Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by cubbieblue on January 5, 2015 at 1:36pm

Hi Debs,

Twice I have had what I thought was a broken blood vessel in my right eye, but the pictures of episcleritis I have seen on the internet look exactly like my eye looked both times.  My mom gets these too, so I didn't worry too much about it.   I didn't do anything to treat and it cleared on its own in a few days.

Cubbieblue

Permalink Reply by Debs on January 5, 2015 at 8:47pm

Mine took over 3 months to clear up. I had it in both eyes and like you I thought it was a broken blood vessel to start with but I went to my GP and was diagnosed. I am glad your eyes clear up so quickly.

Permalink Reply by Polly UK on January 6, 2015 at 1:22pm

I went to my GP last August having suffered a pink/red eye for 3 weeks and was given antibiotic eye drops for a week as the GP didn't know what it was. Went back to GP as no change and now very sensitive to bright light. I had an emergency referral to the Opthalmic dept in the hospital the following day. I was diagnosed with episcleritis which had caused pressure on the eye and given some drops to relieve the pressure and steroid eye drops to treat the inflammation. I had to go back to the clinic after a week to check the pressure was back to normal which it was and told to carry on with just the steroids for a further 2 weeks. The Opthalmologist said it is an autoimmune disease and people who have one condition often have others.
I had been clear until the middle of December when the same eye started looking pink in the mornings but cleared by late morning. I went to GP just before Christmas and saw a locum whose mother suffers with episcleritis and dry eyes. He gave me some comfort drops and told me to go back if the pink eye got worse and/or became painful and he would refer me to the Opthalmic dept. he talked about Sjogren's syndrome and dry eyes and autoimmune diseases.
At the moment I have a pink right eye which still looks worse in the mornings and feels slightly sore and tired but not painful. If it's no better by next week I will go back to the GP.
My Dermatologist who I saw yesterday doesn't think there is a connection!?
Thanks for starting the discussion.

Permalink Reply by cubbieblue on January 6, 2015 at 11:28pm

It sounds like I have been lucky as far as the episcleritis goes.  I may have underestimated when I said it only took a few days to clear up.  The redness started small, began to spread across the eye, and by the time it stopped spreading, the original red area was already beginning to clear.  That process took a couple of days, and it was probably a week or so for it to go away completely.  Other than the redness, it sometimes felt like my eye wanted to pop out of the socket, and it felt scratchy/dry, like my eyelid was slightly scraping across the eye  when I blinked.

Permalink Reply by silversurfer on January 8, 2015 at 8:29am

I was told I have blepharitis and use sterile eye drops daily. It has made no difference

Permalink Reply by sallylwess on January 13, 2015 at 2:09pm

Oh my goodness.  I have also had what appeared to be a broken blood vessel in my left eye.  Both times it was after traveling under stressful conditions.  I thought it was from the dry airline air, and from the changes in altitude.  The second time, I actually went to an eye doctor in the town where I was visiting.  He just gave me drops and did not make a diagnosis.  If it happens again, I will question my eye doctor and bring this information to his attention.  

Permalink Reply by Debs on January 18, 2015 at 12:09pm

Thank you all very much for sharing your experiences, as Polly said when you have one autoimmune condition you often then get others and episcleritis is inflammation in the body. As well as using suppliments to try and control my inflammation I started meditating back in September, I did a course with a yoga teacher, I think reducing my stress by meditating has helped my overall health.

Thank goodness we share our experiences and are able to learn from each other, doctors do not seem to see the obvious links between our FFA and other conditions.

Wishing you all good health in 2015.

Permalink Reply by NatalieW on February 3, 2015 at 5:42pm

Thanks for starting this discussion Debs. I have had redness in my right eye for about a week and it looks just the picture of episcleritis. My eyes are progressively getting drier and more uncomfortable so will mention to the Dr next time

Permalink Reply by Debs on February 4, 2015 at 2:32am

Sorry to hear you too now have this eye condition. I think it is part of the inflammation in our bodies and I can only suggest herbal medicine to get lots of anti inflammatory herbs to heal yourself without the use of steroid drops. Using chamomile tea bags on my eyes also gave some relief.