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Iritis – a possible cure?
Okay so this is a bit of an over the top title, but I was hoping to attract attention because this might just help you, as it has me over the last year.
First things first though. What is iritis? If you have it you probably know all too well, but in short form, it is:-
- Swelling of the iris in the eye
- Caused by your immune system attacking your own body (auto-immune issue)
- Can be caused by a million different thing
I first started getting iritis about 3 years ago, and was getting it increasingly frequently until recently. I have been tested for all the usual suspects, genetic markers and even some forms of deseases I would have hated to have told my girlfriend about. All were negative.
Each time I got iritis was pretty much the same. I had a cold or viral infection of some kind, fought it off, then my immune system seemed to look for other things to sort out, which was usually bits of me! I always got a big ulcer in the roof of my mouth, followed by iritis about a week or so after the ulcer. This could be a good few weeks after I'd originally been sick.
To sort out iritis when I got it, I did the usual. Drops to dilate the pupil, and steroid drops to sort out the problem. Uncomfortable, annoying, and potentially giving me cateracts way before I want them.
In the last year I have managed to avoid iritis completely, and with very little effort. I read an article on immune disorders saying how good Yakult like drinks were (you know the lactobacillus little drinks you get in the shops). Since then I have been taking those. This may be a complete fluke, but I am convinced it helps. When I start getting the ulcer, I up my dose to 2-3 bottles a day, and the ulcer goes, and no iritis.
By the way, I also tried the powder in the bottles, but this didn't seem to work as well.
Anyway, if you are reading this. Please give it a go. It has helped me.
If it does the same to you, please put a comment in this post as I would like to pass it on to any researchers who are interested.
285 Responses to 'Iritis – a possible cure?'
Thanks for posting this simon! I was diagnosed with iritis last september, and I have been on steroidal drops since! Practically non-stop, as it keeps reoccuring. It comes back in as little as 7 days after the doc says it`s virtually gone!! The thought of having this for the rest of my life is very daunting!
I have now started a raw food diet in the hope to sort out my body, and also gave up smoking and alcohol. I will try the yakult thing!! I hope it continues working for You! I will let u know when I have somne results of my own. Also I`m gonna look into medicinal mushrooms, something you may also like to try. Thanks again, and best wishes
i'll give it try today
Hi everyone,
Hey Simon, thanks a lot for posting the info. I started getting Iritis around mid-April and its recurred the third time now. I will definitely try the drink you suggested. Besides, are there any other precautions that I should be taking? Is it okay to drive , work out, swim etc while having the Iritis? This is purely based on your experience, as my Ophthalmologist thinks that its okay to do these activities. It's just that I am not able to get rid of the Iritis and I am trying to understand the reasons behind it.
Thanks in advance,
Good to see these posts. I am amid my second bout of iritis this year. (I have never had it before.) The steroid drops seem to help, but I would love to address the problem in a more holistic manner, one that will help keep it away for good. I will definitely start on the Yakult drinks! Best of luck to you all …
Hello Simon,
Could you please let me know where you bought Yakult drink? I checked Albertson and Walmart stores nearby (SF Bay area) and I couldn't find it there.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks Simon
I have had 4 attacks of Iritis in one year – first after sinitus on the same side as eye (right side) and antibiotics. Again after colds. I have read and thought about the link between the immune system and attacks of iritis. I will definitely try Yakult. I have just gone through a dozen in the last month for other reasons and my eye has not had an attack. I will give feedback.
Cheryl in Brisbane
Hi I was diagnosed with iritis 6 years ago and it has gotten much worse in the last year. I was diagnosed with Ankolysing Spondilitis (AS) and Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA) in June last year. I have weekly injections of Enbrel for my conditions that are supposed to keep the iritis under controltoo, but I have had 6 bouts of iritis already this year and am looking for any help i can get. I am dairy intolerant and was wondering if you know of anything with Yakult properties that is not dairy based.
Hello Simon,
I finally found Yakult in one of the stores here in California. Thanks for the guidance! I am drinking one Yakult a day for past one week. I currently do have iritis and I am using drops called Lotemax four times a day. Will post my updates to let everyone know about any improvements in my situation..
Thank you so much for looking into all that. I have opthamologist appointment next week and will give him all this information. (He specialises in iritis). I really appreciate all your help. I am in Australia but have relatives in USA so can probably get some of the fruit drinks sent over.
regards Tracee
Hi There
I have iritis to . do you think its is anything to do also with hayfever season as last time that i got it was this time as well?
Hi Simon, I first had iritis 18 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child. I had many recurrences and lots of eye drops and cortisone injections over a period of years, and then the symptoms just stopped. Then about 5 years ago I had an anaphylaxic attack and have had anaphylaxic problems ever since. I have been on prednisolone since the attack because I can't go off it. Every time I try to wean myself off them my body starts to go into anaphylaxic shock. Do you know or could you find out if there is any connection between iritis and anaphylaxis. I am at my wits end because I want to go off the steroids but my body won't let me. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks for your time, Marg
Hi, just wanted to let you know I have not had iritis for about 6 years now. I had it all the time was on steroids and even methotrexate (a drug given to cancer patients)to restart my immune system, I was taking so many steriods I even have the start of a cataract, not really what you want at age 30!!! Anyway after a massive amount of reasearch online I found a letter from a woman who said she cured her iritis by never drinking cows milk. I was desperate and so gave it a try, 6 years later I do not have any problems what so ever and have not taken a single drug in that time. I am so glad to be free of it, I thought I would pass on the information.
Hi, just wanted to let you know I have not had iritis for about 6 years now. I had it all the time was on steroids and even methotrexate (a drug given to cancer patients)to restart my immune system, I was taking so many steriods I even have the start of a cataract, not really what you want at age 30!!! Anyway after a massive amount of reasearch online I found a letter from a woman who said she cured her iritis by never drinking cows milk. I was desperate and so gave it a try, since then I dont have any problems what so ever and have not taken a single drug in that time. I am so glad to be free of it, I thought I would pass on the information.
I was diagnosed with iritis six months ago. The first doctor I went to told me I had pink eye and was treating me for that. It seemed to clear up after two weeks of antibiotic drops but then reappeared a month later. I then went to an eye specialist who said I had iritis. I started on the steroid drops and it cleared it again. But it comes back all the time and now I feel like My vision in one eye is not as good and I'm so afraid of going blind. I am such a healthy person and can't understand how this could happen. I would love to try this yakult you talk about. I am in Arizona, do you know if I can get it here. Please let me know and thank you so much for all your advice.
This is my 3rd time with iritis. I had it 6 years ago and didn't have it again until Nov. 2009. I just got over it but now have gotten it again. Unfortunately none of the drops, ointments or pills they give me works. The only thing that takes care of it is a steroid injection into the eye socket (not very comfortable). I am on my way in the next couple of weeks to see a doctor in Boston, who apparently is the best in the country if not in the world for treating iritis. The cause of mine is the fact that I carry the HLA-B27 gene which causes my ankylosing spondalitis and I also have arthritis. I have yet to find this Yakult that you talk about. I am in NH, USA.
The post by Colette Fellows is very interesting. I'm assuming from reading above Yakult does not contain cow's milk.
I have had HSV in my right eye since I was a small child. I am 38. In September I developed HSV and iritis for the first time in my right eye. I had a sinus infection as well. I am still on drops for the HSV and now on Valtrex for the HSV and on Pred forte drops every 2 hours. I had been very stressed for the few months before the flare up so I am not sure if that contributed or not.
I will try the Yakult and see what happens. I really want it to clear up and I want to be off of these drops as I can't get an injection in my eye due to the HSV in my eye.
I did cut out a ton of sweets and soft drinks and began drinking more water and eating healthier. I think that has helped some, but it still isn't gone.
Thanks for this site. I've researched Iritis several times on the web, and so far this is the best blog I've seen on it.
I suppose you could try it. Do you mean like on Linked In or something? It would probably get more attention. I researched Iritis several times before I was lucky enough to come across your blog.
It was so good to find this! I have suffered from iritis for about two and a half years & it was mis-diagnosed at first. I have discovered that as I suffered badly from mouth ulcers as a child that it is in some way connected & is a different way my body now reacts (I am 50). At first I went for all the blood tests etc but nothing was found, but I have recently been advised that I have artheritis in my knees. My main problem is that I have been told during the last two bouts that I could return to work, yet I find it impossible to see all the time & my eye tries to close & is quite painful. I have never been able to link it to stress before – it used to happen when I was due to go on holiday. But this time I know I am stressed & it has flared back up in its second week.
I will certainly try the yakult, but I love milk so maybe that is the problem. Also during the last 2 years I have put on about 3 stone in weight & when I am on the medication I must admit I feel bloated & not in control of anything I eat! I do have a bad diet so maybe I do need to look into that side as well.
To me you sound like a great candidate for Yakult. You seem to have pretty much the same issues as me and don't have any if the markers, also same as me. I also tended to get it at holidays (specially Christmas for dome reason) and I have the same ulcer issues.
I would definately give Yakult a try. Try by taking one a day, them if you start getting the ulcers, up it as much as you can. I was taking 2-3 if I thought it was coming on.
Please let me know how you go on too. I'd love to get a few follow ups from other people!
You might want toread this article: http://www.drmcdougall.com/stars/burgess_laughlin.html
I'm giving it a try.
If i doesn't work i'll give the yakult a go. Thanks for your blog.
Thanks very much for the feedback, much appreciated. I have looked on the link Sue gave & I have been having pains in my arm & legs much the same as were described, and have also been given anti-inflamatory drugs in the past which have had little effect other than giving further problems! As I am 50 I feel my age has been used as an excuse. Like I said earlier I do need to do something about my diet, and hsve bought some actimel which is like yakult (but much cheaper!). In fact in the UK we do have quite a good selection to choose from. So I will let you know how I get on. I did ask the eye specialist at the hospital last week but he had not heard anything, and I am due to go back tomorrow & will ask if I see a different specialist then. But I do think prevention is much better than cure & the specialists are not very good at letting you know what to do to stop this from happening & I don't think they realise just how much it affects your quality of life.
I tried the diet for 2 weeks and it was awful! I have food intolerances (wheat, dairy, egg, garlic,carrot) and some veg that i need to rotate i.e. can only eat every 4 days so it was very hard to find food that i could eat. Although having said that I found some info online about the accuracy of food intolerance blood tests and it showed that they can be 90% accurate for negative response and 55% accurate for positive response!!!! I emailed the company where i had the test done asking how accurate they are and they didn't reply….anyway back to the diet. So basically I ended up very grumpy and had an upset stomach and the iritis was worse. I've been trying zambroza which is an anti-inflammatory drink and what with weekly eye tests and the eye hospital I have noticed that my unaffected right eye has improved eye sight and my last attack of iritis only lasted 10-12 days. I am also taking some chinese herbs tht i have to boil up and drink. Will try the Yakult approach next, will keep you posted. I to do not think doctors realise how iritis affects your quality of life. Today at the eye hospital (eye pressure 40) I asked what could be done, the doctor laughed at me, saying i was on everything. I didn't think it was very funny.
I tried the diet for 2 weeks and it was awful! I have food intolerances (wheat, dairy, egg, garlic,carrot) and some veg that i need to rotate i.e. can only eat every 4 days so it was very hard to find food that i could eat. Although having said that I found some info online about the accuracy of food intolerance blood tests and it showed that they can be 90% accurate for negative response and 55% accurate for positive response!!!! I emailed the company where i had the test done asking how accurate they are and they didn't reply….anyway back to the diet. So basically I ended up very grumpy and had an upset stomach and the iritis was worse. I've been trying zambroza which is an anti-inflammatory drink and what with weekly eye tests and the eye hospital I have noticed that my unaffected right eye has improved eye sight and my last attack of iritis only lasted 10-12 days. I am also taking some chinese herbs tht i have to boil up and drink. Will try the Yakult approach next, will keep you posted. I to do not think doctors realise how iritis affects your quality of life. Today at the eye hospital (eye pressure 40) I asked what could be done, the doctor laughed at me, saying i was on everything. I didn't think it was very funny.
Well I have been on actimel & stopped eating wheat & dairy produce -one slight hiccup as I bought goats milk intead of soya at first! Done this for a week now and finding it difficult to find something to eat for lunch as I am at work, so it has had to be salads. My eye is on the mend & I did ask at my last visit what damage has been done so far & the specialist said that they check this at every visit to monitor it (yet he did not have my past notes with him as they have again 'lost' them), and that because I have used medication the damage is only very slight. Which I suppose is good, but again he could not offer anything to try to stop it re-occuring. They never tell me what my eye pressure is, but do test every time I go. My weight has not chnged even though the diet is completely different than what I ususlly eat, and I still feel like all my body is inflamed. My left eye is my unaffected eye & I still have perfect vision in that eye but it hates to work on it's own if I need it to! My job is in tax, so the deadline was yesterday & the stress is sometimes too much so I have to try to use one eye & get told off as I cannot see half the time when I put the drops in (and get my figures wrong!). Only for that I would not go to work as I find it very hard to function at all when I have got this. I am on 6 drops a day of pred forte & 1 drop of the one I keep in the fridge, but my eye is not sore any more or red. Far from funny though, I agree.
Lost notes, unreadable notes, no clear information or advise given – are we visiting the same hospital!!! My hospital (Southampton) notes are so bad that I now keep my own notes and ask questions like What is the current cell count for the iritis? (they'll say +3 or +1 or <1)and what is the pressure? The doctors now ask me all the questions as my notes are readable. I take all the doctors names and write down everything they say. It's well worth doing as every time I go (nerly every week at the moment) I see a different Doc.
I have just gotten iritis for what I think is the first time. Before I saw my optometrist for diagnosis, I thought it was zoster in the eye (which I had once before, and had many of the same symptoms) so I started taking the amino acid lysine, which has been a HUGE help. I went from not being able to open my swollen red eye to having an only slightly painful eye in the space of an hour or two, and the improvements are continuing. Lysine is an amino acid so it's natural (it's found in eggs, meat, beans, etc.) and all the chemists sell it in the vitamin section, sometimes labelled as a cold sore remedy. Lysine is great for treating any herpes or zoster type infections, and it seems to help the iritis a lot. Plus it relieves anxiety, aids sleep, and calms an irritable bowel, which is a nice bonus. I also found I was retaining a lot of fluid (my weight went up by 3kg overnight), which I thought was aggravating the condition, so I took a horse chestnut pill (which are harder to get hold of; you have to shop around or buy them overseas) which helped heaps as well, and made me shed 2kg of fluid in one evening and helped with the dizziness/motion sickness by making my lymphs drain properly and my veins work better. I'm not sure if horse chestnut is a remedy anyone else has tried, and I would not suggest taking much of it, since it lowers histamine, which for all I know might not be such a good thing in the long term if you're fighting an infection, but one capsule of it did help and didn't seem to hurt, and boy oh boy was it a relief to get rid of all that fluid that was swelling me! I would also suggest lowering intake of the amino acid arginine (found in brown rice, whole wheat, nuts, chocolate, coffee, etc…google it for a more complete list) since arginine is what all of the herpes and zoster and glandular fever type viruses feed on. That's probably part of the reason why lysine works, because lysine competes with arginine and lowers its levels in the body.
That's some good advise about the drops – thanks. My wonderful Doc wrote me a letter to take to the EyeHop explaining my frustration with their flippant and incensitive attitude, I got better service yesterday when I went. I noticed how other people didn't though!
Going back to shaking the drops up, yes you need to do this as it is a suspension. Trouble is, you cannot read the description at the time!! Been on this dairy & wheat free for over 2 weeks now but no weight loss & finding it quite hard to keep up with the cooking of fresh things (but meals taste much better). Going to go for blood test probably week on Monday (to fit around time off work) as not had one for a while. Have got arthrytis now though. Did mention all these to Doctor but he insists that I just use drops & don't need to change diet. Told him I'd try anything. I come off the drops tomorrow, but did have problems with my eye last night for some reason & had headache since – I am stressed though, so put it down to that.
