Iritis / Menstural Cycle
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Jason Lewis
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- Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:25 pm
Iritis / Menstural Cycle
My wife has been suffering from uveitis in both eyes for over 5 years. It initiaited while she was pregnant with our third child. Since then she has been on FML treating both eyes regularly and consistently. I have observed at day 25-26 of her cycle 8 months of each year that she experiences flare ups. It requires hourly application of the drops until it subsides and this can take 1-2 weeks to get under control. Recently she has experiened broken blood vessels in the right eye which is also the troublesome of the eyes. Her Ophthalmologist does not believe there is a connection, but I can not overlook the repeated (and somewhat predeictable) coincidence. Can anyone shed light on this potential link? Any other advice to help her?
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Mike Bartolatz
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- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm
Re: Iritis / Menstural Cycle
yes there is connection. in fact a drug is being developed and hopefully will be availabel in a couple of years.
the third trimester of pregnancy, uveitis calms down because of hormonal changes. post partum there can be renewed inflammation that is difficult to control.
I suggest that you get an Expert, an ocular immunologist involved in your wifes care. there is NO NEED To have uveitis goining on 8 months out of the year. blood vessels can grow inside the eye over time from uveitis which can weaken and break. constant steroid eyedrops can cause blood vessels to weaken on the surface of the eye and cause them to bleed. this is called a subconjunctival hemorrhage.
sometimes scleritis can appear which can present with broken blood vessels. the Ocular immunologist is trained to tell what is going on and he/she can treat using methods that can stop this recurrent cycle which is guaranteed to cause at a minimum, catarcts. often chronic use of corticosteroids can lead to Glaucoma as well.
there are several articles on these topics in various forums. Has she been tested for common autoimmune disease processes that appear with Uveitis. (Iritis is anterior uveitis)
there is a list of specialists at http://www.uveitis.org in the Patient information section of the site. you may have to travel to see one of these very rare fellowship trained opthalmologists.
Wish you the very best,\
mike
the third trimester of pregnancy, uveitis calms down because of hormonal changes. post partum there can be renewed inflammation that is difficult to control.
I suggest that you get an Expert, an ocular immunologist involved in your wifes care. there is NO NEED To have uveitis goining on 8 months out of the year. blood vessels can grow inside the eye over time from uveitis which can weaken and break. constant steroid eyedrops can cause blood vessels to weaken on the surface of the eye and cause them to bleed. this is called a subconjunctival hemorrhage.
sometimes scleritis can appear which can present with broken blood vessels. the Ocular immunologist is trained to tell what is going on and he/she can treat using methods that can stop this recurrent cycle which is guaranteed to cause at a minimum, catarcts. often chronic use of corticosteroids can lead to Glaucoma as well.
there are several articles on these topics in various forums. Has she been tested for common autoimmune disease processes that appear with Uveitis. (Iritis is anterior uveitis)
there is a list of specialists at http://www.uveitis.org in the Patient information section of the site. you may have to travel to see one of these very rare fellowship trained opthalmologists.
Wish you the very best,\
mike
Mike Bartolatz
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Mike Bartolatz
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