I have suffered from episcleritis for the past 15 years....

My partner has had this condition for the past 4 years, at first he was going to the eye dept very week, this went on for nearly a year, then he was told there was a drug Prednisolone that would reduce the inflamation but was told they could not prescribe it to him,and he was referred to another hosp, here it was precsribed along with other drugs,( Ranitidine, Ramipril, Atorvastatin calcium, Tacrolimus, and Alendronic Acid ) allof these carry there own side effects, after 2 years he was told he had to start comimg down off these as the levels were to high in his system and that they were causing lots of other symptoms, this did not work and once again he was refered to another hosp, he now apart from the drugs i have mentioned has an infusion every 6 to 8 weeks of a drug called Inflixamel, this has lowered his dosage of prednisolone which in the begining was over 50mg now he is down to 7mg but is still taking all the other drugs, he has been told this maybe a lifelong illness, and nobody knows what causes it, he is finding it hard to cope with, he has lost his job, suffers from depression, cannot sleep at night,severe eye pain every morning, he has to stay out of the sunlight as this inflames the eyes, as well as causing lots of other things, Please contact me concerning any of the info i have given you as i do understand what you are going through best wishes Margaret

[i:3de39b20f5]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:3de39b20f5]

HI There...

I am 24 and I have had this problem since I was 18! I had no idea there was other people out there with this. I am in Canada and I have seen every single eye specialist in my city. I think they are tired of all telling me the same thing. My eye starte just going red about once every six months or so back when I was 18.. then gradually became every 3 months, now it is every month. Ive been on the prednisone drops and now I am on Maxidex which to me seem like a huge waste of time. It doesn't do anything, maybe settles the pain a little. I am on the Maxidex without the anitbiotics. My eyes are sometimes red at the same time but more often it is my right eye and it can be more severe at times and last 10 days or so. I find that if I am really busy with work or have stress in my life it seems to come on stronger. I also notice that it is almost intime with my period. the day my period starts the eye issue starts.. I have been told so many things. I just don't know anymore. My mother has Lupus which I see on this site episcleritis is a sympton of... pleaseee someone has to know more about treatment options for this. I need to find a researcher.. I will do anything to have this go away forever

My 12 year old son has had \"red eye\" for the past year, and for 80% of the time, both of his eyes are blood red. A lot of the time you can't see a single speck of white. I have had him to the doctors, opticians, and specialists at the hospital. He has had eye creams and drops - one lot of drops we were told he couldnt have any more because prolonged use of them causes cataracts.( We were told this after a couple of months of treatment with them!) I've bathed them in warm water with \"no tear\" shampoo, bought him eye masks, and simply don't know what to do to clear them up. A lot of people stare at his eyes when we are out, and being a 12 yr old boy, he's quite self concious about it. If anyone has ANY suggestions to try out, I'd be really grateful to hear them.

hey everyone suffering from this eye complaint. i havent got to the bottom of the problem but i will tell you that a homeopathic preparation has given me relief and it doesnt damage the eye like longterm steroids do. it is called oculoheel and is in a blue and white box. it has echinacea and eyebright in it. i am going to follow a diet for arthritus and go on a cleanse to try and get my immune system under control. hope this helps! shelly

hi christy from canada.. i just wanted to tell you that this always flares up on me at the start of my periods too. i was misdiagnosed for 3 years just thought it was a part of the change but i am going to address my overall health. with your mother having lupas you shold really be checking this out! shelly

I was diagnosed with nodular episcleritis several years ago. My original diagnosis was in the left eye and extremely painful and lasted several weeks. I was given cortisone treatments and developed high eye pressure due to intolerance. 

After doing lots of research and reading I started just using NSAIDs and artificial tears. This week I had my first episode in my other eye. I have only used NSAIDs, artificial tears, and Naphcon A and I have had great results. I refuse to let this condition beat me. Hope this helps others.