Harvest to Heal

Uveitis Updates

Good news this time around, but I’m still so confused.

I have been tapering down 10mg of prednisone at a time each week. I’m now at 40mg/day. At my eye appointment yesterday, my doctor said that the inflammation is still being kept at bay and he did not see any signs of active inflammation.

Then why is my eye still so red? Why is it so tender every time I close my eyes? Sure the symptoms have hugely improved since this all started. But if there is no inflammation, why does my eye still look and feel off? It’s so frustrating and I feel so helpless.

The ophthalmologist says it could be dryness, it could be the dilating drops. I don’t have any choice but to trust him. I have to focus on the positive updates, which according to him my eye is doing well and yes it is feeling better since the flareup began. I have to remember to acknowledge these things and think about those harder than I’m thinking about the parts of this that are still bothering me.

He also said that he doesn’t see any long-term damage from this. Although, he confirmed that I am starting to form a cataract… so it’s hard to say how much of my haziness is from the flareup vs. the cataract. Cataracts can be removed, but I’ll have to wait 3-4 months until this flare fully resolves. Im going on 8 weeks of this now and still in taper mode for at least 3-4 more weeks.

A.S. / First Rheumatology Visit

On that note, I saw a rheumatologist for the first time. He suspects some erosion/inflammation in my pelvic bone based on x-rays, so I’ll need an MRI to know for sure. It’s pretty much confirmed that I do have ankylosing spondylitis, thanks a lot HLA-B27. It makes sense that this uveitis flare came on during an A.S. flareup.

Depending on how this flare shakes out, I may need to go on a biological like Humira. I see the rheumatologist in January, and we’ll talk more about it once he sees my MRI and we have some further progress on my Uveitis flare.

Diet + Resolutions

So overall, the good news is that my eye is not actively inflamed and I am taking the steps to address my autoimmune issues. My dietary choices have not been the best, the struggle really being the fact that we are approaching the new year and I always find it challenging to stick to these types of changes when something like a “New Year’s resolution” is on the horizon. I guess you could say I’m enjoying this last stretch until then. Eating well and binging are things I struggle with, not to mention this prednisone is making me ravenous at all times. There are 11 days left of the month, but I know I need to make these changes and really stick to them to know how my diet is affecting my inflammation. All I can do is keep at it. Epimoni!

_{Photo Credit: Photo by Brett Jordan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/stay-in-the-zone-16930294/}