Red eyes

[angela1b]

Hello fellow RA friends: I was just recently diagnosed with sever RA after 3 months of severe pain and several specialist. My question is....I am on Methotrexate and folic acid and have been experiencing chronic red eyes. Not sure if this is the RA or the meds. Anyone experiencing this? Thanks Angela B.

[ShannonMFG]

Could have something to do with the chronic dry eye issue that goes along with autoimmune disorders. You might try some natural tear replacement. But see an optometrist if that doesn't help.

[angela1b in reply to ShannonMFG]

thank you

[Mamadukes]

Hello, I also have horrible red eyes. It started before I started on methotrexate. I went to the ophthalmologist and was told I had nodular scleritis, also chronic dry eyes. Check with an ophthalmologist, some eye conditions are very serious and may need treatment or monitoring.

[angela1b in reply to Mamadukes]

thank you

[angela1b in reply to Mamadukes]

Thank you. Went to opthomologist. I have dry eye and glaucoma. Since I've been diagnosed in Oct with RA I was in the hospital with pulmonary effusions, enlarged lymph nodes and an enlarged adrenal gland. Now Glaucoma and dry eye. This condition is dreadful!

[Mamadukes in reply to angela1b]

Sorry to hear all this. This is a really horrible disease. I just went to my doctor for an infected cut on my leg. She said it looked like staff infection. You really have to watch everything very carefully, with this disease and the meds. Good luck..stay well.

[Helloshelly]

Yes, suggest you see the eye doc. Are you on Predisone too? In my experience, dry eyes like mine got dryer and my eye pressure rose above 32 so have eye drops, night gel and Travistan drops now. however, family history indicates that my dry eyes should have been checked sooner and pressure increase is a side effect of the Predisone. Discovered my pressure needed to be medicated too anyway so your doing great listening to your body. Glad I went to the eye doc! Keep smilin😊

[angela1b in reply to Helloshelly]

No just methotrexate. Thank you for the info.

[TerryV]

Hi Angela, I too get the red eyes but am on other meds so not sure if that's what it's from. I know I now have dry eyes so I use Refresh eye drops twice a day; a saline eye wash and at times Naphcon A eye drops (which are awesome, however it does burn for a little bit) but does work!

[angela1b in reply to TerryV]

Thank you

[TerryV]

But as others have said an eye dr should definitely be seen. Good luck!

[Rafrancie]

Hi, I have been on methotrexate and folic acid for about a year, but even before then, I had severely dry eyes. Started with red eyes in morning only, then on to red, dry eyes all day. I was diagnosed with Sjogrens at that time. Sjogrens can occur with autoimmune diseases.Along with the extremely dry eyes, I had dry, dry mouth.. like no moisture at all.. tongue sores and finally, dry scratchy throat at night. I started taking night gel eye drops, day moisture drops 3-4 a day. Biotene moisture for dry mouth. Now I take Pilocarpine, two 5mg tabs twice a day. I take it each night, as the symptoms are worse then. It works very well, but does not last long. I time the second dose as needed.

I just wanted to bring this up as a possibility. I had the dry symptoms and Shogrens before I had I had started on the methotrexare and folic acid. I was on Hydroxychloroquine only. I hope this helps

[angela1b in reply to Rafrancie]

Yes it does help! Thank you so much. I too suffer from dry mouth and throat especially at night. Tomorrow is my first visit to the Rheumatologist since my diagnosis. I will discuss this with him also.

[Sa61]

Are you drinking enough water?

I get dry eye every now and then and sometimes they are red. I have used eye drops at times. They do help. Better to see an eye doctor. Hope they get better for you🙂

[angela1b in reply to Sa61]

I went to opthomologist, it's dry eye. However I was also diagnosed with glaucoma. Dr. Says it's not RA related. I feel it is, since this dreadful condition already cause problems with my lungs, lymph nodes and adrenal gland since I've been diagnosed in Oct.

[Amy_Lee]

I had dried eyes too after I was sick. My eye sight was getting very bad and I finally have to wear spectacles else I cannot read. My rheumy sent me to the eye specialist and I was told RA would cause dry eyes and I was given some eyes drops during the day and eyes cream to apply at night. However, the eye specialist did say that used eyes drops and eyes cream for a long time would cause cataract hence I only used it for about a month and I stopped.

I still have dried eyes now but I just let it be to avoid too much depend on the eyes drop and cream.

[Julie161164]

Hi I have RA I was on a strong dose of perdisalone but the doctor has put me on a lower dose and now I keep getting red eyes and the pressure goes down the left side of my nose and my eyes are really irritating itching and I have bad headache at times I have brought eye drops but they sting when I use them any information on what would help would be appreciated thanks