What a great idea to take Yakult, I will try that if I ever have a bout of iritis again. I was first diagnosed with reactive arthritis about 12 years ago and told to watch out for iritis in the future, sure enough it happened a few years after I first got sick. I am now pretty much arthritis free after changing a few things (and therefore have not had an iritis attack for years now), I cut back on potato consumption, I keep warm and I do my best not to get stressed or angry. Reiki helps me too. As iritis and RA are immune disorders I think there is a very strong mind/body link. Good luck to everyone having to deal with this.
I last wrote in August 09. I have had Yakult almost everyday since then, and have had only one attack of iritis in those six months. The iritis attack was after I ate a lot of honey (is it the natural antibiotic in the honey that set it off?)
I am continuing with the probiotics! Thanks
Just wanting to say that I was diagnosed with Iritis for the first time a week ago (in my left eye). I have been on steroid based eye drops for 10 days, and was taking the pupil dilating solution every night before bed over the first 7 days. Anyway, just yestarday (March 1st, 2010) I went back to the Mater Eye Clinic (I live in Coorparoo in Brisbane) for a follow up check up and the specialist that saw me suggested that my left eye was completely back to normal (same as right eye) and that I now needed to phase down the application of the steroid drops over a period of 1 month. He didn't quite explain the reason, but I have now gone from applying the steroid drops every hour (over first 7 days), to every two hours (over 2 days – just prior to my follow up appointment at the eye clinic), to 4 times a day for the next 5 days, then 3 times a day for 5 days after that, then 2 per day/5days, then eventually 1 per day/5days. Now, he didn't explain the reason for this but I am guessing it might have to do with your body reacting to a large change in balance (withdrawal symptoms) if you suddenly remove the steroids from the system. This could possibly spark a relapse of the Iritis condition. In fact today is my second day of taking the drops just 4 times a day and my eye is actually slightly sore (some discomfort when rolling my eye) – but it wasn't yesterday when I was getting checked (prior to dropping the dosage). Anyway, just food for thought. In my case also, the cause or source was not found. Specialists suggested was probably my immune system attacking for whatever reason. But i do know that my Iritis has come at a time when I have just enrolled in uni to do a masters degree after 12 yrs in the workforce, I had been doing long hours at work and trying to balance pre-uni enrollment stuff and orientation events, I was stressed about having to find time to accommodate visitors that were here from overseas, and I had started to get back into lifting weights – and had absolutely killed myself on the first training session back after 4yrs of not training at all (I was in pain – from the weights – for over a week, then straight after that I got Iritis). So anyway, I reckon if you can find a way to live a balanced life and lower stress levels, most people would be free of this aweful Iritis condition. The worst part (and most frustrating) of it all is that your friends, family and people at work think its all a joke and don't understand the seriousness of it all ! I am engineer and work for a large defence contractor in Brisbane and this, combined with study at nights, does not help relax my eye enough through the healing process, so I am really hoping that after the steroid drop phase out period my condition completely goes away. fingures crossed – but won't be surprised if i get a relapse. Anyway, I would also really like to know of a doctor/specialist in Brisbane (Simon you may be able to suggest one) that can treat me for any relapse of symptoms without me needing to check back into the Mater emergency ward (as I have discovered, its the quickest way to get a referal to the Mater eye clinic – unfortunately). Simon, my GP is in Coorparoo and he is impossible to get an appointment with for a referral !
Thanks a lot for the posts. I wish I have seen this blog earlier. I am 34. I had my first Iritis when I was pregnant in the end of 2007. It got very bad since the doctor was afraid to let me use steroid drops then. But in the end she had to inject a shot in my eye. The Iritis cleared up after 2 month. The second time happened right after a very tiring trip in Oct, 2009. However, this time whenever the Ititis seemed to be gone (with one cell left, down to one drop a day), it recurred. I have been using steroid drops for 4 months, nonstop! I had bad canker-sores right before the second Iritis. I am HLA-B27 positive. I'll definitely try the Yakult and report later. Maybe I should stop drinking cow's milk too. But what about other dairy products, like yogurt?
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your quick reply. Iritis is rare and very suffering. None of my family members or friends have ever had it or even heard about it before. It is nice to know what other people's experience is with Iritis.
I did use steroid drops once every hour when it started and slowly taper it down under doctor's introduction. But it seems that at the end of every 6 weeks, it recurs, but not as serious as before. This time my doctor suggests me to switch to Lotemax (a less concentrated steroid)after using Pred Forte for once a day.
I am very easy to get canker-sores since I was a little child. I had all the blood tests done and was found HLA-B27 positive. HLA-B27 is an antigen that is in my gene. Maybe that's why I am very easy to get canker-sores since I was a little child. I also went to see a rheumatologist and took some X-rays at my lower back. Everything is fine. I don't have Arthritis….yet.(knock on wood)
HLA-B27 positive and stress is the main cause in my case. I am very easy to get stressful and angry. Should try harder to control it…I am in the SF Bay are. I can easily get Yakult in local Chinese grocery store. Thanks again for your post. I'll report later.
I also heard that Stephen Foster, in Boston, is like the father of Iritis. Wondering if anyone ever went to see him. Just find this website today: http://www.iritis.org/index.php Haven't got a chance to read it yet. It has forum on it.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your quick reply. Iritis is rare and very suffering. None of my family members or friends has ever had it or even heard about it before. It is nice to know what other people's experience is with Iritis.
I did use steroid drops once every hour when it started and slowly taper it under doctor's introduction. But it seems that at the end of every 6 weeks, it recurs, but not as severe as before. This time my doctor suggests me to switch to Lotemax (a less concentrated steroid)after using Pred Forte down to once a day.
I had all the blood tests done and was found HLA-B27 positive. HLA-B27 is an antigen that is in my gene. Maybe that's why I am very easy to get canker-sores since I was a little child. I also went to see a rheumatologist and took some X-rays at my lower back. Everything is fine. I don't have Arthritis….yet.(knock on wood)
HLA-B27 positive and stress is the main cause in my case. I have two kids, 7 and 2. I am very easy to get stressful and angry. Should try harder to control it…I am in the SF Bay Area. I can easily get Yakult from local Chinese grocery stores. Thanks again for your post. I'll report later.
I also heard that C Stephen Foster, in Boston, is like the father of Iritis. Wondering if anyone ever went to see him. Also, I just found this website today: http://www.iritis.org/index.php Haven't got a chance to read it though. There are forums on it.
Thx for the Doctors information. I have one more appointment at the Mater Eye Clinic with the specialist there, early next month once I finish this phase out period of the Iritis. I'm still on 4 drops a day now and seems the eye has not inflamed again – but is still only slightly sore (but i think also might be due to my lack of sleep and long hours reading – some eye strain symptoms most likely). On my way home from work yesterday, I stopped at Coles and bought some Yakult. Will try taking 1 a day and see how that goes. Also, someone told be that yogurt is full of good bacteria which may also be beneficial in sorting out problems with immune system. So even though there is dairy in it (I still don't think that dairy is the problem – not in my case anyway) it also contains the stuff you need to be healthy. So try giving yogurt and fruit salad a go (i find its the best way to include yogurt in your diet).
Anyway, reading all these posts, to me it all comes down to being healthy and living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Generally speaking when you get ill the weakest part of the body cops the brunt of it – the eye is no different. Eat well, have good sleeping patterns and rest eyes throughout the day – they're the principles I am following (or at least trying to). But to that I am throwing in yogurt, 1 ounce of nuts a day (about 2 handfulls) and Yakult !. Thx again Simon for doc details and will keep you posted on my progress. Great posts by the way – best I have read on this condition. There is hope for all it seems.
I have been diagnosed with ankylosing spondalitis for about 18 years. I am 42 and I started presenting when I was about 21. I started getting iritis when I was about 26. Since then I get a flare up about every 9 months. I take steroid drops every hour for two weeks then back off over the next month to nothing and it almost always goes away. The longest respite from this condition I have ever experienced was after a particularly nasty bout at around age 30 that required steroidal injection into the back of the eye. Sounds unpleasant but it provided excellent relief as I didn't get another bout for nearly 3 years after. I am absolutely certain that flare ups are relatively random. If there is any one thing I can point to that might cause a flare up it would half to be lumens. That's light that I refer to. When I am exposed to excessively bright light for excessively long periods I almost always get a flare up. I live in Canada and the days get to be over 16 hours long in the middle of our summers and 90% of my flare ups occur in the summer months. The only time I get winter flare ups is when I spend time around very bright lights for long periods of time. I am currently having a flare up and I know it was due to a high lumen exposure that I had recently at a friends greenhouse. I avoid them like plague usually. So maybe this helps some people…maybe not…buy a good set of sunglasses.
[…] With this condition you will notice iritis symptoms like pain in the eye or the brow region…Iritis a possible cure? at Simon Griffiths BlogI first started getting iritis about 3 years ago, and was getting it increasing … big ulcer in the […]
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Simon, So glad I found this!!! I am experiencing my first case of Iritis. My daughter accidentely poked me in the eye and it flared up! Few days after, my vision was blurred, started drops. A day later my other eye became inflamed. Have been on drops for 3 weeks. Last Drs visit the inflamation had appeared to be gone in the front of the eye, but now it appears I have inflamation in the back of the eye!! I see a specialist tomorrow. Drs are telling my the poke in the eye was coincidental. Trying not to have anxiaety over the unknown and I find relief here that I'm not the only one. Anyone ever had it in both eyes?? What about inflamation in the back of the eye??
Went to the specialist, no more inflamation in the back in the eye. Off the dialating drops and just every 3 hours on other drops. YIPEEEE. It will be 5 weeks on Monday. Not feeling any pain, still a tiny sensitive to light, could be dialation drops haven't worn off?! Going Monday to get blood drawn, better safe than sorry. Thank you Simon!! We will see what happens my next follow up.
hi everybody i am currently fighting my first case of iritis i was jus wondering how long well it take for me to get my vision back in my right eye i been off the dialating drops for about 4 weeks still taking the other drops every 3 hours or 5 times a day my eye specialist said my vision should have been back already since i have no more inflamation in the front or back of my right eye so can anybody tell me when i should expect my vision to be back thx
Hi Simon! All tests came back negative, I'm told my eyes are doing much better and have began drops 3x a day for the the next 3 weeks! (I am no 6 weeks into this) @Rithso, I did have inflamation in the back of my eye!! You must have a had a severe case of Iritis. When they found inflamation in the back of the eye, they asked me to start dialating that eye again and go back to drops every 2hours. A week later inflamation in the back of the eye was gone. I also found the Yakult drink Simon has been speaking of and have been taking it every day. I completely agree with Simon that strength of those dialating drops take some time to wear off. My vision was not crisp for a while. I hope you go have some lab work done to eliminate any underlying causes and just be patient. Iritis is a scary thing! Especially when the Dr. doesn't really give you much information. They just ASSume we know everything. Be patient and let the drops do their thing. Are you using ointment in your eyes at night? (FML) That's for inflamation too. Don't be afaid to get a second opinion. These are your eyes we are talking about! Even if it's for peace of mind. Good Luck! and Thanks Simon, I will keep you posted.
Hi to everyone with iritis. I also suffer from Iritis and it seems to be a nervous system problem related to long terms stress. the reason the Iritis appears is that the herpes simplex virus which causes ulcers is in the eye and inflames when the immune system is under attack. A hard one to treat. treating the nervous system and relaxation can help with this problem as it is stress and sadly sunshine (for those living in australia) that inflames the condition. Taking lysine can help to keep it at bay. cheers
Hi all
So glad I stumbled across this page! I currently have my first ever case of iritis at age 46 and was completely freaked out, which probably wasnt helping if it is stress related. I just kept thinking what awful underlying condition do I have that has caused this. The specialist had said it could be any number of reasons and that often we dont find out what it is. I had thought I had aggravated the eye by rubbing it when my contacts were giving me grief, but within a few days realised it was something much worse than that.
I am on the dilating drops twice a day and was on the steroids drops every two hours for the first week, but after a trip to the specialist yesterday he has upped it every hour as it is getting worse not better
My two questions are: 1. How feasible is it that the drops are draining away down the nasal cavity too much – despite trying the trick of pushing against the tear duct when I put the drops in, I can still feel them trickling down the back of my throat, sometimes even half an hour later? and 2. I understand that your health is important, but the amount of money this is costing visiting an eye specialist once or twice a week is really not helping with the stress – trying to make ends meet after moving from Sunshine Coast to Sydney 8 mths ago has been tough! Is it worth trying the eye hospital and risk trainee doctors or do I just suck it up and keep going to a specialist who clearly knows what he is doing?
Hi! I have suffered from iritis since my first bout in college (around age 21 or so) and now I am 34. I have had reoccuring iritis at least a few times a year since but it seems to be getting worse this last year. I do believe stress has something to do with my flare-ups as I am recently divorced with 3 busy crazy boys and run an in home daycare! I have also noticed that my iritis eye aches after caffeine…I think caffeine might play a role in my iritis but feel like it is overall a multitude of things….stress, caffeine, not eating properly, etc.. I too get sores in my mouth around the time of the iritis attacks. It is a very frustrating condition and I hope someday it will be researched enough to find a cure. I will find the Yakult and see if it helps (any suggestion…I live in Indiana) I need to focus on wellness within my body but it is so hard when everybody else needs to be taken care of! I know a natural diet would be the best thing for me. I currently have a friend that has cancer all over her body and is eating a raw fruits and veggies diet coupled with other treatments and her cancer is going away in some places! It is so nice to connect with other people dealing with the same thing.
Hey Simon, what a great blog:) Although after reading it, it worries me on how long i will have to take these drops.
Love the idea of Yakult and i will give it good go, as there is nothing to lose from trying. I live in Adelaide so there's no probs in finding it.
I'm 33 and I have Rhumatoid Arthritis and have been painfree and very well (although medicated)for 7 years. I have fought hard to be as healthy as possible good food/excersise/stress free, my RA Dr is impressed how well i am… Until last week when i got a sore eye. The GPs had no real idea took me 3 visits until they realised i had to go to an eye specialist who then immediately told me i had iritis due to my RA, i'm on the drops hourly.
The thing about iritis is people just think it's just a sore eye… *Sigh*…Autoimmune diseases are just baffling!
Hi Simon
Finally got the all clear last week. Have been off drops for two and half weeks now and all good (so far – fingers crossed I am one of the lucky ones who never get it again!)
I think I will definately listen to my body a little closer now though – have always been healthy so was not expecting things to suddenly pack up the way they did. My darling 22yo daughter tells me …"Well you are getting older Mum"! Kids – who'd have 'em?! he he.
Have not yet got on to Yakult but will try to get in the habit – cant hurt hey?
Thanks for all the advice your blog gave me – was a comfort to know so many others experience this hell.
Hi my name is Nick from the UK ive had iritis now for around 6 months , just cant get rid of it , did any of you have weird side effects like , cant focus on stuff sometimes , and when you look downwards get bubble effect in the eye , as if there is a bubble rising in the eye , think thats the best way to describe , and another question is iritis common to blind ? i know doctors say its very very unlikely. Any help greatly appreciated.
Oh and if you have any ideas on getting rid please share
Oh and just to add i had all blood tests , x rays etc and all came back clear so as you can imagine ? quite annoying not being able to get rid.
My son 19 was in the ER last night; misdiognoised and saw and eye specialist today. He was told he has irititis…I am so worried. He also shows signs of arthritis. He is on the steroid drops and a dialating drop to help with the pain. He needs to go back to the dr. in one week to further figure out the cause of this disease. My son had a bad infection (unknown) and was treated with Levequin for 20 days; for those of you that don't know what Levequin is it is a very strong antibiotic that is rarely used. I am glad I had a chance to read this blog. I will keep my fingers crossed and in the meantime my son is staying in a dark room. Will keep you updated
Hi there. I have just been diagnosed with Iritis and feel quite down about the whole thing. I am concerned about whether I can drive with this condition as I read differeing advice about this point.
Can anyone offer any advice on this for me.
Thanks Simon
Will give it a few days and give it a go – in search of a tweed cap as we speak. I'm beginning to worry a bit as the other eye is starting to smart a bit amd am worried that it may start in the good eye. Should I go and get it checked out? Probably a bit of paranoia.
