I mentioned that I am having my tear ducts cauterised in a couple of weeks and my specialist told me to go back to Specsavers ASAP to get my eyes checked again as they have deteriorated in the sense of long sight in my right eye.
Went to Specsavers today who confirmed an accelerated deterioration and I need glasses for reading with the prescription being mainly in the right eye and little in the left and I have a pair for computer work. He also wants me to see him twice a year and said although the recommendation for dilation is once a year, my eye specialist at the hospital is also happy for Specsavers to do their own reading every 6 months and then once a year get it done at the hospital.
I am alarmed at how my eyes are changing and it is down to the sjogrens, I know dry eye can give you blurred vision but its the rapid onset of my near vision in one eye that worries me, specialist said sjogrens can play havoc with ANY part of your body and mine is my eyes. (well my lungs are bloody sore but that hey ho)
I would urge anyone to get their eyes checked, not just for plaquenil damage but for your overall optical health. I am lucky my optician and eye specialist are working together for me, but I am still scared.
Anyone else have eye problems that are sjogrens and not plaquenil related?
It may not be Sjogren's at all. It is very, very normal for your eyesight to change as you get older...particularly in your 40's. It's probably less common for people to go their whole life and NOT need glasses at some point...Sjogren's or not.
Glad you're getting glasses though to help this change.
Quote from: anita on February 11, 2012, 06:52:51 AM
It may not be Sjogren's at all. It is very, very normal for your eyesight to change as you get older...particularly in your 40's. It's probably less common for people to go their whole life and NOT need glasses at some point...Sjogren's or not.
Glad you're getting glasses though to help this change.
That is what I thought initially but the eye specialist said the changes displayed are not consistent with the ageing process, he told me to get in to see the optician ASAP, I wasnt going to but some days I cant even focus and I have given up reading, so went along today.
He said it is happening too fast to the point I will need checking twice yearly at Specsavers and also the hospital. He said it can do other things to the eyes apart from the dry eye.
:(
Yes Corrella, nothing should be left to chance where the eyes are concerned.
I am glad your op and specialist are both working together. I have the very dry eyes, and am easily scared by it.
Let us know what happens... Dolly x
Were you ever on steroids? If so, you can have cataracts come on fast and hard. I imagine that the eye doctor would have noticed those, though.
Sharon
Corella..you are touching on a subject of great worry to me.
I have always been nearsighted and now that I am 54, I need bifocals. I wore contacts for 26 years and had to give them up d/t dry eye...eventually the dry eye became SJS.
With the eye dryness from SJS, taking Plaquenil and I have a "cupped nerve" on one of my eyes that the eye dr. says can be a precurser/sign of glaucoma, he has been watching it for 3 years now. Well, needless to say...losing my vision has been somewhat of a concern for me.
My sister has extreme near sightedness which has caused retinal detachment in her right eye, after 3 surgies to fix it..she is still blind in that eye. Her eye dr. said she is at risk for the same thing to happen to her left eye. She is brave...I would be a basket case. Sometimes when I see those "floaters" in my eyes, I'll think..my goodness have they doubled in numbers...which is not a good thing.
Keep up with your appts. and I wish for you a long life with healthy eyes and good vision!
eye2dry
I was on steroids for nearly 4 years about 20 years ago, I have had my eyes photographed and glaucoma tested which I do regularly and have been checked about 4 times in a year and it is fine.
I have long distance in one eye and short distance in the other and I have double vision on distance so need a prism lense, I am fine for driving but on my laptop I have one pair of specs and I have another for reading. Doctor said my focal range is actually quite short but he said sjogrens does strange things to the eyes which are not connected with plaquenil and optical health is important.
I get very blurred when tired which is dryness, but I cant read small print at all and this has come on within 6 months and is accelerating, doc said although distance is an age thing, in my case it is also a sjogrens thing.
Oh well, I have two new pairs of reading glasses courtesy of my insurance company and I will be seeing the optician twice a year and the specialist at least once a year so fingers crossed.
I get frustrated when I cant read instructions on a bottle, it is so hard and what is scary, is that it is happening so fast.
I am in the middle of a bad flare, have been since April last year and my lungs are so sore it is horrible, I reckon when I see the rheumy next, he will put me on a course of dexamethasone as I cant take preds.
It is all so expensive being sick, if you dont pay your mortgage they take away your house, shame they cant take away your sjogrens as well.