Any other LCers with iritis?

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Just curious...I have iritis, but I haven't had a bout since I started
LCing. Coincidence? I dunno. I was having bouts about 2x a year for the
last several years until LC. I've never been able to identify possible
triggers.

It's not an especially common condition, so I'm curious to see if anyone
else here has it, and whether LC has made any difference.

S t a c i

It is considered and "autoimmune" disorder which basically means "we
have no idea what causes it but we'll try every medicine out there
regardless of the cost and the side effects".

These "autoimmune" disorders are usually a result of poor nutrition
and vitamin or mineral deficiencies.

One of the more obvious symptoms of vitamin C deficiency is an
inability to fight off infection. A weakened immune system. A red flag
is when a person gets colds or infections on an ongoing basis, month
after month, or takes an inordinately long time to heal from cuts and
bruises. Yet most doctors would never even consider the possibility
sub-clinical scurvy unless you come in off of a world boat cruise with
your teeth falling out and you gums soft and bleeding.

Nutrition is of absolute importance in good health. And no pill in the
world will make you healthy.

TC

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just curious...I have iritis, but I haven't had a bout since I started
LCing. Coincidence? I dunno. I was having bouts about 2x a year for the
last several years until LC. I've never been able to identify possible
triggers.

It's not an especially common condition, so I'm curious to see if anyone
else here has it, and whether LC has made any difference.

S t a c i

There can be a lot of explanations out there, but basically, I tend to
belive that the human body was meant to ingest protein and fat, and not have
a lot to do with carbs. All evidence today points to that, although the
"experts" who maintain the food pyramid don't seem to get it yet.

Continue what you are doing and don't worry. You are probably solving a
problem you shouildn't have had in the frist place.

"Howard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

(tcomeau) said:

These "autoimmune" disorders are usually a result of poor nutrition
and vitamin or mineral deficiencies.

Another possible cause is ingestion of many allergins in quantities
small enough that no one of them causes a major reaction. Allergies
tend to be threshold phenomena. Typical allergins in food are grains,
legumes, and various [censored] such as hormones and antibiotics fed to meat
animals.

You know, this makes sense to me. A bout of iritis for me is sometimes
preceded by hayfever-type allergy symptoms...but not always in the
springtime when hayfever is normal. I've wondered if LCing hasn't removed
those allergy triggers from my diet, and therefore kept me from getting
another bout.

As TC posted, iritis is an autoimmune disorder, which is why they tested me
for all kinds of problems - including arthritis and syphilis - when I was
diagnosed. I'm an otherwise healthy 36 yo woman, who just happens to have
iritis. The doctors also did a chest x-ray, but I can't remember why.

Thanks for your response
S t a c i
213/179/165
5'11"
Atkins for 6 mo.

"Jim Bard" <[email hidden]> wrote >

Quoted message said:

Continue what you are doing and don't worry. You are probably solving a
problem you shouildn't have had in the frist place.

Absolutely. I have a lot of scarring inside my left eye from one especially
bad bout, which has really diminished the quality of my vision. If it's
even remotely possible that LCing can help to save my vision from here on
out, that's enough reason for me to stick with it!

Thanks for your response -
S t a c i
213/179/165
5'11"
Atkins for 6 mo.

"tcomeau" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Nutrition is of absolute importance in good health. And no pill in the
world will make you healthy.

TC

Yes, indeed. I've never felt as healthy as I do now. Better all-over
health has got to be good for every part of my body!

I'm guessing from your post that you know are familiar with auto-immune
disorders, but you don't have iritis yourself, correct? (Not that having
iritis has made me any sort of expert on the subject...)

S t a c i
213/179/165
5'11"
Atkins for 6 mo.

Staci,
My wife has iritis, and is currently in the 2nd episode she has ever had in
her life. When she has an episode, though, it lasts several years and
affects both eyes.

The first episode started when she was 12 years old and lasted for 6 years.
With that episode, she went to many doctors, and no definitive causative
effect could be found by any of them. Incredible as it sounds, at that time
(early 1970s) a couple of them said that iritis sometimes occurs in people
who have worked in chicken coops west of the Mississippi river. Well, my
wife grew up on a farm is South Dakota and tended the chicken coops.
However, as an adult in her 2nd episode there are now no doctors saying
anything about a chicken coop/west of Mississippi River connection, and my
wife hasn't cleaned a chicken coop in 30 years.

