Let's talk Iritis

[Deludel]

I had Iritis in my right eye, two years ago. It was EXTREME pain, light was intolerable .. my primary doc sent me to the ER, who sent me to an Opthamologist, who diagnosed the Iritis and treated with steroid drops. He was a very seasoned (ahem, old) doctor and I trusted him. I had no other symptoms and the doc explained trying to find an auto-immune disorder at that time would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Fast Forward to 6 weeks ago, Optic Neuritis in left eye. Different Opthamologist, so he did not have my records from when I had Iritis. It is definitely a different issue though --- no intolerance to light, but the headache behind eye and blurry spot were the triggers for me to call a doc.

MRIs and test later, and I was diagnosed with MS. I asked the MS Neuro about the Iritis, and she was definite in her answer that it was not MS-related.

So .. now I cannot help but wonder .. if Iritis is associated with an auto-immune disorder .. do I have ANOTHER auto-immune disorder as well?? Anyone have history/insight?

[zoefromsussex]

Hello again, Pat. Nice to meet you too!

Your ON sounds a bit like my first attack of it except mine was in the right eye. It culminated in total blindness in that eye. I remember being fascinated as well as worried!

Do you have spms now? I wondered because of the early retirement and that you mentioned your first bout of ON was 23 years ago. It must have been hard to leave behind your career.

I like in the UK and here there never seems to be any debate between my doctor's; they hold their hands up and admit that ms is beyond their capabilities and is best left to my neuro! The only trouble with that is that I've never seen the same neuro on a regular basis and that does mean some important details are missed.

I guess that some of us are more prone to the eye issues than others, just as some get walking issues over again. I'm lucky because although I'm officially partially sighted, in reality I manage with no trouble. I know the town I live in like the back of my hand and even in the worst days (when the ON hit my left eye while I still hadn't regained the vision in the right) I was still walking into town; I even cooked Christmas dinner that year but I look back now and think what an idiot I was as I couldn't see what I was doing!

Nice speaking to you & it's always a comfort to hear from others who understand these things.

All the best to you Pat!

Zoe

[Eyesnlegs]

Hi Zoe, great to meet you, yes you are right.

I had my first bout of ON some 23 years ago which took my sight completely in my left eye for about 6 weeks before it slowly improved.  This happened again in 2003 but I have had other bouts of ON which were not quite so severe or dramatic. The Iritis led to my retirement only because it was the final straw in my long list of sx lol! Hence my screen name Eyesnlegs!

I was just very annoyed at the time at the arguments between my Neuro and MS Nurse vs my GP and Ophthalmologist!!  In the end they agreed that it would have been MS disease activity that had sparked the Iritis. But, how crazy that we have to lead these discussions eh?

Anyway, sorry you have had the same problems, I too have many on going eye symptoms thanks to the ON etc. which do impact on every day life.

Be well
Pat

[zoefromsussex]

Hi Pat,

So sorry that you had to take early retirement because of ms...I just read the thread you posted.

I think the doctors/opthalmologists can't quite agree because thet don't know for certain but there is definitely evidence to suggest that autoimmune conditions (any condition, not just ms) increase the chances of irisitis (or uveitis generally)

It's my understanding that it wouldn't be recorded as a relapse because it's not caused by demyelination but it would be considered to be linked to ms.

I had Irisitis a few months before ON and then followed by a second attack of ON four months later. The irisitis was not considered to be ms but the ON was. The irisitis was treated with steroid drops but the ON had no treatment and my vision will never be what it was.

All the best,
Zoe

[Eyesnlegs]

I'm still a bit of a lurker around here but had to jump in with this one as it was this final straw which led to my early retirement. I mean a University Lecturer who can't read because of eye problems and can't walk and wants to sleep half the time!!

Anyway, the point is here is the link to the thread back then:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Uvietis-Iritis/show/1701228#post_7779678

I hope it helps a little.
Pat x

[SarahL2491]

Iritis can be related to MS, that's how I finally realized I had it.  Iritis is usually treated with prednisone 1% drops in the eyes..  My eye doctor says a lot of her MS patients have iritis.

It is no fun and very painful the first few hours in the morning.  Since my first bout with it 7 yrs ago, I've been in sunglasses during all of my waking hours.

[zoefromsussex]

Corneal hepatitis sounds painful? How did you find out you had that? I think with the irisitis it's not directly an ms thing but it is more predominant in people with autoimmune conditions (ms, crohns, psoriatic arthritis etc)

I could be wrong here but Irisitis is not  usually a bacterial infection. That would be more like conjunctivitis. That's what they thought I had at first.

[Guitar_grrrl]

I've had iritis, before (and right now, strangely enough!), and also have corneal Herpes.  My ophthalmologist blamed my iritis on old mascara.  This is a real problem. Bugs can breed in the stuff!  Do change your mascara every three months. I just buy the cheap drugstore stuff.  It's not always MS.

I've been lucky optic neuritis is not a symptom I've had to deal with, and my heart goes out to those of you who do have ON.

