Chalazion, styes and iritis

[Dan_from_boston]

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone else was lucky enough to have or have had Chalazion, styes and iritis. I just came back from the eye doctor and as it turns out the pain I am having in my lucky iritis eye is coming from a Chalazion on the inside of my lower eyelid. I've had 2 episodes of iritis in the past year and from what I remember of the pain, this chalazion feels worse. It hurts everytime I blink and has a strained muscle feel. Luckly though the treatment for this is shorter than the Iritis treatments. Is there anything that can be done for the discomfort? Any long lasting anesthetics or something? the warm compress only helps because it forces me to keep my eye closed.

[Angela]

My daughter gets them. Have you tried massaging the area while you are applying the warm compress? Get it just as warm as you can stand it and gently massage and it may help with the drainage and that will relieve some of the pressure and pain. This is what her doctor always has me do. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Angela

[Mike Bartolatz]

Dan,
Please contact MEEI and make an appointment with the Uveitis and Ocular Immunolgy clinic. See Dr Foster the head of the clinic. He is the BEST uveitis specialist in the world.
there is a support group that you can join there too. they also have an online support group. Dr Foster's site is at http://www.uveitis.org
the support group is at http://pub24.ezboard.com/buveitissupportmeei

Since you have recurrent iritis it is time to look for a steroid sparing approach to treatment. long term effects of steroid eye drops are cataract, glaucoma and damage to eye tissues.

wish you the best,
Mike

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick replies. My opthalmalogist put me on ocuflox for five days and by the second day the pain had almost completely subsided. I've tried to get a referral from my insurance to see Dr. Foster; however my last iritis episode responded quickly to steroid therapy and scopoloamine, so I was denied my referral. My doctor said that they refer out to Dr. Foster when cases don't respond to conventional therapy. Also, my recent visit to the Rhuematologist confirmed that I have ankylosing spndylitis (AS) as does my sister. My mother and sister both have been tested for the HLA-b27 gene and are positive, thus the likelyhood that I also have it is high. I was pretty much a text book case for AS. At 27 I had my first iritis flare up, and months after I had a consistant lower back/buttock pain in the right iliosacrial joint. It bugs me at first when I wak up but after my morning trip to the gym, the pain is gone until I wake the next morning.

[Mike Bartolatz]

if you have recurrent iritis related to the HLA B27 haplotype you need a SPECIALIST involved in your care. although adding an NSAID like Vioxx, Celebrex, Voltaren or indomethacin might control your AS and Your iritis, you may need methotrexate etc in the future. Iritis is a rare disease process and since there IS a specialist in your vicinity you should press your insurance company for an evaluation from Dr Foster. Ask your PCP to refer you.

mike