[Sue_Conard]

#1069717

Hello djay1…The reason I will be having surgery is to "realign" my eyes. My right eye superior rectus muscle is 3x the size of the left eye and therefore I have double vision as a result of the enlarged eye muscle. I have bags every morning from the fluid retention, but I had no idea that surgery would help with that condition as well. I hope and feel confident that a facilitator for this site will inform both of us if surgery does help the fluid condition around the eyes. I’m not ready for surgery as my measurements are changing each month and my specialist will not perform it until I have 6 mos. of consistent numbers.

[djay1]

#1019158

Hi Everyone,

I have been diagnosed with Graves for approx. three years. My right eye has always bulged a little. Most people do not notice it. I do have bags under both eyes and my eyesight is getting worse. I’ve been a little dizzy lately. I’ve been stable on 112 mg. of Synthroid now. My endo surprised me today with "it’s time to get muscle eye surgery to help your eyesight
and get rid of the bags under your eyes. I guess I never realized I would need surgery. What does this surgery involve?
Why do you have this surgery done, and who performs it? I would appreciate any input. Thanks.

[djay1]

#1069718

Hi Sue,

Thanks for your reply. What kind of specialist do you see for your eyes. My endo. could not give me a name, so he said to ask my opthalmologist who he would recommend for the surgery. Still not sure how involved this muscle eye surgery is???

[Sue_Conard]

#1069719

I"m very blessed, in that I see an Opthalmologist that has many years of research in GD and understands his patients. He measures my eyes EVERY MONTH; however, I haven’t had any bulging at all. He checks them for inflammation and listens to my symptoms. He would like me to go into remission prior to surgery, but I too have the bags under my eyes from fluid, I guess?? I noticed this morning that GD has decided to attack my left eye, I think. I woke up and had the greying appearance in my vision and my eye was "crusty". Once I got up for a while, my vision came around. Have you experienced the crustiness in your eyes? It’s almost like the sandman my mother told me about when I was young comes to see me.

[djay1]

#1069720

Yes, I too have some crusty eye days. Some mornings are very bad, but it seems my evenings are worse. I seem to notice my vision and the sandy feeling seems to get worse when I am tired. I’m going to call the opthamologist today and get the ball rolling. Thanks.

[Sue_Conard]

#1069721

djay1: Please let us know when your appt. is and how you are doing. Do you know if the bags under our eyes are from FLUID or if it’s FAT?? I don’t know that answer??

[Ski]

#1069722

It can depend on exactly what’s going on ~ sometimes it’s fluid, sometimes it’s fat. Sometimes being hypothyroid leads to accumulation of fluids, or TED can result in fatty tissue being pushed forward into the tissues surrounding the eyes. I think an ophthalmologist can probably sort it out after knowing your specific issues.

[Sue_Conard]

#1069723

Thanks Ski! I’ll be going to the Opthalmologist next Thursday and will ask him what my case is since I’m curious now and will report back!! Thanks so much for the info…

[azroses2322]

#1069724

Hi Djay1, I had the eye muscle surgery over a year ago. It was done by a pediatric eye surgeon who specializes in it. Look up Strabismus surgery online for more info. I had gotten to the point that I could not look up and my eyes were mis-aligned on the horizontal plane. I was surprised that it was a pediatric eye surgeon until they explained that even though most of the time there patients are children born with misaligned eyes, they treat adults when their eyes are affected by disease such as Graves or diabetes or stoke or by accidents. I saw the surgeon and I was scheduled for surgery in a week after seeing him. This surgery (both eyes) opened my range of vision tremendously — I could look up again and glance to the sides without getting dizzy, actually move my eyeballs — it cured the eye fatigue ( I had been to the point that I had to spend 12 -14 hours a day with my eyes shut down because they hurt so much with fatigue). Knowing that the children go through this made it a little easier. Once I "saw" the results, I was a believer, in the necessity and the benefits.