With her first episode at age 12 lasting until age 18, she was given the
standard eye drops along with steroid injections behind the eyeballs.
Doctors increased dosage, kept it from getting worse, but it still took 6
years for the episode to subside.

She was episode-free from age 13 until age 41.

Her second episode started 4 years ago and is still going. We have both
been on a low-carb diet for well over a year now, it doesn't seem to have
any affect on the iritis. Unfortunately, there has been practically no
advancement in the treatment of the disease in the past 35 years; it is
still treated with the same corticosteroids that it was treated with back
then. It is one of those diseases that not enough people get to warrant
research, so practically none has been done. However, they now more
aggressively attempt to find a causative factor, and in that search my wife
was sent to an arthritis specialist. The arthritis specialist diagnosed
arthritis in her knees (we always attributed her knee pain to being
overweight). So now I give her an injection weekly of an arthritis
medication, and that seems to be keeping the iritis from getting worse, but
the episode is still not going away. The eye doctor still gives her an
occasional behind-the-eye injection of steroid also. She now has portions
of the iris stuck to the lens in one eye, and vision damage in both eyes.

Most people that have iritis have more frequent episodes that are less
severe than my wife's. It sounds like you fall into that category. I would
urge you to find a good doctor that will keep trying to find what the cause
of your iritis is, and work to alleviate that cause. I really don't think
low-carb makes a difference at all to my wife's episodes, but can't say that
it doesn't for you, I just have never heard of that being the case (perhaps
a coincidence?). I have never heard of iritis being caused by poor
nutrition or mineral deficiencies as another has posted here. If you go to
a good eye specialist that is familiar with iritis, the doctor will run
through a list of causative factors, and send you to other specialists, and
try hard to determine what is causing your episodes.

Anyway, I would just urge you to get to a good eye specialist who will
search for the root cause.
For more info:
http://www.iritis.org/

--
Mark S. J.
--Pull the weeds to reply by email--

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just curious...I have iritis, but I haven't had a bout since I started
LCing. Coincidence? I dunno. I was having bouts about 2x a year for the
last several years until LC. I've never been able to identify possible
triggers.

It's not an especially common condition, so I'm curious to see if anyone
else here has it, and whether LC has made any difference.

S t a c i

"Marcusj" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

My wife has iritis, and is currently in the 2nd episode she has ever had

in

Quoted message said:

her life. When she has an episode, though, it lasts several years and
affects both eyes.

Wow, Mark...I've never heard of such long-lasting bouts. I really feel for
your wife - of course, I know first hand how painful they can be. I've had
probably 20 bouts in my life, the longest one lasting about 6 months - that
was the really bad episode that caused the scarring in my eye.

Quoted message said:

Incredible as it sounds, at that time
(early 1970s) a couple of them said that iritis sometimes occurs in people
who have worked in chicken coops west of the Mississippi river. Well, my
wife grew up on a farm is South Dakota and tended the chicken coops.
However, as an adult in her 2nd episode there are now no doctors saying
anything about a chicken coop/west of Mississippi River connection, and my
wife hasn't cleaned a chicken coop in 30 years.

I've heard so many things about the causes...including the brand of
toothpaste you use, Scandinavian family background, stress...it's all over
the board. I'm of Scandinavian descent, so I can't totally dismiss that
one.

Quoted message said:

The arthritis specialist diagnosed
arthritis in her knees (we always attributed her knee pain to being
overweight). So now I give her an injection weekly of an arthritis
medication, and that seems to be keeping the iritis from getting worse,

but

Quoted message said:

the episode is still not going away.

Rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family. I will continue to get checked for
it because of my family history and iritis. My grandmother was diagnosed
with RA when she was 36. I'm 36 now, and RA free.

Quoted message said:

I really don't think
low-carb makes a difference at all to my wife's episodes, but can't say

that

Quoted message said:

it doesn't for you, I just have never heard of that being the case

(perhaps

Quoted message said:

a coincidence?). I have never heard of iritis being caused by poor
nutrition or mineral deficiencies as another has posted here.

