Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Helpful Tips iritis gone

iritis gone for last two years by:
1. Double edge sword but i quit all prescriptions because it would bring down my immune system but would have more back pain. My spine is now fused but in previous years, when my spine was not fused, my arthritic condition was actually far worse. So it matters what stage your A.S. is at in stopping or taking prescription medication.

2. I do not buy processed food that has these additive ingredients tomatoes, corn, potatoes, dextrose, vinegar, and ANY WORD THAT SAYS STARCH. Any word period that says the word corn and tomato as an added ingredient is usually bad news.

3. I do not eat advocadoes, bananas, and barbeque sauces of any kind.

4. I do not order ketchup, mustard, or pickle on sandwhiches because those toppings include or soaked in vinegar.

5. Use the dilating drop instead of the steriod drop at the initial stage you think the eye maybe flaring up with arthritis. Usually the dilating drop alone will do the trick if you give it time. When I have used the steriod drop first usually it made my iritis worse.

This also includeds any other prescription drugs not prescribed for A.S. They add starch to prescriptions like the do processed food. (Sometime, and I mean sometimes liquid is preferred over tablet form, but even then they love to throw in starch for the heck of it.)

Hi Syoung,
Nice to see you here again. I'm glad to hear your Iritis has been gone for 2 years. I remember you saying how bad it was back then.

I'm surprised to see you mention mustard and vinegar. Those are the only two things you mentioned that haven't given me any sort of trouble (yet). I'm not sure about the bananas though... I don't eat enough of them to know if they cause me pain or not, but I think they do.

Thanks for the advice about the dilating drops. The next time I start to feel some Iritis irritation (before the pain comes), I'll try the dilating drops first.

Of course, I also avoid soda pop and food breaded in corn. A lot of fish and tenderloins are breaded in corn.

So glad you've been iritis free! That's awesome!

I just gotta say, though, to put it out there: people, get an opthamologist who specializes in iritis. www.iritis.org. Please have a plan in place and meds in place. Delaying use of steroid eye drops (prednisilone) or not using enough of it quickly enough is one reason that people actually go blind. So for suggestion #5 please discuss with your iritis specialist. What works for syoung may not work for you. I am a huge believer in dietary interventions yet when iritis strikes the thing to do, form what I've learned, is to get the inflammation down as immediately as possible to avoid or minimize damage to vision. Again, not trying to tell syoung to change anything, just concerned about people self medicating or not medicating...

Order pizza's with garlic or any other sauce, rather than tomato sauce and tomato paste. "I am no professional, but I always have been leary about steroids of any kind. To me, steriods feed excess yeast and starch in the body versus making it go away. Cortisone shots as well seemed to only make peoples arthritis worse from all the stories I have read on kickas.org.

Iritis suffers against modern medicine

Hi Naj/Jan
I thought I already replied to your reply a while back, but I guess I didn't. I agree with what you said here. It's important to have specialty doctor for inflammatory eye problems. The eyes are delicate organs that can easily be damaged.

I myself already have both the steroid (pred forte) and the dilating drops (cyclogyl) here and ready to go when I need them. I also have a ophthalmologist who seems to be top notch. I don't think I was ever told about which eyedrop to take first if I suspect an Iritis attack, but they each have their own instructions to follow and their own symptoms to treat. For me it is hard for me to tell the difference between bad allergies effecting my eyes or what could the start of an Iritis attack. I do know that I am supposed to see the ophthalmologist as soon as possible after the start of a possible Iritis attack though.

Take care,
James

How do you order a sandwich without starch?

Since this older thread has popped up again, I want to reiterate something that Naj said in reply to one of Syoung's recommendations. Syoung said in his first post that he recommends using ONLY the dilating drops to treat iritis and NOT using the steroid drops. While this treatment may work for him, as Naj correctly pointed out, it directly contradicts the standard treatment regiment for iritis. In fact, steroid drops--such as PredForte and newer, more powerful options--are considered the MAIN treatment for iritis and are usually considered to be essential.

Folks, iritis is one of the leading causes of blindness, and thus it is not to be trifled with. IF you do want to try using only the dilating drops to treat your iritis, please, please ONLY do so if you consult with an opthomalogist and receive approval for that treatment plan. Frankly, I'll be very surprised if any optho would approve such a plan, as my understanding is that the dilating drops are used to help treat arthritis strictly because they make it easier for the steroid drops to reach further into all areas inside the eye. I am not a doctor, so I could very well be wrong about this, but I do feel quite confident that you'll be hard-pressed to find an optho to approve the dilating drops only plan. If you do find such a doc, then more power to you, and I stand corrected.

Syoung went on to add this statement in a follow up to his initial post: "I am no professional, but I always have been leary about steroids of any kind. To me, steriods feed excess yeast and starch in the body versus making it go away. Cortisone shots as well seemed to only make peoples arthritis worse from all the stories I have read on kickas.org." From reading other posts that Syoung has left here on KA, I know he favors more natural forms of healing over the use of prescription drugs whenever it is possible to use the natural plan. Of course, there is nothing wrong with choosing that type of treatment plan, and many people here at KA have had great success using the No-starch Diet and other natural treatments. However, as he says, he is NOT a medical professional (nor am I), and thus I feel it is important to remind other KA members that they absolutely should consult with a medical professional before undertaking any treatment regimen. I do not know if any of his information about steroids increasing yeast and starch in the body is true, but I do know that steroids have helped me a great deal through the years when it comes to treating my AS. This includes eye drops for iritis, and direct injections into several joints. In fact, there were many times where steroid shots helped me enormously, so I think that is evidence that what is true for one person is not always true for another, which is why it is SO important for EVERYONE to consult with a doctor when making changes to, or adopting a new, treatment plan.

Brad