Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Diagnose me please -- eye trouble....

Whew - very relieved that it is not iritis and not from increased pressure, Holly - that is very good news at least!!

Really hope the questionable stuff is not scary questionable stuff.

Yeah, they always let you drive home like that. It'll wear off.

Good job too - no typos! lol
Hugs,
mig

glad that its not iritis/uveitis, hope its nothing too serious as well!

will stay tuned for tomorrow,

Thanks again for helping me out, and for caring so much. I heart my AS family!

The doc was nice, but seemed a bit too laid back for me. I prefer details vs. generalities. So I'm that annoying patient that repeats back ("So what you're saying is ____ ?") to make sure I'm clear on every point before I leave. Didn't help. I'm still fuzzy (and so is my vision). But here is what I got from it. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

No pressure, no iritis, etc.

Oddly enough, the "problems" are all with my right eye. It was my left eye that was warm and felt bruised. He said there are spots in the back, but wouldn't explain what that meant, other than to say good thing I'm not diabetic (though my Dad is). He said to keep an eye on those spots (ha!!!!).

My vision is totally off. He said it "might" be temporary. I'm now nearsighted & farsighted. And, I need new glasses/contacts IF my vision doesn't go back to how it was. I kept asking if it was the prednisone that did this and he just kept shrugging.

He did say the prednisone could cause blood sugar issues that caused the white-outs I was describing. He again mentioned diabetes.

Never addressed why my eye felt warm to the touch, though I asked more than once. The headaches, he said, were from my prescription change -- eye strain.

He did check the pressure, said that was fine.

So, all in all, my vision is completely off (temporarily?). Have spots in the back of the right eye that weren't there 6 weeks ago (last eye exam) and have no idea what those are from, or if they are even anything to worry about. No idea what the warm eye was all about. And am now wondering if I need to go get re-tested for diabetes? And since it isn't iritis, what are the odds of this all not being from prednisone? I took the pills, the vision issues started. I'm frustrated.

What do you think? Any sage advice?

Thanks so much!!!

Holly, first off, I'm glad to hear it's not iritis!! Also that the pressure is not increased. I googled a bit and found this:

Eye problems: Prolonged use of prednisone may cause glaucoma with possible damage to the optic nerves or it may produce cataracts. It may also increase the risk of eye infections due to fungi or viruses. People with herpes simplex of the eye may be at a higher risk of an eye injury called corneal perforation. If you have herpes simplex of the eye, talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of using this medication.

From this website: Canoe.ca

Thought it might help. I hope so anyway. I searched 'prednisone and ophthalmology' to get that one. By the way, did he call them spots or 'cells', the spots ink the back of your eye, I mean.

Hugs,

though a girl never tells her age, i will ask, how old are you? if you are over 40, which i think i remember you are not, and you certainly don't look it, but if you are, that's about when the seeing near problems start, or so i was told when this started happening to me. it did feel kind of all of a sudden, but probably wasn't. drove me crazy the first few years, but have adjusted mentally to it. at first, was it leave my glasses on so i can see far, or take them off so i can see near? the eye doc talked me out of bifocals, so now i just have small glasses and look under them to see near if i have them on. only a real issue when i need to see both back and forth. otherwise i have them on for things like driving and off for desk work, around the house. but if its not just normal as we age not being able to see near, then never mind........so i see you're 35 in your intro post, maybe the not seeing farness can start that early? maybe not? oh well, maybe what i just wrote regarding all of this is just wrong, but i'll leave it just in case.

as for the "diabetes". sounds like it runs in your family. so i'll ask, did you have gestation diabetes? sounds like the answer is probably not. have you ever been told you had glucose intolerance / insulin resistance / prediabetes? even if you are not full blown diabetic, you could have the start of it if it runs in your family and the pred could have brought it up front. having your fasting sugar checked now wouldn't be a bad idea. though diabetes runs in my family and i've been prediabetic (well was til very recently where i got the numbers down a bit through diet (LSD)), have to admit that the pred did not mess with my blood sugar (i can feel when my blood sugar goes whacky). but if they say it can, then having it checked, fasting, is simple enough.

good luck to you.

no idea what those "spots" are. sorry. and don't apologize, i too like to know exactly what the doctor is talking about. partly so i can come home and read up on it, learn about it. i usually make them spell out the medical terms so i can research them, be an educated patient.

