PDA

View Full Version : Blurry Vision



LilyPony
04-13-2011, 12:29 AM
I have started developing very blurry vision, I think from the pred. It's been coming on slowly over the last few weeks and am to the point now where I think I need to get some reading glasses. It's equal in both eyes, not just my weggie eye.

If it is the pred, does this continue to worsen over time? Is something that resolves itself as you taper off the pred? Or does it cause permanent damage to the eye?

I'm trying to figure out if I should just grab some drugstore reading glasses and play it by ear or head to the eye doc yet again and plan to invest in some cute long-term glasses from the eye doc...

Psyborg
04-13-2011, 12:46 AM
I'd suggest seeing an eye doctor, but I'll say mine seem to fluctuate. Some days my vision is worse than others.

Sangye
04-13-2011, 01:20 AM
It's probably due to the pred and will go away as you taper. But to be on the safe side I suggest you see an eye doctor.

Lightwarrior
04-13-2011, 02:46 AM
Are your eyes dry? My vision has deteriorated to the point that I can't read a newspaper even with my glasses. I went to the ophthalmologist and he says everything is normal except I have dry eyes. I have been putting Thera tears in them several times a day, every time they feel dry and it has helped. The eye has to have enough fluid around it in order to see correctly. You should have an ophthalmologist check your eyes though because pred does have an impact, as does Methotrexate (I can't remember if you are on that)

LilyPony
04-13-2011, 06:14 AM
Are your eyes dry?

My wegs eye is horribly dry and I use artificial tears constantly, the other eye is fine. I have to cycle between a few different brands because they seem to lose effectiveness after a few days. The wegs did a number on that lacrimal gland. The other eye is fine though.

I was just at eye doc a month or so ago (every new dr wants me to see their own favorite) and all was fine but wasn't having any blurry stuff then. Every day I keep hoping to get a call from the JHU clinic but I guess no news is probably kind of good news about me not being terribly urgent! Guess I'll give it the rest of the week or so and then go back to one of the ones I've seen lately if I haven't heard anything. I figure JH will probably want me to see one of theirs so kind of hesitant to go too quick here. These co-pay's are awful - but so thankful I still have insurance!

Kathie28
04-13-2011, 10:51 AM
My vision was really blurry until coming down on the pred. I' m down to 30 mg now and it is improving.

drz
04-13-2011, 11:17 AM
Are your eyes dry? My vision has deteriorated to the point that I can't read a newspaper even with my glasses. I went to the ophthalmologist and he says everything is normal except I have dry eyes. I have been putting Thera tears in them several times a day, every time they feel dry and it has helped. The eye has to have enough fluid around it in order to see correctly. You should have an ophthalmologist check your eyes though because pred does have an impact, as does Methotrexate (I can't remember if you are on that)

I found out that my eye has an infection in it that cause excess tears and blurry vision. It is so heavy that it collects on my glasses. I am treating it now with antibiotic drops and will switch to Refresh eye drops to lubricate it after that. Eye doctor didn't know if got dry from infection or got infected because it was too dry. I also have another complication in my vision from fluctuating blood glucose levels which also causes blurry vision which fluctuates according to my BG levels. The prednisone also caused and may still be causing watery eyes that blur vision. That also seemed to fluctuate for unknown reasons.

pberggren1
04-13-2011, 11:18 AM
I found that when I am on the higher doses of pred, like 20 or more, my vision is a bit blurry. I especially notice when playing pool the balls are fuzzy around the edges and almost doubling up.

julia
04-13-2011, 01:51 PM
when I was on high doses of pred I had high blood glucose levels and had to take medication. I was happy when this helped the blurry vision.
I went to an opthamologist (I think just for routine check-up), he found the pred was causing glaucoma so I take drops for that. Hope to stop those soon.

The blurry vision was really annoying.

Chris G
04-14-2011, 12:59 AM
It's equal in both eyes, not just my weggie eye.

...
Lily - what kind of eye symptoms did/do you have? I recall you saying that you had a biopsy done on your eye - I'm wondering..... what exactly did they biopsy? The eyeball itself?

I had significant eye symptoms in 07/08 (eye lid swelling, scleritis, keratitis), no biopsy was done, as they were still clueless about what was wrong with me. They were on a wild goose chase looking for infection, etc.

LilyPony
04-14-2011, 01:59 AM
They biopsied just above my eyeball with an attempt for the lacrimal gland. It ended up just being a bunch of inflamed tissue that wasn't any particular part. My eyeball itself has no involvement though. It was severe swelling, dry eye, droopy eyelid, vision problems, etc. Basically the swelling above/behind the eye was compressing the nerve. It took going to literally dozens of eye doctors before I found one to agree to biospy. It was a doctor who specializes in pathology of the orbits, not just eyeball. All other eye docs only deal with eyeballs so they wouldn't touch it. It seems like they could biopsy around your eye and find something !

