Uveitis

I’ve been struggling with uveitis for the last 17 years. It is an auto immune condition that causes inflammation of the uvea (the pigmented layer of the eye). Who knows what brought on this condition for me but I have my theory: one sunny summer day stupid me suntanned with cucumber slices over my eyes. The next morning I woke up with blurred vision, severe pain in the left eye, followed shortly after by the right eye. I immediately went to the A&E at Moorfields Eye Hospital - I was put on corticosteroid eye drops and was told to expect many more flare ups.

Typical me, I dived into huge amounts of research to look for an alternative to repeated bouts of steroid treatments. I discovered that by dramatically adjusting my diet and lifestyle I could minimise these horrific flare ups.

What has worked for me includes: a strict gluten and dairy free diet with no alcohol or vinegar, always keeping my eyes protected against even minimal amounts of wind and strong lights. Probiotics and vitamin D3 with K2 (unless I spend a lot of time in the sun) have become essential plus stress reduction with acupuncture & reflexology.

In the last 5 years I have become aware that meditation, having a positive outlook on life and becoming completely vegan have also done wonders for my eyes (and overall) health. Let’s not forget working on my sleep hygiene which you can see more about in my story highlights.

One product that I swear by, and use at the first sign of eye pain, is Oculoheel homeopathic eyedrops which I couldn’t recomend enough for anyone with eye problems.