Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Eye Problems

Sounds rather like mine, except that mine went/go red and is unilateral.

Dry, scratchy - and like a 'headache' inside the eye (great description), then a v. sharp pain, and bright red. My opthalmic surgeon said broken blood vessel: keeps happening. But will run this past my rheumy whom I will be seeing on 10 July. (Have a list of questions for her!)

Had the punctyl plugs put in, as they kep streaming: Sjogren's. This morning the right eye is at it again. Streaming, blurry vision and feeling sort of 'tight' inside the eye. Weird. Can't wait for the 10.

Interesting posts - thanks guys.

Molly
Keeping on Keeping on

Hi, I ve never had problems with full blown iritis. During flares I get sharp shooting pains in my right eye. Both my eyes become very itchy and sensitve to light and the glare of computers. I find it very difficult to even apply makeup without them watering severely. Ive tried erythromycin to no avail and basically just wait for my flare to subside. Have recently started the NSD and "YAY" I feel GREAT!!!

Dawn

Hi Molly,
I hope you dont mind me asking..but what did the opth. surgeoun say caused the broken blood vessel? iv'e had that problem with my left eye. very sharp pain and red in that one spot but it looks bad when it gets like that. Just sounded familiar...thanks for any input or info! bugsy

Hi there Bugsy - haven't been posting 'at all' recently - in between hospital/doctor appointments have been away house hunting. Came back to find that the monitor had packed up...well, after five years it didn't owe me owt. Will be picking up flat screen new monitor tomorrow, meantime am using a loan one from the shop: the screen is tiny but got me out of trouble and was good of em to lend me a monitor anyways. So am very grateful. (How to win and to keep customers!)

Right. Well, no 'reason' given for the blow-up red eye! My nice lady senior registrar opthalmic surgeon opines, Sjogrens for the blurryness/tearyness. ??On the redness and the sharp shooting pains. As for the tightness...yours and my guess!! Sigh.

Ran it all past my lovely new rheumy, but she was more interested in my back and did not seem willing to discuss eyes, in fact was pretty dismissive of the Sjogrens findings by the opthalmic senior registrar surgeon!

Me? Reckon I'll stick with the Sjogrens and hope nowt to do with iritis. Fingers crossed.

Seeing opthalmic lady next Wed 15, and the senior guy on Wed 29. In between those two appointments I am seeing my opthalmologist on Fri 17. So 'hopefully' we might get closer to a diagnosis. The opthalmologist has colour print outs of the back of my right eye, the eye that is causing most of the eye problems. His input will be interesting and will be interesting to compare photos of some 3yrs ago to now.

In the meantime, the punctyl plugs are still doing the needful - very pleased. Hardly any teary/watery eyes any more. Relief - mind you that could 'also' be due to the LDN that I have started - yep, update to follow in due course.

So, apart from being away house hunting I have also sorted the LDN for myself - must say Dr Bob Lawrence is delightful - great to be dealing with such an open mind.

Don't suppose this has helped you in the least bit Bugsy, but hope you got summat from it!

Take care hon -

Molly
Keeping on Keeping on (bugging the medics for answers... )

I expierance itching, puffiness around the bottom of my eyes, redness, pain in my eyes, and headaches...my friends always describe my look as I have just been crying, is this symptoms that i should go to the eye doctor for, or something I shouldn't worry about until i notice senstivity to light or this for more than a couple of days?

Hi Christine, and welcome to KA!

Itchy and puffiness are not symptoms of iritis, to my knowledge.

Pain felt deep inside the eyeball, the white of the eye turning pink or red, headaches (diffuse pain), photophobia (light sensitivity), blurred vision, or the sensation of having a speck of dust in the eye that cannot be cleared are all typical symptoms of Iritis/Uveitis. A first experience (in most but not all cases) will advance very quickly over a matter of hours, not days, to extremely acute pain that is unbearable. Iritis is very serious and requires emergency treatment!

Anyone with AS that notices any change in normal vision or any of these symptoms should have their eyes examined by an Ophthalmologist. Some cases are less obvious and don't follow the 'typical' pattern of escalation, especially for folks who have suffered a few attacks. Iritis is (usually but not always) unilateral, attacking only one eye at a time. The stats suggest that roughly 33% of ASers will suffer iritis at some point so having the awareness to seek immediate treatment is a huge key to preventing permanent damage.

My brother gets that same look as tho he has been crying whenever he has iritis. I am not sure however, whether that might come from rubbing his eyes and treating with drops rather than the iritis itself. Allergies may cause that same look, I suspect.


I hope your eyes are fine!
mig

Quote:

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Never stop drops cold turkey

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great quote and very true . I get irits every couple of years with my treatment they also give my atropene to dilate the eyes this gets the pred forte in much quicker but is a pain cause the vision gets blurry.
quoting from my other post in an iritis thread

Quote:

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Nice to see the iritis topic not something that has been discussed that i have read for a while. I found stress and depression some of the main triggers for me. I have had it tens of times the worst when I had it in both eyes at the same time and it took 2 months to finally clear. fortunately our local eye hospital has a fast track for iritis sufferers ( 15-20 min wait ) so it gets hit fairly quickly. the key is when you get the first signs of pain to get the treat ment. in my case its drops atropene and pred forte. my last flare up was 18 months ago. I drive for a living so this is my greatest fear. pain I can deal with but when you can't see eeek.
thanks for the tips and idea's personally I dont believe food is related in my case.
curious though do any of you iritis sufferers also have crohns with your as?

lastly it was a case of iritis that finally got me on the road to diagnoses with as many years ago. but thats a very long story.

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I hope it helps
cheers
meggala

iritis can also cause glaucoma later in life from what I have been told by doctors so keep an eye out so to speak

I have had a few eye doctors tell me I have an eye infection instead of irisitis. They look in my eyes and the right one they say it looks like you have had sandpaper under your eyelids. Once or twice I let them get by with it when I was younger, but now when they start with an eye infection I tell them it is irisitis associated with a rare from of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis. If by chance they have heard of AS which most have by now they agree then check the pressure. The whites of my eyes don't always turn red or pink, but it is dry and itchy with the underside of the lid being almost blood red. I get a sharp stabbing pain above my temple and my vision changes a bit as it gets worse.

The sharp stabbing pain is usually the first sign I get, then the constant matting almost like pulling strings out of your eyes comes next. So you might want to let the doctor know you may have irisitis instead of letting him/her try to make a dx on their own unless they deal with AS patients.

Brent