[Anonymous March 20, 1999 at 2:02 pm Post count: 93172]

#1048006

Hi Joan,

I had the eye radiation treatments too. I think that stopped my
eye progression too. However, I suffered with major eye pain
after that. Mine was due to my upper eye lids retracting. From
what you said in your post sounds like what I was experiencing
from my eyes being so exposed and this caused me the dry eyes
problem. Gosh, I stayed in big pain. I wouldn’t wish that on my
worst enemy! Now I am better. I had the eye radiation in the
summer of 97 and the upper eye lid surgery in November 97. Once
I got those new eye lids I felt like a new woman! I believe my
optho has his own way of doing the eye lids and mine have been
fixed.

Gwen1 has a number of posts on the BB that talk about the eye
radiation treatments. Maybe it just takes a while for the really
good effects of the treatments to show up. Maybe it just takes
time for things to get better.

For sure I can relate to the pain of it all. Since your doctor
has released you for the eye radiation part I would hope he will
think of something to get rid of the pain for you too. Is he an
optho that specializes in the eye disease portion of the Graves’
Disease? Ummm, something to think about.

If you want to chat about it just drop me an e-mail. I have a
number of web sites that talk about the Graves’ Eye Disease I
could send your way too.

Take Care,
Michele B.
BeBeBoss@aol.com

[Anonymous April 7, 2008 at 10:54 am Post count: 93172]

#1143316

Hi everyone. I’ve been reading the comments at this site for awhile, but haven’t posted until now. I had a fatty decompression on one eye approximately 3 years ago, and more recently a bony decompression on the same side about 4 months ago. Unfortunately I’ve been left with some double vision when looking up and also when looking to the right. I’ve now seen an eye muscle specialist just once and he’s prescribed prisms for my glasses, which haven’t come in yet, but I have a couple of questions. Will the prisms actually help adjust the eye into the correct position or just help me see better? One eye is a bit lower than the other and I was wondering if anyone has this after decompression to. I’m really unhappy with the way my eye looks now. One side is lower than the other and it’s really obvious that the fat was removed from one side and not the other. Does anyone else look so asymmetrical too? My one upper lid is still retracted also and the doctor said it would look better after he was able to adjust it, but wanted me to see the muscle specialist first. If anyone else has had this experience, does it really help to adjust the lid or am I destined to look like this forever?

I’ve also been reading that Botox can sometimes help with slight muscle problems. Has anyone else had this and would you be willing to share your experience with me? Muscle surgery kind of freaks me out as the dr. said there are risks involved, especially when my adjustment would be very slight, but the unevenness really bothers me and is especially noticeable in photos.

Thanks for any comments. I appreciate hearing from others with these same problems. I’ve had Graves disease for over 10 years now, and in hindsight had the eye problems before I was diagnosed, then they went away and stayed away until about 4 years ago, when they came back.

Sue

[Anonymous April 7, 2008 at 1:13 pm Post count: 93172]

#1143317

Hi, Sue:

I cannot answer all of your questions, so others will have to contribute responses as well.

But as for the prisms: they adjust the light rays going to the eye to compensate for the misalignment. I do not believe that they do anything to the muscles themselves. We get double vision when the eye muscles cannot focus both eyes on the exact same spot. When one eye is off kilter, it is “looking” at a point slightly off from what the other eye is looking at. This creates a doubling when the brain interprets what the eyes are seeing. The prisms simply bend the light coming into the eyes in such a way that the focus is, once again, on the same point.

There is a surgery — one that is done under a local anesthetic — that adjusts for the misalignment caused by decompression surgeries. It is called “strabismus” surgery. With this surgery, the doctor adjusts “ties” along the eye muscles, which essentially pull the eye back into alignment. You need to be “awake” enough to tell the surgeon whether he/she has adjusted things properly. It is not, apparently, a surgery that requires much recovery time, and, as I said, it is done only with a local anesthetic.

I hope others will answer the questions I cannot. And I hope this information is clear.

Bobbi — NGDF Online Facilitator

[Anonymous April 7, 2008 at 1:18 pm Post count: 93172]

#1143318

Hi Sue,

I have the prisms in my glasses and they help a great deal. I have had a three wall decompression on each eye, followed up three years later by orbital radiation.

The prisms help me in primary gaze ( looking straight ahead) but I still have double vision looking up and to the left. But your brain and you will get used to that.

While you are going through the prisms, check for eye glass retailers that will change your prescription for free if there is a change in a year. I had to go through three prism changes in a year for two years running. I had to pay for the prisms’ but the lenses were free and it saved me a ton of money.

Jake George
On-line Facilitator

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