[alvin]

#1069725

I am 28yr old 6′ 195lb male!…diagnosed with HypoThyroid and Graves…End of 2007 I was 138lbs at 6′ i looked like a skeleton with big/bulging eyes! : ) My heart rate was at a 167 steady…couldn’t tie my shoes with out passing out almost, couldn’t pick up my daughter for more than a minute…my son- couldn’t ride bikes, couldn’t walk to the fridge at times. My eyes would hurt when in bright light, hot flashes constantly, mood swings/ irritability, weird/vivid dreams all the time, out of the ordinary thoughts, and absolutly no energy to do anything! And of course 50lb wight loss. Treatment Methamizole and Metaprolo i think, one for heart one for thyroid. Today 1 yr after diagnosis and treatment I am 200 lbs on average and everything excpet for my eyes are back to normal. I am starting to develop glaucome! Seems this comes with the Graves, due to the elevated preasure, but could also have been underlying for years prior to HT.

Question: Has anyone’s pertruding eye issue been corrected with medication or surgery?
I also have very puffy eyes now, maybe as a result of bulging..I still get slight pain behind my eyes and the side of my temples seems to be swollen ever since pertrusions started. Water does help! I drank it like crazy and for a few weeks, my issue seems to have gotten BETTER, but worsens quickly again. I want a perm fix. Any suggestions! I once considered my self an attractive man, now i hate looking in the mirror and seeing my eyes STARING back at me, when I smile that is when it’s worst. I look horrible, i know its shallow but i want to look as good as I once thought i did and get my confidence back, as i bet all of us do. I’m 28 i look like im 38 because of my eyes!

[alvin]

#1069726

This was before my Thyroid issue in 2005

BeforeHT.JPG (17.04 KiB) Viewed 762 times

untitled.JPG (6.42 KiB) Viewed 763 times

The above picture is recent…little blurry but you can see my eyes are very enlarged my bags are visible thru my glasses even! Just for visual..I’ll get a better recent pic so my eyes are more visible.

[Andros]

#1069727

Alvin……………hi! I can only share my experience. As you know, no two people have the identical condition nor do they react the same.

My eyes were so far out of the orbits that the corneas touched the lenses of the glasses. In fact, the corneas were bulged and I lost the vision in my left eye off and on.

So…………….I had 6 weeks of radiation (2000 RADS) to the eyes 3 times a week concurrent with Prednisone. Wow!! That stopped the infiltration dead in it’s tracks. I am so so fortunate. Then I had to wait 18 months for all the swelling that was going to go down to actually do that. Then the orbital decompressions, the Meuhlerectomy (eyelids) and so on.

I do have strabisimus but declined further surgery to correct that and I have prisms put in my lens of my glasses which correct that.

All in all, I am doing well but my peripheral vision is very limited. This all took place many years ago; around 1994.

I meant to add that before all this took place I did RAI which indeed made my eyes worse. Little was known at that time; or at least it was not known to me. Let me put it that way. If need be, surgery is the "better" option if you decide to get rid of that thyroid.

Lu Anne

[djay1]

#1069728

Hi Everyone,

I am so sorry for not getting back to everyone. It took a awhile to get into the Opthalmologist. I explained to him that the Endo thought I should have muscle eye surgery to help correct my vision and also get rid of the puffiness under my eyes.
He had no clue about this type of surgery. He basically said I need to live with this condition because the only eye muscle surgery he could think of was much to dangerous. It could cause blindness and he did not feel my eyes are that bad.
He was going to contact my Endo. I have not talked to the Endo yet. It’s back to square one. Sorry again for the delay.

[Ski]

#1069729

Oh my goodness ~ I hate to say it, but I think you should be seeing a different ophthalmologist. Not all of them are "up" on the corrective surgeries. Check the website http://www.asoprs.org for a doctor near you ~ these are ophthalmologists with special training in dealing with TED issues.

On another note ~ your endocrinologist may have seen many people in your circumstances, but your endo does not have the expertise necessary to give specific advice as to what surgery you should be having. Find a good ophthalmologist through that URL and start over.

[djay1]

#1069730

Thanks Ski. I have been wanting to switch ophthalmologist’s for awhile. It’s always so hard to start over, but I know I need to. My eyesight just keeps getting worse and I never get any answers. Thank you for the site.

[Author]

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