I am a well experienced Iritis sufferer, who has has it for 20 years in my right eye, that is up until this year. In March I had it for the first time in my left eye. This was then followed by a second bout in my left eye when I returned from my holiday in Dubai. This turned into the worst bout I have ever had(apart from the very first one)and has resulted in it coming back in chronic form several times whilst taking steroind, using ointment and cyclopentilate. Regular visits of 3 times a week to my local hospital and seeing several different Dr's, I have now for the first time had a considerable sight problem in my left eye. For the past 20 years I have been prescribed the steroid Maxidex, this last bout they changed it to Pred Forte and I swear this is more than a coincidence that I have struggled to eliminate this bout and the side effects are now getting very worrying!
After my recent visit, they sent me for a retina scan, returned me to the waiting room and then a nurse came to me, gave me another prescription for the same and said come back in 3 weeks..why the retina scan? why's it not responding like it has done for 20 years and at least 5 times a year.
I have been on Actamel (yakult similarity)for about a year, but dieted before my holiday and then obviously after it!
I am now changing to yakult….I will try anything( I too was diagnosed as AS 18 years ago.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for the quick response. I have seen my GP today, as my vision has deteriated and he has suggested that i return to the Hospital tomorrow and has given me a letter of urgency!
I am now really concerned as only 6 weeks ago I had my vision checked for works safety glasses and my eyes had not changed since the last test 2 years ago.
So, back I go tomorrow, I will keep you posted.
Thanks again.
I am currently going through my first experience of iritis – not nice at all! I will definately be popping out to get some Yakult, anything is worth a try. Mine started after I had the flu, followed by tonsillitis. I thought I had recovered nicely in time for Christmas, but just before New Year all of my joints and muscles became excruciating. My left eye flared up all red and swollen, and I was crying a river daily. I went to see a pharmacist who said it was spreading to the other eye too, and gave me some anti-allergy drops. The next day my eye became unbearable in pain, I could barely open it through the swelling and felt exhausted, very nauseous and every joint in my body was throbbing. After visiting my Eye Casualty Unit (Southampton also, as a lady above mentioned), I was diagnosed. I was given Maxidex to take every hour, along with the refrigerated pupil dilator drops. Will need to continue like this for another 5 weeks! Once the initial pain and swelling went down I could definitely feel it in the other eye so I've used the drops in both anyway which seems to have worked. It was very frightening to hear my immune system is doing this to me! Taking Ibuprofen for the joint pains, which are still crazily painful. Funnily enough yesterday I developed 2 mouth ulcers which I never normally get, so that seems like an unpleasant side-effect. I hope I have no lasting damage! But it's very reassuring to read I'm not the only one, thank you for this blog.
Kind regards, Emma.
My 4 yr.old daughter is allergic with all nuts. Is it okay for her to drink Yakult?
Hi, thanks for this blog and thanks for my husband in finding it. I will be sitting down this evening and reading all the comments to see if they can help. I am 37 and have suffered with iritis for 25 years, yes 25 years. In both eyes but majority my right. I've had so many attacks now half of my pupil on right side is permanently stuck down. Drops have caused a cataract which they cannot operate on until the iritis has cleared up for a least a year, no such luck. The only times I didnt have any attacks is when i was pregnant with my two boys, told it could be due to hormones. Sometimes I can have 3 plus attacks in any year and when both eyes go that really is fun, NOT. Had all the tests nothing, but I know that if I am run down, tired, or stressed it doesnt help. Hope I can find some useful advice on everyones comments. Tasha
Hi forgot to say that I have had scans in my eyes too, so they can get a better picture of what is happening at the back of the eye, injections of steriods in my eyes and I also had to go into hospital a few Christmas's ago and had to have a mri scan and more tests as I had a massive attack in both eyes and it left both my pupils permanently dilated. Nothing was found yet again and after taking steriods through a drip it cleared up. I have also had the inflamation at the back of my eye too. I'm from the UK and visit Southampton hospital which is very good apart from the waiting time. Tasha
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your reply, I will definitely be looking into the Vitamin recommendations as well as the Vitamin D. The consultant I am under is an Iritis specialist, so I'm in good hands.
Regards Tasha
Hi everyone,
So many of the previous postings have astounding similarities to my experience with iritis.
I had my first case of iritis last year at the same time when I caught one of the nastiest colds I have ever experienced in my life. I was in bed with the cold for at least 2 weeks and profoundly tired with achy muscles for several weeks (it seemed at the time to be a long duration for a cold lasting several weeks where I would seem to recover but then relapse back into the cold). My sinuses were a mess, and I had 2 cold sores during this time (an overall weakened immune system). I suspect I may have picked up more than one viral strains during this time as my immune system was under attack.
At the time the white of my left became red, dry and inflamed. I didn't realize I had irisitis (it was my first case) and I used some homeopathic eye drops called (Oculoheel from Traumheel) which seemed to work very well for me and the iritis resolved itself in 3 weeks and disappeared.
Nearly a year has passed and I have come down with my second case of iritis (3 weeks so far with no sign of improving). I suspect it is related to my consumption of milk. Just prior to my second case of iritis I drank some 2% milk that gave me severe diarrhea that lasted a few days.
One of the known causes of iritis is brucellosis. Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Brucella. These bacteria are mainly
passed among animals. Humans can get brucellosis by drinking or eating dairy products that have the Brucella bacteria in them. There are acute (lasting 8 weeks) or chronic forms (lasting 1 year or more). Acute form symptoms are like those of the flu with fever, sweats, headaches, muscle pains, lack of
energy, back pain and physical weakness. Chronic symptoms include recurrent fevers, joint pain, lack of energy, and episodes of depression.
Looking back now I think what I thought was a "bad cold" may have been actually a bacterial infection (Brucella) caused by contaminated milk. Ever since last year I just haven't "felt right" and I have experienced a lot of gas, bloating and minor gi problems. Other than higher than normal blood pressure at my last check up a few months ago my doctor says that I am otherwise healthy.
From my experience I might have had brucellosis as a trigger for iritis and many other postings have highlighted the involvement of milk being implicated.
Fighting Brucellosis may have altered immune responses, gi tract bacteria and led to weakened immunity leading to iritis.
Yakult is a Japanese probiotic milk-like product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a special strain of the bacterium Lactobacillus casei Shirota (the drink has 6.5 billion bacterium per 65 mL bottle giving a concentration of one hundred million Colony Forming Units/mL).
While Yakult was suggested by one of the early posters there are a number of similar drinks that contain the same species of bacteria. My local health food store (and yours too) have several brands of probiotic drinks for sale containing Lactobacillus casei.
Also many regular food stores sell DanActive yogurt drink (known as Actimel in many countries). This probiotic drink contains the bacteria but different strain than Yakult (Lactobacillus casei DN-114001) but the bacteria are essentially the same.
After reading the previous postings I am going to try the Yakult-type L. casei drinks and supplement my diet with vitamin D (good for helping irritable bowel syndrome), lysine (to reduce retrovirus involvement that may be assaulting the immune system) and some eye supplements containing leutein (to help prevent macular degeneration and for eye tissue health).
I hope my information helps others. I will let others know what my experience with the probiotic drinks is in the next several weeks.
all the best for everyone battling iritis …. Mike
Hi Everyone,
Just as a follow up I checked to see if Brucellosis is a cause of Uveitis and Iritis. Several published research papers confirm this link.
Karahocagil MK, Demirok A, Kiliç A, Cinal A, Caksen H, Yasar T. Brucellosis and uveitis. Ann Ophthalmol (Skokie). 2008 Spring;40(1):48-50.
Sungur GK, Hazirolan D, Gurbuz Y, Unlu N, Duran S, Duman S. Ocular involvement in brucellosis. Can J Ophthalmol. 2009 Oct;44(5):598-601
The results of the second paper are quite interesting:
"RESULTS: Ocular involvement was detected in 21% of brucellosis patients. The most frequent manifestations were anterior uveitis (41%) and choroiditis (32%), followed by panuveitis (9%), papilledema (9%), and retinal hemorrhages (9%). Forty-one percent of these patients were in the acute stage and 59% were in the chronic stage of brucellosis. Interestingly, all the patients with anterior uveitis were in the acute stage and all the other patients with choroiditis, papilledema, and retinal hemorrhages were in the chronic stage. All patients responded well to systemic antibiotic treatment along with topical or systemic corticosteroid treatment. No recurrence of ocular manifestations was detected during the follow-up period, after completion of a 2-month systemic antibiotic treatment."
Well, this is a great blog. Thanks Simon! I'm 58 years old and I currently have Iritis, AGAIN! First time, 2 years ago, was in my right eye and the last 3 times has been my left eye. I am using Maxadex drops every two hours, Isopto Homatropine 3 times a day and Hycor ointment at night before bed. Will definitely try the Yakult and also the Lysine. I do have rheumatoid arthritis and was told this was probably the cause of the iritis, although not for certain. I, too, find it very expensive going to the eye specialist. $130 for the first visit and $90 for each visit after that. Medicare doesn't give much of that back either. I'm at Tweed Heads and there is no eye hospital down here that I know of.
It is good to talk to others out there who are experiencing this ghastly disease. I could certainly live without it!!
Hope everyone can find some relief soon, or preferably a "cure". That would be loverly!
Hi Simon. Thanks for the reply. The eye specialist I go to is Dr. E. Svoboda in Tweed Heads. He is apparently one of the best down here. Yes, I have read other posts and I will try the Yakult and the Lysine. I used to get cold sores all the time but haven't had one for several years. Touch wood!!! From what I've read the Herpes Virus is also a suspect with Iritis. Who knows??! I have good health so I guess I'm still a lot better off than many people with more serious illnesses.
Thanks again for this blog. It really does help knowing there are others who have to live with this "thing" and getting tips to help maybe stop it from coming back.
This blog is fab. I am definitely going to try the Yakult theory and see how it goes. I have had two bad bouts of Iritis over the last 6 years. My first attack was 6 months after i had my gall bladder removed (not sure if there was a connection). I then had nothing for 3 years then had another attack about two years ago. This came on literally overnight with no real warning. The pain was really severe. I respond well to treatment (maxidex). I have never had any blood tests to determine the cause apparently because i am still young (35) and in good health generally. I am in the middle of a rotten cold at the moment and think i may have a sinus infection. This morning i woke with left eye pain and light sensitivity and i just know this is the start of another bout of Iritis. Off to docs and then probably up to eye specialist for diagnosis and treatment. I know in the scheme of things 3 attacks in 6 years is not bad after reading what some people have been through but it is still really horrible. I have it in the back of my mind everytime my eye feels a bit itchy or is watery. Anyway i am definitely going to try Yakult and see how it goes. Incidently i am also a mouth ulcer sufferer (especially when run down and stressed). Julie Egland
I was diagnosticated with reactive arthritis in 2008. My doctor thought that it was the result of a contaminated food I had in Cuba during vacations at the end of the year. I went through the AZ of the disease and the Z is usually uveatis/iritis. With my arthritis, I discovered that holistic treatments were more effective than the $1,800 shots of Embrel. I also changed my diet my lifestyle, I gave up milk, meat and coffee at last. The price has paid off and the results for inflammation have been coming negative for more that 8 months now. Still, it is too early to say it went in remission.
But here is the catch, I get flare ups about this time in the year. I got sick the very first time this time in the year. I was not born in this northern hemisphere were I currently live, and therefore I am not fully used to seasons. Have you found any pattern with the spring season among the other iritis suffers?
PS. Lutein seems to help with this bugger thing as well.
Good luck.
Sorry for such a lengthy delay in my reply, I've unfortunately been in hospital as my eyes got so bad! They tried to lower my Maxidex drops and my left eye went crazy, with a deep pain right through the socket! My doctor referred me to a rheumatologist as the aches and pains in my body became so unbearable, and I have been diagnosed with Churg-Strauss Syndrome, a vasculitis disease that causes inflammation of the blood vessels throughout the entire body. This was causing my Iritis to stay put. I now have to take steroids orally for many years to come so I have quite an adjustment to make.
The good news is as soon as I started taking these the Iritis cleared up almost overnight, and although a little blurry my vision has all but returned to normal thank God. Whilst in hospital, other patients who were on large doses of medication were given free Yakult to drink daily to help the stomach lining, so I now drink it without fail! Luckily for me they're sold in just about every shop local to me so they're easy to get hold of. I will be keeping up with those! Thanks again for this blog, it's really nice to find people in the same boat as you when you're feeling at your most vulnerable through illness.
Kind Regards, Emma.
hi…just too say great blog…
i got my 1st iritis before xmas but did not know what is was..went to optician and she told me was a eye infection and to have drops put in it after 2 days was red and very sore lost my vision in right eye as it went cloudy..was then sent to hospital and was on the drops and cream.must say it cleared up and was givin the all clear in jan………….now after a month of no iritis it has now apeared in my left eye……happy times lol……….now waiting to go back to hospital next week and be givin the all clear…must say i do get stressed out and i hav also hav lower back pain for 10 years and now waiting to have dna test so fingers crossed…just a point does anyone know if this could be long term as in lead to blindness as this is my biggest fears…and good luck in finding a way to get rid of this problem…
This is my first recurrence in 11 years and has followed being whacked in the eye by a two year old and my carpal tunnel syndrome having become acute- causing complete numbness in my thumb and two fingers. I wonder whether these were related to it?
It's been so long since my last attack that I had to refresh my data banks regarding its symptoms, treatment and possible effects.
I had never heard of the yakult connection in keeping it at bay and am surprised that yakult would be effective as I read that the beneficial bacteria that yakult contain are in no way at levels which are of much benefit to alleviating the symptoms of gastric diseases.
I must add that though it was 11 years since my last bout (and that must sound great to some reading here), in the meantime I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (with which it is an associated symptom) and I had to have my ulcer laden colon (which had perforated) removed two years ago during emergency surgery.
Think I would have preferred a bout of Iritis actually!
Hi iritis sufferers,
I am unfortunately one of you, suffering from this horrible condition. Mine started about 25 years ago. It did start with a complete red eye which scared me very much. Steroid drops cleared it up fast. I used to get iritis once every year or so, not much. As the years went by, it got considerably worse. Now I get it in both eyes. The left one is always with iritis. Cannot get off the drops: every hr for two or 3 days, then every 2 hrs for another 3 days, every 3 hrs for a wk, and then increasing every wk. On my last week it comes back in full. Back again and so on…..HORRIBLE. I've spent so much money in opthalmology care. I go there every two week or so, just to hear: continue with the drops and increase them.
I just found this blog. I will definitely try the yakult. Tomorrow I will run to the store first thing AM!!! I will keep you posted if I can see any improvement. I am the one, do to my condition who most likely can testify if it works. I have faith it will work. Thank you Simon for giving me a hope. God Bless everybody.
Stress. Must be. I've had enough of it in my lifetime to warrant it. I started with iritis when I was 19. Here's the shocker….I'm now 68, and have had bouts of it several times a year since then. SOOOOOO tired of the drops, but will give the yakult drinks a try. Why not? Can't hurt, and trust me, I have given up trying to find a cure for this thing. Fifty-nine years later, and I'm still battling it. Be careful, and get treatment, because you don't want your retina to detach. Or, go blind in the infected eye. Here's to a cure for iritis!! ( Let it be yakult drinks!) And, if they don't sell them around here, well…will have to carry on the "old-fashioned" way, and hope it will burn itself out.
i was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis about 10 years ago and suffer from inflammation in my joints which seam to spread to other parts of my body normally hips knees and and eyes (iritis) i was given prednosoline which is a striroid pill which helped. unfortunately this cant be taken long term as it can cause calcium deficiency. i will try Yakult which is widely available in the UK.
Thanks for the blog, glad to read so many experiences, hints and compassion. I am on my 3rd bout of iritis but this one does not seem to be responding to the drops. Vision in my left eye is very cloudy and the specilaist said he could see a membrane across it. Feeling very worried, can't go to work or focus on anything for more than a few minutes. Tomorrow if no improvement he will send me to a "front of eye "specialist. Oh yeah, its my birthday today too, shall go get some myself some yakult, great present
Hi Simon,
I have found your blog to be very interesting. Thank you.
