After being on prednisone a relatively brief time (Oct-Dec), in relatively moderate doses (30mg down to 12.5 in Dec), I was diagnosed w/"steriod induced glaucoma" and given eyedrops to control the eye pressure which had risen to 38. The last pressure was 20 when the prednisone had been lowered to 10mg. Am presently on 9mg/day and want to go down as quickly as possible but from all that I have read it apprears it is best to be patient and stick w/1mg a month decrease. What a scare that was. Has anyone else had this happen as a result of being on prednisone? Hopefully, once I am off this stuff the glaucoma will resolve??
My husband has steroid induced glaucoma and the steroid this time is the Predforte for his Uveitis.Hi Kewanee
Thank you for such good advice. I guess getting steroid induced glaucoma is not very common. One usually worries about cataracts. My visual field test in January showed no "permanent" (?) damage. I see the dr again in April. Hopefully I will be down to 8mg by then and the pressure, with the help of the drops, will be even lower than 20. I am a forever optimist. My dr's partner's specialty is glaucoma...if this doesn't seem to be doing ok I will certainly ask to switch to him but will check out to see if he is boarded and if there are others around who might be more qualified.
I am sorry to hear that your husband has had so much trouble but it is great that they are going to be able to drain the fluid and his vision will be preserved while having to continue on Predforte. What a predicament.
I know that it is wise to not drop the prednisone too fast but it is so tempting to try to go to 7.5 this next go round instead of 8. When do our adrenal glands start to kick in? Is it after 7.5? I hope and pray they are still working! Thank you again for your advice...
I had the same thing happen to me as soon as they put me on the prednisone. They don't actually know if pred was the cause or that they just happened to discover it at that time. As they lower the pred, my pressures do go down. But I don't think I'll ever be off the meds for it as it is so insidious. I would rather take the drops the rest of my life than take a chance on having those eye pressures go up.
But, if they are keeping the pressures in check and you are getting regularly checked about ever 4 months with good pressures, that's pretty good.
What Kewanee's husband has experienced is one of my worse fears. If you have sudden eye pain, get in to see your opthalmologist right away for a pressure check. My eye doctors follow me very closely and I so grateful that they do. They do field vision tests, eye pressure tests and routinely look at the optic nerve. My last scare was in December when my pressure in my right eye suddenly went up to 40 again. Typically my numbers stay around 16 and 17 while taking the eye drops. I have not been able to get off the pred.
I can understand your worry. It is important that your Rheumy and Opthamologist send reports to a from each other.
Thank you, Deanna. I am glad they caught your glaucoma so quickly. Mine was a miracle. I had no idea it was there (typical) until I flunked a vision exam for driver's license renewal and checked in w/my opthamologist who had just seen me for my annual eye exam in May when everything was ok. He was also shocked! You can be sure I will be very vigiliant w/follow up...it scared me pretty bad...I am just so thankful it got caught before serious damage occurred. By the way, how much prednisone are you on now and how long have you been taking it? Age may also be a factor, I guess. I am 71 but no one else in the family has had glaucoma. Ever since my Dad was diagnosed with macular degeneration I have said a little prayer for maintaining my sight..ironic...but as I said, thank God it was caught so early. Take care..