Hi,
Any tips on recognizing early iritis? Just been down the medical path to be told there's nothing wrong with me and I'm wondering if my gluggy eyes in the mornings with blurred vision are the start of iritis?
And would it be worth me seeing an eye person?

Cheers
Claire

Yatesy : See an eye person - need a slit lamp to determine iritis. Don't muck with eyes, too precious.

IF turns out to be dry eyes, then artificial tears are good, but get the single dose, preservative free ones. Also, hot water douches on the eyes is gorgeous. But get thee to a fully qualified ophthalmologist pdq and tell him, you have AS. That will shift his carcass!

Take care -

yes, an ophthamologist for sure.

a few years back, my eyes starting bothering me. now i know its a sign i'm starting to flare.

but for me, i'm lucky, no iritis to date.

just, as molly mentioned, dry eyes.
an eye doctor dx'ed it.

they get very irritable. like i got something in them, but nothing there.

the preservative free, single serving Systane helps me.
and the hot compresses or running hot water on them in the shower.

the eye doc mentioned baby shampoo as well, but really i found the hot water just as useful. so no need for the shampoo. i think its because he thought the cause of the dry eyes must be blepharitis. but various causes of that. mine just an inflammatory flare.

but really the only thing that makes them better is getting over the flare.

my eyes were really bothering me yesterday along with the SI joint. because of the SI joint, i started a pred dose pack / taper today. and my eyes are much better.

so, could be iritis. or could be dry eyes. or allergies (i had "eye allergies" til i started taking zyrtec) or something else. an ophthamologist will be able to differentiate.

Funny, I was just about to post with the same exact question. Of all my docs, I probably have seen the optho the most over the past few years - weekly for long stretches unfortunately... it's been iritis, and really awful dry eyes, with the baby shampoo advice too which I don't do regularly. I have the tear duct plugs and went on Restasis for a few months last year and things improved somewhat, so I've just restarted that again also. Just wish they could make it not sting so badly...

I was basically trying to talk myself out of making the appt. but it seems that's really the only reasonable thing to do. Good luck to you Yatesy, hope it's not iritis!!

Definitely tell them you have A.S. It is a very BIG thing to Rheumatologist. You need to tell him too. My eye Dr. and my Rheumatologist take it very seriously and report directly to each other. It starts out like yours is but after a couple of years, it get's mean. Are you doing the NSD?

I was actually just reading that many opthomologists don't know much about iritis and may never even have seen another case in practice. Luckily, new to it or not, my optho is a hero, always seems me immediately, but unlike Pea, none of my docs communicate with each other, only thru me. I am actually looking to hire a new primary and am going to make sure she is up to the job of truly coordinating my team of docs and is willing to fill out paperwork (STD) as necessary. Unbelieveable right?
Anyway, best of luck with the appt. and let us know how you make out. My eyes are beyond blurry so I'll be going to see mine too tomorrow.
BE WELL.
http://www.uveitis.org/

My iritis/uveitis starts with pain that is different than any other eye pain I have had and extreme light sensitivity. I got hit in the eye with a softball one Spring and that injury triggered both and I spent the summer in the house with the blinds pulled and heavy steroids. I never leave the house even to get the mail without putting on good sunglasses. I have worn "Fitovers" for years. I order them online and our Eye Institute carries them. They keep sun out from the sides and above and you can wear them over your regular glasses or alone.
The sun really makes mine flare.

I finally had to go on oral Imuran for mine and that kept it at bay for years. I went off the Imuran to go on Remicade and then after a year, went back to the Imuran and I had developed an allergy to it. Bummer because it really helped me.

I have a lot of eye problems and like others have seen Opthomologists as much if not more than the Rheumatologist. I also have a Dystonia which manifests itself as Blepharospasms so that is painful but it is a temporary blindness when my eyes are spasmed shut. The Iritis/Uveitis can permanently blind you so take care of your eyes!!

Blessings.
Possi

I've had way more experience with HLA-B27 related iritis than I'd ever care to know. It does however mean that I can now recognise signs really early on and start treating - BUT this was after years of confirming my suspicions with the opthalmologist, who has now endorsed this approach (I still see him regularly, although not necessarily if I flare... although with Humira I don't flare anymore - yay!)

For me, typical tell-tale signs are a "bruised" feeling if I touch the closed eye and pain if I hold a finger out at arms length, focus on it and then quickly pull it towards me (like squinting). No flare = no pain if I do that, if I am flaring watching that movement is painful. Light sensitivity may or may not be present, as well as redness. My normal approach if I'm at all concerned about my eyes is to use a lubricating drop if they're a bit irritated. If that doesn't help and I have the first two symptoms I describe - I'll make a plan to get steroid drops and/or see the optho. Apparently it is a "feature" of B27-associated uveitis (iritis) that we can tell early on if there is inflammation - sometimes even before cells are visible in the eye! In other words - if you're seen by an eye doctor, all seems fine, but things continue to get worse over a few days - PLEASE go back again!

Take care,
-Anke