I really have no idea whether LC is helping or not...I just realized
yesterday that I haven't had a single bout since I started LCing, which is
wonderful, but strange. I wish, for your wife's sake, that LC was an answer
to iritis for everyone!

Quoted message said:

If you go to
a good eye specialist that is familiar with iritis, the doctor will run
through a list of causative factors, and send you to other specialists,

and

Quoted message said:

try hard to determine what is causing your episodes.

Yes, I've been through lots of tests with lots of specialists, as I posted
earlier (including a chest x-ray that I don't remember why they requested).
I seem to be healthy (knock on wood) aside from iritis and PMS. 🙂 My
iritis is still a mystery. Luckily for me, I can tell when a bout is coming
on, so I get to the doctor quickly and start meds right away. When I do
that, the bouts last less than 2 weeks.

I hope LCing is helping with your wife's overall health, even if it's not
helping with iritis. Thanks for your response, and send my best wishes to
your wife.

S t a c i

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Just curious...I have iritis, but I haven't had a bout since I started
LCing. Coincidence? I dunno. I was having bouts about 2x a year for the
last several years until LC. I've never been able to identify possible
triggers.

It's not an especially common condition, so I'm curious to see if anyone
else here has it, and whether LC has made any difference.

S t a c i

I used to get an iritis attack every fall for many many years, but
haven't had once since I got pregnant in 1999. So, for me, there is
no correlation between LCing (which I've been doing for a little over
a year) and my outbreaks.

Even though I was told that this is a disease that begins from the
inside out, so to speak, my first outbreak occurred within a week of
getting sewer water from a backed-up kitchen sink splashed in my eye.
The MDs insisted there was no connection, but I've always believed
that I picked up some ooogly from the water.

dragon

[email hidden] (tcomeau) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Just curious...I have iritis, but I haven't had a bout since I started
LCing. Coincidence? I dunno. I was having bouts about 2x a year for the
last several years until LC. I've never been able to identify possible
triggers.

It's not an especially common condition, so I'm curious to see if anyone
else here has it, and whether LC has made any difference.

S t a c i

It is considered and "autoimmune" disorder which basically means "we
have no idea what causes it but we'll try every medicine out there
regardless of the cost and the side effects".

Iritis, especially chronic/episodic, can be caused by a variety of
systemic conditions (Reiter's, Bechet's, ankylosing spondilitis, etc)
but sometimes
it is idiopathic (without apparent cause). But treatment is still the
same
and eye care providers know exactly how to treat the condition. To the
o.p., the remission may just be coincidental unless you have a
systemic
condition that is being helped by low carbing.

Quoted message said:

These "autoimmune" disorders are usually a result of poor nutrition
and vitamin or mineral deficiencies.

I didn't realize that autoimmune disorders such as ra were caused by
poor nutrition??

frank

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"tcomeau" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Nutrition is of absolute importance in good health. And no pill in the
world will make you healthy.

TC

Yes, indeed. I've never felt as healthy as I do now. Better all-over
health has got to be good for every part of my body!

I'm guessing from your post that you know are familiar with auto-immune
disorders, but you don't have iritis yourself, correct? (Not that having
iritis has made me any sort of expert on the subject...)

S t a c i
213/179/165
5'11"
Atkins for 6 mo.

You are correct. I just did a quick google on irritis to find out what
it was. As I said, as soon as I hear "autoimmune" disorder I see a
large red flopping flag and think of nutritional deficiencies.

I am allergic to cigarette smoke. Since I've started LCing and
supplementing with vitamins my reactions have diminished to about 10%
what they used to be.

I've also researched arthritis and nutrition in general. I believe
arthritis to be a multiple nutrient deficiency. That is why
glucosamine often helps people with arthritis. They also need vitamin
C because it is a precursor to collagen which is the foundation of
your joints. And if they are deficient of C, chances are they are
deficient of other vitamins which will further impact the immune
system.

The strength of your immune system is directly impacted by nutrition
and nutritional deficiencies.