I was thinking for a moment that the part where you suddenly can't focus on things close, could be presbyopia, where the focusing muscles have gotten weaker with age, and they just can't adjust to the full range any more

But you say it isn't painful, hmm, usually the first symptom of presbyopia is pain, before your vision has changed, when close-up objects strain the eye muscles to focus-

Like you hold your hand closer and closer to your eyes, and suddenly when they get to a certain distance, they may still be in focus, but it hurts, feels almost like there is a magnet, so you move them away again, and it stops hurting

Anything like that?

Hi Holly...happy new year to you too. I'm more of a "lurker" here, so I really don't post much. Glad you found the sight. The people here are simply indescribable in their sense of compassion, spirit, and warmth. Amazing would be another appropriate word.

Have you had any dental work done lately? Root canal? Amalgams? I'm going through the process of getting all my amalgams out (some breaking after over 20 years of being in my mouth) and also taking care of some root canals which I believe may be toxic. Some of the my symptoms are warm, face, fuzzy eye. I can correlate this to the dental work becuase that is exactly when it started. Just a thought. Whatever it is, hope you find peace and comfort soon. Happy New Year. God Bless

Kat - he just said "spots." Told me to keep an eye on them (as if my eyeball can just roll around backward and have a look-see). I googled spots in back of eye this morning and saw everything from freckles to cancer. I just gave up worrying about it. Should I?

Sue - I'm 36. And I totally got it backward when I said in my 1st post that I started out far-sighted. I was near-sighted and now I'm both! Long, long week. I'm exhausted and thinking in circles ;-) So now, I guess I'll grab some readers from Walgreens. Do I need to stock up on Depends and denture cream too? I'm kidding, but seriously, my favorite sister in law gave me a mumu for Christmas. I'm stuck in "But I'm NOT THIS OLD" mode now. I didn't have gestational diabetes (VERY good question to ask!). Never been told I have any of those others you mention, but sounds like I should get tested? I do get lightheaded sometimes (no blonde jokes please!!!) and I eat like a pig (I should be three times my size) so I wouldn't be surprised if I had some form of something-or-other by now. Groan. My husband says I'm defective. Thanks for all of the tips, Sue. I'll get checked.

Dow - Ha. See what I wrote to Sue above about the mumu. Now, the 1st line on the link you sent, under Causes, is "The condition is associated with aging and gets worse over time." Are you people trying to do me in? Seriously, it is starting to sound more and more like an age-related, possibly diabetic or pre-diabetic thing that just happened to begin when I took the prednisone. Maybe the predisone jump started it. But they don't go out of focus often, in fact, much less this week than last. The reading thing - it was just like the words went away, but if I moved the book back farther (like my Dad does with his restaurant menu!) I could see. Then, a few seconds later, it would go back to normal no matter where the book was. And when I was driving (kids in the car), all of the sudden, I couldn't read signs I could normally read (close, but outside of the car) and everything was blurry. For a few seconds. And the sore part was just all day long, but worse in the morning. The headache too. What do you think? Presbyopia?

Mystery - that is a very interesting question!! Not recently, but I did have quite a bit of work done a few years ago, including 5 root canals (yes, 5 - the 1st dentist messed up and exposed my roots). And, maybe this is something - out of nowhere week before last (the same timing!??!) the gums became inflamed right where the teeth meet the gum line by one of the molars. Wonder if there's something going on there? Good luck with your dental work. And Happy New Year to you too!!

Have I told you lately that I LOVE YOU PEOPLE? Thank you so much for taking the time to help me figure this out. My left eye is sore right now, again.

Should I go to another eye doctor? He was very nice, but I'd rather be poked, prodded and have everything explained to me in detail than walk out with more questions than when I walked in.

Hugs all around. I'm so in your debt.

My New Year's Resolution = learn how to copyedit myself. I do that as one of my many jobs, but I can't ever seem to post without writing a manuscript. I'm sorry!!!

to counteract the body getting old before i'm ready, i act as immaturely as possible as often as possible!

tonight, hubby and i were listening to old tv commercial jingles, made me feel like i was a kid again. i miss a good jingle!

here was apparently one of my favorites, i wasn't even old enough to remember it, but mom tells me that when i was about 2, i used to jump up and down and yell, "red rose tea, red rose tea!" enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-918OMwCx6w

and no worries, the picture IS blurry.

Tons of reason a person can have spots on back of the eye. Some good some not so good. Did the Doctor take pictures? Number and pattern make a difference.