Dealing with episcleritis or scleritis?

I’ve been wrestling with this for over a month now. I’ve been using these eye drops as prescribed by my ophthalmologist, but the second I stop the treatment, the symptoms rush right back in within twenty-four hours. My eyes start tearing up again, everything gets blurry, and there's this persistent pain whenever I move my eyes or look at light—and I mean it hurts like crazy. I’m basically living on Advil and wandering around my house wearing sunglasses just to cope 🙄
Whenever I see the eye doctor, they just tell me to extend the therapy for another week

At this point, it feels like if these Maxidex drops don't do the trick, nothing will
Every single time we talk, the doctors mention needing "further testing" with an immunologist, but I can't seem to get a referral to actually see one. So far, I've had two failed attempts at trying to taper off these drops without everything falling apart
The warning label on the bottle says you shouldn't use them long-term, yet here I am in my sixth week, and I’m terrified they’re going to tell me to keep going for several more 😢

Has anyone else gone through this? If so, how long did it take before you finally got those follow-up tests done or received a definitive diagnosis?

As far as I know, I don't have any autoimmune diseases
And I don't wear contact lenses

wearybison8 said:I’ve been struggling with this for over a month now—using drops around my eye—and the moment I stop the treatment (per my ophthalmologist's advice, of course), the tearing returns within 24 hours. It's blurry, and there's pain when I move my eyes or look at light—it hurts like crazy, honestly—so I'm constantly popping Ibuprofen and walking around the house in sunglasses. 🙄
I went back to the eye doctor, and they just extended the prescription for another week.

It feels like if these Maxidex drops don't fix it by now, they won't.
Every time I visit, the doctors mention "further testing" with an immunologist, but they haven't actually sent me for anything yet—I've already had two failed attempts at tapering off the drops.
The label warns against long-term use, but I'm already six weeks in and terrified they'll extend it even longer. 😢

Has anyone else dealt with this? Specifically, how long did it take before you finally got those follow-up tests or received a diagnosis?

As far as I know, I don't have any autoimmune diseases.
I don't wear contact lenses.

A lot of autoimmune conditions manifest through ocular changes—think chronic conjunctivitis, episcleritis, or uveitis. Because of that, I would definitely suggest pushing for a thorough immunological workup.

Are you experiencing anything else besides the eye issues... maybe joint pain or skin changes?

Sandra Vaughn50 said:A wide spectrum of autoimmune conditions can manifest through ocular changes, ranging from chronic conjunctivitis to episcleritis or iridocyclitis. Given those symptoms, I would strongly suggest undergoing a comprehensive immunological workup to get a clearer picture.

Are you experiencing any other issues outside of your eyes... perhaps joint pain or skin irregularities?

I’m still digging through the ophthalmology literature (though they haven't referred me to a specialist just yet)

I don't really have any other symptoms to report, aside from my knees popping occasionally, but I tend to chalk that up to just getting older or maybe some poor posture.🤷