Scleritis – What it is and Why it Sucks

One cold January morning several years ago, I woke up to the sound of my alarm. It was time to get up and get ready for work. When I saw up, I felt the most horrible pain in my right eye. I got out of bed and went into the washroom so that I could look at myself in the mirror. When I looked in the mirror, an angry-looking bright red eye was looking back at me. 

I had no idea what was going on, but what I did know what that my eye was sore and extremely painful.
I went to talk to my dad and told him that I think I needed to go to the hospital to get this checked out.
We drove to the hospital, and I was lucky enough to be seen rather quickly. I was happy about this because this would be an opportunity for me to get a strange bump in my mouth on my lower lip checked out. But that’s for another story.

Anyhow, I was seen by a few doctors and sent off to do several eye tests. After nearly a day at the hospital, I got my answer.

Scleritis.

Ok, so what the heck is scleritis?

What is Scleritis?

The white part of your eye is called the sclera. This sclera is a protective tissue that protects your eye. When the sclera gets inflamed, it is scleritis.
Scleritis is an autoimmune ailment. For some reason, your body is attacking its own tissues, which explains the link to Lupus. It is not specific to Lupus; people who suffer from other autoimmune diseases can also have episodes of scleritis.

What are the Symptoms of Scleritis?

The type of scleritis that I had was anterior scleritis. Anterior scleritis is when the front sclera is red and inflamed. There is also posterior scleritis, which is when the back of the sclera is inflamed.

The symptoms that I suffered from included a deep ache-like pain. My eye also felt sensitive to light and was extremely red.

How is Scleritis Treated?

To treat my scleritis, I was prescribed steroid eye drops and had my prednisone dose increased from my standard (5mg daily) to 40mg daily. The eye drops were to be used three times a day. Since I spent so long in the hospital, I only had the opportunity to use the drops twice. When I woke up the following morning, the redness in my eye has subsided considerably, and the pain was almost completely gone.

Since that first bout of scleritis, I’ve had three flare-ups. Thankfully, none of these flare-ups were as severe as the first episode.

If you suffer from an autoimmune disease and develop a red, painful eye, I highly recommend seeing your doctor. If left untreated, scleritis can cause permanent eye damage and blindness.