[Anonymous]

#1076511

Hi DebT

Boy can I relate. I had high pressure in my eyes and was put on Glacoma meds. I took different ones from you but the outcome should have been the same. Lower eye pressure. In my case the eye pressure was due to the compression of the eye and optic nerve by the muscles and fatty tissue.

I needed to have an orbital decompression (three wall) on each eye. My pressures went from 30 to 16 after the surgery. Now almost 8 years later my eye pressures have gone back up. They are in the mid twenties and I am back on glacoma meds. This time it looks like it really is glacoma.

See the new doctor and see if the pressure is due to the fluid build up in the eye or from compression of the eye by the muscles and fat. They can tell with an orbit CT of each eye and sinus and or a orbital ultrasound.

Let us know what is going on. I was in the same boat and would be interested in hearing what the new doc has to say about your pressures.

Jake George
On-line Facilitator
Co-author “Graves’ Disease In Our Own Words”

[Anonymous]

#1020255

Since February of this year, I have been having trouble with high pressure (28) in both eyes. Graves’ disease has been affecting my eyes for over two years now, but it has typically been characterized as “borderline” but never really serious. Some, but not a lot of double vision, mainly just lots of swelling above the eyes. I had been seeing a Graves’ eye specialist until March of this year when he left the clinic I went to. Since then I have been seeing a Glaucoma specialist. My eyes have not responded to the typical Glaucoma drugs (Azopt and Xalatan) and loss of vision is becoming a concern. At today’s appointment, the Glaucoma specialist more or less indicated there wasn’t anything she could do for me and referred me to another Graves’ Eye specialist about an hours drive from my house. The feeling I got from her was that none of the typical Glaucoma treatments would work for me and although the pressure in my eyes was high and causing concern about vision loss, I didn’t really have Glaucoma. Has anyone else out there had this problem? And if the typical Glaucoma treatments won’t work – what will? I’d love to hear any similar experiences anyone has had.

I can’t tell you how sick I am of this disease. Did two doses of RAI, in January and May of 2005 – really wish I had done the surgery instead. Still have a lot of lousy days.

[Anonymous]

#1076512

Hi Jake –
Thanks so much for your response. It helps to know I’m not alone (although I’m sorry you had to go through it) and the whole thing makes more sense to me now. I have had 2 cat scans of the eye orbits previously, but the last one was well over a year ago. I really thought I was going to get through this without having to go through the decompression surgery. Maybe the eyelid surgery, but that seemed minor in comparison. The eye doctor I had been seeing who specialized in Graves’ told me right before he left that I was out of the woods (and he had been real eager to do the decompression!) I see the new doctor on December 13th. I will let you know what I find out.

I can’t tell you how much this bulletin board has meant to me. Besides the information you can’t find any where else, it really helps to talk with other people who have gone through the same thing. And with so few people understanding the disease, it helps me be able to deal with that attitude so many people have that we are making a big deal out of nothing. Someone in a past posting said she often scanned the archives of the BB posts just to feel validated and for me that’s been so true. Thanks for all your help!
DebT

[Anonymous]

#1076513

Jake –
Sorry I hadn’t gotten back to you sooner re my appointment with the eye specialist and the high pressure (glaucoma?) in my eyes. If anyone ever doubted how drastically smoking can make a difference to the eyes of someone with Graves, they should listen to this . . . I finally got in to the eye specialist about the high pressure in my eyes (it had been at 28 for most of the year and none of the glaucoma drugs were bringing it down). I had been trying to quit smoking for quite some time, and managed to get it down to only 2-4 cigarettes a day for the month I had to wait to see the specialist and that was after a pack and a half a day habit for most of my life. I have been embarrassed to high heaven that I was still smoking, but what a tough habit to break and I think the Graves makes it even harder to give them up. Anyway, just getting the smoking down that much brought my eye pressure down from a 28 in both eyes to a 19 in one eye and a 20 in the other. Boy it makes a difference. And not just in the eyes, I think it’s going to take me a while to get adjusted, my whole body feels different. Unfortunately, the holidays are always a tough time for me, so I have only managed to keep it at the 2-4 smokes a day. But with the start of the new year, tomorrow (or tonight at midnight!) I take the plunge, I have to bite the bullet and get rid of the smokes once and for all, so wish me luck – I plan on being totally smoke free for 2007!

By the way, speaking of memory loss, has anyone been following the stories about propranolol and how it is being used to treat people with post traumatic stress because it supposedly changes the way our brains process memories?

Debbie

[Anonymous]

#1076514

Hi Deb,

Yes quiting smoking is a great thing to do for your health. The drop in pressure was not unexpected when you cut back in smoking. Here is to your continued life without smoking in it.

The memory thing? It gets better with time. When do you see the eye doc again?

Jake George
on-line Facilitator

[Author]

Posts