****UPDATE******* Well, this morning I wake up to Iritis in my left eye. I have never had it in my left eye, a little scary
Hello from Florida
Moderators: Mike Bartolatz, kwork
Hello from Florida
I had my first bout of Iritis in February 2010. Like many others, my first "Doctor" didn't catch, he treated me for a scratch on my eye. After a few very painful days, I sought out another doctor, which diagnosed my son's visual impairment. Since I had no insurance, it was quite expensive, although I would have paid anything. The doctor quickly determined it was a bad case of iritis and prescribed me isoproto homotropine 5% and omnipred. He was my savior,he was kind enough to not "diagnose" me or put anything in my file until I could get some insurance. He instructed me to get insurance and come back to see him. My iritis lasted about a month and was better for a week and came back for 2 weeks. Finally it went away. Only to get it another 6 times in 2010. In 2011, things seemed much better until July when my husband took a business trip to Atlanta. Sure enough, I got the worst case of iritis to date. I called the doctor and he immediately sent me prescriptions. They at least took the pain and photo-sensitivity away. Needless to say, I kept postponing getting insurance until I had a flare-up. I now have insurance, FINALLY! Needless to say, I am a little afraid to go to the doctors any time soon, maybe in about 4 or 5 months. I am very worried that they will consider it pre-existing even though I was never diagnosed. I have done a lot of research and reading and I am about 99% sure it is AS, I have had very classic textbook symptoms and flares along the years. Although, the doctors or myself would always attribute it to something else. Anyway, I am glad I broke down to spend the money on insurance and found this forum. It is nice to hear everyone's stories and situations, I no longer feel alone.
****UPDATE******* Well, this morning I wake up to Iritis in my left eye. I have never had it in my left eye, a little scary
****UPDATE******* Well, this morning I wake up to Iritis in my left eye. I have never had it in my left eye, a little scary
-
Mike Bartolatz
- Posts: 6595
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm
Re: Hello from Florida
get in to see the opthalmologist and get tested for the HLA B27 gene as your eyes are now 'ping ponging' and that is a symptom of this form of uveitis.
If you can tolerate NSAID therapy it might be a good time to start taking one of them at prescription strength to see if you can break the recurrent cycle of this type of uveitis. Dr Foster uses Celebrex, dolobid (difusinal) and Naproxen as they seem to work the best. the last two are available as generic. Naproxen is available OTC so it would be the cheapest if you don't have drugs covered by your insurance.
if you can get in to See Dr Perez at Bascom Palmer he can help you through this. his contact information can be found at http://www.uveitis.org in the PATIENT information section of the site. a trial of the NSAID for about six months should tell you if your iritis will respond to NSAID therapy. then you would stay on the NSAID for two years and then slowly taper off. this is so that you can get off all steroid without inflammation. if your eyes flare during this time, other medications might be needed such as Methtrexate alone or in combination with other classes of meds such as Remicade or Humira. DR Perez was trained by Dr Foster at Harvard and knows how to use these medications.
you need to be under the care of an opthalmologist whenever your eyes are inflammed. steroids can increase pressure inside your eyes often without any symptoms of glaucoma and they can damage the optic nerve quickly. the dilating drops relax the muscle that opens and closes the eye. cells can cause the iris to stick to the lens so the dilating drops help to prevent this. often people use the dilating drops at bedtime so that vision is less blurry during the day. a short actin dilating drop is preferred for this reason. sometimes the inflammation is so much that a long acting dilating drop is needed but it can cause blur of vision for several weeks after stopping it.
please join us in our General discussion forum where I can help you through this.
wishing you quiet eyes,
mike
If you can tolerate NSAID therapy it might be a good time to start taking one of them at prescription strength to see if you can break the recurrent cycle of this type of uveitis. Dr Foster uses Celebrex, dolobid (difusinal) and Naproxen as they seem to work the best. the last two are available as generic. Naproxen is available OTC so it would be the cheapest if you don't have drugs covered by your insurance.
if you can get in to See Dr Perez at Bascom Palmer he can help you through this. his contact information can be found at http://www.uveitis.org in the PATIENT information section of the site. a trial of the NSAID for about six months should tell you if your iritis will respond to NSAID therapy. then you would stay on the NSAID for two years and then slowly taper off. this is so that you can get off all steroid without inflammation. if your eyes flare during this time, other medications might be needed such as Methtrexate alone or in combination with other classes of meds such as Remicade or Humira. DR Perez was trained by Dr Foster at Harvard and knows how to use these medications.
you need to be under the care of an opthalmologist whenever your eyes are inflammed. steroids can increase pressure inside your eyes often without any symptoms of glaucoma and they can damage the optic nerve quickly. the dilating drops relax the muscle that opens and closes the eye. cells can cause the iris to stick to the lens so the dilating drops help to prevent this. often people use the dilating drops at bedtime so that vision is less blurry during the day. a short actin dilating drop is preferred for this reason. sometimes the inflammation is so much that a long acting dilating drop is needed but it can cause blur of vision for several weeks after stopping it.
please join us in our General discussion forum where I can help you through this.
wishing you quiet eyes,
mike
Mike Bartolatz
Moderator
Moderator