@Linzsey

Thanks for the reply Linzsey,

Yes I read up on the Scleritis & Uveitis. Even though I originally tested negative for SS that was upon my original RA Diagnosis 4 years ago now & I know this crop of immune diseases can jump into the mix at any time so I'll have that re-tested too.

Can't remember the name of the antibiotic eye solution she put me on but I distinctly remember her saying it had a light "steroid" within it to reduce inflammation as well.

Well, I see my Opto Friday, she may refer me out to a specialist just in case & then I see my Rheumy soon as well so I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again!

Yes, I've experienced lots of eye issues with RA. I have SS along with RA and take plaquenil as well so I see an Optho at least 4 times a year. I have punctual plugs in my tear ducts and use Thera Tears to relieve dry eyes. About 5 years ago I started seeing more floaters and was diagnosed with PVD. Posterior Vitreous Detachment. No treatment for it. I experience "bouts" we're I see more floaters and then it seems to calm for a period of time. I have also experienced times of flashes and I get in to the retina specialist thinking maybe my retina is detaching and it was a false alarm.
On top of that I have macular edema and macular pucker in both eyes. It gives a distorted vision and was getting so bad in the right eye that I had to have surgery, a vitrectomy and cataract surgery shortly after that. My retina specialist is now monitoring left eye and trying to put off surgery as long as possible. I don't feel as though I will ever see as well as I did pre-RA. No one has ever told me that all of the eye issues I have experienced are a direct result of RA, but I feel as though they are.

Dry Eye can be an issue, especially for those of us who have Sjogrens Syndrome secondary to RA. But that would not cause flashes, I don't think.

Also, I think steroids such as prednisone, increase cataracts.

I saw my first floater (it was huge) and flashes about 7 years after my RA diagnosis. However, the retina specialist I was sent to said floaters are not unusual for people of a certain age. And in my case the flashes slowly subsided. So I chalked it up to age rather than RA. However, I wonder if it could be related to inflammation.

I've had floaters since long before RA, and my mom who doesn't have RA also has had them for 50 years.

I have a cousin who started with JRA at the age of 1 1/2, and she lost an eye in her early 20's to iritis, which is an arthritis that attacks the eye. She has had a lot of issues with her remaining eye, too! I have Sjorgen's I can never keep my eyes wet enough.

My biggest worry is my dad's 4sustrrs are all legally blind from macular degeneration. I hope I don't get that. They are all relatively healthy. I can't imagine being blind, and as damaged I am by RA.

@MarleneJ

That's what I'm afraid of too! I think we all have a few floaters from time to time throughout our lives & I have read that it's natural the older we get. The corner flashes kind of concerned me but I've been to my eye doc & both times she dilated my eyes & found no evidence of any type of detachment. I go see a specialist this Wednesday for the floaters because when she asked me "How many do you see"? I said, "Uhhhmmm like 60", she was floored! She said, "That's not normal". Maybe I'm not really looking at them correctly they do move around of course when you move your eye so maybe I'm double counting what I "think" I'm seeing. Who knows.

I have so many flotillas of floaters tat it's difficult to read. I have a nexus that precedes the next word I'm about to read. I'm about to make the great technology switch to audible books. I really miss reading.

Also, and I'm not sure this fits in the discussion, I have ocular mgraines. The first occurred in 1983, 30 years before RA, but they have increased dramatically. I've had TIA's, where it seems like I've had an increase in OM's before the TIA, but have had no confirmation that there's a positive correlation.

@jolinejoline,

Wow! I have ocular migraines as well!! Mine started when I was 14, I'll never forget that day! Mine seem to be getting better with age. When I was younger the aura almost 100% of time followed with pain. Now that I'm 48 I only get the pain maybe 40-50% o the time & the severity of the pain is more like a 5-7 not like a 10+ when I was young. Maybe I'm just more used to the pain now? But like you yes my ocular migraines was affecting me close to 30yrs before the RA diagnosis.

@oceans11

I first had an ocular migraine when I was around 37 or 38. They happened very infrequently until much later. Same thing almost always: a flashing geometric pattern, colored, goldm brown and silver, usually reverce "C" shaped, but some variations. After I had TIA's, I thought I noticed a clustering of OM's prioe ro a TIA, but I don't know if that's true. I do know that I never had pain with OM's until after TIA's. It's sporadic, so I don't have any basis to go on. I still get TIA's regularly, but not frequently, but no TIA's in 4 years. I've found that my OM's are related to mostly to exercise, either a hard workout in the gym, or a hard workout hiking or biking.

I had severe daily migraines with projectile vomiting from about 2000-2006. But they were not ocular, but to do with stomach. My stomach lining was so damaged from the RA meds, that things were going directly into my blood and then to the brain, especially acidic foods, and overripe bananas. When I got on injectable drugs, the stomach healed, and I only rarely get migraines.

I am pretty sure I had a TIA last spring. I was driving home from worship team practice, and suddenly every light was doubled. It was night, and very scary. So a car with 2 lights on each side, now had 8 lights. The street lights, cars and the traffic lights, houses were all doubled.,

I assumed it was an eye issue. I phoned my opthamoloigst and never even got a reply. I should have driven directly to the ER, do not pass Go. But, I went home. Never again. I later read that TIAs can cause the double vision. I hope I never have one again. I'm very sorry for anyone who has these regularly.

@ MarleneJ

The more & more I tumble through the "wormhole" of learning about my RA & Migraines the more I lean towards the issues stemming from the stomach, intestines or total gastrointestinal organ(s). I do believe my migraines are either food or even leaky gut related.

Sometimes I wonder if a complete gastrointestinal "reset" is possible? I know that people who do long term fasting swear that it is but I don't know?

I also get occular migraines, I wonder if they are related to RA, I had them before I was diagnosed but still...I wonder.