I was having some eye issues this weekend and was very sensitive to light, and got squeezed in for an appointment on Monday. The Opto took a look and diagnosed me with ulcerative keratitis in both eyes. He seemed very nonchalant about it and gave me a coupon for some expensive over-the-counter eye drops, and they have reduced the symptoms I was having. I wasn't really prepared, so I did not ask many questions, and the doc did not give much of an opinion.

I have an appointment scheduled in June with a cornea specialist, but was curious if anyone has experience with this? Internet results come back with the condition not being that serious, to potentially blinding. I do have ulcerative colitis, so these two are connected, but I am not currently experiencing a flare, and it is mostly controlled.

TIA

Do you wear contacts? He didn't say you have a corneal ulcer, did he? Can you see an ulcer on your cornea? I'm assuming he also stained it with fluorescein?

If it's an infection (common in contact lens wearers), then you need to be on antibiotic drops every 2 hours. If he thinks it's inflammatory/autoimmune then you may need steroids or another topical treatment.

Was this an optometrist you saw? Or and ophthalmologist? Have you tried seeing a regular ophthalmologist before your cornea appointment?

I'm not an eye doc, but usually you can call an opthalmologist clinic and explain the situation and get an appointment within 1-2 days. If it was my eye, I would lean towards seeing an ophthalmologist sooner rather than later.

Roughly where are you located?

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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Do you wear contacts? He didn't say you have a corneal ulcer, did he? Can you see an ulcer on your cornea? I'm assuming he also stained it with fluorescein?

If it's an infection (common in contact lens wearers), then you need to be on antibiotic drops every 2 hours. If he thinks it's inflammatory/autoimmune then you may need steroids or another topical treatment.

Was this an optometrist you saw? Or and ophthalmologist? Have you tried seeing a regular ophthalmologist before your cornea appointment?

I'm not an eye doc, but usually you can call an opthalmologist clinic and explain the situation and get an appointment within 1-2 days. If it was my eye, I would lean towards seeing an ophthalmologist sooner rather than later.

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No, I do not wear contacts. I do not quite remember, but I believe he said I had ulcers behind the cornea. I do not currently have an ulcer on my cornea, but about a week prior, I had what looked like a visible scratch. Not entirely sure what he used, but he did the eye exam initially and then used a stain to take another look.

He did not think it was infected and attributed it to inflammation related to my UC. I reached out to my GI doctor to let them know, and he is waiting on the results from an MRCP I had last week before he wants to meet to discuss.

He was an Ophthalmologist and referred me to another Ophthalmologist who specializes in corneas. He is the department chair, and his next available is very far out.

Thanks, I will seek out another practice and see if they can get me scheduled sooner.

I am in Houston

Oh ok. As long as you saw an ophthalmologist and he felt comfortable with waiting till June to see a cornea guy, I think that's reasonable. No offense to optometrists (which many use for general eye care), but their scope of knowledge on some of the more rare conditions can vary widely. And the eyes aren't something to mess around with.

Gotcha. Had some options for you if DFW.