Glaucoma and weight problems.

[Big an Bouncy]

Anyone suffer from Glaucoma or pressure in the eye ball and are over weight or diabetic?

 

[cazbandy]

I have pressure in left eye, which is going to be investigated...have an appointment in October with a barrage of tests, about 3 hours worth.

It was picked up by my optician a month ago, the reading was 2o and should be 17...this was after the puffer machine gave first reading on 32!! He sort out an older style machine which gave the 20 reading. He said it's borderline but needs looking at.

 

[Boblatina]

I do not have Glaucoma - but my OH is under observation for it because he has a strong family history of it. His mother and grandmother both have/had it. His mother was very good at keeping it in check and as long as she went to her opthalmic consultant regularly and uses her prescribed eye-drops it is fine.

His grandmother wasn't very good at keeping it monitored and there were a few occasions where her eye swelled and "blew" which was very painful.

I have been identified with increased pressure in the eye a couple of times but it did not continue (sent the very young optician into a complete tail spin though )

Simple excess weight isn't, of itself, a cause of glaucoma but severe diabetic retinopathy (sp) is which is one of the reasons why diabetics need theri eyesight monitoring so closely. Also genetics play a very big (the biggest?) part too - your family history is very crucial and your racial background plays a very big part to (eg Afro Carribean and Asian people have a higher instance of Glaucoma)

And to make things even worse, WOMEN are more prone to it than men!

I am a diabetic and have (slight) diabetic retinal damage. I go to see my consultant opthalmologist ever 6 to 9 months who keeps it under observation. About the time it was diagnosed my diabetes wasn't that well controlled hence the damage (which I wasn't aware of ) but my control is much better now and there hasn't been any further damage observed for the past 2 years. So, touch wood, everything is OK. (Next appointment in January)

love

TillyBob

 

[Lady_in_London]

A gastric bypass often reduces or elimates type 2 diabetes, and reduces the need for Insulin in type 1.

 

[Big an Bouncy]

Thanks guys.x

 

[farzu]

Hi,
I have type 2 diabetic and last month when i had the appointment with the optician she reffered me to the specialist as she found something abnormal with my left eye. when i got the appointment letter i saw it was with the gloucoma specialist. I'm scared now, will it effect the surgery?

 

[thinkbethin]

Sorry can't help. I'm diebetic and had my annual eye test last week. The optician said all was fine apart from some dots which meant my sugar levels were too highx

 

[Boblatina]

Hi,
I have type 2 diabetic and last month when i had the appointment with the optician she reffered me to the specialist as she found something abnormal with my left eye. when i got the appointment letter i saw it was with the gloucoma specialist. I'm scared now, will it effect the surgery?

Don't be scared. Opticians are very good at detecting the earliest stages of trouble stemming from diabetes or glaucoma. They are really brilliant but they do tend to err on the side of caution.

If you have an appointment with the opthalmologist consultant's team, the procedure is very quick and non-invasive. (The team might be referred to as the Glaucoma team because that is the most common thing the team will be dealing with along with diabetic eye damage)

When you arrive, you will be given a very basic eye test by the nurse and then you will have drops put in your eyes to dilate the pupils so the doctor has a good view inside. They sting a bit but that is the worse thing.

After about 20-30 mins you will see the Dr (or the technician) who will either examine your eyes closely with a little hand-held lens (like the ones a jeweller uses) and/or take a photograph of the back of the eye and/or use a new machine that uses sonar to give a more 3D picture of the back of the eye. (As you are diabetic, you may have had the photographs of the back of your eyes done before - they are quite a regular thing)

One thing that I would say is that you should not drive there because your vision will be ****** for a couple of hours after the drops! (I also tend to feel a bit sleepy for the next few hours - either because of mild anaesthetic in the drops or just because I am a lazy mare!)

I have (slight) diabetic eye damage which they picked up very early - well before I ever noticed it (in fact I still don't notice it at all) It was caused by poor diabetic control then but it hasn't got worse since first diagnosis and they just keep a watch on it and I have an appointment every 6 or 9 months.

If it did start to get worse they would do laser surgery on the eye. This would be day surgery under a local and I think the procedure for glaucoma is similar (OH's grandmother was operated on a couple of times when her glaucoma went completely out of control and she was kept in for a day or so but she was in her 80s and had very poor health)

Do not worry. It is VERY unlikely to affect your surgery (and you would already be unable to see from that eye and/or in excruciating pain from it if they did need to perform surgery on the eye) but you do need to look after your eyes - as a diabetic eye care is one of the most important things to do (if not THE most important thing).

Hope that helps

love

TillyBob

 

[Gail-michelle]

Hi Farzu I dont think it would interfere with surgery at all. Oh by the way well done for shedding the pounds, Your goal weight seems a bit harsh though 7.5 stone , dont be to hard on yourself I am 5`2" and I look good at 9.0 -9.5 stone. Please dont take this the wrong way I mean well. But sometimes we set these goals then think oh what the hell and pile it back on. Anyway take care and nice to hear from you. Gail xx P.S Big & Bouncy sorry for bumping your thread.QUOTE=farzu;1947536]Hi,
I have type 2 diabetic and last month when i had the appointment with the optician she reffered me to the specialist as she found something abnormal with my left eye. when i got the appointment letter i saw it was with the gloucoma specialist. I'm scared now, will it effect the surgery?[/QUOTE]

 

[Big an Bouncy]

I have got an appointment for an MRI scan on the 18th september,both eyes with contrasts,whatever that means.I was borderline diabetic last year,perhaps I should get another test done.

 

[Gail-michelle]

Hi Big & Bouncy (that name tickles me every time I see it L.O.L) Ime sure you will be fine but best to be checked out all the same you are doing the right thing. Kind regards Gail

I have got an appointment for an MRI scan on the 18th september,both eyes with contrasts,whatever that means.I was borderline diabetic last year,perhaps I should get another test done.

 

[farzu]

Thanks ladies for all the info.

Bouncy - On my first eye test they did put the drop and took pictures of my eyes but found something at the back of my eye. it looked like a small bean and they were very confused about it. I wear glasses already from past 4 years.

Michelle - I set my goal to that low cause it will keep me get going i'm not at all good in hitting target.

 

[Boblatina]

On my first eye test they did put the drop and took pictures of my eyes but found something at the back of my eye. it looked like a small bean and they were very confused about it. I wear glasses already from past 4 years.

It could be lots and lots of different things and I am 99.9999999% sure it will be OK but, like I say, your optician will always err on the side of caution.

The other year, my OH was thinking of training to be a driving instructor. You need significantly better eyesight as an instructor than you do as a normal driver and he just couldn't quite reach the requirements. He went to our optician who did a full check on him including the eye dilation test and found what looked like a big tear in the back of his retina that looked, to him, like it was going to burst any moment.

He was sent to the opthalmologist as an emergency only to find out that it was a birth injury (Still affected his sight enough so that he couldn't train but he would never have known about it had the optician not been so thorough)

(God, my OH sounds like a right old crock the number of times his health seems to come up in my posts. He's actually rather healthy. Honest. )

love

TillyBob

 

[Big an Bouncy]

Yes, Gail the girls are big and most definately bouncy!!!