Is there such a speciality as eye doctors that specialize in autoimmune diseases.?
As far as my knowledge no. However make sure you are seeing a Ophthalmologist. They’re the ones with the most knowledge and most schooling. I only go to an Ophthalmologist for my eye floaters and loss of vision. My Dr. Knows what to look for, for certain diseases. He checks my eyes thoroughly because he knows I have Psoriatic arthritis and it can effect the eyes.
So far as I am aware there is no such thing. That said, there certainly are eye doctors that will have more experience with this. I wonder if you start off with a University department of rheumatology and find out who they might recommend, if you would do better than just cold calling eye doctors.
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I don’t think so, either. My eye doc has RA and we used to see the same rheumy. She’s super diligent and we’ve had interesting conversations about how steroids and inflammation can cause subtle changes in my vision which are alarming when they happen but I’ve come to expect them. @Stoney’s suggestion to start on the rheum side and work towards a good eye doc is a great one.
M eye doctor gave me some very false information a few months ago. He told me the arteries in my eyes were open and there was no sign of potential blockages and they indicated I was a very healthy person. Well, three months later, when I was having unusual chest pain, I nearly didn’t go to the ER remembering what my eye doctor had told me. After I had the stent placed I told my cardiologist what the eye doctor had said. The cardiologist said plaque doesn’t settle in all the arteries and just because my eyes looked healthy didn’t mean my coronary arteries were.
I don’t think there is, Rebel. But when my rheumatologist put me on plaquenil, she referred me to an ophthalmologist for monitoring every six months. I initially chose to see the only ophthalmologist in our small city just because his office is within walking distance of my house. (Not that I can walk with PsA, but anyway…) He’s been in practice for about 40 years, and I thought that if he seemed too ancient or too clueless, I’d switch to someone in the big city. Well, what a pleasant surprise! He was not only very knowledgeable about plaquenil, but offered a great deal of wisdom about auto-immune disease in general. (His wife is a sufferer.) When I switched to a biologic, he was very knowledgeable about that as well. He insists that I see him every year, and reminds me that I can call any time if I’m having problems. He’s great. So no, I think you just need an ophthalmologist (that is, an MD specialist as opposed to an optometrist). If you get good vibes from that person, stay with them.
Here’s an article from our Newbies’ Guide which you’ve probably already seen.
@Stoney’s suggestion is a good one. The other thing you could do is ask your rheumatologist whether they have an ophthalmologist they can recommend.
I have an appointment for a second opinion with a MD here at the medical school in November. I am going to contact my other MD in the mean time to keep him informed on by ongoing problem.
went back to the eye doctor and have a start up of cataracts. Also I am trying the new drug Xiidra for dry eyes. He wants to get the dry eyes under control and see if that helps before I jump into surgery. This new drug is really new but one of the positives is that it does not take as long as restasis to see if it works.
I decided to go see an eye doctor because of what I read here and because I had redness on the whites of one eye from the iris to the inside corner. I have had the redness for about two months. I thought it was allergy eyes combined with dry eyes as I have really dry eyes in the morning when I get up. I have told my rheumatologist about the dry eyes in the past and got no concern level at all. I have been treating it with over the counter eye drops for both dry eyes and allergy eyes.
I got concerned and found an eye doctor. I went Friday with a list of possible conditions I had researched and of course my medication list. Turns out I have about 8 ulcers on my corneas caused by untreated ocular rosacea. I was only diagnosed with rosacea six months ago! Never thought things could get so serious so quickly. My new eye doctor gave me his emergency number for the weekend in case I had any problems. Looked it up when I got home and was shocked. Corneal ulcers are bad news. He said I should be complaining of a lot more pain that I was.
I’ve gone from seeing my gynecologist one a year and a medical doctor maybe once a year for a sinus infection to seeing my rheumatologist, dermatologist, and now ophthalmologist often. How times change!
Hi @Zinnia. So glad you pursued your gut and went to the eye doc for an answer. I understand your point about all the doctors. So many people don’t go to see their docs and we go to see so many!
Good luck with your eye issues!
Holey smoke, Zinnia! I’m so glad that you went and got checked out. You really cannot afford to take chances with your eyes.
Let us know how things go for you!
I hear you Zinnia. It seems I have a gaggle of doctors. I also have to call each one and tell them what the other doctor said. It’s like playing a silly game. I am sorry about your eyes though. At least you find it now. I also have rosacea and dry eyes. Maybe I should get another check up.
I used to have a PCP and the odd specialist consult. Now I have an orthopedic surgeon, a foot surgeon, a rheum, a derm, and a neurologist. Yes, we do multi-pharmacy and multi-doctors, and it can be a problem. I’ve done some specialist switching and I’m getting myself into the position where all of my specialists are at one large teaching hospital. The big advantage of this for me is that all of my records can be accessed by any of them. The last time I went to the rheumatologist, she asked me something about my hip. I wasn’t sure of the answer. She said “never mind, I’ll look it up” and she clickety-clacked on the computer and saw the report as well as the x-ray. I was SO happy with that situation. Good communications between my docs is becoming really important to me.
I am glad you went to the eye doctor. I am going to have to have cataract surgery. The eyes are nothing to mess with.
Just wanted to post an update. Almost all of my ulcers are healed. I am continuing same antibiotic drops through the weekend. Adding moisture drops for dry eyes. Also continuing eyelid scrub only once a day (down from 2x day) and I can wear mascara and put eye moisturizer on again. I go back for a follow up in a month and will be dilated for a full picture of my eye health. If I still show signs of ocular rosacea my dermatologist will get involved, too. Please, please stay on top of eye problems, y’all!
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I am going to get a second opinion tomorrow. i know I have cataracts but from the questionere they sent me about surgery I felt I could not answer them honestly. It is so hard to tell someone how you see!