After returning home from a 2-week holiday in Fiji last December, I experienced my first bout of what I now believe was Iritis. Initially, my GP prescribed antibiotic drops (Chlorsig), but these did not seem to have any effect. At first the symptoms were in the left eye, but soon spread to the right. The whites of my eyes were very red, my eyes were extremely sensitive to any light (to the point where I could barely keep them open), and they felt as though there was sand in them. When I focused my eyes downwards, a shooting pain swept up through my forehead and temples. At no stage was there any discharge from my eyes, though there was a glassy film covering them.
My GP then ordered blood tests to determine whether my eye condition was related to any connective tissue damage, as I was also experiencing swollen knuckles in my fingers and, to a lesser degree, in my toes. I had also experienced knee pain. The tests did not reveal any connective tissue damage.
The doctor prescribed Prednefrin Forte Eye Drops, which provided instant relief. The dosage was 3 times per day for 5 days. I was told that prolonged use of this steroid could cause lasting damage, including cataracts.
Unfortunately, my relief was short-lived, and the symptoms reoccurred two weeks later. I went back to the doctor and this time he prescribed steroid capules containing the same active ingredients as the drops. These, too, were effective in clearing my eyes, but after another two weeks, the symptoms were back.
I was referred to an eye specialist at the Canberra Eye Clinic, who diagnosed my condition as Blepharitis. I didn't have the symptoms at the time, and I was sceptical about this diagnosis, but I persevered with cleansing the skin around my eyes with baby shampoo, as was the remedy. Not long later, the annoying symptoms returned, and continue to return (with corresponding joint inflamation) five months after my initial bout just before Christmas 2010.
I have another referral for an eye specialist that I need to follow up, as my GP now has labelled my condition as Iritis.
It was interesting to read Tasha mention a possible connection to hormone imbalance with Iritis. At the age of 48, I have experienced signs of beginning menopause, so maybe there is a connection here.
I am going to the supermarket now to buy the Yakult that you have indicated has helped you combat the condition. Apart from being kinder to my eyes long term, it should be kinder to my hip pocket than the constant supply of Prednefrin Forte Eye Drops that I have needed to purchase over the past five months. Fingers crossed that the Yakult works.
Hi, I also have recurring Iritis. What works for me is the generic PRESCRIPTION antihistamine "Hydroxyzine HCL 25mg" Take a pill 2 to 4 hours apart (depending on severity of pain) and the symptoms clear within 24 hours. Over the years I have stopped 3 outbreaks and have been Iritis free for about 4 years now. Obviously, ask your doctor.
I am currently experiencing chronic iritis. This bout started in March in the right eye, eased up early May and now back again in both eyes. Before this I my previous bout was mid last year, 1 year before that, and 2 years prior to that. Seems the onset of the cold and flu session is when it rears it's ugly head, though I very rarely get a cold or flu myself. Everyone in my team at work has had confirmed influenza this season, but my immune system must be working overtime big time.
I was diagnosed HLA-B27 positive some 13 years ago, and though I am not classed as having AS, I do have some very slight fusion in the thoracic spine and SI joints.
My rheumatologist has now suggested a course of Azathiorprine may assist with condition. Though my eye specialist was pretty non plussed last time I spoke with him about it.
Can't say I've found any difference with the condition between when I'm extremely good with my diet and nutrition, or when I tend to be a bit slack. But I am going to try 2 months of no dairy, and switch to soy as well as trying the yakult.
Has anyone here had any positives from the use of immunosuppressants ? Would appreciate any feedback please ?
Wow! I am shocked and suprized to see all of this. I really thought this was more of a rarity. I am 41 and my first bought of Iritis was at about age 11/12. Although, no one could say what it was until my 3rd and worst case when I was about 21/22. All of my bouts only lasted a couple of months (which makes me feel lucky after my readings here) with the same aforementioned drops & cremes depending on the severity. My Iritis re-occurs every 5 or so years until this last year when I had it in June(2010) and then again this year (May 2011). I have always been okay with it other than the annoyance of it and severe pain. I had it so bad that I could not see the big "E" on the eye chart in the ER (I think they thought I was lying). Talk about driving – out of the question – the stabbing pain is present even if I cover the affected eye. There are pictures of me at Disney World with my family when I was 11/12 with sunglassess, hat with a visor and I still had my head down and hands cupped over my eyes.
Anyway, enough of memory lane. I do also feel lucky I have never had it in both eyes… however, my daughter has now had it twice begining at age 15 and this year (along with me) at her age of 20. I did have some trama to my eye when I was about 6 I ran into a lit cigarette, but the doctors say it has nothing to do with it. I've never had any or heard of all these tests. My specialist told me that all the tests they have are a waste of time and money because no one knows what causes it.
My biggest concern right now is that this last bout I had while taking the drops I seemed to have quite a severe reaction to the drops… nervousness, anxiety, panic. I didn't know what was happening to me at first. I asked the nurse about the nervousness she said it was from the steriods (generic pred-forte) and that it would go away as I started to wean myself off. That would have been fine except that, that takes a while, three weeks of severe anxiety! I was ready to go have my eye removed. Somehow I made it. But now I am seemingly anxious about getting it again.
Seems like my eye is still not completely right. Some pain after overuse, lots of dust (like after I cut the grass) and sunlight on white rocks. I know that sounds weird. oh well, I'm seriously thinking about going vegan, or maybe mixed vegan with organic meat and dairy? Not sure if I want to hook my system on probiotics. Although, my daughter also has IBS & I've been trying to get her to do the probiotic thing. Just thought I would share. But I am definetely bookmarking this site & plan to visit back to see if anyone really finds the cure.
Another question on top of the immunosuppressants…anyone else with Iritis or HLA-B27 + been found to have very (and I mean very) low levels of Vitamin D ??
i first had iritis when i was 15, im now 25 and its still as bad as its ever been, on maxidex at the moment which will clear it up for a few weeks if im lucky a month, during my iritis spells ive tried pred forte with cytopentilate ( diluting drop) maxidex which im on now, and even fml which is a lower dosage eye drop that is to be taking once a day for the long run, but even that didnt help, im starting to feel like im more qualified than some of the doctors that treat me as on occasion had to tell them the type of drop im usually on, literally just came across this blog , will be heading straight to the supermarket in the morning and stocking up on yakult, hope it works, anythings worth a try,
Hello Simon,
I have been v. interested in this blog as, like others, have recurring Iritus – 3-4 times annually, for over 40 years – with a 5 year break after pregnancy.
I was interested in what seems to cause a flare-up, as well as what people are doing to avoid the problem. A summary of comments on your blog:
Initial Factor?
Irritable bowel syndrome
Herpes simplex virus
Poke/Blow to the eye
Flu & tonsilitus
Very bad cold
Gall bladder removal 6 months before
Before subsequent Outbreaks:
Mouth ulcer/canker sores
Ankolysing Spondilitis
Rheumatoid Arthritus
stomach problems
Eating lots of honey
Lumens (Excess of bright light)
Mental (Stres related?)
Before Christmas
Before holidays
during holidays
Co-existing health problems
Ankolysing Spondilitis
Rheumatoid Arthritus
ulcerative colitis
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
HLA-B27 positive
Potential Alleviators
Yakult Drink
No cows milk
Elimination Diet
Lysine (AMINO ACID)
Any drink with Lactobacillus casei
Vitamin D
PRESCRIPTION antihistamine "Hydroxyzine HCL 25mg"
Hi Simon – I would be interested in anything that might assist in reducing my bouts of iritus!
Also – I was thinking it would be interesting to put together a survey of/for people with iritus, using this summary above – I can volunteer to do this as I have a corporate Survey Monkey account. I am interested to learn how many people have the concurrent disorders, and what life-style change or natural remedy has helped the most people.
And – can't find Yakult in Canada – but I continue to look. I am taking probiotics daily now to see if that helps.
Hi Simon and everyone else!
I was just diagnosed with Iritis for the first time yesterday! The doc said it is 'mild to moderate' iritis. It first started on Sept. 6 but it took me a couple of weeks to get around to having it seen. The optometrist initially thought episcleritis and gave me Systane drops and I stopped contact lens wear for 4 days, the red eye cleared up, but only for about 1 day, and it recurred. Basically, since Sept. 6 I have had it for about 5 or 6 days then it cleared up for about 1 to 2 days, and this happened twice, then the 3rd time was last Tuesday. I'm currently using the steroid eye-drops Prednefrin Forte and they are working well (only my 2nd day with them today). But I have been told to NOT wear my contacts while I am using drops which is annoying, but obviously eye-health is the priority!
It's good to see your site here, and I will read through the comments, I think I will try out Yakult now, I don't think I've ever had it before!
I noticed that each time I had the recurrence of Iritis it was towards the end of a 'long' day when I was getting tired and feeling a bit run down, in fact it felt like I was starting to come down with a cold, but no cold actually eventuated, just a bloody and unsightly red eye!!
I just turned 40 by the way, I celebrated my 40th with a nice red eye!
Melbourne, Vic
I thought I would add to that I have had some sort of eczema / dermatitis since about 2004/5. I read that very interesting article in a link in this blog above about Burgess Laughlin and Dr. McDougall's diet, I will go back over it later. Burgess explains his progress to good health explaining how all his ailments ended with 'itis' meaning that they were all inflamations in different parts of his body, I think he put this down to his immune system attacking his body mistakenly.
Maybe there is a link between my dermatitis / eczema and the iritis?
Hi Simon,
I stumbled across your site when researching iritis and I have to say thank you for all your hard work, and that of your contributors. Reading everyone's words makes me feel like I'm part of a special group! I'm just going through another bout of iritis and am so frustrated by it. Mine has a genetic link/marker though – a blood test during the last bout three years ago confirmed this. What I find frustrating is my first bout was in 1996, then in '98 – then nothing until 2008! And now again this week – three years later. After reading the other stories I feel I get off pretty lightly. I just find it astounding that 10 years passed before it hit me again. I guess there's no telling what the immunse system will do. Your site is very helpful, there are a few things I'm going to check out – Vitamin D for one. Thanks Simon
I cured myself of iritis having been treated for some 7 years with prednefrin.
One day my lens got stuck to the front of my eye and it eventually resulted in a cataract operation.
Even after the cataract operation I was still having iritis attacks and gradually causing more retinal damage.
I had searched the internet for many years only to find that the eye doctor was doing the right thing.
I used to have an iritis attach only a few months after stopping prednefrin.
The solution is that iritis is an autoimmune disease so all you have to do is fix your immune system and it goes away.
Now I didn't believe there was anything wrong with my immune system apart from having high cholesterol.
I posted my cure on iritis.org and got banned.
One day I found on the internet that high chloesterol is the bodies mechanism for protecting you against tokins.
For quite a different reason I searched the mercury forum and I discovered it caused iritis.
I had 12 amalgam fillings and one root canal tooth and I found that amalgam fillings leak mercury and this was the cause of my faulty immune system. I live in Brisbane and went to see Dr Eric Davis http://www.ericdavisdental.com/
Each time he removed a quadrant of amalgam and replaced it with ceramic he gave me some intravenus vitamin C.
He removed my root canal tooth.
I went through a chelation process and have been fine ever since. I got iritis first when I was 48 and I am now 60.
Interesting my cholesteral dropped right down after the chelatin process.
My diet has changed considerably.
Hope this helps
on this advice, I have been drinking Yakult for a year (since my last bout), and I have just been diagnosed again. The Yakult theory seems sound (and it does pep me up in the mornings!), but it just doesnt seem to work for me.
I've also tried Lysine, Bromelian, Quercetin, Omega 3, Rooibos and the Eye Supplements compound from H&B. All to no avail.
One theory has arisen however – the iritis occured within days of the farmer spraying crops next door with a foul smelling chemical pesticide (which filled the house when the wind blew). A little research suggested that this can be a cause of iritis and it has been happening at the same time each year.
Anyone else come across this?
what was the reason you decided not put up my post?
Could you please email me on email@example.com
It would appreciate knowing why. Iritis.Org does not permit the amalgam solution but it did work for me.
Thanks in advance
Hi simon,
Its good to hear that Yakult drink help you! I have choronic iritis with secandary glucoma. I Suffer last 1 year, The uvitis never gone. I went to so many ophthalmologist in london including harley street.I went to Moorfields Eye Hospital.I went to western eye hospital.I Went to some top hospitals in tamil nadu in india also went to sri lanka. NO ONE CURE ME FROM THAT horrible diseases!
Finely, I fedup, also give up. One day my wife took me to one ophthalmologist, He Cured Me. His name is PROFESSOR WILLIAM AYLIFFE.
If you have uvitis- Cause is very hard to find out.Dont waste your time. Find out If You are HLA B27 Possitive or negative and start the treatment.
Hi Simon, (I am the same Michael as in the 2 consecutive posts above on 24th and 25th September in case you are wondering!)
I was just on the Prednefrin Forte drops for 4 weeks, 4 drops daily for 1 week, then 3 drops daily for a week, 2 drops daily, then 1 drop daily, I stopped the drops last Sunday, and so far so good! That's the only medication I was taking, not pupil dilating drops. I'm seeing my eye doctor again on Monday coming up.
I'm lucky, my eye-doctor described it as 'very mild' iritis, it was 80% better he said, after just 3 days on the drops.
He gave me a couple of interesting bits of advice, he said that about 30% of sufferers have recurrence, and also I mentioned to the doc about people getting 'hooked' on the drops and therefore getting a recurrence when they stop the drops; he made the point that perhaps people are stopping using the drops earlier than the doc recommends, the eye may appear better long before the recommended course of drops is finished as in my case. This may be partly doctor-speak, but it made some sense to me… make sure you finish the full recommended course of drops. Any good eye-doc I assume, is aware of the potential side-effects of the drops, and will be keeping a very close eye on that!!
My doc, said if I have a recurrence, THEN he will order blood tests and look harder at why I got it, I had no obvious cause for it, no known associated condition.
** I have some metal fillings by the way! I think most people have them don't they? **
Yeah, as for shaking the bottle, I'm really glad the pharmacist mentioned that, otherwise I may not have done any shaking of the bottle, I've never shaken any other non-prescription drops… interesting how the pharmacist's advice can be as or even more important than the doctor's!!
I'll be honest and say I am rather disdainful of doctors with their approach to things like eczema and iritis, when they don't know the cause and all they can do is hand out the stock-standard treatment. It seems as if they don't really care about the cause, I wouldn't even bother going to my doc now about eczema, all he will do is prescribe steroid cream (terrific!! pain in the arse to use it, you're not supposed to use it long-term, AND it does not cure it, just keeps it at bay WHILE you are using the cream). And when I ask what is causing the eczema, he says things like, it's stress, it's the heat, you body hair in that area making you hotter… great help!! I hope you don't think I'm getting side-tracked here; it seems iritis sort of falls into the same category, they don't know what causes it usually, AND they don't really seem to care! I think if the doctor had bouts of iritis he may be a lot more interested in what causes it and how to prevent it, rather than just treat it when it happens!
Anyway, now that's off my chest!
Thanks to Andrew Sheppard for mentioning the amalgam fillings. I have just browsed online and there are countless pages and sites mentioning links between MERCURY and iritis, at least anecdotally.
(I'm the same 'Michael' as immediately above and some earlier posts)
I've been off the Pred drops for just one week and I suspect a recurrence albeit very mild, even milder than last time, nevertheless I'm depressed about it. I see the ophthalmologist tomorrow, Monday, which I suppose is good…
I'll quiz him about mercury and other things.
I have also gone almost VEGETARIAN since June, so just over 4 months now, although I still eat fish, AND my FISH INTAKE would have multiplied by about three times or more, fish is the only meat I eat, is there mercury content in fish????
And, I have at least 3 amalgam fillings which I believe contain mercury, and I a habit of occasionally grinding my back teeth a bit where the fillings are.
My first iritis attack came on the very same day as my last dental visit, for a scale and clean!! About 10 hours after…
Interesting… all just coincidences…??
Hi simon,
I think you are lucky,because most austaralian are HLA B27 positive.
Everyone cases are individual.I treated by Immunosuppressive drugs.I am also hla b27 negative. It dosent mean you need the same drugs.
Uvitis cause by IBS,May be get better with Yakult drink.Doesnt need Immunosuppressive drugs.Sorry.Its depent how serve your uvitis aswell.
