Your eye troubles

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to address Sandy's problems with her eye. Sandy...I'm sure you

know this, but the Prednisone will cause the pressure in your eye to go up.

I have what they call Angular open and closed glaucoma. It's not the type of

glaucoma that I would have happen due to my diabetes.

In your eye you have this free flowing fluid. Look at it like a faucet turned

on and the fluid is flowing in your eye, but it drains off through a drain.

In my case the damn faucet is on full blast and the drain is clogged. What

happens then is the normal eye pressure of 15 goes up because there is no where

for this fluid to drain off. Mine went as high as 50+.

It all started with my right eye hurting like I had an eyelash in it. Felt like

sand and the first thing I thought was " Pink Eye " .

WARNING sign no. #1

Well this happened over the weekend and I kept flushing my eye out with saline.

Didn't seem to help. That Monday while driving to work (still dark at 6am) I

notice through my right eye that the headlight of the on coming cars had a blue

halo around them.

WARNING (MAJOR) sign no. #2

Well it continued to get bad. The pain and all and I couldn't see very well out

of my right eye.

WARNING sign No. 3

Was able to get an appointment and a quick referral to the eye doctor by 2:15pm

that same day. He started to work on me and he seemed in a panic after seeing

what the eye pressure was in my eyes. He started to put in all kinds of drops

and even got on the phone with someone out at the University teaching hospital.

He was able to bring the pressure down. However not to the normal range of 15.

I then was referral to a surgical eye doctor, but that took a couple of days.

In the mean time I had to go in every morning to the eye doctor I saw first to

make sure the eye pressure was down. You see if they don't get that pressure

down you can go blind...

Anyway to make this a little shorter, the other doctor I was sent to had to do

laser surgery where holes wire made in my irises in order for the fluid to have

a place to drain. I'm also on two different eye drops that I will be on for the

rest of my life.

So...If you are having problems with your eyes. and you are on Prednisone (which

can cause the pressure in your eyes to build up...your doctor should know that

one. my Rheumy did and stressed to tell my eye doctor and keep up on this) it

will cause the pressure to increase in your eyes.

What is happening to you makes me feel this is what is happening and the first

thing you need to do is find a good eye doctor. Oh, and one more thing. When

they check for the pressure in your eyes " DON'T " let them use those little hand

held devices since they are far from accurate. They did mine and it show normal

pressure...I pitch a fit so they used the machine one and dang if pressure in

one eye was 35 and the other 28.

Sharyn