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Original poster

Am very worried I have glaucoma - please help!

95 replies

hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 15:02

I was put on some meds for migraines a couple of weeks ago. My neurologist warned me that in very very few people, in their first month of being on the meds they came down with glaucoma, they got very bad pain in their eyes. He said if this happens stop taking them and get yourself straight to an eye doctor.

Well guess what its happened! It has been building a week or so but I have not stopped taking the meds simply because I get migraines!! My eyes hurt a lot anyway!! And I am supposed to wear glasses and havent for a while. I dont have any anymore and keep meaning to get an eye appointment. So I have been sure that those two things are what is causing the eye pain. But today I can think of nothing else. It is so sharp and just constant and there. I am phoning around all the eye places I can trying to get in to get an appointment and obviously wont be taking the meds today. But I am really scared.

OP posts:
insertwittynicknameHERE · 18/03/2009 19:05

If you are still in pain go to A&E, they will refer you to an ophthalmologist (they have done for me in the past as my ophthalmologist isn't local to me)

I don't want to scare you but it is so important you get glaucoma treated ASAP, you don't want to loose your sight.

Lizzylou · 18/03/2009 19:09

As soon as the Opticians do a pressure test (I have one everytime I have my eyes tested) you will know one way or another, so try not to fret.
I suffer from headaches and migraines and often find that my eyes ache as well when I get them, IYSWIM. It may be nothing, so please don't worry, if it is glaucoma it is completely treatable. My brother had an op on his eye at the age of 11 (his birthmark runs through his eye which caused it) and it was an overnight stay, which may have been because of his age and anaethestic.

Please don't worry and try and get a pressure test tomorrow asap.

Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 19:59

I have just talked to DH about him maybe taking tomorrow off - the idea of sitting in a chair having an eye test with DS who is ASD and all the breakable equipment and glasses fills me with dread. And if I strap him in the buggy he will likely scream the place down which isnt much better. (I hasten to add he is a lovely child, see profile pic for proof!!) just think bull in china shop.

god no I dont want to lose my sight. I am so stupidly confused!! ugh. I will definitely not leave it later than tomorrow am to get tested but if I go tonight I just dont know how I will get there and the hassle it will cause. I know my sight is worth it but if it isnt glaucoma I will feel so bad about it.

OP posts:
insertwittynicknameHERE · 18/03/2009 20:20

I completely get where you are coming from, sounds like it is better for you all round to wait till tomorrow morning.

If you have any questions re the glaucoma, ask away I have had it for as long as I can remember, I don't know it all by any longs shot but can answer your q's re the living with it side.

chipmonkey · 18/03/2009 20:26

hidtl, I have managed to conduct many an eye examination with a screaming kicking infant in the background and it makes no difference to me, I just have to raise my voice a little. And the eye pressure check takes half a minute, ophthalmoscopy takes 2 minutes max so we are not talking about huge amounts of time here.
Do you know the name of the medication you are taking which might have this side-effect?

Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 20:56

the medication is topiramate, chipmonkey. Not to be cheeky but if you see this message could you answer it as soon as you can? We finally got DS in bed so now I am free to go to bed myself and as my eyes really hurt I want to take my co-codomal and put my eye mask on and go to sleep but I would be very interested to hear if you know anything of this medicine before I do, it might take a weight off my mind who knows.

insertwittynickname, does it help when you close your eyes and press down a little?

OP posts:
jabberwocky · 18/03/2009 21:03

I have had a patient with this reaction to topamax. She also had acute onset of myopia which was actually her chief complaint and made her realize something was wrong. I don't know the UK protocol but in the US we generally do laser surgery right away to relieve the pressure in a case of glaucoma due to secondary angle closure. You'll need to go in to get your pressure checked if you suspect you are having this side effect. If it is indeed angle closure the sooner you are checked the better.

Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 21:07

oh are you in the US jabber? I am originally from US, have been here 9 years.

Sorry my head & eyes hurt, I am going to go to bed. I think I will have DH read this thread and see what he thinks. The thing is the only way for me to get to hospital right now is to call an ambulance and I just worry it isnt emergency enough for that. Trust me I call ambulances when they are needed. I have done twice in the last year. But what if my eyes hurt because I am having a weird migraine? I mean I have been getting them since I was 7 so who knows. I just dont know.

DH is staying home tomorrow to help out.

OP posts:
Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 21:08

sorry meant to say thank you and I am going to go lie down now I really want to close my eyes. I promise I will post with whatever happens ASAP. Anyway DH might post while I am lying down he does sometimes.

OP posts:
jabberwocky · 18/03/2009 21:12

I did not realize you were from the US. I think I'm one of the few Americans living in the US who posts on MN.