I think allways speak to some one who specializes in Uvitis.Most opthamologists dosent know how to treat this disease.sorry, Do you have IBS?
Hi, this is a fantastic website. I have been suffering from iritis, first in my left eye (three years) with a break of about 2-3 years and now in my right eye, which has been affected for over 2 years now. I have been taking prednefrin forte drops consistently for a two year period. As soon as I stop the drops the iritis is back after 10 days. I am now on methotrexate pills (7 weeks) and have just had my second flare up whilst on them. I am soooo frustrated with this disease. The flare up that I am currently suffering from is definitely less intense than usual and I have waited for a week before restarting the drops. I have taken Yakult in the past, but didn't seem to have any improvement in the iritis, just a bit better in the stomach, but I am thinking I might give it another go! In the period of time that I wasn't suffering from iritis, I got very severe cold sores for which I discovered L-Lysine pills which definitely work. I might combine them with the Yakult and see if I have any improvement. Will let you know.
After you have your amalgam's removed you have to undergo chelation to remove the built up mercury in the body. The dentist, Dr Eric Davis has a nutritionist working with him Jim Noonan who looks after removing the mercury from the body. There are two main ways, chemically and using vitamins so naturally the vitamin approach is what Eric and Jim recommend. Vitamin C is the main chelation agent for mercury. So the normal process, besides other vitamins, is large amounts of Vitamin C. Now, since I would get Iritis at a drop of a hat Eric was very mindful that removing the amalgam could result in a slight build-up of mercury despite using a rubber dam and extractor fans etc. He thought it wise to have intravenous Vitamin C after each quadrant. You cannot chelate the mercury when you still have fillings because it would leach it out into the body and cause more problems. So I had in all four lots of intravenous vitamin C, one for each quadrant until I could start the chelation process.
I have changed my diet considerably but one thing I was told was never to eat seafood and I buy rock salt rather than sea salt.
An interesting story was a lady had multiple sclerosis, which is an autoimmune disease, and the doctors could only provide drugs to prolong her useful life. She went to Eric Davis Dental, had her amalgams replaced with ceramic and after chelation she walked away from her wheelchair. She was told never to have seafood but one Christmas she had a few prawns and the small amount of mercury in the prawns was sufficient to put her back in the wheelchair until the mercury was again chelated out.
There are many toxins besides mercury and Fluoride is a toxin so we have a reverse osmosis water filter that removes the Fluoride. Eric Davis has a completely fluoride free dental practice.
For the first few years I carry around a script for prednefrin but now I don't as the scripts keep expiring.
I start each morning with a glass of lemon juice ( we squeeze lemons and turn them into ice blocks) to which we add Vitamin C powder.
I mentioned in a previous post that I had high cholesterol and when Jim told me to change my diet to a high fat, high protein low carbohydrate diet I was concerned about having a heart attack. He reassured me by saying " There is a naturally occurring amino acid in the body called methionine and in the presence of toxin it mutates to homocysteine and it is the presence of homocysteine that causes the LDL to attach to the arteries. By taking folic Acid, B6 and B12 the homocysteine is retuned back to methionine" So I also take folic acid and a B complex.
Hope this helps
Thank you to everyone for contributing to this discussion. Andrew, the connection between amalgam fillings and an iritis outbreak is an interesting one.
I had my first bout of iritis in my left eye only, about 12 years ago. Unfortunately, it was misdiagnosed at first, but when I eventually received the correct treatment, it cleared up and didn't recur until the exact time of the following year – late October and after a hot day!
The second time I was onto it quickly and within a few hours, I'd seen the specialist, started with the drops and iritis didn't fully develop. Around this time, I came across an article in a magazine written by a long term iritis sufferer. He claimed to have freed himself of iritis with regular vitamin A supplements.
I took a vitamin A supplement daily for 10 years or so and had no iritis. Other iritis sufferers I know have also tried vitamin A with good success.
However, for the last couple of years I haven't bothered taking the supplements. A week ago, I had an amalgam filling replaced, top left jaw and after a few days, pain started to develop. I had been thinking about contacting the dentist because the pain was increasing rather than subsiding, but the pain was above my jaw, rather than at the site of the dental work. After a hot day last Sunday, the pain was enough to keep me awake, but it wasn't until this morning (Thursday) that I woke to blurry vision and inflammation in my left eye. In less than a hour of taking vitamin A, my vision has cleared.
Unfortunately, I can't remember if my previous iritis attacks correlate with dental treatment. I also start each day with a glass of unsweetened lemon juice and take vitamin C powder a couple of times per week, but in future I'll be careful to take vitamin A and increase my vitamin C intake before and after any dental work.
Hi Duster,
I omitted to say that I also take pharmaceutical grade Cod Liver Oil daily to keep up my Omega 3-6-9 since I don't eat seafood.
As you know both Vitamin A and Vitamin D are contained in Cod Liver Oil and is a vital ingredient of a healthy immune system.
Your suggestion of Vitamin A is good because anything that boosts the immune system can only help in the prevention of iritis.
Started getting eye pain upon wakening about 8 months ago. very painful, red, sensitive to light…thought it was an eye allergy as I've had lots of allergies and congestion. kept a cold wet compress on it and seemed to go away in about 3 or 4 hours. last week woke with the same thing only very painful (have had about 12 of these episodes) and went to see eye dr. she said iritis, dilated for 3 days, eyes drops hourly, then every 4 hours. several days later roof of right side of mouth broke out in large sores (never had before). havent been able to eat much in last week. need to figure out what is going on….I had a stent put in a major artery to my stomach a year ago, have arthritis in base of neck and have migraines. Not even sure where to begin to get my body strong.
Hi Simon, what a great site-thank you. I am South African born and living in Sydney and was first diagnosed with iritis in Singapore in 2002 in my left eye. I have however since then only had attacks in my right eye, about 9 attacks since then- actually number 10 right now. My twin sister had her first attack in her mid twenties (10 years before my first attack) when we were living 600km's apart. She still lives in South Africa and has now been diagnosed with very painful spondilitis in her neck. In desperation she went to an Ayervedic practicionar after doing her own research and she found a lot of relief for her neck pain. Interesting all the opthalmologists I have seen has said that they have never heard of twins with iritis. She has lost her eyesight a number of times (fortunately only temporarily but it is always a worry). I have tested positive for HLAB27 and her youngest daughter was diagnosed with ulserative cholitis, so definitely a genetic link I would say. I will try Yakult and I think there definitely is something in the amalgam fillings theory. Lastly someone commented that they couldn't keep their eyes open-I have felt the same since this attack started despite enough sleep!
If anyone can recommend an iritis specialist in Sydney and South Africa please let me know. Thank you. Marisa
Hi Simon,
Further to my post of 27/7/2011. 6 months now on Imuran. Still having recurrent bouts of Iritis, but only the right eye. Longest I've gone after coming off steriod eye drops is 30 days, but the attacks are much milder. Some times just 1 drop as soon as I notice pain due to light is enough to knock it, then I'm on drops twice a day for a week, then down to once a day. No dilating drops required, which is a bonus, and no problems with eye pressure. Next month will be 1 year of recurrent attacks approx every 6-7 weeks, but yes each attack is milder then the one before. Just wish I could get this sorted as the constant medical appointments, and time off work to attend them is a downer. Another 3 months left on the trial before my next review, and no other health problems or side effects from the immune suppressants to report.
Hi everyone
Simon, thanks for this blog. Thanks everyone – for contributing their own way. I am having Iritis from last Dec, and was on Prednefrin Forte for the last 2-1/2 months. My opthalmologist said it is pretty clear and I can stop it, gradually. I used this medicine as per his suggestion and I stopped at last. But after 3-4 days my eye start showing symptoms again. Now it's bit reddish and slightly painful. I am not sure whether I will wait for some more days or take appointment right now. I had some eye problem 8 yrs back and I believe it was iritis. Not sure, and I can't get the details because I was in another country that time. I don't know if stress is related to this iritis. I am bit stressed this time and having less sleep. My GP said I have arthritis (Osteo) and Rheumatoid factor is on border level.
I am having yoghurt regularly. I am going to start Yakult. Pls let me know if you have any suggestion.
Hi Fellow Iritis-Sufferers,
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.
Hi everyone,
I posted here on 2010/3/2 and 3/3. Things are getting worse for me. I have been using prednisolone non-stop for the last 2 and half years and I am having my #11 flare-up now.
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?
Hi Simon,
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.
Thanks! I am starting my daily Yakult again. Will come back and report later…
Hi, dont know why I didnt look this up earlier. Have always been told its something I will just have to live with! I get iritis 3 times a year for the last 15 years… the only time I don't get it is when I have been pregnant with each of my three daughters.
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.
Hi Simon
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?
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.
Stu, from the UK
I have still got iritis and down to 2 drops predforte a day plus eye pressure drops. I have been taking probiotics as I try to limit dairy. Time will tell if this works for me once I am off the drops. In the meantime, I have been doing some research and I have found out about some things that I want to try and might be of interest to some of you.
One of them is coconut oil. Although it is a saturated fat, it is a medium-chain fatty acid which makes it very different to other saturated fats. It helps kill bad bugs in your gut, therefore allowing for better colonisation of the good bugs – so hopefully give the probiotics a helping hand.
Also found out about cultured vegetables. You can make them yourself at home cheaply and, because raw vegetables have probiotics in them, it is a way of getting the same benefit as yakult and capsules cheaply. I have made my first batch and it is fermenting as we speak. If anyone is interested in coconut oil or cutured veg, take a look at these sites: http://earthmother-intheraw.blogspot.com.au/2009/05/how-to-make-raw-cultured-vegetables.html and http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/
All the best,
I, too, am looking for a natural cure for iritis since my boy friend just had his second breakout. I am an aian and I have a very high doubt on yakult they sell in Asian market. It is well known now to Asians that yakult is nothing but a sugar water that doesn't contain any probiotics. The name yakult comes from yogurt and Japanese couldn't quite pronounce it properly and it turned into yakult. My boy friend's 1st breakout of iritis was 2 years ago and it went away with a treatment and he was problem free for two years until couple days ago. As I have read that you need to cut down on sugar when you have iritis, I strongly oppose anyone taking yakult. Nothing personal to original person who posted about yakult and as I wish it is completely cured for him/her, however, recommending yakult to other people as a source of cure is like recommending Oreo cookie as a remedy just because you did not get the symptom back for 18 month while you were drinking yakult.
I've been doing more research and have found an interesting book which talks about wheat and the many health problems it causes including diabetes, heart disease and inflammatory diseases. Really worth a read. It's great to read comments from people who have gone wheat-free and the positive effects it has had on their health. I am now 100% gluten-free (which, of course, includes wheat-free) and just over an episode of iritis. I'll be interested to see if iritis returns. Will keep you posted.
Cheers Jackie
What help as to cure our doughter eye inflammation
When she diagnose with eye inflammation she was 6 years old we seen a lots of Doctors finally we meet this doctor in johns Hopkins hospital he treate this illness with food and it works for us. Now it's a year since she stop all her drops no inflamation and high eye pressure. Try this Stay away from cow milk products cheese etc… and packed food. Use fresh fruit and vigitabels when you cook food use canola oil. Now She eats rice and fresh vegetables, fruits, MAKE SURE MAKE SURE when you buy Read the labelsl no dairy on it
When she diagnose with eye inflammation she was 6 years old we seen a lots of Doctors most of them recommend injection but we didn't do it finally we meet this doctor in johns Hopkins hospital he treate this illness with food and it works for us. Now it's a year since she stop all her drops no inflamation and high eye pressure. Try this Stay away from cow milk products cheese etc… and packed food. Use fresh fruit and vigitabels when you cook food use canola oil. Now She eats rice and fresh vegetables, fruits, MAKE SURE MAKE SURE when you buy Read the labelsl no dairy on Bread etc… No packed food and juice Good luck
Thanks for this. I have had recurring iritis related to AS for a long time. As a child, and then years later, and then episodes got closer and closer together until I was nearly always in a flare. I found the reduction of starch in my diet to be highly beneficial ot both my iritis flares as well as AS flares (pain in lower back and hips). I also take probiotics, Good Belly here in the USA, and I also find them to be so very beneficial. When I let my starch intake get out of control, I am right back into a flare. I have things well controlled by diet, with the exception of allergies occasionally throwing me for a loop loop. However, now that I know how to regain control, even allergies and colds don't cripple me the way they once did. Keep spreading the word brother!
February of 2011 was when I was diagnosed with my first bout of iritis. At that time in my life, I was under a tremedous amount of stress and fatigue. Since the first episode, I have had iritis 5 more time in 18 months. Yes 5!! I have researched until I am exhausted from doing so. I live in the United States and your website was the first I had come across and is filled with so much information. I had numerous blood tests done with negative results. What is the HLA-B27 test? My doctors are not sure what to do with me and I've noticed none of them are smashing down doors to find out either. I feel alone and as though I am the only one with this disease, as I'm sure many of the people on this site feel. I woke up this morning with iritis again and I am honestly desperate, at this point, to rid myself of this crap. Where do I start and with what? I do not know of anywhere in my area where there is an Asian market or anywhere I can get Yakult. What is interesting in my case is I've had throat infections, sinus infections, ear infections and was diagnosed in April with thrush. The doctors have told me there may be an immune problem. Thats when the blood tests were done and nothing appeared. You would think that this would be something they could determine the cause and have a cure.
Something else I would like to mention is a contractor doing work in the crawl space of my home found large amounts of mold. He had to tear out all of the insulation and my home is going to be treated this week to rid my home of the mold. I think that possibly the mold could be an underlying issue in my case. Not sure. There are just too many questions here and answers to none of them. Your website has given me so much information and it is amazing how many people are afflicted with iritis.
I am currently on Pred Forte drops every 2 hours for the first four days and then every 4 hours for 4 days until I see my doctor again next week. I'm going to try and find the Dan-Active yogurt drink in my local grocery store and I hope and pray they have it. I have got to do something and begin somewhere.
Thank you Simon for publishing what you have on iritis. I do appreciate all of the information. May we all completely rid ourselves of this nasty affliction!!!
Cheers to you Simon.
I went on line to Goodbelly.com and the company sent me coupons. Last night I drove 45 minutes to get it. Goodbelly even provides you what stores carry it near your area. Unfortunately, the closest to me was 45 minutes. But I am determined to beat iritis. How guickly did you notice a difference in your health?
Hi Simon,
I have been recently diagnosed with iritis, and after reading your blog I feel I am not the only one..thanks for that. Since having blurr vision in one eye I am unable to read small font of the comments. Can you do something about this ?? because I really want to read althe comments
Hi Deborah,
I can relate to your problems – your story sounds just like mine. I have AS and Iritis as well as hayfever/sinusitis and HLA-B27 positive. My eye-doctor just laughs at me when I tell him I'm trying to find another way to stop getting iritis. He basically says there isn't anything that can be done and is now talking long-term prednisone (and eye surgery to control the subsequent eye pressure problems). This is what I'm doing to try control it: probiotics, gluten-free diet, try to do low-carbs (especially low sugar as it causes inflammation), low dairy. I am just starting to use coconut oil which is supposed to be really good for all sorts of things including allergies and inflammation. It must be organic, virgin coconut oil and the recommended dose is 3 tablespoons a day – eat it straight, cook with it (great in curries), add it to smoothies, put it on your vegetables instead of butter, in cakes, cookies, whatever. Oh, and I make my own fresh vegetable juices too to boost my immune system.
All the best.
For anyone who's interested in the coconut oil, read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Virgin-Coconut-Oil-Natures-Medicine/dp/0941599647/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1346838380&sr=8-12&keywords=bruce+fife
It sounds seriously amazing and so I'm doing my own little experiment with my family – the three of us all have sinus issues, my daughter gets eczema, and I have the iritis/arthritis issues to boot. So will see if it works for us.
Hi Jackie,
Low and behold, I got iritis once again….right before I was to leave on vacation. And like all the other times, the eye specialist put me back on Pred Forte drops. I have been drinking the GoodBelly product and I am so anxious to find out, once I am off of the drops, if the probiotics will actually work and keep me iritis free. These doctors make me feel as though iritis is no big deal. But they have absolutely no idea. I have strange pain in my left eye, swelling, blurred vision, etc., and then possibly the next day, the symptoms are not as bad. Does the probiotics help you? How many times have you had iritis?
