I'm 19 years old and have just been diagnosed
with Chronic Uveitis. Unfortunately, I am being shuffled inbetween doctors right now and none have really explained what it is. All I know is that my eye waters A LOT and that I have an increased risk of arthritis. Other than that, I have no idea what comes next. If anyone knows, I would appreciate any information that you have or any website addresses that you know of.

Thanks!

[This message has been edited by lauralynn10 (edited 02-16-2001).]

I'll try to throw you a little help. Uveitis is a hard condition to explain because it has so many different forms and so many causes. First off, if this is your first time to have an uveitis, I wouldnt worry much. Sometimes a person can have uveitis for no apparent reason. So a rule of thumb is ...if it's the patient's first time w/ it...we usually will treat it and hope that it doesnt come back. If it does come back...then we have to start looking more in depth for a cause.
For a background of uveitis: first off the uvea is tissue inside the eye including the iris (colored part of the eye), the tissue just in front and back of the iris, and tissue that is behind the retina in the back of the eye. By definition, an uveitis (sometimes also called an iritis) is an inflammation or irritation of that tissue. When you have an acute uveitis, you usually complain of pain in the eye, eyes watering, red around the cornea, bright lights hurt, and sometimes decreased vision. The typical treatment is with topical steriod drops, which reduced the inflammation, and also to dilate the eye, which prevents the iris from sticking to the lens and also helps to relieve some pain.
Like I said earlier though, if this is the first time you have had one....dont sweat it too much...just use your medicines and it should go away fairly quickly. I dont want to go into causes of recurrent uveitis too much because I dont know your particuliar case and I dont want to frighten anyone by speculating on individual cases.
Hope this helps...if you want to know more ..just ask.

Thanks for your help. I've had the exact symptoms you described since June of 2000. I finally went to my doctor in August and went on and off of Sodium Sulamyd until January. As it became completely ineffective, she tried Opticrom, which didn't work at all. I went to the optometrist 2 days ago when he diagnosed chronic uveitis. I'm to see an opthomologist as soon as he can find one to take me within a few days.
I'm kinda unsure of what this all means. He seemed pretty anxious to have me see someone. Is blindness a possibility? I began to wonder about that when he mentioned that I have chosen a career that is "fairly adaptable and accomadating".

Anyways, thanks for your help. It's greatly appreciated!

[This message has been edited by lauralynn10 (edited 02-17-2001).]

I wouldnt worry about blindness. It is a possibility but it is fairly rare w/ uveitis. You have a bigger chance of going blind in a car accident than by a typical uveitis. The way you treat inflammation w/ steriods is to hit it hard, smother the inflammation, use the medicines a little longer to prevent reoccurance, and then taper the steriods to avoid a rebound effect of the inflammation. So to do that you want to use a strong steriod several times a day until the inflammation is gone for a couple of days then usually taper them off. Sounds like you havnt received any steriods yet. Sodium sulamyd is a sulfa based antibiotic. Since you dont have a bacterial infection, this medicine isnt going to do anything. Opticrom is ocular sodium cromolyn, which is a mast cell stabilizer. This is used in chronic allergic problems but it isnt going to help w/ an uveitic inflammation. Need to get some Pred forte, which is prednisolone acetate. Its one of your strongest steriod medicines. Depending on how your eye looks, I typically will start you out w/ 1 drop every 2 to 3 hours. Maybe more ...maybe less depending on each case. Steriods do have some possible side effects which you have to keep an eye on. Ocularly, they can increase the intraocular pressure (there are some steriods which wont do this ic. vexol etc), cause a form of cataracts if used for long periods of time (years of use typically), and very rarely, steriods can make you retain water and make you appear to gain weight (which it goes away once you stop the meds). Like I said before, usually I dilate the eye w/ homatropine 5% to prevent the pupil from adhereing to the lens and to prevent some pain from lights. Since you've had this for so long, I would start you out pretty hard on the steriods, get this under control asap, try to get you off the steriods asap, and then go ahead and try to figure out if there is an underlying cause. Several tests have to be done to determine a root cause. Usually you start w/ a battery of blood work and sometimes a chest x-ray. I wouldnt worry about the root cause right now....just find someone who knows what their doing instead of prescribing aimlessly like before. Again, if you have any other questions, just fire away.

