New member - My story so far

Please introduce yourself to others by posting a brief note here. This serves as an archive for the site and helps us keep track of our many participants' situations. You will not get replies to posts placed here. To interact with others, go to the GENERAL DISCUSSIONS area of this website.

Moderators: Mike Bartolatz, kwork

Post Reply
Jodav
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 2:09 pm

New member - My story so far

Post by Jodav »

Hi my name is Jo I suffered a misdiagnosed Iritis 3 months after having my son. I visited the GP who treated me for 2 weeks for viral and bacterial infections I then ended up in severe pain and in A and E in the middle of the night and then transferred urgently to a specialist centre 2 hours away where they diagnosed Iritis and I had an injection to help free my iris which was fused to the lens. This was 3 and half years ago and following the correct treatment (Midrilate? and Pred Forte) things quickly settled.
5 weeks ago I noticed a pinkness around my iris and when I touched it through the lid it was sore. I knew straight away things were starting again and didn't risk the GP this time and phoned the eye unit directly for advice, they sent me to the local optician who did the slit test and first thing the next day I was seen at the eye unit and commenced on pred forte hourly and midrilate.
There was an initial improvement and ease in pain then things took a nose dive and the eye became extremely painful and red and the eye was no longer responding to the dilating drops and I was finding it difficult to even open the eye. As is usual with these things it was a sunday evening and there was no dr with ophthalmic experience in the A and E dept so it was a quick trip 2hrs up the rd to see the on call who injected the eye with steroids and stopped the pred forte and midrilate as she thought I may have been reacting to the preservatives in them so prescribed hourly Dexamethasone and atropine twice a day preservative free. Things didn't really improve and I was seen 2 days later by the ophthalmologist who increased the Dexamethasone to half hourly!
Long and short of it is I have been on half hourly dex and atropine for 4 weeks now, the specialist says he has not seen such a severe inflammation for man years. The vision in the affected eye is down to colours and shaped with no definition at all, like look through frosted glass and has deteriorated over the weeks and now have a large floater with little dots too and occasional flashes.
Today I had a check up and he says the inflammation has improved and is barely evident which is great but I am very concerned at this vision loss.
He has decided I can finally drop to 1 hourly Dexamethasone and atropine once a day.
I have not been able to work for 5 weeks now and I'm worried about my sickness record and job but I am a nurse and give iv drugs which I need to be able to read expiry dates and batch numbers on ampoules and also cannulate veins and obviously check lines for air bubbles etc and I'm feeling really anxious about going back. I have been signed off for another week and I'm guessing if the inflammation is good to go he will say I'm fit to work. Am I just being a bit pathetic or have other people had to take time off their jobs for a while? also have people still been able to drive? My job is community based and I am driving upto 5 hrs of my shift 24/7. I have found it has also affected my balance and have had to block out the lens of the affected eye in my sunglasses due to the photophobia.
It's really got me down the past few weeks as been confined to the house unless someone comes to take me somewhere and just want to get back to work and this all be over but I'm really worrying that my vision is going to be affected for some time to come.
Sorry such a long post, haven't really had a look at other threads as been trying to limit the amount of time I have in front of the computer so if anyone can point me in the right direction that would be appreciated muchly.
Thanks for listening
Jo
p.s had all bloods back today and there doesn't seem to be an underlying cause.
Mike Bartolatz
Posts: 6595
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm

Re: New member - My story so far

Post by Mike Bartolatz »

Jo,
have you ever had cold sores on your lips, nose or in your mouth? the herpes sx virus often causes a lot of adhesion and is difficult to quiet down. it usually only impacts one eye. you would require antiviral meds and one drop of pred forte a day to control it and to keep it in hibernation. a conjunctival biopsy if needed could confirm herpes Sx or herpes Zoster as a cause. acyclovir would be the choice of drug for herpes Sx infection. the adhesion can get to full circumference of the iris. this can be difficult to break and there is potential for glaucoma to occur. what were the pressure readings for you eye? above 33 is high and can cause peripheral damage to the retina and to the optic nerve if not treated.

sorry for not responding sooner, have been on vacation without cell phone or internet access ( I know hard to believe but I was in a very remote section of my State fishing)

if in England, there is a list of specialists that you can access. professor William Ayliffe in London takes patients privately ( NO NHS)
and is excellent. contact information at http://www.uveitis.org PATIENT information section of the site on the international Specialist list.

please join us in the GENERAL discussion forum for response as you CANNOT post to this post again, only moderators can continue an introduction thread here.

wishing you the very best,
Mike Bartolatz
Mike Bartolatz
Moderator
Post Reply