I am 37 years old and was diagnosed with juvenile rhuematoid arthritis at 18 months old. I have inflammation in my knee and was put on Enbrel about 3 years ago to help. After being on Enbrel for 3-4 months I developed eye inflammation which my doctor called eye-ritis, so they put me on predisone eye drops. This happened 4 months after my starting Enbrel. After reading the possible side effects closer, it described what they called as eye inflammation so I called the company (Enbrel) and the nurses would not comment. I continued the drug not knowing any better and continued the prednisone eye drops which in turn cause a severe cataract, which then caused me to have to go through different test's, which then caused other complications. It is very rare for someone to have this disease as long as I have had (with 20/20 vision always) to develop eye-ritis in my late thirties.
I have since had a fake lense put in my eye and lost all of my vision (I can see but cannot read out of my eye).
I am curious if anyone else developed anything like this shortly after starting Enbrel?
I am sorry to hear that your vision has been impaired, and I can sympathize with your situation. I almost lost my vision with my first Iritis flare (proper spelling) due to a mis diagnosis by a family physician.
Here is my two bits of my experiences with Iritis and Enbrel:
I have had reactive arthritis (Reiter's Syndrome) since I was 25 and I am now 52. I have been on Enbrel for almost a year (which, by the way, works great for me). I have 20X20 vision. Before Enbrel I would have on average one to two bouts of Iritis per year. Now since I am on Enbrel I have had none, so I think that the Iritis episode you had may have been a coincidence. Are you HLA B27 positive? If so, from my reading, you are highly susceptible to Iritis flares.
Your Opthamologist should have been checking your eye pressures during the prednisone eye drop therapy, was he doing so? You can develop all sorts of issues if you have a steroid reaction from the drops. This happens quite commonly. I am checked every week by my Opthamologist when I have Iritis flares and he has me taking the prednisone steroid drops.
Are you still on Enbrel?
I came across this study on Enbrel & Iritis:
Medscape Nov 30, 2004 Portland, OR - "Although there have been reports of the TNF inhibitor etanercept (Enbrel, Wyeth/Amgen) triggering iritis and ocular inflammation, data from 3 recently published trials with the drug in ankylosing spondylitis provide "reassuring data," says Dr James Rosenbaum (Oregon Health & Science University, Portland).
In a letter in the November 2004 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, Rosenbaum cites several reports of etanercept triggering iritis and uveitis and describes his own experience, in which 5 patients (out of 16) being treated with etanercept for a variety of inflammatory eye and joint diseases developed ocular inflammation only after they started on the drug. In addition, he points out that etanercept used for the treatment of uveitis has been reported as "not of apparent benefit at all" or showed "a benefit that was often not sustained."
However, 3 recent clinical trials of etanercept in ankylosing spondylitis included information on the frequency of uveitis and "each provides reassuring data," Rosenbaum comments. Although the history of iritis was slightly more common in etanercept-treated patients at baseline, 3 times as many episodes of iritis occurred in the placebo-treated patients compared with those on etanercept. The difference between these rates does not quite reach statistical significance (p=0.085), but it certainly provides evidence that etanercept therapy does not increase the likelihood of development of iritis in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, he says."
I knew JRA and AS can cause Iritis/Uveitis but I had no idea a TNF inhibitor had been linked to it.Hi there,
This message is for reservoirdog or anyone else suffering from reactive
arthritis. I was only recently diagnosed with ReA, although I've been
suffering from it for 3 years. I'm completely in the dark about what to
expect from it and would really appreciate anyone's perspective on how
to best manage the disease. Currently I have chronic pain and swelling in
my foot, ankle, and knee, neck stiffness, and some inflammation in my
eye. I'm 24 and am worried it's just going to get worse and worse. Please
feel free to email me at calispark@gmail.com if you have any words of
wisdom.
I've been on Celebrex for 8 months and am about to start sulfasalazine,
to be followed by doxycycline. My doctor never said anything about
prednisone, methotrexate or Enbrel and I'm wondering why. Thanks![QUOTE=Lynk]
hi
for how long do u use enbrel ? u said u have ReA for 25 and still not recovered? do u have joint damage? did u try other treatment than enbrel ? kind regards
came across this study on Enbrel & Iritis:
Medscape Nov 30, 2004 Portland, OR - "Although there have been reports of the TNF inhibitor etanercept (Enbrel, Wyeth/Amgen) triggering iritis and ocular inflammation, data from 3 recently published trials with the drug in ankylosing spondylitis provide "reassuring data," says Dr James Rosenbaum (Oregon Health & Science University, Portland).
In a letter in the November 2004 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, Rosenbaum cites several reports of etanercept triggering iritis and uveitis and describes his own experience, in which 5 patients (out of 16) being treated with etanercept for a variety of inflammatory eye and joint diseases developed ocular inflammation only after they started on the drug. In addition, he points out that etanercept used for the treatment of uveitis has been reported as "not of apparent benefit at all" or showed "a benefit that was often not sustained."
However, 3 recent clinical trials of etanercept in ankylosing spondylitis included information on the frequency of uveitis and "each provides reassuring data," Rosenbaum comments. Although the history of iritis was slightly more common in etanercept-treated patients at baseline, 3 times as many episodes of iritis occurred in the placebo-treated patients compared with those on etanercept. The difference between these rates does not quite reach statistical significance (p=0.085), but it certainly provides evidence that etanercept therapy does not increase the likelihood of development of iritis in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, he says."
I knew JRA and AS can cause Iritis/Uveitis but I had no idea a TNF inhibitor had been linked to it.
do u have any improvement using doxy and sulfa do u have side effectes from sulfa? for how long time u suffer from ReA?
for how long time should use doxy and sulfa?
kind regards
This message is for reservoirdog or anyone else suffering from reactive
arthritis. I was only recently diagnosed with ReA, although I've been
suffering from it for 3 years. I'm completely in the dark about what to
expect from it and would really appreciate anyone's perspective on how
to best manage the disease. Currently I have chronic pain and swelling in
my foot, ankle, and knee, neck stiffness, and some inflammation in my
eye. I'm 24 and am worried it's just going to get worse and worse. Please
feel free to email me at calispark@gmail.com if you have any words of
wisdom.
I've been on Celebrex for 8 months and am about to start sulfasalazine,
to be followed by doxycycline. My doctor never said anything about
prednisone, methotrexate or Enbrel and I'm wondering why. Thanks![/QUOTE]