Hi Deborah, No noticable improvement with probiotics but see next post from me – I think I have made a discovery…. Fingers crossed!
I have made a discovery that I think some of you might find useful. This post may be a little long but it is necessary to explain properly. Until about three years ago, I used to get acute iritis about once every 18 months in my right eye. The episode would last about 2 months in total.
In late 2009 I started getting it more often, in my left eye, and it came on much more slowly and lasted longer. It is now chronic in that it comes back after about 2 months once I stop the medication.
Early in 2009, I started taking sulfasalazine for ankylosing spondylitis (arthritis). I have regular bi-monthly blood tests to monitor liver/kidney function as the sulfasalazine can cause problems (as do most medications).
Last week I read on another iritis blog that there is a link between iritis and liver/kidney function. This motivated me to have a look at my own iritis records. I have been keeping track of the dates I've had iritis as well as all the remedies I have tried and my blood test results for the last three years. I did an analysis and, sure enough, my liver results were always above the normal range at the same time that I had iritis. In 2010 I took a liver tonic for about four months. My liver function came back into the normal range within a couple of months and I did not have iritis during that time but it came back within two months of stopping the liver tonic!
If the liver is involved with iritis, then this would explain why all the different remedies suggested by others on this site work for some people and not for others as the liver cleans the toxins from our bodies. For example, if you have an intolerance to dairy or gluten, then removing these from your diet would help because your body sees these as toxic. As the liver is part of the digestive system, anything that improves your overall digestion, will help the liver and thus help iritis, such as probiotics, eating lots of fresh vegetables and fruit as well as removing allergens and toxins such as alcohol, sugar and food additives (colours, preservatives, etc).
A lot of people also seem to get iritis in spring when their hayfever is playing up (toxins again). Another common thread is stress, which I have found to be true for me too. And I wouldn't be surprised if stress increases the toxic load too.
I must mention here that my liver function is only slightly raised and I have asked a number of doctors about this and none of them were concerned. So, your liver function doesn't have to be out by much to have an effect on your body (and iritis).
I have just started taking the liver tonic again under medical supervision in order to see if I get the same results as 2010. I have iritis again as we speak. I have also been taking a probiotic and have been 98% gluten-free for the last nine months with no improvement in my iritis. I have also started using coconut oil (see previous post).
Will keep you posted.
If anyone has had a similar experience, I would be most interested to hear from you.
Hi Simon,
The regular blood test that I have measures, among other things, something called GGT which is related to the liver and is used as a marker for liver disease. Mine is usually a bit above normal. I take Milk Thistle and have used different brands which combine other liver-support ingredients like dandelion and taurine. The main one I use is a Cabot Health one – LivaTone Plus along with a gluten-free diet, fish oil and raw vegetable juices. Although milk thistle is supposedly safe, I would recommend anyone wanting to take it should consult a medical professional. First step, though would be to get a blood test to check liver function.
I am pretty excited about this and hope its not another dead-end. Fingers crossed!
Also, I asked my opthalmologist if any research is being conducted into the causes of iritis and he said, "yes, lots, all the time". I wonder if they've done any liver studies? I'll ask him when I see him later this week.
this is my second flare-up! the first one was in 2004, when I got my diagnosis. I didn't pursue any tests as it went away after I was on Econopred and Atropine. The pain is unbearable sometimes and the sensitivity to light is so bothersome, I just want to curl up under the sheets…not good since I live in the Philippines! In 2004, I was then living in the US….
So glad to have found this blog and I am going to the grocery store tomorrow and pick up some Yakult! I'm gonna have to give this a try. It would be a very inexpensive treatment – it costs about 90 (US)cents for 5 of those little bottles. Which lead to an advice for those following this blog – if you can find a Filipino store near where you live, I am sure you can get this cheaper than you big-name grocer.
This blog has been very helpful to me. I will definitely be working on my immune system by regularly adding moringana to my diet. They grow wild in this parts so very readily available. This plant is supposed to be 1000times more effective than chemo bec of its high anti-oxidant properties.
Thanks, Simon and hope to be able to give you a good report soon!
I started having iritis while working construction. I got a piece of wood in my eye that started it off. Now i get it about every six months. I'm thinking it's when i mow, or again get wood dust in the air. Instead of using steroid drops, which usually went bad after a few months in the fridge, I wanted an alternative. I started using Clear Eyes Maximum Redness Relief, and it works great. When my eye gets red, I take a few drops, and it clears up immediately. I usually take it once when I wake up, and then before I go to bed. If I have a bad outbreak, then I take it as I need it. Hope this helps everyone! Going to get me some Yakult to see if that helps too.
forgot to mention that a replacement for steroid eyedrops (anti inflammatory action) is NSAIDs or non steroidal anti inflammatories. or Advil or Alieve. I currently take alieve twice a day, and it works much better than steroids, and it doesn't give you cataracts. I asked my ophtamologist why he didn't just tell me to take these along with the drops, but doctors just want you to come in to relieve your wallet of its over full condition!
Had 2 or 3 attacks of iritis every year since 1990, tried yakult and all the rest, sorry folks it hasn,t worked for me but I suppose there,s plenty of worse things people live with. Ps my advice, keep a good supply of steroid drops, beware of pressure problems.
On Oct 8, I wrote that I was going to the store the following day to get some Yakult…that evening I experienced horrendous pain in my eye. I couldn't sleep and thought it was time to take some pain medicine like the doc said, paracetamol or mefenamic acid…to my dismay, I couldn't find one in the house (I was just too panicked!) but found some Naproxen instead. I took 2 500mg tabs and went to bed. Slept like a baby – the pain was gone! The following day, still no pain and the swelling was going away. I did find out that my tummy cannot tolerate Naproxen, it felt like someone kicked me so I only took 1 tab for a whole day and continued this dosage for about 3 more days. Now, the swelling is all gone so is the redness. I am still a little sensitive to light and feel a tiny shooting pain every now and then. I also get floaters and every once in a while feel like "my eye is a camera – a curved black band closes and opens – right across the affected eye!!!" I have some loss of vision and almost feels like there's a piece of plastic film covering the affected eye. I am hoping and praying that this will go away and my eyesight restored completely. Oh, and I did get some Yakult eventually, I figured it can't hurt, it might help my eyes get healthy and I and my girls like its taste! Thanks again!
Very encouraging to read everyones expereicne just diagnosed last week and have follow up appoitnemnt this pm – had to have steroid injection (still feel traumatised) and using drops now 2 hrly (pred forte and the fridge ones 3 times daily and methotrex ointment at night. It's quite scary to think may have permanent damage and that the intial pain could return. I had never heard of ititis till last week, it has been very comforting to read everyones story
Hi Simon, I am 47 now and have had iritis since I was 17. Used to be both eyes, and I could go a couple of years without an attack but now, and for about the last six months, it's just constant in my right eye. It goes away for about a week and then comes back. I find drs simply start the steroid drug therapy and we all wait…my sight is permanently damaged now and I have a "leaking" macula caused by the inflammation. Last visit the dr did say offhand the latest research says iritis is caused by bacteria in the gut…but he wouldn't elaborate…just told me off for taking too long to come in…after 30 years they are still prescribing the same drug therapy that obviously is a short term problem with long term side effects…I'm going to try the yakault (I live in Victoria) and also the natural medicines for irritable bowel syndrome. I'm over the pain, the steroids, the redness and swelling. I'm willing to try anything. Will keep you posted…also will try Iboprofen…
Its now four days. Have been taking iboprofen every four hours and a natural remedy for gut health. The iboprofen is controlling the pain and redness but the attack is still very evident, constant ache which builds into a headache by the end of the day. Will give it a week and see if there is a difference. May have to resort to steroid drops for relief although the attack has certainly not gotten worse, just seems to be hovering in the background…
I would be interested to know how many people who have iritis have also had their appendix removed…
Hi Simon,
I've recently gotten iritis. I remember I saw floaters for a few seconds before they disappeared this night. My eyes were dry and tired then after working on a project I had to give into my boss the next day I realised that my eye sight suddenly became really foggy. I went to sleep and the next day it wasn't as bad although my eyes were then red. It's been two wks and things are a lot better now but I really am desperate to prevent it from coming back. I just went down to woolworths and discovered there were two types of yakult. There's a blue one with 30% less sugar and the normal red one. I also noticed that the blue one has poly dextrose in it whereas the red one doesn't. Apparently the blue one is "light". which one did u use?
By the way I havent had my appendix removed in response to the previous posts.
Hi Simon,
It's me again. I'm giving the yakult a try and the taste's great! I'm seeing the dr tomorrow but I'm getting slightly concerned about a few things. Things first of all seem rather foggier than usual and it's worse in my right eye. Sometimes my floaters get really bad but then after I blink it goes away immediately. Is this normal and is there an explanation for this? This happend to me the day before I got diagnosed with iritis last time. Any possible relation?
And besides drinking yakult is there anything else you do on a basis or even some things to be cautious of or just simply advice?
Thanks Simon once again for your time and I will let u know how things go.
Hi Brian! I was just diagnosed with Iritis 2 weeks ago after getting laser eye surgery 4 weeks ago (Even though the doctors are telling me it has nothing to do with the surgery). One thing I've learned about this disease is that it is very stubborn and unpredictable! It was slowly going away, then yesterday it all came back as if it was day one again. The pain is unreal and having sight in only one eye is very scary. My Ophthalmologist told me this was the worse case of Iritis he has ever seen and he is supposed to the best doctor in the city. I'm only 26 and had my whole futur planned. I was in the process of joining the Military…so much for that now. Anyway, I would love to try this drink. Do you know where in Canada I could get some?
I haven't had my appendix out either. Got mine because of a splinter of wood in my eye. I still take my Clear Eyes maximum redness drops when i see my pupil shrinking or my eye getting red or irritated. I keep the drops in my lunchbox just in case through the day, and I haven't had a relapse yet. Still, if i do, back to the naproxen twice a day. If it's really bad, then I do 2 pills twice a day. I don't think aspirin will do any good (except for pain) since it is an analgesic, not an anti inflammatory.
Hi Simon
I hadn't really heard that much about iritis until I had my first bout of it about 5 years ago. (I was 50). Prior to getting my first iritis outbreak, I had been having some health issues with bronchitis and such and was really experiencing alot of stress. I finally found out my adrenal glands were fatigued and went to a DO who specialized in natural approaches to a suppressed immune system. I went on compounded DHEA, vitamin D3 a multi vitamin and B12 and B6. All was well until this past year. (Prior to that I stopped taking DHEA 2years previous). Since August of 2012 I have had 3 bouts of iritis in my right eye. It is always the right eye and stress seems to definitely be a factor in this condition. I also have experienced cold sores/mouth sores as a mature adult. My eye doctor wanted me to see a rheumatologist who wanted to put me on methotrixate. I went back to my DO and told her I wanted to see if there was something else I could do. She re-ran saliva testing and the adreanals were fatigued so put me back on DHEA. She also ran a test for my blood to see what kinds of foods I injest that may cause inflammatory responses. It turns out that eggs, dairy, wheat,whey, gluten, coffee bean, almonds were high on the list for me. I am now 3 weeks on my new life style change and I have to say I feel much better and I have lost 9lbs. I have always had bowel problems and started using probiotics since November of this year and that has also been very beneficial for digestive system. I found alot of the same things I was experiencing seemed to have a lot of similar themes with other folks who are battling this crazy eye disorder. My doctor said I could develop cataracts or possibly go blind if this condition doesn't get better. I am hoping with this life style change, staying as stress free as possible and continued supplements will help keep this away. Thank you for creating this blog as it has some very helpful information.
I first got iritis/uveitis the summer of 2003. BTW the doctors interchange the diagnosis. I also have hypothyroidism, whicn is also an autoimmune disease. It recurred three or four times since then. I just finished another bout, which started in February 2013.
Every so often, as this morning, I feel the beginnings of iritis, but it usually subsides. I hope that happens now, because I finally finished the meds not that long ago. I don't know why, but this time, it was longer to wean off them.
After reading this blog, thanks to Simon and all responders, I took note of all the suggestions. I just took whey protein with skim milk and 2 Advil. Hopefully it will work.
I first got iritis in 2006 and it went undiagnosed for several days.With a trip up to Accident and Emergency early hours of morning after climbing walls and did not know what to do with self.They said it could be an eye infection sent away with striod drops.But ended up back at docs few days later who said I needed to see eye specialist stright away.There had been some damage to eye and I was put on usual drops and dilator with weekly visits to hospitaL.
It eventually cleared up and I have had several attacks since and am going through one now.But thanks to your forum and I am going to try and change my way of eating etc.I have been suffering bad today but its dilator thats making me feel bad.I work full time and like everyone said it is connected to auto imune system as I have fibrimilgia and carry the gene for ankalosing spondilitis.My father also had rhumatiod arthertis.
Well back to drops but must start taking my codliver oil again I keep forgetting not any more.Thanks once again for making me realise about streid drops and possible side effects.
Hi Simon,
I have had Iritis 4 times since October just gone. 3 days ago I had my lastest flare up… so with my currently large and blurry pupil I have been trying to search for any forms of prevention!! so thank you I will try Yakult. I have had the blood tests I they know that I have the gene HLA-B27 meaning I am more at risk of this and a few other things but dont know why its happening.
I have also seen a few things that suggest Bilberry?! I dont know if anyone else has tried this. (sorry not read the full thread) I am looking into getting some.
Also I notice that you are in Australia. I am currently in Manchester, UK and have great access to the Eye hospital here, however I am moving to Melbourne in a few months and so am concerned about how to find the best treatment. I am just wondering if you could help with how to find the best place to go?
Thank you in advance
Hi all fellow sufferers,
Very interesting to read your experiences and tips for coping with this miserable condition. I think only a fellow iritis/uveitis sufferer can really understand the experience.
I'm 53 years old, and live just south of Sydney, Australia. I've suffered recurrent attacks (in my right eye only) since my early 20's. My 'version' of iritis has been diagnosed as herpetic.
I'm currently suffering an attack that started about a week ago. It had been 7 months since my previous attack. Am on prednefrin forte (one drop every hour).
The pupil in my right eye is permanently dilated and I have an ongoing problem with haemorrhages in the eye due to damage to the eye tissue/capillaries from the steroids. I also have a cataract developing from use of the steroids over the years, but fortunately my vision is still ok.
I take L-lysine (the amino acid) every day as it's believed to help fight the herpes virus. The other thing I've found to help – as others have pointed out here – is working on my general health (diet, rest, minimial stress) so as to strenghten my immune system as best I can.
I'm really interested in the psychology of how we cope with this horrible disease. One of the things I find most difficult to cope with is the unpredictable nature of my attacks – one attack lasted only 6 weeks, but another lasted for a truly suicidal 18 months! It's so hard to plan your life: whenever I do something like book an overseas holiday, I always have my fingers crossed!
Another issue is the traumatising emotional impact this disease can have. I've had a few other serious medical issues to deal with over the years, but nothing has distressed and frightened me as much as the iritis. Even a suggestion of pink in my right eye sends my heartbeat racing and the adrenalin flowing with the terrible fear that it might be a recurrence of the disease.
It's really important of course if you possibly can to have a regular eye specialist who knows your history and whom you can access on the very day you sense the beginning of an attack. I've gone to my specialist several times with false alarams, but better safe than sorry.Early treatment is vital and I always have a script for pred forte and /or the drops with me.
Another issue is people's ignorance about the disease. Whereas everyone seems to have heard of macular degeneration or glaucoma, iritis/uveitis is rarely heard of by anyone without direct experience of it. I often find myself trying to explain the disease to people who thinks it's something relatively trivial, like conjunctivitis. I tell people it's one of the leading causes of blindness in the industrialised world (that shuts them up!).
Another issue during a long attack is the need to go on working. I'm a public librarian, and find it quite stressful having to explain many times a day to patrons why I'm wearing dark glasses or why one of my eyes is pink. Maybe some of the ladies (and guys too!) will understand when I say I also feel quite 'unsightly' (excuse the pun) and self-conscious when I'm suffering an attack, hiding behind dark glasses indoors and unable to make proper eye contact with people. It may sound like a minor point (and compared to the physical suffering of the illness I know it is), but it all adds to the burden of this wretched condition.