TC

This is total BS!
Please enlighten me.
What vitamin am I deficient in and what nutrition am I lacking that I had
Scleraderma morphea?
jo
nj

(tcomeau) said:

These "autoimmune" disorders are usually a result of poor nutrition
and vitamin or mineral deficiencies.

Lee Harkness

tcomeau said:

One of the more obvious symptoms of vitamin C deficiency is an
inability to fight off infection. A weakened immune system. A red flag
is when a person gets colds or infections on an ongoing basis, month

Auto-immune diseases are not caused by a weakened immune system, and
attempting to "boost" the immune system would probably make them worse.
In auto-immune diseases, the immune system starts attacking the body's
own tissues with abnormal antibodies.

That said, low-carbing vastly reduced my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms,
(as well as my asthma and sinus allergy symptoms), with no noticable
difference whether I take or don't take vitamins periods of time.

I haven't had an iritis flare-up in the 7+ years I've been lowcarbing,
but I only had them once every few years before lowcarbing, and
they usually cleared up after about a week of prednisone drops and
iris-dilating drops.

--
jamie ([email hidden])

"There's a seeker born every minute."

Finally! Someone who makes sense! Those with AI diseases are told to refrain
from taking Echinacea for colds.
A weakened immune system is different from one which has gone into
overdrive. Both are compromised but in different ways.
jo
nj
"jamie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

tcomeau said:

One of the more obvious symptoms of vitamin C deficiency is an
inability to fight off infection. A weakened immune system. A red flag
is when a person gets colds or infections on an ongoing basis, month

Auto-immune diseases are not caused by a weakened immune system, and
attempting to "boost" the immune system would probably make them worse.
In auto-immune diseases, the immune system starts attacking the body's
own tissues with abnormal antibodies.

That said, low-carbing vastly reduced my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms,
(as well as my asthma and sinus allergy symptoms), with no noticable
difference whether I take or don't take vitamins periods of time.

I haven't had an iritis flare-up in the 7+ years I've been lowcarbing,
but I only had them once every few years before lowcarbing, and
they usually cleared up after about a week of prednisone drops and
iris-dilating drops.

--
jamie ([email hidden])

"There's a seeker born every minute."

"riley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

This is total BS!
Please enlighten me.
What vitamin am I deficient in and what nutrition am I lacking that I had
Scleraderma morphea?
jo
nj

(tcomeau) said:

These "autoimmune" disorders are usually a result of poor nutrition
and vitamin or mineral deficiencies.

Lee Harkness

Have you tried to treat it thru nutrition? Dollars to donuts that you
haven't.

Try this. Cut out all sugar and wheat products. Wheat is the most
common food allergen, mind you you could be reacting to other food
allergens.

Eat more whole food carbs like fresh fruits and vegetables. Supplement
with a good b vitamin complex and anywhere from 2000 to 10000 mg pf
vitamin C per day.

I can almost guarantee that you symptoms will diminish over a few
weeks.

TC

[email hidden] (drfrank21) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (tcomeau) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"S t a c i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Just curious...I have iritis, but I haven't had a bout since I started
LCing. Coincidence? I dunno. I was having bouts about 2x a year for the
last several years until LC. I've never been able to identify possible
triggers.

It's not an especially common condition, so I'm curious to see if anyone
else here has it, and whether LC has made any difference.

S t a c i

It is considered and "autoimmune" disorder which basically means "we
have no idea what causes it but we'll try every medicine out there
regardless of the cost and the side effects".

Iritis, especially chronic/episodic, can be caused by a variety of
systemic conditions (Reiter's, Bechet's, ankylosing spondilitis, etc)
but sometimes
it is idiopathic (without apparent cause). But treatment is still the
same
and eye care providers know exactly how to treat the condition. To the
o.p., the remission may just be coincidental unless you have a
systemic
condition that is being helped by low carbing.

Quoted message said:

These "autoimmune" disorders are usually a result of poor nutrition
and vitamin or mineral deficiencies.

I didn't realize that autoimmune disorders such as ra were caused by
poor nutrition??

frank

If you suffer from them, I would suggest you treat it with nutrition
and see what happens. There is nothing to lose in trying it.

