sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
I've only been on plaquenil (P)for about 2 weeks or so. i was very noncompliant with llmd's order to get a baseline vision test before beginning the P, which i now regret bigtime, but there it is.
over the past couple of days i have noticed a very significant decrease in eyesight- things near and far are incrasingly blurry, i almost certainly should not drive at night I miss so much, and i'm seeing weird flashes of color and pure white like lighting when i close my eyes.
anyone else have this from the plaquenil? i'm also on zith and malarone and a handful of other meds, but it has only been since throwing in the plaq that i have ever had problems with my eyesight.
or, any possiblity of herxing just in the eyes?
i'll call my llmd if i have to, but am afraid of a verbal spanking, or worse, that he tosses me as a patient because i have been so baaaaaaaaaaaad..
sos! dilly
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
I had all kinds of weird eye problems w/Lyme, double vision, difficulty focusing, etc. so I wouldn't be surprised if it's a herx.
Posts: 449 | From Pasadena, CA, usa | Registered: Aug 2005
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tabbytamer
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3159
posted
My eyes have been getting increasingly worse. I've been on Mepron/Zith/Art. My LLMD thinks it is from bug die off, but I wonder about the meds.
I was on Plaq a couple of years ago for six months--no problems with eyes. But, I did have a baseline exam done.
Probably not too late for you to get it done.
I would think 2 weeks is way too soon for Plaq damage to show up. But I'm no expert.
went to eye specialist to check eyees for lyme and diabetes plus regular check up.
was having blurred vision in 1 eye; she had me do cartoid ultrasound .... checking neck arteries; had stuff in there but not enough to have surgery at this time! fyi only.....
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Aniek
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Member # 5374
posted
The plaquenil damages takes years. The reason you get the baseline test is the damage is so gradual, you don't notice it happening. So 2 weeks is definitely too fast.
If there is a chance you will be on Plaquenil more than a year, you should really get the test and regular follow up tests.
You could be having a visual migraine, that is just really long. Do you see lights or flashes with your eyes open?
I had a lot of blurriness when I first started treatment. Drove my eye doctor crazy trying to figure it out. I discovered one culprit was vicodin. When I first started vicodin, it made my vision blurry particularly at night.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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dontlikeliver
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Member # 4749
posted
Yes, the Plaquenil damage apparently takes years, so my Optomestrist told me.
Posts: 2824 | From The Back of Beyond | Registered: Oct 2003
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sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
hi-
thanks for the replies. i'm not sure what to think.
DLL and Aniek, I thought too that it is supposed to take a long while for plaq to affect the eyes. i think i reassured someone else here about that once upon a time.
but it can't make sense to deny what is happening to my eyes to fit that notion which might be true for most, but not all?
reality is, my eyesight is getting much blurrier by the day. i can't imagine why else this would be so, though Betty, I expect that whatever DR I talk to next will put me through all the paces, perhap that one too.
i'm thinking it may be simple though. when i googled side-affects for plaquenil this am, one of the first hits mentions that deposits on corneas can build up as early as 3 weeks into plaq tx and cause blurriness.
I think i'm going to have to bite the bullet and talk to my llmd. the thought of losing anymore of my eyesight, even temporarily, is completely terrifying.
thanks again- dilly
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
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5dana8
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Member # 7935
posted
you could ask your doc if you could stop the plaq for a few days & see if your vision doesn't clear up. Don't know of any other way to know for sure if its a herx or from the plaq.
I took plaq for 3 years & did't have a problem. But ya never know-everyone's different.
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
thanks, Dana. i agree that sounds like the logical way to go.
tabby-
any other symptom on that regime that popped up when eye problems did? i am also having auditory hallucinations for the first time (especially repeatedly "hearing" my 4 year old yell "mommy" in distress, but he isn't really).
which leaves open the herx possibility too, i guess.
dilly
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
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Boomerang
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Member # 7979
posted
Hubby has vision problems. Lot of blurry vision. Doxy and Mino have both caused blurry vision problems for him.
Hope you feel better soon!
Posts: 1366 | From Southeast | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Dilly, no idea whether this will help you, but I save my eyes with Ultra mangosteen juice -- at healthfood stores and online. It's an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant juice. It takes down eye pain, blurry focus and light sensitivity. You can try a little bit at first, with a lot of water. And then you can do more if you tolerate it ok.
Posts: 13117 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
thanks for the support, Boomerang and Robin!
i'll give the mangosteen juice a try, Robin, if my llmd insisits that i keep taking the plaq.
i stopped taking it as of this am, at least for a few days. the eyesight thing was bad enough, but for the past 2 days i have been itchier than when i have had bad poison ivy, and i've had enough.
UNCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dilly
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
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tabbytamer
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3159
posted
quote:Originally posted by sometimesdilly: thanks, Dana. i agree that sounds like the logical way to go.
tabby-
any other symptom on that regime that popped up when eye problems did? i am also having auditory hallucinations for the first time (especially repeatedly "hearing" my 4 year old yell "mommy" in distress, but he isn't really).
which leaves open the herx possibility too, i guess.
dilly
The eye thing gets worse when I seem to be experiencing die off (brain pressure feeling headaches, stiff neck, ear ringing, depression, etc.).
My eye M.D. thinks it is "dry eye" so I'm putting stuff in my eyes at night as he recommended. But the eyes definately seem cycle into a "worse" for a while thing.
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