Spritzing the Fire

I hate iritis. For those of you unfamiliar with this malady, it's an inflamation of the iris that causes an achy or scratchy feeling in the eye (eventually developing into extreme pain if untreated), blurriness of vision, and sensitivity to light.

Most times they have no idea what causes it -- it's not a response to an infection, like conjunctivitis -- but the few cases with clearly identifiable causes link it to autoimmune disorders like lupus or latent viral infections like herpes. They don't know what is causing mine, and no bloodwork is likely unless it recurs (most cases are one-time deals -- fingers crossed!).

It's treated with dilating drops and topical steroids at the start, then only the steroids (advanced cases may require getting shots!). The problem is that it isn't like a bacterial infection, where you can kill the germs and have done with it. Instead, the metaphor my two doctors have both used is that it is like a smouldering fire -- you have to dowse it first, then keep spritzing it periodically until it goes completely out. If you ease up too much on the spritzing (or rate of eye drops) it can flare up again. (The chemicals used to treat it are pretty powerful, so you don't want to use them more than necessary.)

That's where I'm at. It was getting better, I spaced the drops out too much, and now it's back. For what it's worth, I think stress plays a large part in this. My body is fond of experimenting with new ways to call attention to the fact that it's stressed -- cramps, panic attacks, headaches, tingling and achy fingers and toes, hives, and now this. The only hopeful thing is that each "experiment" tends to be short-lived; I quickly recognize that I'm not suffering from some horrible ailment and quickly learn to ignore the message my body is sending me. So it has to come up with a new one.

Not healthy, no. Here's hoping I can manage to have less stress next year. (Ah, for a calm, boring, well-paying temp job...)