Chris G
04-14-2011, 02:20 AM
Thanks for the info. I always wondered whether the more severe swelling I had was wegs related. I haven't had that type of swelling since 2007/2008. It was the inner/nasal corner of my left eye, mostly upper eyelid, but lower was affected also - my eye was literally pinched closed in the corner. For a long time, they assumed it was sinus related - sinus infections - and treated me with antibiotics. Each time, the swelling would go down the next day, and I'd be left with what looked like a black eye, which would fade away in the days that followed. These episodes of swelling occurred out of the blue, and I think, are the very first real weg symptom that I can put my finger on, other than chronic sinusitus over the years.

As I said, they assumed it was infection, and then after many rounds of antibiotics and eye drops, I had a CT - looking for orbital cellulitis. Of course, there was none. No one offered to biopsy the tissue. Did your eye biopsy confirm WG? I wonder whether I could have had a diagnosis years earlier.

In about March of 08, all my symptoms cleared up, and the wegs went quiet until June 2010. This time around, I don't have most of the eye symptoms I had then, but I have developed slightly puffy eyelids - still on the nasal side - both eyes. And my eyes are SOOO dry!! I use restasis, and I can't even say that it helps.

LilyPony
04-14-2011, 10:46 AM
Sounds so similar to mine... The biopsy actually didn't confirm wegs, which has been the biggest uphill battle for me. Even more frustrating is being minutes away from two major university hospitals (Duke & UNC) with supposedly strong vasculitis experts and still no appropriate treatment because I'm not sick enough and I dont' fit into a proper diagnostic box. My biopsy report said "no recognizable tissue" and rattled off different types of inflammatory cells that showed "intense vasculitis".

Before th biopsy I had countless bouts of pred and antibiotics and always helped but never resolved. And I looked like I'd been in a nasty fight for probably a year with the black eye mess.

Restasis did nothing for me. I think it's good stuff for people with your typical dry eye. With me, the vasculitis is in the lacrimal gland and I believe it's in the ductwork that brings the tears to my eye. So there's no tears to be made on most days and those that are made can't get there at all. I change eye drops every few days because they seem to work better when my eyes had a while off from that formula. I switch between Blink, Soothe, and Visene Dry Eye Relief. I was assured they are safe to use literally as often as I want to. They're just gentle lubricants and not drugs.

Another thing that the eye doc insisted would help was to have a "plug" put in my tear duct. It was not pleasant to have done but over quickly and I can't honestly say it hurt. They do fall out though. Most people hold them for weeks or months, mine only lasted a few days before it popped out. My eye was raw when it was put in so never got a chance to see if it really made much difference.

drz
04-14-2011, 12:14 PM
Lily - what kind of eye symptoms did/do you have? I recall you saying that you had a biopsy done on your eye - I'm wondering..... what exactly did they biopsy? The eyeball itself?

I had significant eye symptoms in 07/08 (eye lid swelling, scleritis, keratitis), no biopsy was done, as they were still clueless about what was wrong with me. They were on a wild goose chase looking for infection, etc.

Were they able to treat it successfully? Did they use steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs?

beeinformed
04-15-2011, 06:02 PM
Hi!

I have a question for both LilyPony and Chris G:

A few years ago,I had an severe acute inflammatory attack of my tear glands/tear ducts where I experienced (like you) eyelid swelling (as well as redness, pain, etc.) and at the same time I was experiencing these symptoms, my eyes went from mild dry eyes to very severe dry eyes (bone dry as my eye doctor would say!) within a period of twenty four hours.

My question to you both is: did also develop the dry eyes you are experiencing now when your eyelid swelling occurred/and or just right afterwards (like I did)?

Also, has your eye doctor ever suggested trying cyclosporine eyedrops (done by a compounding pharmacy), that are up to four times stronger than Restasis, given two to four times a day? Perhaps this might be of some help with the symptoms of dry eyes,so you might wish to consult your doctor about this.

Thanks for sharing your stories and I look forward to hearing your responses!

LilyPony
04-15-2011, 08:58 PM
My question to you both is: did also develop the dry eyes you are experiencing now when your eyelid swelling occurred/and or just right afterwards (like I did)?

My dry eye developed well after mine started, easily years after. But, my eye was so severely swollen that it was shut or nearly shut for so long it would have been hard to dry out! When the swelling went down I was getting into remission and was fine. Wasn't until I stopped the bactrim for my first pregnancy that the severe dry eye started. But dry eye and vision changes are extremely common with pregnancy, so that was dismissed by the doctors - -along with all the other things that I know know were from wegs worsening. Now, I have no eye swelling at all, just a droopy eyelid and a hollow area above the eye so it looks like a skeleton eye.



Also, has your eye doctor ever suggested trying cyclosporine eyedrops (done by a compounding pharmacy), that are up to four times stronger than Restasis, given two to four times a day? Perhaps this might be of some help with the symptoms of dry eyes,so you might wish to consult your doctor about this.
It was never brought up and it's very interesting. The restasis did nothing, not even the teeniest bit of relief so I suppose it wasn't even considered. But then again, they probably all think I'm making up the severity though. Like you can make up your eyeball being covered with little white "hangnails"...

Chris G
04-15-2011, 11:04 PM
Were they able to treat it successfully? Did they use steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs?