Thanks for the information! It helped clarify some things for me. I'll let you know what happens in the next few days. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by lauralynn10 (edited 02-18-2001).]

HI Laura

Uveitis is no fun. I had my 1st bout 5 years ago, and was then that I was told that I had Ankylosing Spondilitis. It is very common with people with this arthritic condition or people with the genetic marker HLA b27 +.

AS is nothing to be worried about. ( i have stiffness in may back and knees but nothing too disabling)

I have had severe attacks of uveitis every year since then, and have always had steroid drops and dialating to counter it. The worst was when I had to ahve an injection inm y eye as the inflammation was soooo bad. Yuk. Not nice.

In my personal opinion, and what works for me, has been a change in diet that has stopped all arthritic pain and I have not had an attack of uveitis for over a year and a half now, the longest period for me.

I have cut out all wheat products, (no pastries/cakes biscuits, bread, crackers, (you can have spelt wheat flour instead or rye flour)pototaoes (red/white - sweet pots are ok), no dairy (soya milk and goats cheese and butter are okay) and no caffine. Eat as much whole food and no processed food as possible.
Spinach is meant to be an excellent food for the eyes as are oily fish (mackeral etc). You could take a Flaxseed supplement as a source for essential fatty acids.

It takes some getting used to but soon gets easy to follow. It is a diet that appears to reduce inflammation in the body, not only arthritis but also my eye (so far).

One other thing, I found that when I had an attack of Uvetis, it happened at a time when I was emotionally upset/at a low/stressed. I would take care to do some relaxation/yoga oe some exercise. Whatever works for you to keep you calm.

I just hope that helps. I know people say that diet doesn;t influence diseases but I have found that this works for me.

Good luck and I hope you get better soon
x

hey Springer I just noticed that you're in Athens GA, I use to live there many years ago,but go back to vist when I can. I love that old town.
x

EMMAP -
What type of Uveitis do you have? I was diagnosed 4 years ago with posterior. I had no problems until recently - and now everything that happens near my eyes - makes me worry that it is related.
I don't have pain - but often lots of floaters.




[This message has been edited by laura35 (edited 04-12-2001).]

Lauralynn10
The perfect website about Uveitis is http://www.uveitis.org There you will find out EVERYTHING you would ever need to know about the disease, including it's many known causes, treatments available, etc. There is even a wonderful online support group that you can join to help you out. I was diagnosed with Intermediate Uveitis (Pars Planitis) 1 1/2 years ago. Good luck.

Thanks for all of your help! They no longer think I have uveitis...but they're still not sure what's wrong. I've been put on Lacrinorm and Muro 128 for 2-3 months, but it hasn't helped. They think the layers on my eyes move too easy and therefore cause me to lose too many cells, causing the burning. However, the gels and ointment were to help, but they haven't! I go to my optometrist next week for a referal to a corneal specialist. I've had enough of this fun!

Hi lauralynn,
How did you make out with the exam? I hope htat they can get whatever is going on under control quickly.
Sherri

BTW Springer,
Uveitis is the third leading cause of preventable blindness. In other words, without PROPER treatment you CAN and many times WILL go blind from the disease. To find out about the latest in treatment for uveitis go to http://www.uveitis.org I have had it for almost 2 years. I also know plenty of others that have it that didn't get that proper treatment and have suffered loss of much or all of their sight because of it. In my case, it took my opthomologist 4 months to even diagnose it. I am now going to a specialist that is very knowledgeable and specifically trained in the treatment of this disease. I must reiterate, there is NO reason to go blind because of uveitis but there are many that do.
Sherri

Sherri,

It's thursday night right now...I head to the optometrist first thing tomorrow...we'll see what happens! I'll be sure to let you know!

