Uveitis that will not go away
Moderators: Mike Bartolatz, kwork
-
mollytchato
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:52 am
Uveitis that will not go away
I am a 35 year old women who was first diagnosed with anterior uveitis at the age of 15 but didn't have another flare up for nearly 12 years. For the past 7 years I have had 2 to 3 flare ups a year in both eyes, but this last flare up just will not clear up. Every time i go down to 1 drop ( pre forte ) a day it starts to get bad again and I have to go back up to 8/6 drops a day again. This has resulted in me using steriod drops in my eye for 5 months continuously . On my last visit to my eye consultant my eye pressure had went up to 35 so he changed my drops to lotemax 0.5% 4 times a day for 2 weeks then down to 1 drop a day for 8 weeks . I had blood work done and no underlying causes were found, but it was discovered that I have the genetic marker HLA B27. I was told this was nothing to worry about. My consultant has not explained any reason for this happening or what the long term prognosis /damage to my eyes is ? can anyone give me some advice.
-
Mike Bartolatz
- Posts: 6595
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:58 pm
Re: Uveitis that will not go away
welcome to the group!.
sorry you have developed chronic HLA B27 related uveitis. the constant inflammation can lead to problems like cataracts and glaucoma as well as damage to the retina over time. the constant use of steroids can lead to cataracts and glaucoma as well and they will never completely stop the damage from constant inflammation or steroids used to treat this. in my lay opinion it was appropriate YEARS ago to have had a steroid sparing approach to treatment implemented. an NSAID like Celebrex, Naprosyn or difusiinal works in some HLA B27 related uveitis patients. this takes prescription NSAID taken for about six months to see if the cycle can be broken and if that fails, then DMARD drugs such as Methotrexate, cellcept or Imuran are used to downregulate the Immune system so that this viscious cycle of inflammation stops.
sometimes women start developing autoimmune disease or inflammatory disease processes right about now in their 30's. this might be from hormonal changes so start watching out for symptoms of Arthritis or Gi tract problems as the HLA B27 gene is linked to them in teh forms of Ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis and the GI issues of Crohn's diseae and ulcerative colitis.
we also highly recommend individuals like you with reurrent or chronic uveitis (iritis is also known as anterior uveitis) to get a real EXPERT called an ocular immunologist involved in their care before glaucoma and cataracts develop or other changes inside the eye happen. there is a list of them at http://www.uveitis.org in the Patient information section of the site on the various Specialist lists.
I am truly saddened that you have now developed glaucoma from as steroid only approach to treatment, this also happened to me and I lost significant vision to this stuff and is why I do my online support work so that others don't have to also go blind in one eye and have reduced vision in the other. Please join us in our GENERAL discussion forum for additional support. you can also post to any of the other forums as well and I will respond.
wishing you the very best,
Mike Bartolatz
sorry you have developed chronic HLA B27 related uveitis. the constant inflammation can lead to problems like cataracts and glaucoma as well as damage to the retina over time. the constant use of steroids can lead to cataracts and glaucoma as well and they will never completely stop the damage from constant inflammation or steroids used to treat this. in my lay opinion it was appropriate YEARS ago to have had a steroid sparing approach to treatment implemented. an NSAID like Celebrex, Naprosyn or difusiinal works in some HLA B27 related uveitis patients. this takes prescription NSAID taken for about six months to see if the cycle can be broken and if that fails, then DMARD drugs such as Methotrexate, cellcept or Imuran are used to downregulate the Immune system so that this viscious cycle of inflammation stops.
sometimes women start developing autoimmune disease or inflammatory disease processes right about now in their 30's. this might be from hormonal changes so start watching out for symptoms of Arthritis or Gi tract problems as the HLA B27 gene is linked to them in teh forms of Ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis and the GI issues of Crohn's diseae and ulcerative colitis.
we also highly recommend individuals like you with reurrent or chronic uveitis (iritis is also known as anterior uveitis) to get a real EXPERT called an ocular immunologist involved in their care before glaucoma and cataracts develop or other changes inside the eye happen. there is a list of them at http://www.uveitis.org in the Patient information section of the site on the various Specialist lists.
I am truly saddened that you have now developed glaucoma from as steroid only approach to treatment, this also happened to me and I lost significant vision to this stuff and is why I do my online support work so that others don't have to also go blind in one eye and have reduced vision in the other. Please join us in our GENERAL discussion forum for additional support. you can also post to any of the other forums as well and I will respond.
wishing you the very best,
Mike Bartolatz
Mike Bartolatz
Moderator
Moderator