Does this seem different from your typical migraine HA though?

chipmonkey · 18/03/2009 21:16

Right, well I have been doing a little background research myself in the meantime and it would appear that the type of glaucoma which can occur is acute angle-closure glaucoma. However this apparently resolves immediately on stopping the medication.

Symptoms of angle closure glaucoma are blurred vision, haloes around lights and severe pain and redness in the eyes. But that would be a very severe attack and if you haven't taken the meds I would think that would be unlikely.

Also, get your dh to have a look at your pupils now If they are round and equal in size, then it would be unlikely to be angle-closure glaucoma

The only thing that would concern me a little is that most people who have an attack of acute glaucoma tend to have it at night as the pupil enlarges in the dark and "bunches up" at the edges causing a blockage. So if you do wake up and the pain is more severe than it is now, get your dh to drive you to an eye casualty department. But I have to say that this scenario sounds very unlikely as the angle closure would NOT be for the usual reason i.e having a shallow anterior chamber ( front part of the eye) but by medication which you have now stopped taking.

But I do think that it sounds like you need to get yourself to an optometrist or eye casualty in the morning to have this checked out. At the very least you need an eye pressure check but some of your symptoms could also be because of severe eye strain and it may be that glasses will help that. And I would contact the neurologist again about the eye sympoms as it may be that he will want to have your eye pressures monitored if you are going to continue to take the meds.

HTH
chip XX

chipmonkey · 18/03/2009 21:18

Cross-posts with jabberwocky!

jabberwocky · 18/03/2009 21:19

I think the acute myopia will reverse but my patient was on several emergency type oral meds for a few hours then had the laser treatment. I had to fill out a post-marketing report on the incident as they were still gathering data at the time. For some reason these symptoms didn't show up in the initial clinical trials.

chipmonkey · 18/03/2009 21:23

Jabber, just wondering, is it perhaps just patients who already have a shallow AC who develop angle-closure as a result of these meds or is it more random than that?

Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 21:35

hi there
DH of hidtl here - she has told me to post that her eye pain is worse now but she has a migraine now so it could be exacerbated by that
she has an astigmatism and had glasses for that but hasn't worn glasses in years
I have just checked her eyes and the pupils are round and equal

she took the last topiramate this morning with breakfast and won't take them again unless told to by a specialist

opinions?

OP posts:
jabberwocky · 18/03/2009 21:37

Good question! I was just discussing this whole phenomenom with a group of docs over dinner a couple of weeks ago. From what I understand it's pretty randon but then I don't know how many of these patients had previous charts to compare to. My patient, of course, wandered in about 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon and had never been a patient at the clinic previously.

Cue frantic staff...

jabberwocky · 18/03/2009 21:38

Hard to say here's dh. You can also have a HA with a glaucoma attack making it difficult to impossible to tell which is which.

wannaBe · 18/03/2009 21:41

I have glaucoma brought on by complicated cateracts... or at least that's the theory...

Funny you should mention pain being worse in the morning though - when I was in pain over christmas (and it was excruciating) I would go to bed in pain but bearable enough to sleep and wake up in absolute agony. I just put it down to the painkillers having warn off...

Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 21:42

so basically if pain worsens go to A&E
if it stays the same or lessens, HIDTL should sleep and go to Optician first thing in AM

Does that sounds right?

OP posts:
Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 21:44

hidtl is now terrified that she will be blind by the morning as it's now too late for anything to be done
how can i put her at ease?

OP posts:
wannaBe · 18/03/2009 21:45

has she taken any pain medication?

ibuprophen is good because it's also an anti inflamatory, and a sudden pressure spike can cause some inflamation in the eye.

Are her eyes red at all?

Original poster
hereidrawtheline · 18/03/2009 21:49

she's taken co-codomol and just taken ibuprofen too and is flat out in bed

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 18/03/2009 21:51

OK, I think you should bring her to A+E now if you can. I don't like the sound of the eye pain being worse. If it is acute glaucoma it should be treated and CAN be treated by any eye department as they are equipped to deal with ocular emergencies 24/7.
If it is not acute glaucoma but just a headache, her mind will be at rest, OK you will have had an unecessary trip to A +E but in the grand scheme of things that's nothing.

Is there an eye hospital near you, or a big hospital with a good eye department?

jabberwocky · 18/03/2009 21:54

I agree with chipmonkey.

wannaBe · 18/03/2009 21:54

where abouts in the country are you?

How do her eyes look? any redness? any watering?

I've had aqute eye pain and there's nothing in the world like it. In my case I'm already blind so no loss of sight issues there, but the pain alone is debilitating.

But she needs to be seen IMO.