SOME OF YOU KNOW I HAVE HAD EYE PROBLEMS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS NOW. SAW AN EYE DR, DIAGNOSED DRY EYE AND GAVE ME RESTASIS SEVERAL MONTHS AGO. THE PAIN, REDNESS, GRITTY FEELING AND FATIGUE IN EYES ARE M U C H WORSE. I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE SKIN ABOVE MY EYES IS ALWAYS SWOLLEN AND i KEEP MY EYES HALF CLOSED DUE TO LIGHT SENSITIVITY. WHEN I GET HOME ALL I WANT TO DO IS CLOSE THEM CAUSE THEY HURT SO BADLY. ANY IDEAS..... RHEUMY SAID RA COULD AFFECT MY EYES BUT THIS IS REDICULOUS AND AFFECTING MY DAILY LIFE......
Karen,
Sorry to hear you are having so many problems and
not getting any relief. I'venoticed lately that my
eyes give me terrible problems about 5 out of 7
days. Not sure of the cause, but I can certainly
sympathize with you. Is there anything other than the
restasis they can give you?
My eyes feel like they are on fire and really burn.
Makes me feel tired too. I actually go in the
bathroom at work several times a day so I can close
them for a minute. For a while today I thought maybe
I was somehow getting lotion or makeup in them. I
tried to flush them with some eye solution, but didn't
help.
Did the RD give you any other ideas on what you
might be able to do?
Hope you find relief soon!!!
Tara
NEED TO TALK TO RHEUMY. MISSED MY APPT LAST WEEK....GOT TIED UP WITH A CLIENT AND NEED TO RESCHEDULE. MY EYES, MY STOMACH (ULCERS), CONTINUED PAIN EVERYWHERE AND THE INCREDIBLE FATIGUE. THIS IS HARDLY A LIFE. THE SULFASALAZINE AND MOBIC IS NOT CUTTING IT. I NEED SOME HELP BAD....I'LL BE CALLING HER TOMORROW.
MY EYE DR AND RHEUMY BOTH TOLD ME YOU CAN GET INFLAMMATION IN YOUR EYES WITH RA.....BUT WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU DO ABOUT IT??? THE RESTASIS IS N O T CUTTING IT.
Hi Karen,
I'm sorry your eyes are so bad. I have posted many times that I was an Ophthalmic nurse for 14 years. You need to see an Ophthalmologist ASAP. Your symptoms may or may not indicate Iritis. The only one that can tell you is the Ophthalmologist. your eye needs to be examined with a slit lamp. Iritis is treated with Steroid drops and is not to be taken lightly. Oscar had it and had to be on steroid drops every hour on the hour. Please call an Ophthalmology office tomorrow (not optomatrist). I really hope it's not Iritis and that you can get some relief.
Please let me know what happens,
I'm not the only one here with eye problems....and we could use all the help we can get. Karen; listen to Pam. This has gone on too long...get this checked out. Don't fool around with your eyes. Definitely see an eye doc who specializes in either 'dry eye syndrome' or the cornea if you can locate one in you area. I had the same eye problems you are having now and restasis did nothing for me and always bothered my sinuses so I stopped it. I swear my eyes have gotten better from stopping the restasis. Also - look into getting punctal plugs put in your tear ducts. This was the miracle cure for me. The plugs prevent the natural tears in your eyes from draining too quickly so that your cornea will be more moist. They put the plugs in at the office and though it sounds gross it's not that bad. I'm very squeamish about my eyes and surprisingly the plugs do not bother me. They numb your eyes and you barely feel a thing. Feel free to PM if you'd like more info. Good luck and keep us posted! TESTING FOR LOVIE. LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS BETTER. I FORGOT I SET MY PUTER TO LARGE FONTS, SO EVERYTHING LOOKS BIG TO ME. SORRY :-) NEVER HAD EYE PROBLEMS SO CONFUSED ABOUT THE TWO TYPES OF EYE DR'S. ONLY GOT GLASSES FOR READING TWO YEARS AGO. HELP...HATE TO ADMIT MY IGNORANCE HERE. WHAT IS IRITIS? TRIED TO FIND SOMETHING ON THE NET LAST NIGHT BUT HAD DIFFICULTY. I hope you are feeling better soon.
Sheila Karen, Iritis is inflamation of the Iris (the colored part of your eye). Symptoms can be mild aching to intense pain. I'm pretty sure there are times when Iritis is caught on a general exam before it becomes full blown and no symptoms are present. Oscar will have to see the Ophthalmologist every 3-4 months to check for iritis (symptoms or not) until he is an adult and possibly longer. The iris is what regulates the light that enters your eye. It dilates when you are in the dark to let in more light and constricts when you enter into a lighted area. The pain in iritis comes from the light hitting the iris(muscle) and the reflex response of constriction. The eye also is usually red and teary. The area in in back of the cornea and in front of the Iris is called the "Anterior Chamber". The Chamber is filled with a fluid called the "Aqueous". The only way to acurately diagnose Iritis is to examine the eye or eyes with a slit lamp microscope. What the Ophthalmologist is looking for are "white Cells" in the Aqueous. Once the diagnosis is made the usual treatment would be anti-inflam drops and steroid drops. I hope that helps. Also, Ophthalmologist is the eye "MD", Optomatrist is good for general screenings when there are no problems. and an Optician makes the glasses. We're lucky to have you here Pam; your experience is so valuable to all of us here!! If we have any other nurses or anyone experienced in the medical fields please speak up and help us make sense of all this stuff. And Hula; That's perfect!! I too have trouble with dry eyes. But eye doc says that is just part of the package of having a disablity and the meds that I have to be on for it. You might think about what meds you are taking and read up on the side effects. I do keep a bottle of eye drops for dry eye around and use it when I am having alot of dryness. Just a suggestion.
Dry eye syndrome is common in those of us with RA. There's a tear gland that makes tears all day long that wash across our eyes keeping them moist. Well those of us with RA have faulty glands and they just doesn't produce enough tears so our corneas dry out more quickly than other people's do. Continuous dry eyes can lead to permanent damage. In the beginning I didn't know what was happening so I got glasses. Then it seemed like I needed stronger ones. Eventually I could barely see a few feet in front of me. For me it was as if I was looking through a frosted pane of glass all the time and it would worsen throughout the day. It also felt like there was grit in my eye so I'd rub and rub but there was nothing there. The ''grit' was my cornea which was no longer smooth or moist. Plus, because the cornea wasn't smooth light would refract all over the place giving me "wiggly" vision. I had to wear sunglass inside! Too much light exposure and I would get pain in my face and nasty migraines. Another thing - when the eye gets that dry it can't tear up to wash away dust and other irrtants. I got a tiny drop of shampoo in my eye. Anyone else's eye would have teared up and the shampoo would simply wash away. Instead I got a chemical burn that left a scar on my cornea. I used restasis for a while but I don't think it helped. Plus it bothered my sinuses. What did the trick was the plugs they put in my tear ducts to hold the tears in my eyes longer. I also use moisturizing drops during the day. My eyes are backed to normal, vision is close to 20/20 and I haven't needed to wear my glasses in months. See an opthamologist as soon as you can and keep us posted!
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