Has anyone heard of orbital myositis?

[presh]

I've been doing so much research about my symptoms (I know it can be a bad thing to read internet stuff!) and I came across orbital myositis. Does anyone have any experience with this??

Symptoms are eyelid swelling & edema, severe eye pain (me). Pain releived by steroids (me). Can come back if not treated with steroids for long enough (me). Oftentimes occurs after an upper respiratory tract infection (me).

Has anyone had experience with this?

(I also came acrossed a great article on corneal neuralgia and how it mimics dry eye syndrome).

[y-gwair]

I'm having terrible problems with oedema at the moment, which started with my eyelids. I have seen a number of different specialists and have not yet got to the bottom of it. I can't really comment on orbital myositis, as it's probably just one of many conditions that can have quite similar symptoms.

What I would say it that you need to see a doctor fairly promptly, as there are a number of conditions that can cause peri-orbital oedema, a couple of them quite serious, so you need to get it assessed properly. Oedema in the face can result in fluid escaping via the sinuses, mimicking symptoms of a streaming cold/sore throat, which is why you may have noticed these symptoms appearing together. That's not to say that it isn't orbital myositis, but that you would need to consult an ophthalmologist with expertise in inflammatory eye disease to assess it, and they would probably suggest some tests to rule out possible systemic causes before doing more specialised tests.

You mention steroids. Do you mean oral steroids (e.g. prednisolone tablets, which can actually cause oedema) or steroid eye drops/hydrocortisone cream? These should only be used with great caution under the supervision of a doctor because of the risk of glaucoma or the possibility of worsening some skin conditions.

I'd hold of on treating yourself until you have seen a doctor, run a few blood tests to check thyroid, kidney, liver function, immune system/inflammation etc, as there's a chance that inappropriate use of steroids might actually make your condition worse. Good luck.