I have had "glaucoma like" high-ish eye pressure (23 R and 27 L) ever since Lyme knocked. For the 4 months on Rocephin, my eye pressure resided in completely normal zones (12 R & 11 L).
I've been on orals and my eye pressure is way up again. I'm doing mega-Amox and Malarone currently.
I'm not sure that I have Glaucoma, since the state of my overall inflammation influences my pressure readings.
I'm seeing an opthamologist regularly to track my readings. She is Lyme-aware (having treated her own for 10 years). She has not given me steroid drops or anything else in the year that she's been monitoring the situation.
My vision is worsening in that my lense prescriptions are changing a lot. I am also being treated for convergience insufficiency.
So, my question is: If someone had Glaucoma for real, would their eye pressure be lowered by IV Rocephin's inflammation improvement? Or is this strictly a Lymie even\t?
AND... once your vision get worse from this darn disease, can it ever improve again?
wiserforit
Posts: 508 | From Banks of the Hudson | Registered: Jul 2006
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
hi tori,
iceskater has a lot of experience with eyes; you can find her member no. by going to DIRECTORY at top,
go to left hand side and type in iceskater on that blank line, and get her membership no.
now do a SEARCH at top for eye problems medical topic line any date
type in iceskater's membership no. and read all her posts. her vision has not come back to date.
tincup has lost large majority of her eyesight.
go to treepatrol's and look for TINCUP'S EYE STORY; very lengthy and detailed.
tori, best wishes; glad you are staying on top of this with a lyme specialist.
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posted
wiseforit-the pressures that you posted are too high for you to be walking around with.
Eye inflammation can cause the pressure to go up. You should see a glaucoma specialist. I have glaucoma secondarry to inflammation which caused cataracts.
Damage from glaucoma comes from pressure on the optic nerve and it CANNOT be reversed.
Please see a glaucoma specialist. Eye drops for glaucoma can keep your pressure in a safe range so that you don't damamge your optic nerve.
Other problems, such as some damage from inflammation can be reversed.
-------------------- sunnymalibu Posts: 192 | From california | Registered: Jul 2006
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Glaucoma is optic nerve damage from your eye pressure being too high. Just because you have high pressures doesn't mean you have glaucoma. Your optic nerves may be strong and able to tolerate the pressure.
Average eye pressure is 16. Only one person in a hundred has pressures of 21 or greater.
The decision to treat is based on a number of factors. First, over 80% of all persons with glaucoma are over the age of 60. We think the optic nerves become weaker with age and are more easily destroyed by high pressure. Second, tests, such as visual fields and optic nerve scans, can show damage, if it's already there. Third, if you have a family history of glaucoma, that could influence your doctor's decision. Fourth, the longer your pressures are high and the higher they are, the greater the likelihood that your optic nerve eventually will be damaged. Fifth, in one study half of all patients with pressures of 30 or more experienced some vision loss within five years.
Most patients treated for glaucoma don't have it. They are ocular hypertensives. Pressure-lowering drugs are prescribed to prevent actual damage to the optic nerve, since once the disease process begins, it can be difficult to stop.
You ophthalmologist will be thinking about all the above before she makes the decision to treat.
Insofar as your vision changing, mine went through several weeks of increased farsightedness while I had Lyme, then returned to normal.
I tell you the above with the caveat that Lyme can cause ANYTHING to happen to your body.
posted
Jim-I think some of the information in your post is misleading. High eye pressure is very serious and needs immediate attention.
You stated in your post that "Glaucoma is optic nerve damage from your eye pressure being too high." Glaucoma is not the damage to the optic nerve. Glaucoma is increased intraocular pressure that, left untreated, can cause irreversiible damage to the optic nerve.
I don't mean to correct you but with something as serious as glaucoma the information should be correct and the seriousness not diminished. Thanks.
Glaucoma Glaucoma is a serious condition that involves an elevation in pressure inside the eye caused by a build-up of excess fluid. Left untreated, this pressure can impair vision by causing irreversible damage to the optic nerve and, eventually, blindness. Glaucoma results in peripheral vision loss, and is an especially dangerous eye condition because it frequently progresses without obvious symptoms. This is why it is often referred to as "the sneak thief of sight."
There is no cure for glaucoma, although it can be treated. The damage to the optic nerve from glaucoma cannot be reversed. However, lowering the pressure in the eye can prevent further damage to the optic nerve and further peripheral vision loss.
Still, early detection, appropriate and ongoing treatment, and the availability of specialized low vision and vision rehabilitation services can help people with glaucoma live productive and satisfying lives. Starting as early as age 35, a pressure check for glaucoma should be an essential part of your annual routine eye examination. A visual field test will detect peripheral vision loss.
-------------------- sunnymalibu Posts: 192 | From california | Registered: Jul 2006
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thank you for both of your thought-provoking replies!
I have been monitored for about a year and a half by a glaucoma specialist. She has performed all sorts of tests to watch the optic nerve as well as visual field scanning.
I don't know why she has not administered any sort of medication for the pressure. She is curious to see if the Babesia treatment affects the pressure.
Needless to say, I feel compelled to seek a second opinion! I am not underestimating the severity of the situation. Just trying to gather as much info as possible.
Thanks again for your input.
Best,
wiserforit
I'll keep you posted on the results.
Posts: 508 | From Banks of the Hudson | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
I am SO sorry to hear Lyme is hurting your eyes. i really hope nothing perminant occures.
I too have had many eye problems due to Lyme. I am legally blind because of it, which makes my life pretty difficult, and my mother much more difficult, for she has to drive me around to all my doctors apt and such.
I think I have different problems that what you are experiencing, otherwise I would be trying to help. I do want to wish you the best of luck with your eye health, and overall health!
I will be keeping you in my thoughts! Feel better babe!
I went for a second opinion to a glaucoma specialist in NYC.
The good news is that my pressure was down to 20 in each eye (from 23L & 27R). I passed the Field of Vision Test with flying colors. And, he said that my optic nerve looked in good shape. He said he didn't recommend medication at all. He said that the best move would be to really attack the darn spirochetes since they wreak havoc on the eye -- in other words, watch, wait and take my abx!
The bad news: I still have horrendous night vision, day time floaters, light sensitivity and fluctuations in my eye pressure. My vision continues to change.
SO... I got enough of a second opinion to feel a few days relief until I get wigged out about it again!
Thanks again for the support,
wiserforit
Posts: 508 | From Banks of the Hudson | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:He said that the best move would be to really attack the darn spirochetes since they wreak havoc on the eye
Yes.. as I have, sadly, been finding out for myself.
-------------------- ~Ro~
Don't wait for someone to take you under their wing. Find a good wing and climb up underneath it~ Frank C. Bucaro Posts: 80 | From Desert Southwest | Registered: Nov 2006
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