What I see happening is people going to doctors and being given
expensive and dangerous pills to treat it with little or no relief and
no prospects of actually being cured.

TC

[email hidden] (jamie) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

tcomeau said:

One of the more obvious symptoms of vitamin C deficiency is an
inability to fight off infection. A weakened immune system. A red flag
is when a person gets colds or infections on an ongoing basis, month

Auto-immune diseases are not caused by a weakened immune system, and
attempting to "boost" the immune system would probably make them worse.

The term "weakened" is an unfortunate misnomer. The immune system goes
wonky. It isn't necessarily a matter of a "strong" immune system
versus a "weak" immune system. If you are deficient in nutrients theh
immune system can no longer function as it should.

Quoted message said:

In auto-immune diseases, the immune system starts attacking the body's
own tissues with abnormal antibodies.

Yes, the immune system goes wonky. How's that for a highly technical
medical term.

Quoted message said:

That said, low-carbing vastly reduced my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms,
(as well as my asthma and sinus allergy symptoms), with no noticable
difference whether I take or don't take vitamins periods of time.

So if your change in diet affected your RA symptoms, is that not a
clear indication that it may well be a diet ie. nutritional problem to
begin with? I'd say that it is.

I'd be interested in knowing exactly which vitamins you've tried.

Quoted message said:

I haven't had an iritis flare-up in the 7+ years I've been lowcarbing,
but I only had them once every few years before lowcarbing, and
they usually cleared up after about a week of prednisone drops and
iris-dilating drops.

Also note that the fat soluble vitamins A and E have direct impact on
the health of the eyes. A low fat diet will impede you from absorbing
these vitamins from the diet. It could be that the higher fat low-carb
diet has allowed you to absorb enough of these fat soluble vitamins to
clear up the more chronic manifestations of the irritis symptoms.

Try some cod liver oil the next time you notice symptoms and see what
happens. Betcha it makes a big difference.

TC

[email hidden] (tcomeau) wrote in message news:> > >

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I didn't realize that autoimmune disorders such as ra were caused by
poor nutrition??

frank

If you suffer from them, I would suggest you treat it with nutrition
and see what happens. There is nothing to lose in trying it.

What I see happening is people going to doctors and being given
expensive and dangerous pills to treat it with little or no relief and
no prospects of actually being cured.

TC

So what kind of nutrition/diet helps autoimmune disease?? Something
like sle (systemic lupus) could possibly be caused by an allergy trigger
but there is no known diet that I know of is effective for sle. Same for
the host of other autoimmune disorders. But stating "to treat it with
nutrition" sounds vague to me.

And iritis itself has to treated with topical steroids or the results can
be devastating.

frank

[email hidden] (tcomeau) wrote in message news:> > >

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I didn't realize that autoimmune disorders such as ra were caused by
poor nutrition??

frank

If you suffer from them, I would suggest you treat it with nutrition
and see what happens. There is nothing to lose in trying it.

What I see happening is people going to doctors and being given
expensive and dangerous pills to treat it with little or no relief and
no prospects of actually being cured.

TC

So what kind of nutrition/diet helps autoimmune disease?? Something
like sle (systemic lupus) could possibly be caused by an allergy trigger
but there is no known diet that I know of is effective for sle. Same for
the host of other autoimmune disorders. But stating "to treat it with
nutrition" sounds vague to me.

And iritis itself has to treated with topical steroids or the results can
be devastating.

frank

[email hidden] (tcomeau) wrote in message news:> > >

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I didn't realize that autoimmune disorders such as ra were caused by
poor nutrition??

frank

If you suffer from them, I would suggest you treat it with nutrition
and see what happens. There is nothing to lose in trying it.

What I see happening is people going to doctors and being given
expensive and dangerous pills to treat it with little or no relief and
no prospects of actually being cured.

TC

So what kind of nutrition/diet helps autoimmune disease?? Something
like sle (systemic lupus) could possibly be caused by an allergy trigger
but there is no known diet that I know of is effective for sle. Same for
the host of other autoimmune disorders. But stating "to treat it with
nutrition" sounds vague to me.

And iritis itself has to treated with topical steroids or the results can
be devastating.

frank