man, iritis is annoying.

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summerleek
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 5:19 pm

man, iritis is annoying.

Post by summerleek »

Hello all,
I am a 33 year old female, diagnosed with Iritis, HLA b27, and A.S. 2 years ago. I am lucky enough to live in Portland, OR where I am in the hands of Dr. Rosenbaum, and the kind folks in the financial aid department at OHSU.

I have had 6 flare ups in the past 2 years, some were gone just 2 weeks before flopping to the other eye, other times it was a month or so... this time I went nearly 8 months, until 2 weeks ago, which was so great.

Each time I feel the pain coming on, my heart sinks. The reality is just such a bummer. The sensitivity to light especially sucks on a rare sunny day, and the blurry vision and intense pain from jaw to hairline drive me crazy. My particular case, the doctors call "dramatic"- I go in with a 1+ and after a week on 1/hour Pred Forte drops, I go back in with pain, and it's a 2+. A week later, after upping to every 1/2 hour, it's worse yet. Keeps leading to oral Prednisone, which we all know is not fun.

I think it is ok to say that Iritis is really annoying. We have been dealt a card that is better than a lot of others', certainly. But it's still a drag.
Happy to find a place that makes me feel like I am preaching to the choir!

Summer
Mike Bartolatz
Posts: 6595
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm

Re: man, iritis is annoying.

Post by Mike Bartolatz »

it is time to ask for a corticosteroid sparing approach to treatment if he hasn't mentioned it. drugs like methotrexate along with remicade or humira can stop the underlying cause of AS and stop the uveitis before it causes permanent loss of vision from the progression to damaging consequences like cystoid macular edema, cataracts and glaucoma from long term steroid use. He is SUPPOSED to be an expert and should know how to employ a corticosteroid sparing approach to treatment which includes the use of oral and injectible forms of the drug as well as the topical application of steroids to put out the fire and then to keep the immune system from continually attacking your eyes. other classes of drugs are being used as well. he has a study on uveitis and Humira ongoing at Casey Eye Institute too so cost of the drug would be paid for. there is another drug AIN457 that blocks IL17 in an ongoing study as well that you could ask about.

cataracts, glaucoma, cystoid macular edema, epiretinal membranes can be a consequence of inadequately treated uveitis especially when one has HLA B27 uveitis and an associated autoimmune disease. often Severe dry eyes causes problems with the cornea and scleritis can occur as well.
neovascularization can occur as well of the retina and other structure of the eye. I knew a man with Crohn's disease and uveitis that didn't get proper care and he died last month which is also related to the HLA B27 gene who developed all of the above and was blinded and finally he died from colon cancer.

the IL23R gene is also present in ankylosing spondylitis. it causes Interleukin 17 to be produced found in uveitis. AIN457 blocks this and has been shown to work quite well.

Please join us in the General discussion forum to learn more. there is a sticky note at the top of the page of the forum which has information on Clinical trials.

wish you the best,
mike
Mike Bartolatz
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