I have been on methotrexate for about 1 yr now and about 3 months ago I noticed my right eye being dry in the morning but not to bad. Last Saturday I noticed a floater in my right eye, hours later light flashing in right eye. Went to see the opthamologist and she said my retina in right is detaching a bit and causes floaters which are permant and she noticed my right eye only has dryness, which she thought was weird. I have to go back in 6 weeks to make sure my retina doesn’t tear or detach , which would need surgery. So I searched online for side effects of methotrexate , and one is retina detachment. Anyone else have this experience?
http://www.psoriasis.org/files/pdfs/forum/Psoriatic-Eye-Manifestations-Forum_Fall_11_WEB.pdf
Only one eye? Its far more likley its PsA than the MTX? Eye problems are very common with PsA...... Many of us have been treated ( or mistreated) Unless she is activley treating this I would be calling my rheumy and looking for a second opinion, like now
I'm not on mtx and have had a dry right eye for years..
Good for you that you went in to see your eye doctor. Way too many people will ignore those types of symptoms. A medication side effect would be much more likely to effect both eyes. Same way as inflammation can attack just one joint, or just one hand, it can affect just one eye.
I've had a number of eye problems since being diagnoses with PsA. We've realized that everything has been related to inflammation. With the first problem, visual trouble and headaches, one eye, it took a lot of testing to "prove" inflammation. But now that we have, we know to monitor for signs of inflammation, and that even if they are subtle, they can be quite problematic.
I would suggest going to the Ask Dr. Foster Forum at http://www.uveitis.org/patients/support for information. LOTS of good stuff and Dr. Foster answers questions...... He's one of the top Uveitis guys in the country.
Thank you for the great info. I have been getting headaches bad lately, lasting for 3-4 days and its usually my eyes that hurt the worst , excruciating pain. @Stoney what type of eye specialist do you see for inflammation. The opthamologist never mentioned inflammation of the eyes and I did mention arthritis and psoriasis and the headaches to her. She told me that retina detachment usually happens to people after 50 (I’m 48 , close enough ) and just to use natural tears and come back in 6 weeks.
@tntlamb thank you for the article & the website i can’t wait to read them. I feel I have to research and diagnose myself on everything, I also have fibromyalgia and it took forever. Ended up telling the dr what I had and she agreed after seeing 11 Drs. and billions of tests.
There are lots of different signs to watch out for. The basic thing is that you need to have a good eye doctor, who understands the nature of autoimmune diseases. It could be recurrent "pink eye". Dry eye. Pressure. Eye pain. Sensitivity to light. And so on. Depending on exactly which eye structure is affected, inflammation would present differently. I've been lucky that I've only experienced minor long term damage in one eye. But if you're not being monitored and/or you're not controlling overall inflammation, then you are more likely to experience damage in any part of your body.
Lovemydogs said:
How can you tell if you have inflammation in your eyes? This is a crazy disease! I mean yes I've read how it can affect different parts of the body including organs, but it seems like I learn something new every week about this disease.
Stoney what type of eye specialist do you see and how can you find one that specializes in autoimmune eye probs.?
My regular eye doctor has been excellent. He's sent me to some specialists, including in Manhattan at the Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. But all regular monitoring is done by my local eye doctor. He just happens to be one who "gets it".