Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; 4.5 years on LSD

Hello,

I used to post quite regularly - but since the LSD has kept my AS symtoms very mild and most of the time non-existant, I can almost forget I have it. However, just the other day, the iritis which I have not had for 5 years returned. Iritis was actually the thing I had a year before the AS symptoms (saccroilliac pains) started, and it was the thing that alerted the doctors to having me tested for HLA B27 (I am positive). So actually the iritis occurred one year before my very first AS symptoms. I had thought, up till 3 days ago, that iritis would not return - but out of the blue it came back. I have a feeling that it could have been related to something I did, since it seems to have occured without any AS symptoms - making me think that perhaps it is not controlled by the NSD. Does anyone know whether the NSD / LSD has any impact on iritis? Also, regarding treatment for iritis - the doctor has prescribed steroid drops (prednisolone): first day a drop every hour, second day every two hours, third day every three hours, fourth day 4 times a day until I see the doctor in 3-4 days time again. The strange thing was that immediately I noticed the familiar iritis signs, I rushed to the eye hospital where they checked the eye with the usual microscopes etc. However, although they said it could be iritis, they felt that the signs of inflammation were not really present. They siad it could be too early to tell. This happened the next day too. then on the third day, as I was still experiencing pain and light sensitivity, I went to a consultant at a private hospital. He immediately found the signs of inflammation and put me on the drops. This has left me feeling slightly insecure about going to the eye hospital again - since I feel that this could have been treated 2 days earlier. Perhaps they simply were not expert enough to see the presence of iritis at an early stage? Has anyone else experienced this....
It is now saturday morning, and I started the treatment on Wednesday. Certainly, the inflammation has almost gone and the eye is not painful - though there is still some halo present when I look at light. It this normal? Can I still expect to have some symtoms after 3 days of treatment? Does anyone have any alternative ideas as to how to combatt iritis? Since I was able to control the AS pains through the LSD, I would love to find some way of controlling the iritis too - as I don't like the idea of using steroids - especially if the iritis comes back.

I asked the consultant if he knew of anything that could have brought on the attack of iritis. He said that there is a possibility that some kind of physical stress / exertion / change of temperature-climate could have triggered it? This is interesting, as the very day before the attack, I had done a strenuous run at the gym for half an hour (something I had not done for ages - it was a concerted attempt to try to get fit!!). Also, I had got rather cold - when I left the warm gym very sweaty after the run, and went out into the cold air whithout changing. Stupid I know, but I thought I was tough! So - this seems to tally with what the consultant said.

If iritis is also related to the gut, like AS, once again - just a week ago I had a slight stomch upset due to eating large quantities of seafood in Spain. Again, could this have compromised my gut lining - this beinging on the iritis attack?

Someone on another site said that whenever he feels iritis symptoms coming on, he washes his eyes in cold water, and the symptoms go away. Has anyone any idea about this? Perhaps, something getting into the eye - a foreign body or grit - can bring on iritis?

One final quation. Has anyone any alternative treatment ideas: eg Bilberry extracts?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes

Chris (iffot)

hi chris,
yes the iritis is certainly relieved by the NSD. I can attest to that. I was having one attack after another until I did the NSD. For a long time before starting the NSD I managed to suppress the eye inflammation using a supplement called Rutin - rutin is a little dangerous and I don't recommend it. I don't think rutin worked for others with iritis anyway, but for me it worked better than cortisone, and took down the inflammation in just a few hours.

I first had some mild AS symptoms during my high school years, and they were undiagnosed at the time. And it was near the end of my high school years that I had a BIG iritis attack that damaged my right eye. If it wasn't for a very bright opthomologist, who sent me to a rheumatologist, then I imagine it would have been many more years before I would have received the correct diagnosis -- A.S.

My experience with iritis is that it is less related to back pain and more related to inflammation in other peripheral joints eg: wrists, hands, knees, heels and feet.

Here are my old notes from way way back when I first started to overcome my iritis symptoms:

###################################################

things that helped my iritis:
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* Rutin (a bioflavanoid antioxidant)
. . . - start with a small dosage eg: 100mg and build up to 600-1200mg a day
. . . - beware of chest infections. Rutin may be an immune suppressant
. . . - pregnant women should never take this.
* Oral prednisolone
* NSD / Grain Free Diet:


things that made it worse:
-----------------------
* Echinacea: DONT take Echinacea if you have a history of iritis! Both me and mig have had iritis set off by this. Echinacea is not recommended for people with Auto Immune Diseases !
* Milk powder (instant hot chocolate, protein powder, milk chocolate, some ice creams, margarine)
* Deep fried anything
* sweet and fluffy foods. Eg: sponge cake


things that could make it worse:
-----------------------
? CRT Computer monitors may worsen my iritis. Try a TFT flatscreen instead as this causes less eyestrain (ie: LCD and laptop screens do not flicker). I had at least two attacks after staring too much at the computer screen.
? gluten and alcohol (beer seems to be a problem too) ?
? herpes zoster infection can cause one form of iritis (I am sure it is not relevant for us though)

I find that there is a huge overlap between reiters syndrome (reactive arthritis) and ankylosing spondylitis. Iritis is just one of the many symptoms that both diseases share:
http://zarkas.blog.com/Research+%3A+Reiters+Syndrome/

Hi Chris,
Rotten luck with the return of the iritis. I, too, am HLAB27+ and had multiple bouts with iritis starting about 5 years ago. Previous to that I had lots of rotten back pain and weird peripheral joint problems, too. I tried LSD but with some improvement but the NSD took me to wellness. One thing that may have incited your iritis is the running. This increases the intestinal transit time and puts more food in front of the kp. If you went NSD you might be able to tolerate the running. I have not done any running in 2 years but think I may trial returning to it after my daily breakfast of bacon and eggs and OJ.

LindaG

Hey, time to do an apple fast.. that should shake off the iritis :-) make sure you test for starch with iodine.

Actually I never seem to react to grapes or pears, so maybe they are better than apples for the fast ?

Someone on another site said that whenever he feels iritis symptoms coming on, he washes his eyes in cold water, and the symptoms go away.

Well cold water is anti-inflammatory. Like putting an ice pack on swollen joints .

Good to hear from you again, albeit the circumstances could be better.