.

Wish you the best,
Mike

[Kes1561]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for all the info. Sharing your experience is very valuable to those of who are newbies. Who ever thought such a thing could go wrong with a person?

My former allergist used to say he put me in the "G.O.K." category. When I asked him what that meant, he said, "With you, God Only Knows!" He was good but moved out of my area.

If this flares up again I'll get my "bee-hind" down to Miami pronto!!

Thanks again,
Kes

[Guest]

I'm new here. My name is "Kes". I'm new to Iritis having been diagnosed this month. I made my introduction on the introduction forum.

Currently I'm just using the Pred Forte drops. I started with 6 drops a day for 1 1/2 weeks and now I'm working down by dropping to 4 per day for a week, then 3 etc. I'm now on the 3 drops per day.

My question is this: it's not all gone. Am I doing enough? Will it continue to get better? It seems as if it might be a "hair" better today. My left eye is my worst eye. I have it in both eyes and my right eye is dramatically improved.

I believe this started right after I had a bacterial infection in my sinuses and throat. I was pretty sick. I thought I just had a sinus infection and a slight fever but my morning I had a 101 degree fever, sore throat and generally felt like crap. I had chills like crazy all night. I ran a fever for 3 days, which is unusual for me. I also had the sore throat for that length of time which is also unusual. I usually dump a sore throat within 24 hours.

My ENT said he thought my issue was bacterial in nature. He started me on a Z-pack. I finished the Z-pack and felt much better. After about a week I started getting red eyes and pain in my sinuses and around the right temple area. It really hurt! I went back to my ENT and he placed me on a prednisone pack. He didn't look at my eyes when I told him they were very red and it hurt to blink. The predisone pack helped until I was down to the 3rd day from the end.

I had a stressful situation that night in my volunteer job and had to dispatch some volunteers for mass stranding of dolphins and then go out and help also. It was right before I left that the cloudy vision started. I just thought my glasses were dirty.I also used my inhaler a couple of times too much but didn't realize it until later. I was overwhelmed by the situation. Normally I'm fine but this was so massive. I had masive heart palpitations. Then on the way home I just thoughtmy glasses were covered in seaspray from the ocean. The next day,Saturday, I thought I was going to have to go out again on a rescue and as I was getting ready I had the cloudy vision that I thought was my glasses. While trying to clean them I saw that it was my eyes! I also had heart palpitaions, I was under a lot of stress. Fortunately I didn't have to go out. Thank you God. I wasn't going to go after I realized I had a problem with my vision. I'd be a liability.

I went to the emergency room but got tired of waiting by myself in a room. The traige nurse said my heart was beating normally but just beating fast. My blood pressure was normal, suprisingly. I left after 1 1/2 hours and went home. Of course they are charing me over $400 for doing nothing! Oh well......

I saw my optometrist on Monday and he diagnosed Iritis. He said it could come from stress but was often thought to be an autoimmune problem. He asked if I have arthritis. i was in a wreck in May and my primary doctor found arthritis in my neck and low back. It's not A.S. I had been tested for arthritis about 5 years ago but it came up normal. Over the course of the next 2 weeks I got a second opinion from an opthamologist and went to my doctort who ran a lot of blood work and took a chest x-ray. So far everything is normal but we are still waiting on the Lyme disease titer and the results of the chest x-ray. All feel we may never know the reason of the attack. The opthamologist agrees with my treatment. I'm working down on the drops until I'm down to one drop a day for a week and then off the drops.

Am I doing enough for this situation?? I'm not sure if I need a specialist. No one has suggested this. I figure with 3 doctors looking at me one of them would have told me if I needed a specialist. I'm terrified that this will not go away and will come back.

Could stress cause this situation? Could it be a by-product of the infection I had or the wreck I was in? I had whiplash, backspasms and an injury to my left foot. I'm in physical and massage therapy and I'm doing much better.

Help!
Thank you,
Kes

[Mike Bartolatz]

if your sinus infection was caused by a bacteria and then that bacteria entered your bloodstream, depending on the bacteria, it might be able to enter the eye and cause uveitis. usually infections like this trigger a renewed bout of uveitis and are not the 'cause'. viruses and other critters can also cause uveitis by triggering an autoimmune response to things like HLA B27 and its many pathological triggers.

Could it be that you had red eye as a child (conjunctivitis0 that was actually a bout of iritis that wasn't properly diagnosed by an MD?

should this remain a continual problem with periods of no inflammation only to have it return again a couple of times you might then consider seeing a specialist. if in Florida see Dr Janet Davis at Bascom Palmer. if in North Carolina, See DR Jaffe at Duke.
if in Alabama, See Dr Russel Read in Birmingham at the University.

If you cannot get this current bout into quiesence then get an appointment with the specialist so that damage isn't done inside your eyes.

know the sypmtomsof Glaucoma, rainbows around lights, rarely pain as well as headache. Intra Ocular Pressure should be within normal limits of about 10-24.
above or below this, damage can occur to the optic nerve.

Flashes of light sometimes indicate the vitreous is tugging on the retina. should you see black spots or a veil come accross your vision this might signify vitreous hemorrhage, or retinal detachment. shimmering in a portion of your vision can sometimes be related to Cystoid macular Edema beginning. Ocular migrane looks like one is looking through water or a mirage.

hope this helps,
Mike