Hello, i have been diagnosed with nodule scleritis also had a small laceration in the same eye.
I literally woke up in pain a couple of weeks ago. I got referred to the urgent eye clinic and given maxitol eye ointment. then 10 days later dex eye drops which is a tapering dose. i am still on 1 drop 6 times a day.
My next appt is mid june
Can anyone please enlighten me as to what if any further treatment or tests i may need.
Many thanks.
Sorry, it appears that no one has been able to share their experiences with you as of yet. However, you may find the posts below helpful.
Amy
NRAS
Hi Anne999Sorry to hear you've had a bout of Scleritis. I can offer a bit of information, and I hope it may be useful.
I've had various eye issues related to the RA over the years, including relapsing Scleritis and Episcleritis. I've just had a mild relapse recently, although it doesn't happen very regularly.
As you've found out, it can be very painful. It can often be more painful at night too, which is what I've found. One of the mainstays of treatment is steroid eye drops of varying strengths and doses. You say you're on dexamethason at present, which I've used many times in the past. It's a potent steroid eye drop, so should help a lot. If it's still settling down, then 6 times a day and tapering sounds very reasonable. As time goes on, and if/when things settle down, you may be changed to weaker steroid drops and less frequent use. Alternatively, if they're very confident about how things are recovering, then you may be allowed to stop them before too long.
I can't obviously think of any other major tests you would need. Your rheumatologist or ophthalmologist may do blood tests to check inflammation levels, but things like Scleritis can often come out of nowhere - even if things are fairly controlled. It by no means necessarily indicates a systemic flare.
Other possible eye drop treatments could be, as I've already said, gradually moving on to weaker steroids. In addition, there's a chance you may be prescribed an eye drop called Ikervis (which contains a drug called Cyclosporin). If you happen to suffer from dry eyes, it's very important to keep them well lubricated. Some people can get a kind of glaucoma (raised eye pressure) from steroid eye drops, so if that were to be the case, you would be prescribed pressure lowering drops. Don't worry about this. It only happens occasionally, and if you've been using dexamethasone already, you would probably know by now! I'm a "steroid responder" as it's called, but it's controlled and fine.
Also, if necessary (but only if necessary), they could make changes to your systemic drug treatment. Obviously, I don't know what drug treatment you are on already. In theory it could mean things like oral steroids, DMARDs like Cyclosporin, Azathioprine or Mycophenolate, or one of the biologic treatments which is helpful for eye inflammation. As I say though, these would be things down the line and only if necessary. If it can be settled with topical eye drops alone, then you won't need to worry about any of that.
I would expect them to review you, and check the eye fairly regularly until they're satisfied it's settled. At that point, your appointments should get further apart. If between any appointments you get a recurrence of symptoms or are worried about anything, don't hesitate to contact them.
Hope this helps. Any questions, I'll happily try to answer.
Hope it soon gets better. X😊
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