No, it was never treated successfully. Early on, it would come and go in a matter of a day or 2. Sometimes so fast, that I didn't have time to get to the doctor. Later, as I mentioned the doc assumed I had a sinus infection, and/or severe allergies, as i would also have severe nasal stuffiness on the left side, accompanying the left eye swelling. During this time period, I was also having shortness of breath, and once or twice, completely lost my voice. Of course, all of this was assumed to be either severe allergies & asthma or sinus infections.

Anyhow, when my GP sent me to an opthalmologist, they had me on both steroid drops and antibiotic ointment. None of that did a darn thing. Then, in March/April of 08, all my symptoms disappeared, until June 2010. When my WG symptoms resurfaced last year, I thankfully did not have any eye involvement.

When I look back at my notes from 07/08, I see that ONE time during the worst of my symptoms, my GP put me on a Medrol Dose pack, and all of my symptoms cleared up (briefly). I wish I'd known then, what that meant.

Chris G
04-15-2011, 11:17 PM
I have a question for both LilyPony and Chris G:

My question to you both is: did also develop the dry eyes you are experiencing now when your eyelid swelling occurred/and or just right afterwards (like I did)?

Also, has your eye doctor ever suggested trying cyclosporine eyedrops (done by a compounding pharmacy), that are up to four times stronger than Restasis, given two to four times a day? Perhaps this might be of some help with the symptoms of dry eyes,so you might wish to consult your doctor about this.

I had lasik done on my eyes on 2001. After that my eyes were very dry, which is not unusual after lasik. When the WG eye symptoms occurred in 07/08, I can't say that I really noticed MORE dryness than I had as a result of the lasik.

However, in the last year or two, they seemed to be a bit more dry than they had been before. I also have had a severely dry mouth for the last year or so. I was tested for Sjogren's, and that came back negative.

My eyes and mouth seem to be a little less dry now, and I'm truly not sure why. Could it be that my WG drugs are helping? Does anyone know whether dry mouth can be a symptom of WG? Because I know I don't have Sjogren's, and I have no other explanation for it.

beeinformed
04-20-2011, 10:49 AM
My dry eye developed well after mine started, easily years after. But, my eye was so severely swollen that it was shut or nearly shut for so long it would have been hard to dry out! When the swelling went down I was getting into remission and was fine. Wasn't until I stopped the bactrim for my first pregnancy that the severe dry eye started. But dry eye and vision changes are extremely common with pregnancy, so that was dismissed by the doctors - -along with all the other things that I know know were from wegs worsening. Now, I have no eye swelling at all, just a droopy eyelid and a hollow area above the eye so it looks like a skeleton eye.


It was never brought up and it's very interesting. The restasis did nothing, not even the teeniest bit of relief so I suppose it wasn't even considered. But then again, they probably all think I'm making up the severity though. Like you can make up your eyeball being covered with little white "hangnails"...

Hi!

Thanks LilyPony for sharing your story with me! How are your eyes feeling now? Are they the same or a little less dry?

By the way, have you ever been seen by an ocular immunologist (treats inflammatory diseases of the eye)? I've been seeing one for the past several years and I am fortunate to have a very knowledgeable and caring doctor. It took me a few months after I had the acute inflammatory attack in my eyes to find him and was so happy that I did.

beeinformed
04-20-2011, 11:03 AM
I had lasik done on my eyes on 2001. After that my eyes were very dry, which is not unusual after lasik. When the WG eye symptoms occurred in 07/08, I can't say that I really noticed MORE dryness than I had as a result of the lasik.

However, in the last year or two, they seemed to be a bit more dry than they had been before. I also have had a severely dry mouth for the last year or so. I was tested for Sjogren's, and that came back negative.

My eyes and mouth seem to be a little less dry now, and I'm truly not sure why. Could it be that my WG drugs are helping? Does anyone know whether dry mouth can be a symptom of WG? Because I know I don't have Sjogren's, and I have no other explanation for it.

Hi!

Thanks Chris for sharing your story with me! I know that Sjogren's can cause dry mouth and dry eyes and that the specific blood tests (SS-A and SS-B) and/or lip biopsy are done to determine if you have Sjogren's. I 'v read that sometimes, it takes a few years for the blood test results to show up positive. So it might be a good idea to have your doctor test you for the Sjogren's antibodies blood test, every once in a while.

pwc51
04-26-2011, 10:32 PM
My vision has become blurry over th past couple of months talking with my consultant it could well have been down to the very high pulses of steroids, in addition to the pred. However, as the pulses finished some time ago and the pred is coming down - almost at 12.5 now - we decided that an eye test was in order.

Had that today - no sign of cataracts or disease in the eye but blurriness is down to a massive change in my short sightedness from -8.25 to -11.25.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what may have caused such a massive change in such a relatively short space of time. Even if it had changed that much in the year since my last eye test it would have been bad but I am positive the change has been in a much shorter period. Any thoughts on the stability or reversibility of this? ! don't want to invest in new glasses only to find them useless in a month or so!

Red
04-26-2011, 10:56 PM
My eye put me on protopic for eyeritis anybody heard of protopic instead of pred drops witch cause glocoma