[zoefromsussex]

Good question! I'm undecided. I sometimes wonder if it was actually ON all along. With me the eye issues started up 4 months after giving birth to my youngest and relapses are quite common in the 6 months following birth.

I have the blind spot in my 'good' eye right now. It's something that crops up with every flare of symptoms and I hardly notice it. I was seeing an ophthalmologist as well as my neuro but I've never wanted steroid treatment for it because I was told they would only speed up recovery and wouldn't have any bearing on the eventual outcome. I prefer to save steroids for really bad stuff such as not being able to walk etc!

I know what you mean re getting a prescription. It's virtually impossible! My vision fluctuates so much that it would be hard to get a reliable prescription hence I'm still wearing my same glasses/lenses which is probably a bit naughty of me!

I've experienced the same thing with floaters since ON and do you get kind of bright, sparky lights (a bit like fireworks) if you close your eyes tightly?! I say its definitely due to the ON as don't forget your optic nerve has taken a hit so it's bound to act a bit strangely.

Do you have normal colour vision now? I have a bit of trouble as colours look faded & I score a bit fat zero on that ishihara test they do. Like I say though, it doesn't feel like I have any vision probems because I'm used to it.

So, is it all eye related with you or do you get other sx too? When I got the 'big' ON in my right eye it was accompanied by vertigo & I had a tremor and issues with my legs and it's been like that over the past week. It's like having weakness in the legs but they're not really weak. It's just a weird sensory symptom.,,,what fun ms can be! ;-)

It's great hearing from somebody with such a similar experience, hope to speak again soon! Zoe

[Deludel]

Zoe ... So, do you believe your first episode was actually Iritis?

My ON was not as severe as yours, in that I only have a blurry spot in my left eye .. it's fading (it began a little over 6 weeks ago) .. I cannot imagine going BLIND from it! The little I know about healthcare in the UK, it takes forever to see a specialist .. hoping you have the docs you need now.

At the end of July (almost 3 months ago) .. I went for a standard eye exam  and got new glasses. The doc at the time said my prescription had actually improved. When I got the new glasses, I could tell the prescription was wrong .. I just could not see far away, and was feeling strained in both eyes.  

Long story and a few more visits short -- I went back for a re-check and they said they had messed up my prescription. They re-ordered new lenses ... It was the same time that I started having the ON headache and pain, which I ignored for 2 weeks, thinking it was just the wrong prescription.

Finally one day I was frustrated by the headache, and I ended up at the Opthamologist office (not the same eye doc who did my exam) who dx the ON and said my prescription was probably off because of the ON ..

I feel like since then, I have not been able to get a good prescription. They've tried two more times to get it right .. once trying progressive lenses (like bifocals), another with a different single vision prescription .. I still am not happy with my vision. My eyes burn a lot, I think from the wrong prescription.

There is blurriness in my left eye, and I have a HUGE number of increased floaters in BOTH eyes .. they are SO annoying and make my vision blurry because there are *so many* of them. Both my Opthamologist and MS Neuro shrugged them off, saying they are "normal" and nothing can be done about them. Neither believe the floaters are related to MS.  I find it so interesting though, that they came with such frequency after the ON.

I am considering a second opinion, not from my MS Neuro .. I'm very confident in her .. but for the Opthamologist/eye issues. The Opthamologist seemed to feel that my residual blurriness is just the ON hanging around, and the floaters are normal. They have increased SO MUCH in the last 4-6 weeks though.

So - to your question "has your vision been affected?" the answer is Yes, in 3 parts:
- Blurriness in left eye, not bad but it's there
- Floaters get in the way of my vision.
- I am not certain anyone knows what the correct prescription for my glasses is!

[zoefromsussex]

Hi,

Well, this post caught my eye (no pun intended!) because it's pretty much exactly how my ms journey begun.

I didn't have any pain whatsoever but my right eye was very light sensitive & was stinging and the vision started to blur. At first I tried over the counter drops, then got two lots from my gp and finally went to casualty (UK version of ER) and was sent straight to the eye ward at our nearest general hospital where I was told it was irisitis & given steroid drops.

Three months after that it all started up again & I assumed it was the same story but to cut a (very) long story short it was actually optic neuritis and I went totally blind in my right eye.

Had a LP, mri etc and though there was evidence on the scan & my lp was positive I was diagnosed with a CIS and told I'd need a further episode for an ms diagnosis...another 4 months passed and there it was! ON in the left eye this time. I have to say the left eye episode was very painful but not quite as severe but it rendered me pretty much blind as I was regaining vision from the first attack!

So, I was then dx with ms and with the benefit of hindsight, I can remember lots of weird symptoms which were more than likely caused by ms.

Irisitis is common to auto immune conditions and ms is an autoimmune condition. I would imagine your neuro ruled out other possible causes before diagnosing you with ms.

What a coincidence that your ms started so similarly to mine! It was even two years ago, same as you!

Has your vision been affected? Mine has and I'm registered as partially sighted but I've got so used to it that I can pretty much forget about it half the time. I'm more bothered by sensory issues and pain these days.

Zoe