Laura

Sherri,

It was an interesting visit! My doc wasn't surprised that the Muro 128 didn't work...he never thought that it would! He's still baffled...I think he still thinks it's Uveitis, even though my other doctors disagree. He's going against their advice and putting me on a low dosage of steriods (FSH?)for ten days, starting next week. I hope it works as this has been going on for over a year now!

Laura

My daughter failed a kindergarten screening test, we took her to an eye doctor and they said there was something wrong in both of her eyes. finally two eye doc's later she was diagnosed with uveitis in both eyes. she was tested for everything and everything was negative. she lost the vison in her left eye. was on steroids and had several surgeries to keep the eye sight in her seeing eye.Now she is 19 and facing glaucoma surgery in her seeing eye because of all the scar tissue from the surgeries and uveitis. she never had any symptons and never complained when she was little. the eye never was red, so you see while uveitis may be harmless in an adult in a child undiagnosed it is life altering

Rosalita,
Uveitis is never harmless, it is a very serious eye problem whether as a child or as an adult. Does your daughter have arthritis? Many times in a child, that is one of the more common causes of uveitis. What type does she have? Sounds like she could use some support and info about now. Best site to go to for that is http://www.uveitis.org The site is run by Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. They also have a wonderful support group where your daughter can get plenty of info to help her deal with the disease and get the best treatment available for it. One thing I can tell you is that being on steroids for the amount of time that she has been on them is the most likely reason for the glaucoma. Go to the site I listed, she needs to get the most up to date information on the treatment for uveitis. Is she seen by a doctor that is a specialist in the treatment for uveitis? That is the most important part, getting the right doctor. The support group can help with that as well if needed. I have had uveitis for the past 2 years.

Lauralynn,
What drops were you put on? Were you also put on dilating drops? Have you had a chance to go to http://www.uveitis.org as yet? You should, you'll find all the information you would need about uveitis, the possible causes, etc. Join the support group too, the people there are great. You can get answers to your questions from them, many of whom have had this disease for many years and have experienced it all. They are very willing to share any info they have with those who ask. They can also help you get referred to a doctor that is specially trained in the treatment of uveitis which is very important because unlike what springer states, uveitis IS a blinding disease and must be treated aggressively. Feel free to email me privately if you wish at hsmom111@yahoo.com Good luck.

sbreen,

Thanks for the link to the unveitis site. I took my daughter to see dr. foster and he was very helpful.

Hi Rosalita,
I'm sorry to hear your daughter has uveitis, but I have to say, Dr. Foster is one of the best in the world. If you're interested in doing so, there is a fantastic support group that you could join through that same site. They can usually answer any and all questions that you may have concerning uveitis and many of the causes as well. Have a great day.

sbreen

I did join it. they are a very nice group. helpful. thanks again.

I know this is an old board, but this has been very helpful. I wish I had seen it then. I have had Uveitis since I was 18 and now I'm 32 (actually next year will be 15 years since I was diagnosed with the condition). I have to say I'm feel blessed because my eyes went very red and were painful and it was discovered early and I was treated ever since. It was frustrating because I had just finished High School and was anticipating going away to college and I was diagnosed 3 weeks before I went to college. Eventually, I had came back home to go to school after a semester because it was difficult to find a doctor that specialized in my condition and I was not sure how to handle it. I has seen several doctors before I finally went to UIC's Uveitis clinic.

I am often depressed thinking that the Uveitis has stopped me from going to the college I wanted and doing all the things that college students do. I also am afraid that I will not be able to have health children or that I will go blind from using the steroids or develope a disease because of it.

The dietary advise is definitely something I will heed. I am happy to say that my inflamation has decreased and the only issue I have is that I have to wear glasses (which is not an issue at all). But, I do understand how scary, serious and life changing this condition is.