Anyway – hang in there all of you. Hoping your attacks are short,your vision holds, and your eyes are clear.
Thanks for listening,
Hi Simon,
Thank you for this blog. My 5 year old son has iritis:( He gets no symptoms ( no pain, no redness) so by the time it was diagnosed 50 percent of his iris had adhered to his lens. So far his vision is still good. He currently has iritis but I was told it was low grade, however it's hard to tell if he is just starting an episode or just getting over one as he has no symptoms. He definitely lack energy compared to my other son so I'm sure that is related to the iritis. I live in Canada and I just started him on DanActive which is a probiotic yogurt drink. I know you take one a day (sometimes more) but does anyone know if that's too much for a child? I'm also looking into vitamins. I'm so worried about him Ashe is on the Pred Forte which I know has possible side affects. Does anyone else know other children with this disease? We did a series of blood work and everything turned up negative. I don't know if in this blood work if he tested for the HLA – B27 gene. I was also told that even if the blood work is negative he could still develop other things like juvenile arthritis.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for responding. My son still has this bout of iritis. In fact it has gotten worse. He is only taking the Pred forte drops. Should he also be dilating the pupil. I have heard that the dilation of the pupil is to reduce the pain but my son experiences no pain. Does anyone know if the dilation drops are for another reason?
Thank you.
Just a few more comments for anyone suffering from HSV1 iritis/uveitis (ocular herpes). I'm in the middle of a severe attack, and have just been to see a top specialist/researcher in Sydney.
This doctor has put me on a treatment dose of Valtrex (valaciclovir) – 3 grams a day for a week, then decreasing to 500 mgs a day for about 6 months.
Obviously it would have been better to have started this anti-viral medication in the first couple of days of this attack, but my doctor definitely believes it will help.
I asked him why this regime hadn't been prescribed for me right at the beginning of my attack (early June), and he told me it was probably because this treatment with Valtrex is still off-label and investigational. Also, he confided that many eye specialists are 'afraid' to prescribe oral medication – they only like to deal in drops!
Of course, I am continuing with my pred forte drops as well (currently one every two hours).
I also have problems with subconjunctival haemorrhages (resulting from the steroids), and after my own research am going to try taking the supplement Rutin (maximum dose) to strengthen my capillaries and reduce the severity of the bleeds. I also finds arnica sometimes helps with this.
For anyone dealing with similar issues, I'll let you know my progress, in the hope it can help you in some way.
I'm 55 years old. Live in Texas, USA and feel another bout if Iritis coming on!!! I can't believe this!!! This will be my 4th bout in the last 3 years!! I'm in the throes of meno pause so I'm wondering about hormonal imbalance. I have a history of being stiff and sore. I've had all the blood work ups about 2-3 years ago. Everything negative. My GP blamed my fatigue and soreness on depression. In the last I've begun to work out. Lose weight. Eat better. I don't know WHAT brought this one on!!! Ugh!! I hate it. I started my pred drops a couple days ago. I really don't want to start the dilation drops again!! I won't go back to my eye specialist. He is in a large clinic and u have to pay $100 everytime I walk through the door!! I'm going to buy Yakult this afternoon!!
Hey gang. I'm in Texas and I was diagnosed with iritis about 3 weeks ago. I did the prednisone drops, and the standard deal, but when the doc had me taper down, I still had blurred vision in that eye and I just knew it wasn't cleared up. Then I suddenly started having severe pain in that side of my mouth (the same side as the iritis eye) Turns out one of my molars that had a 40 year old filling in it, cracked and was infected. It was the worst pain in my life and I was put on penicillin to clear up the infection. The penicillin did not work and the infection spread to my face (cellulitis). The endodondist drilled out the infected pulp and packed the tooth and I was put on Amoxicillin & Clavulanate. The infection is cleared, but the iritis is back, and now I have headaches and swelling in the sinis area of that eye. I'm guessing I have a sinus infection and I wonder if it's coming from the drops. I have been on greek yogurt and probiotics (to counter the antibiotics). I've always been pretty darn healthy, never sick and so this has really caught me sideways. I go for my root canal on the 21st and I'm hoping that will clear this all up. I'm not sure how to deal with the sinus issue, whether I should take an antihistamine or not. Thanks for listening.
Hi Simon,
I was told that I'm pre-diabetic and am wondering if there is a co-relation between that and iritis.
I also notice that when I am sleep deprived and stressed, by eye starts to flare up. Is there a co-relation with that as well?
Thanks for any input you may have.
Hi Simon. I first contacted you in April 09 and Feb 10. I have lapsed in the Yakult usage, and have had a about four attacks of Iritus in the last two years.
Just a few notes
I am HLA B27 positive – I have the gene.
I was reading up on the Reactive arthritis / Reiters on wiki, as this also occurs to people with the HLA B27 and one of the symptoms can be Iritus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_arthritis.
Although I do not have the other symptoms, I was interested in the statement that it can be brought on after a bout of food poisoning, sometimes one to three weeks after an infection. Two of my bouts were after returning from relaxing holidays, with lots of sun (vitamin D) BUT I had had food poisoning.
Yakult is said to improve the resistance to food poisoning too, so maybe that is a link.
Also – I do have a mouth full of amalgam fillings…
Hi all. Kim and Cheryl – I'm very interested to read of your mentions of dental issues in conjunction with your iritis. My current attack of iritis began in early June – a few days after I'd had my teeth cleaned by a dental hygienist. She identified numerous sources of decay in my teeth (even though I've always gone for regular check-ups – seems my dentist had been quite negligent!). I have since been to a new dentist, and have had major dental work (about 8 fillings). Don't know what role this has played in my recent attack, but it certainly seems to be a factor.
I have HSV1 iritis/uveitis, so perhaps the virus was activated by weakness in my immune system caused by the dental infection.
I'm currently on 4 drops Pred Forte per day, and also 500 mgs Valtrex per day to combat the virus.
Eye seems to be settling, but have just had a sbconjunctival haemorrhage (side effect of the Pred Forte, and a big problem for me). Am on the supplement Rutin, which does seem to have minimised haemorrhages (in frequency and severity) relative to previous attacks.
Does anyone have any advice to share re the haemorrhages? Has anyone else found arnica spray or tablets helpful in healing?
Another problem for me recently has been a vitreous detachment, which has produced dark floaters in the eye. Seems the vitreous detachment is more common in people like us who suffer from inflammatory eye disease.
Anyway, thanks for listening, and best wishes to you all in fighting this miserable disease.
Just fyi, I have diabetes too. Had it for 20+ years. Possible immune system problem since I have Iritis too. My brother came down with a form of lupus as well.
I have been taking my Maximum Redness Relief Eyedrops, when my eyes get real red, it makes it go away. Lately my eyes have been getting dry at night, so I take two drops of Systane lubricating drops, and it helps. Haven't had a relapse since using the eyedrops. No steroids for me, thank you very much!
Tara- the dilation drops are to keep the iris from completely closing up, which can happen in advanced Iritis. You shouldn't need to give your son these drops unless the pupil is very small, and by this time there should be a lot of pain and light sensitivity.
Hi Simon
I'm looking for a good specialist in Australia for my dad who has been battling with uveitis for several years. We live in Adelaide and he is a regular at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Despite this his eyesight has declined so much he can hardly see.
Do you know of a good specialist in Australia he is willing to travel interstate if need be?
Thanks for the info on Yakult.
I hope it continues to work for you and that you remain in good health.
Hey guys band gals I just got done reading some of these ..sounds to familiar to me I been dealing with iritis for a while now..all the drops and stuff..I'm not sure if Amy of u have been tested for HLAB-27 that's what caused me to develop iritis .I've also noticed I have flare ups later in the year come sept-dec so I'm thinkin maybe something in the air also cause it to act up .haven't really found anything to help jus the drops .it has caused me to develop a cataract but I'm getting that taken care of soon hopefully .if u haven't been tested for HLAB-27 ITS WORTH A SHOT ITLL HELP FIGURE WHY U HAVE THIS ..I'd like to get feedback..thanks firstname.lastname@example.com
To anyone who has battled with iritis for 20 years or more. I was diagnosed with chronic iritis 18 years ago. I have it in both eyes. The number of years on Pred Forte, Durezol, Tobradex & Combigan have taken a toll on my vision. I've developed cataracts in both eyes. I am currently 39 and will need cataract surgery as soon as my iritis is dormant enough to be safe to proceed. My question to those with 20+ years is: Can you still see? Can you still drive? Can you still work?
Thank you for the response. I did look through every one of the comments. I have tried many natural herbal and liquid vitamin supplements that are suppose to be tailored to eye conditions. Unfortunately, none have helped. I have traded out my Visine for Clear Eyes Maximum as Cris stated it helps him. How amazing it would be if an OTC eye drop worked as well as a steroid! I have started taking 1000mg of Lysine as a commenter said it has helped her. I have gotten cold sores since I was little, although, not nearly as frequently as iritis. My doctor says there is no correlation but I don't think any doctor really knows what causes iritis flareups so I don't believe he knows if the herpes virus is related to my iritis or not. It's worth a try. Unfortunately, I can't get GoodBelly or Yakult where I live, which is in Eastern North Dakota in USA. If the Lysine & Clear Eyes do not help, I will move on to the liver tonic & Hydroxyzine HCL that other commenters have recommended. Thanks for the follow up. Oh, and I do not have any fillings at all. Have a great weekend! It's suppose to be 55 here so we're going to get to have a heatwave for November.
I have had chronic iritis for over 20 years, predominantly in one eye, however I have had flares in both eyes. In my case, blood work has shown me to be HLA-B27+ and I also have some other autoimmune problems. I am 42 years old. I have dealt with glaucoma issues and have been told I do have cataracts as well. My current course of action to try to get this eye disease under control is by taking methotrexate. I've been taking it for about 5 months now, steadily increasing the dose every so often, and am starting to see some improvement. I wish I had started this treatment years ago. I could've probably avoided much of the damage that has already taken place. The herpes virus can actually be the source of iritis for some individuals. If it is caused by herpes, then the anti-virals used to treat herpes are used to try to help. Have you been to a specialist that is deeply knowledgeable about iritis? I found a ton of useful information at the website http://www.uveitis.org.
Thank you for all of your information. I have tested positive for HLA-B27 but there's no other autoimmune problems so my doctors do not believe my iritis is triggered by it. Everyone admits that there is no 100% sure way to know. My doctors have talked about methotrexate before. I had been holding off from having to take a prescription for as long as possible. Since I'm trying a prescrip currently, I'll try anything if this doesn't work. I'll add it to my list of possibilities to control it. I do see a specialist for my iritis. He is not listed as a recommended provider by the uveitis institute, but he has spoken at clinical conferences on iritis throughout the country. If I'm going to have to fight this disease, I am lucky that I have a very good specialist who's clinic is only 10 miles from my house instead of hours away. Although not of the caliber that the doctors are at Mayo, he is who other physicians recommend their patients to see for uveitis conditions unless you want to go to Mayo. Thank you for responding to my message. I feel much better about my chances of not going blind from this awful condition.
You are very fortunate to have a good dr. so close to you. I had to travel about a 5 hour drive this summer to see a uveitis "specialist" as listed on the uveitis website but feel the trip was definitely worth it. In my case it seems as though my problems with the disease have gotten worse in the last couple of years and it was only after a close call of almost having to have valve implants put in for glaucoma did I consider the methotrexate. It's very scary to think about going blind at such a (relatively) young age – I still have a young daughter to take care of and decided that the methotrexate risk was worth it to keep my eye sight and also to keep from having to deal with the almost just as horrible condition of glaucoma caused by the constant use of steroid eye drops. For me, I have had no problems whatsoever with the methotrexate and in fact I think I've felt better recently than I have in the last couple of years. Hopefully with good dr.'s and more and more information being available to iritis sufferers, the battle with this disease can be won. I wish you the best! Also, thanks to the creator of this blog for providing so much information to folks searching for relief!
Shannyn, have the eyedrops been helping any? I usually have to take them at least in the morning, sometimes at night too. I try taking a moisturizing drop for night because the maximum drops dry my eyes out by morning.
Cris –
My doctor says the drops are helping. As of my appointment this morning, there is a trace cell in the right eye and only a couple of rare cells in the left. We are going to continue the drops treatment for another 3 weeks to hopefully clear all cells and have the iritis go back into remission. We won't know if the Acyclovir I am also taking is helping or not for a few months. If my iritis does go into remission and does not return for a few months we will assume the Acyclovir is helping and that my iritis is triggered by the same virus that I have gotten cold sores from before. It has been several years since I've been able to go longer than 6 months without an iritis recurrence. Sweet Jesus… iritis, cold sores, HLA-B27 positive… reading my posts from this site makes me look like Quasimodo's ugly sister. Good Lord! Thanks for asking about my current prognosis. Have a great day! Also, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I wish the site had a way to alert you when a new entry has been posted.
I am an optician and have enrolled in iridology as my mother has been battling iritis for 28 years. Now on accular, azopt, combigan, prez, atropine and vitamox and oral steroids. I have read that a vegan diet did not help in this blog … I really had hoped for this to help my mother. There really seems to be a lot of people with the same symptoms and doctors in Canada are baffled to why this keeps reoccurring.. Looking to help any suggested reads would be appreciated as surgery has now been done in both eyes due to cataracts VA 20/40 20/80edema still exisits and now a vitreous detachment. Where to turn when you've exhausted specialists. I've booked my mom with my friend who is an iriolodgist tomorrow in hopes of light <3
Hi Simon,
First of all thanks to you and everyone else who has contributed to this site, it has loads of useful information. I am 23 years old Male, I was diagnosed with Iritis(left eye) in December last year and i am still battling it. I am using eyedrops (maxitrol) It has some steroids in it, right now It is not so bad, Vision is improving. Anyways I wanted to ask if it is common to have pain on one side of the upper eyelid, mine is the left side of the upper eyelid, it hurts when I touch it and its red, the rest of the eye looks fine, just that corner. Has someone experienced that before? I am new to this so any info will be highly appreciated. Thanks once again Simon and sorry to all sufferers it is an awful disease, best of luck to all of you! <3
Gedi –
At least in my experience it is common to have pain without redness. Everyone's symptoms are different but I've learned that if I am "lucky" enough to have the pain before the redness and sensitivity to light occur it takes much less time to get the flare up under control. A matter of weeks instead of months. I've had iritis for many years, it's a lot of trial and error to find out what treatment will work best for you. Hope you are lucky enough to be a one time iritis sufferer and not a chronic iritis patient. There are those lucky ones that get iritis 1 time in their whole life… hope you are one of the lucky ones.
I have had 2 episodes of iritis. 2007 with severe photophobia and again in 2010. I take fish oils and pro biotics. I had an ana blood test which was negative. I believe diet improves immunity, I am careful with sugar and dairy, you can't avoid them but I keep them down to a minimum.
All the best everyone
Hi Simon, Great blog- I too am a long sufferer of Iritis. I was diagnosed in the mid 80's with an underlying condition called Sarcoidosis with ring shadows on my lung. A secondary of this is Iritis which subsequently followed.In 2004 I eventually had a lung biopsy to confirm the Sarcoidosis as doctors thought I was too well to be sick! ! I am monitored yearly for the Sarcoidosis but the Iritis in the last 4 years won't give me a break.Definitily stress does trigger it as I lost my mother 4 years ago at home in my house and the trauma of witnessing her slip away at Christmas time has never left me. I also developed adhesions in both eyes from over use of Maxidex and had the surgery for that last year.After that complications in both eyes -Had to have a Capsulotomy in the left eye and the lens re-positioned in the right eye -needless to say- no plain sailing. I am still on Maxidex with no let up. also I am a sufferer of Rheumatoid Arthritis and the Eye Specialist is now referring me to a Reumathologiist- Apparently the joints effect the eyes.(Something about a modified bone disease)?? Have had 3 OCT scans in the last few months -to see into the back of my eye which has odema.Just found this blog last Sinday March 9th and immediately ran out and stocked up on YAKULT.. Have just returned from Eye Clinic today.DIdn't get to see Specialist but had OCT scan and saw a member of his team.He said there is a significant improvement in my left eye since I was seen 2wks ago.(only using Maxidex in my left eye for now) will be seen in another 4wks… I definitely feel the YAKULT is working for me as I am clutching at straws for alternative remedies….Many thanks for taking the time to put up this blog! Here's hoping! Cindy (Middle 50's) Ireland.
