Seriously, my eye balls HURT!!!!
I've a friend with a glass eye - trust me they can go across the room
Michele,
Are you also on methotrexate, if not, would that possibly help? You know I'm getting over a bout of scleritis, and had read mtx treats these type of autoimmune eye conditions -- though I already take mtx. I'm tapering off the steroid drops and hope my eyeball will behave, but I know the scleritis, like uveitis can reoccur. Sigh.
I'm using genteal products, that have a preservative that dissipates when in contact w/eye, and applying them throughout the day, as I have sjogrens too, so my eyes can be achy. But I know when my scleritis was at its worse, it was very painful, I never imagined, had to take a darvocet in order to get to sleep.
Are you going to be able to get into your opthalmalogist soon? Hope he/she can help. Take care, and stay away from spoons! YIKES- Hope you feel better soon!ugh. girl, that is so not good!! I can feel your pain... I HAVE~
did your scleritis clear up completely, Joie? My boss is fighting it right now.
none of my RA meds do anything for my eye discomforts.... I use the restasis for dryness... and I too use GenTeal drops and ointment...
Hi Babs,
Yes, my scleritis is clearing up with the use of my eye drops, 1% prednisolone. I started seeing improvement, less redness and pain, within the first week of using them. I think I've been on them for about a month now, and will taper down to zero these next 3 weeks.
I also have sjogrens, so when I see my eye doc for a followup in 6 weeks, I will ask about using restasis or having lacrimal plugs put in. After this eye experience, I'm more concerned about doing all I can to maintain my eye health.
I also have another eye problem -- I have sort of a double, overlapping vision. I'll need to see a specialist for this -- after my last appt for scleritis in December.
I have had RA for 31 years, and I wasn't aware of these eye autoimmune conditions, my luck to have 3 eye problems -- sjogrens, scleritis and possibly strabismus. Reading is one of my favorite pasttimes, so I'm hoping they can fix me up so I no longer have to read with one eye closed, which is what I'm doing right now in order to type this. But all in all, I guess I'm a bit lucky, I don't have to deal with the frustrating eye pain Michele is dealing with.
Joie, I hope they can do something for the strabismus. Do they think that is caused from your RA? Have they mentioned anything to you about taking flaxseed oil? It helps to restore moisture to your eyes and well as giving you the good omega 3's and stuff. The punctual plugs should help. I hear mixed reviews about the restasis but its certainly worth a try at this point!!
I do take some short bursts of prednisone but really can't tolerate it for more than a week or so. It really sends me into a terrible depressive mood. They have mentioned giving me cortisone injections into my eyes though-ugh just the thought of that creeps me out!!
MTX is out because I actually have sarcoidosis and not ra as first thought. MTX can sometimes cause breathing and or lungs problems so they don't give it to people that have sarcoidosis with lung involvement.
My eyes are a bit better today-at least I don't have the urge to gouge them out.
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