Great blog, and thanks to everyone for their input. I thought it was about time I posted my experience, as I have had iritis in my left eye twice now (Nov 2010, and Nov 2011 or there abouts).

The first time, I had it quite badly and could barely see out of my eye as I didn’t know what it was and didn’t seek professional treatment quick enough. I started with self-prescribed drops for sore/red eye that you can get over the counter, and then after a few days went to the doctor. The doctor diagnosed me with conjunctivitis !?!. After a few more days my vision was getting much worse to the point I couldn’t read anything through the eye (no matter how close or big it was), so I went to see an optician for a second opinion (as I’ve never had an eye test in my life before (as I normally have very good eyesight). He looked horrified and sent me straight to hospital. The hospital immediate diagnosed it correctly as iritis and put me on 3 different types of drops (mydrilate 3 times a day, predforte every hour, and another ‘name i have forgotten’ every night before bed). It took 3-4 months to clear up.

The 2nd time I caught it very early, as I woke up one morning with a slight fogginess around the edge of my vision and went straight to hospital. I was put on the predforte and mydrilate again (but less often than the first time). It cleared up within a few weeks but I fully got off the drops after a couple of months.

I found this blog during my 2nd period of iritis, as I was looking for things I could do myself, to try and stop getting the flare-ups in the future. I have for many years (10+) been taking a good quality multivitamin (not the usual cheap ones from the supermarket). I also eat a pretty healthy and varied diet, with lots of fruit and veg. However, since reading this blog I’ve also tried quite a few of the additional things that people suggested. I first tried cutting down on dairy (although I generally only had skimmed or sometimes semi skimmed milk anyway, and don’t drink tea and coffee with it in etc), but it didn’t seem to make much difference. I tried drinking yakult for a while, but have now moved onto a natural yogurt with my cereal/fruit for breakfast. I also now take vitamin A, omega 369, and pro-biotics daily.

Looking back I would say that between the 2 occurrences of iritis my eye never felt fully right again. My eyelid looked a little more closed than the other one, and I used to get a slight ache from the eye socket sometimes (sort of above and behind the eyeball) and then headaches. It was also a little more sensitive to light than my other good eye too. I would say that now though, since the 2nd occurrence of iritis and since I’ve been taking the vitamin A, pro-biotics, omega 369 and natural yogurt my eye feels a LOT better. The eyelid is nearly back to normal, and my eye is not anymore sensitive to light than the other eye. Obviously these are just my personal observations as to how I feel and how my eye is performing, and I don’t know which (if any) of the things that I have changed/added to my diet have helped. However, if I was to guess which was helping my eye the most I would say its the vitamin A or omega 369 that have made the biggest difference. Does that mean i’m going to stop the natural yogurt and pro-biotics?… no… as they are very cheap to buy and its only a gut feeling as to which is helping so I may stop the wrong one. Something is working though, and as long as I feel well I’ll keep on this regime.

Cheers,
Stu, from the UK

sorry for the late reply. I am stopped my Prednefrin gradually. First it was every 2 hrs, then moved to every 4 hrs, 6 hrs, 3 times a day, 2 times, once a day, alternate day etc. It took around 2.5 months to stop my drops. I had a minor attack after 3 weeks, it was not severe (lasted around 1 week) and I didn’t used Prednefrin. I am having that again it seems, started yesterday. Thinking that I will wait for 2-3 days before starting prednefrin. Trying to fight with Yakult also

Is there anyway other way I will get to know if there is an update in this blog? I mean a link to email a/c?

Thanks…

Sheeja

I have quite a severe bout now and have been told that if it doesnt get better by friday I will have to have a steroid injection in my eye.

I will certainly try the Yakhult and will let you know how I get on.

Thank you for your quick reply and suggestion.

So You have been drinking Yakult (can be similar brand) once every day and then increase the dosage to 2-3 a day (has to be Yakult) when you have ulcer or other sickness, right? The funny thing is that I used to get canker sores a lot but not anymore.

I read somewhere else people saying that “no starch, no sugar, no lactose” helps keep Iritis and AS away as well. It is hard to go without starch, but I can at least try low carbohydrates.

Thanks again.

I am still clear thankfully. The worst I get these days is the start of a tiny ulcer in the roof of my mouth. I then usually up my dosage to 2 or 3 a day (can get expensive, but usually only for a couple of days). I also use bonjela on the ulcer. The only other thing I take is vitamin D in reasonable dosages.

I had also heard that gluten was bad (although my stomach can’t take gluten free bread etc). Have you tried coming off all wheat, grains etc so you are really going low in carbohydrates? I had heard that was useful too.

If you read down through the comments there is a really nice summary of what people have recommended and found useful.

I must make this post into something a bit more fully featured so it’s easier to find recommendations etc! I keep saying that though!! I’d like for people to also be able to restrict access in case they don’t want the general public seeing their posts.

Anyway, let me know how you go on. I hope you get some relief from it soon. I know how much of a pain it is.

I had tried Yakult and no dairy for about 6 months but it didn’t seem to help me much. First, I was having flare-ups after two days without drop. Later, it renounced when I was still having 2 drops a day.

My flare-ups after 2010/8 are getting much severe . I am HLA-B27 positive and am able to catch each flare-up very early (with rare-trace cells) and see the specialist right away, but every time it would turn into 30-40 cells within a week. I need a shot in my eye to calm it down and a 6- month taper off schedule. Then, the Iritis comes back–When the drop is down to twice a week. I happened to have diarrhea twice though at the end of two 6-month cycles. But the one that I am having now has nothing to do with any sickness, just the taper off.

My doctor is giving me predinosolone orally this time since she is worried about my eye pressure. I am also starting Cellcept, an Immunosuppressant. It takes about 6-12 months to start to work, 2 years to keep my immune system calm and 2 more years to taper off. So, altogether 5 years with it….

I have been trying meditation (真气运行法) for about 6 months now. I feel it is helpful since I had one bad food poisoning and one bad flu meanwhile and the Iritis didn’t flare-up like before.

Now when I look back, I do notice that my flare-ups were not as severe when I was taking Yakult. Maybe I should give Yakult another try.

Simon, just double check, you haven’t had any more flare-ups ever since you started the Yakult solution in 2009?

I have been having iritis on and off for about 8 years, but the last two years, it has been almost constant. Once I get off the predforte drops, it’s only about 6 – 8 weeks before I get another flare-up. Because I have been on Predforte so much lately, I now also have eye-pressure issues which means even more medication. In addition, I have Ankylosing Spondylitis and the HLA B27 gene. I am now on a gluten-free diet because, apparently, people with auto-immune disease don’t do well on gluten. That has resulted in a great improvement in my gut problems as well as bringing my C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels back into the normal range. whoohooo! CRP in the blood shows your level of inflammation, for those who don’t know. BUT there has been no improvement in my iritis yet. I have been gluten-free for 4 months.

What a wonderful blog you have going here. I am keen to find a way to rid myself of iritis, so have been very interested in what everyone has to say. The amalgam thing is probably too expensive to try right now, but definately on the radar for the future. Will try the no dairy and pro-biotics first, I think.

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/03/those-bacteria-in-your-gut-can-protect-against-allergies.ars

I have to say I love the fact an article on gut bacteria is on arsetechnica! Oops I spelt that wrong!