Hi Simon
I've just read a few comments on iritis. I have suffered for 15 + years with this in the same eye. I usually get it 3 or 4 times a year and always got it after Christmas, after over indulging. About 8 months ago I starting juicing. That is juicing raw vegetable with fruit every morning. I still indulge in drinking alcohol now and then and still eat not too healthy food. I have not had an attack since. I now have cataract thanks to the steroid drops. The steroid drops did relieve the symptoms and stopped the excruciating pain and that was a blessing at the time. Yuri Helkaim is very good on nutrition and his book eating for energy is very helpful. I urge everyone to at least read it.
Kenny uk
Hi All, it is so refreshing to find this blog and discussion of remedies people are trying. I was just diagnosed. Unfortunately I have iritis in both of my eyes. It has been a very stressful week not being able to see properly or work, but it is under control with steroid drops for now. I am no longer dilating but my vision is blurry. Any advice is appreciated about experiences with blurry vision and its duration. Also, I have been suffering cold-sore/ herpes outbreaks on my lips/mouth area for years, ever since I was a child. Some were so bad, I would get blisters across on my entire bottom lip. For the past two years I had few outbreaks, maybe once per year or less. I am just curious if others have had a history of horrible cold sore outbreaks prior to the onset of iritis. My entire family has horrible cold sore outbreaks but none of them have had iritis. By the way I am 26 years old/female and hoping to make this my only case of iritis, unlike the battle I fought with cold sores for so many years…
Hi Simon – I commented on September, 2011 (I did the summary). Since the last post in 2011 I have continued to get Iritis every few months. Luckily I have an eye specialist who sees me the morning I call (in Ontario, Canada this is amazing!)
My new attempts to combat it involve a lot of Vit. D, probiotics and every night a heavy duty eye gel – which has kept the episodes at bay for 3 months…but my hopes are not very high.
Cara –
I have suffered with chronic iritis for almost 20 years, I am currently 39. My doctors and I have tried many different treatment options without much success. (My post from December 10, 2013 has more detail, if you are curious). Until now! I too have a history of cold sores, although, not severe breakouts as you have had to cope with over the years. I take a Lysine supplement & Acyclovir 800mg tablet every day. It is about 3 months since my last iritis episode cleared up. Going 3 months without a reoccurance is a big deal for my iritis. I would recommend you try the Lysine & Acyclovir combination to see if it helps. There are very minimal side effect risks, I have had no side effects at all, and so far it is helping me keep my iritis under control. I hope I didn't just jinx myself by talking about it though… you know how Murhphy's Law can sometimes be a bitch. GOOD LUCK! Hope it helps. Keep me posted.
I am 23 yrs of age goin on 24. I have been dealing with iritis since I was only months old. I take the steroid drops and it works. But I used to have 20/20 vision. Now the iritis eye my vision sucks! My pupil is deformed causing my vision to go bad. It sucks!
Hey guys, i too suffer from this. Try omega 3. I take about 6 fishoil tablets daily and it did wonders from me. Fish oil from fresh water fish is best. I still get bouts from time to time which usually tells me the batch of tablets were not great and i buy another botttle.
Hi all, I had an earlier post (Jan 15 2014) i have been Iritis free for about 2 months, Just wanted to share how I managed to somehow kick its Arse. I have had it for about 3 months and everytime I went off the drops it would come back within days, So i decided to change my Diet a little, so I eliminated things like fried foods and soft drinks,milk( although i take some dairy products like greek yoghurt, cottage cheese and whey protein) white bread and reduced my sugar intake, I stay away from sugar as much as i can. I also started going to the gym at least 4 times a week, some cardio and weight training, the first few weeks of going to the gym I would get a flare up so i would take one naproxene 250 mg tablet and it would stop, the flareups stopped once my body kinda adjusted to the workouts, I did have one more flare up and that was because i drank a bit too much, Drinking in moderation is important, or just stick to beer :), so to summarize,
1. eat healthy, stay away from milk, fried foods sugar and soft drinks
2. exercise regularly, both cardio and weight training
3. Drink in moderation and stay away from hard liquor if possible
4. take a multivitamin tablet with your breakfast,My choice is Centrum A to zinc.
5. rest well.
And one more thing, some of you might not like it, but if you are on steroid eye drops for a long time, I suggest you obtain a medical marijuana card and buy marijuana edibles like cookies and any other edibles, ingest marijuana around 6 it takes like 2 hours to get into your system, so what it does is it decreases your eye pressure good idea if you are on heavy dosage of steroid eye drops.
Hope this helps boys and girls, wish you all a healthy iritis-free life.
Hi Simon – haven't checked this site for a while – pressure of work!
I am just going past the 6-month mark iritus free! (Yipppee! first time in years.)
What seems to be working for me is daily "Metagenics" brand Vit D3 liquid drops – 25 mcg per drop and I take at least 5 drops a day.
And – this is really helping – every night TEARGEL LIQUID GEL
Each 1 g contains:, Polyacrylic acid 2,0 mg, Cetrimide (as preservative) 0,01 % m/m
I did not think my eyes were dry, but after the comfort of the eye gel I realize that during the night they were very dry. I only use the tear gel at night because it can be hard to see through the gel after applying to the eye (sort of like trying to see through Vaseline!)
If my eyes feel itchy or dry during the day I use "Thera Tears Lubricant Eye Drops" – which seems to have an oil lubricant in it.
Barbara – Is the brand of gel Teargel? I have looked at several drugstores and haven't been able to find any with polyacrylic in the active ingredients. Please email me at firstname.lastname@example.com if you have a chance to respond to this message. Thank you
Simon – This is a very interesting thread. I developed iritis 2 years ago and took drops which helped a bit but never really fixed the problem. I then had to take antibiotics for a different problem and subsequently developed IBS. I went gluten free and it helped with everything and my eye got 50% better. Not perfect but not a major issue.
Because I was convinced I had a gluten issue (IBS), I bought some high-end probiotics. At this stage I wasn't paying much attention to my iritis because it wasn't causing me any issues but after a few weeks I noticed both eyes were better than ever. Starting to think it was the good bacteria that helped the immune system.
The problem is I am now living in Asia and am struggling to get the probiotics here and my eyes are back to before the probiotics. I can buy Yakult so I will start on that today and try and get the probiotics shipped as I am convinced that they worked brilliantly.
I cant thank you enough for staring this blog now I dont feel as alone in this Iritis world. It is not a common ailment and no one except my eye doctor really understands it. I am lucky that I have a wonderful eye doctor that has gotten me on a steroid regime that has it somewhat under control. It is a frustrating disease in that you just think maybe this is the last attack then wham. I have been fighting this for 4 years now and I had two attacks last year that were both only finally controlled by a long term(6 week control) steroid shot in the eye socket each time. It doesnt sound like fun but when you are at that point he could have given me 10 and I would not have cared. After the second shot this past year I decided to try and look up information on the internet – I did not find this blog but one other source talked about the effects of an anti-inflammary diet. It was like a little bell going off when I realized iritis is an inflammary disease and that I could acutally do something to help myself. One person wrote they took 2 blueberry concentrate pills a day and had not had an attack in 2 years. I was sold. My life changed that day. I bought the blueberry pills and a book. The best book I found to get started was "Clean Cuisine" best book ever written if you are an Iritis sufferer. The person how wrote it suffers from MS. I do not follow it to the letter – too hard – but the concepts are there. I have given up all processed foods and refined sugar and added alot of the "super foods". I wanted to share this even if it only helps one person out there. You have to exercise as well and keep a positive attitude. Iritis is definately a "barometer" I could gaurantee I would get for all Holidays and big occations – I am glad to hear others say that because I thought it was my imagination. It has been 8 months and I hope I am not jinxing it but no attacks. I want to thank the people who wrote about the cold sores – I was getting them and did not realize they could trigger Iritis so I have added Lysiene to keep them under control – I started that a month ago and no sores. I wanted to finally sit down and write this – this is my first blog I have ever written but it feels good to try to reach anyone who could benefit. One question have others been getting more just broken blood vessels that make your eye look really bad and bloodsht but no other symptoms? That has happen a couple of times this year. I think the Iritis is coming but the redness just eventually goes away….I was thinking it might be from all the stearoids making the blood vessels weaker? Any comments? Hope this isnt too long and boring….
Thanks for responding so quickly. Yes, the book is by Ivy Larson. She packs a lot into the book – a great resource for how to eat your way to health. I am far from perfect at it but after reading your blogs I realize any small improvements in eating and exercise can have a big impact on a future Iritis attacks. The book is just a good motivator. Good luck staying Iritis free and I will continue to look for future postings on your website. We can all learn from each other
Best regards,
Hi Simon, my last major flare was in January 2013, and on this occasion, my pupil got stuck and has permanently damaged my right eye. After that I read your post about Yakult helping with Iritis. Since then, I have felt my eye begin to flare on at least 5 occasions, and I have dosed up on Yakult (or the Woolworths brand – Australia) and I have not had any further episodes. I usually drink 2 Yakults about 3 times a day for a couple of days while I can feel the symptoms. I am so glad that I read your post, because I really hated the eye drops, and so far this has been a godsend for me.
Thanks so much for sharing, Simon
Hello all. I'm 27 and an currently suffering from my first case of iritis. I got misdiagnosed with viral conjunctivitis and now I'm being referred to an eye specialist. My ophthalmologist I was seeing was treating me with Durozol steroid drops and ketorolac every six hours + dilating every twelve and it's not getting better. I'm going in two days to a retina specialist and I'm really scared. My vision was 20-20 and now it's 20-70 but I don't know if that's because of being dilated. And my good eye has a floater in it which worries me. Any help would be appreciated.
Late to this blog but wanted to let poster Wendy know I saw Dr Grant Raymond in North Adelaide for many years, took good care of me.
The bad news – I have iritus today – the good news, it's been my first episode since November, 2013. Well over a year, when previously it was happening every three months.
My eye lubrication routine (see above) was keeping things in check, last week I got a bad flu and a cold sore. Although the cold sore was under control quickly with prescription Zovirax, obviously not quickly enough.
I have an appointment with my competent eye doctor tomorrow, and it's back on the steroids for a few weeks, darn. Maybe I have to kick things up a notch and buy blueberry pills.
I've had iritis for 15 months non stop in both eyes. Every time I try to reduce the drops it flares up. I have cataracts starting in both eyes and now high pressure in both eyes. Doctors say the drops or the iritis could be the cause. I'm 38 and am so frightened about what will happen to my eyes and sight if they don't get better soon. I have 2 sons aged 2 and 4 and yes I'm tired. I also lost my dad 4 years ago. So probably am more stressed than I realise. I will try the probiotic and look into the amino acid thing. I need to find a cure. Thanks for all your posts and to the man running this site. It's such a relief to find others who understand.
Thanks so much for drawing my attention to this. I'm on my third bout of Iritis, and, as per usual, I have a cold virus to go with it. I will definitely give Yakult a go.
Thanks very much for sharing on your blog, so many sufferers and sad tales
I have had the red devil on and off for around 6 years, mainly an annual event for me. I too think iritis is one of those things that has multiple triggers which you have to find and control.
Like to share something I think works to keep it at bay if you are in the same circumstances. As an I.T. person I would spend inordinate amounts of time in front of a computer screen, and I would have one eye start to play up – with all the iritis symptoms beginning to appear. By enforcing an eye break, where I step away from the machine, and actively change my focus, go outside in the fresh air etc. I found that I could prevent and control the onset of these. I would have a mirror on the desk for regular eye checks, as sometimes I just wouldnt be able to tell if one was on its way. On one occasion it had kicked off and was pretty much about to go nuclear – but I managed to check it and control it without any nasty chemicals, just by stepping away, and putting a hot balloon on the eye for a few hours. So I think eye fatigue and lack of lens exercise can be a factor. In this day and age we do spend a lot of time staring at fixed distances.. especially during long telephone calls..;)
I have also had iritis triggered by cold viruses, when this happens I have had no solution, but I am going to try the yakult approach and add it to the arsenal of weapons in the hope that this sorts that trigger out.
Wishing everyone success with whatever works and finding your own triggers.
For those of you who wish to try Yakult but unable to locate it in your local supermarkets, they can be purchased at Costco under the brand name Cool Plus in the refrigerated foods section with all the same ingredients of the Yakult brand and in the same serving size. I have also seen them at the major 99 cents Only store chains in California under another brand name and fruit flavored ingredients and manufactured by the same company as Costco's Cool Plus brand..
By consuming one serving BEFORE my afternoon and in particular my evening meal, my acid reflux dilemma has virtually disappeared.
If you are on any antibiotic meds, you may want to space out in several hours your consumption between the probiotic and the antibiotic so they don't contradict each other.
Hello everyone:
I am a 55 year old female and am having my 3rd occurrence of iritis. My flare ups seem to be coming about every 18 months. This current flare has been going for 2 months and still isn't clear. I've read many posts here and I believe that stress is a major contributor to iritis. My ophthalmologist disagrees. I am a high school teacher and this flare up happened just as testing was going on which was stressful. I have been caring for my aging parents this summer again- very stressful ( mom had major surgery). We lost our son 8 years ago which changed me completely! I am a stressed person. I am going to try to do an anti-inflammatory diet to see if that will help. Also I'm going to try Yakult. To Laila, I will pray for you! I can't imagine the difficulty you are having! Thank you Simon for this blog where "sufferers" can relate.
I was recently diagnosed with iritis. As I read this blog, I see that it may not be my last. I have the usual symptoms but also extreme headaches and sleepiness. I have to take several naps a day. This is so unlike me. I was wondering if this is associated with the iritis. Now I fear I have it in my other eye as I have burning sensation and a little redness. I do not know if the burning sensation is due to overuse of the eye because of the iritis in the other eye. I am trying to figure out why I came down with iritis and all I can think of is possible stress and the fact that I have a buckle on that eye due to retinal detachment. Any thoughts out there?
I too am an iritis sufferer for the last 30 yrs. Had all the tests and my dr thinks it is herpetic iritis as no other cause found. I too suffered from hemorages in the eye from the predforte use and found that Rutin helped considerably. I take one capsule a day and the hemoraging has virtually stopped.. I was experiencing about one hemoraging episode every ten days and am now down to one episode every two or three months, if that. Hopes this helps. Still on Predofrte drops twice a day as it never completely goes away.
Simon, my eye doctor says that trauma to the eye is a documented cause of iritus. (Called, sensibly enough, traumatic iritis.)
Has anyone used or heard of using low intensity light therapy to prevent iritus?
Dear simon.
I was in Devonport when i had a bad case of Iritis or Uveitis i think that is how it is spelt.
I was on holiday the first two days not know what it was i sort of thought to myself oh probably conjunctivitis i have had some cases of that from time to time. So when i got to the 3rd day not being around my normal medical support system i thought i go to the chemist to see if they could do something about it. They advised me that it is best to see a GP and or eye specialist. Well the pain was unbearable so i tried to find a a GP etc to be told we do not take on new patients.
So i ended up going to the Hospital to emergency i could hardly open up my left eye. They told me i had goo eye something like that and gave me some ointment and sent me on my way with an appointment to see a Eye Doctor in the morning.
Got to the Eye Doctor who said the Hospital had given me the wrong stuff that i had Iritis and gave me two drops and another ointment to cost around the 80.00 mark.
This was not going away and reading some information about it i notice most people had it only for about 48 hours till i saw your blog and started to get so much information it was incredible.
For two weeks i was in total pain i have lost my vision and could not see was very blurry and then i tried the Yakult 3 times a day within two days of having it my eye was coming good.
I am now in the process of being back in Adelaide waiting to see a Eye specialist to work through why i had this.
I just wanted to write to you for one to thank you for your blog. Two: to let you know maybe a trial could be a good idea to see if stuff like Yakult is in fact helps in Iritis.