More Than Meets the Eye | Arthritis Information

Hi Everyone. well, being on Pred for the last 15 months has caused cateracts. With my glasses I now hove 60/20 vision. I am having cateract surgery in June and I was wondering has anyone had this. I have been told that the pred can not form a cateract on the new lens they are putting in my eye, Is this true? I could really use some feed back, thanks so much, RainHi h2o, I got cataracts too. I had them removed and now everything is fine. I only need glasses to read. All of these side effects from RA meds scares us all, but what is the alternative? Sure beats a wheelchair. Hi , My sister that is the hospital now has cataracts also from so much pred. but they won't let her have surgery yet because her health is so bad. She can barely see TV and can't read at all. Glasses are useless right now. Hopefully that will change soon and she can have the surgery. You guys are blessed to see so well now..... Genesis

How much pred are ou guys on?

Phats

Hi Phats, My sister with Ra has been on 75mgs pred. for 6 mos. and for the last five mos. is down to 20mgs as of today. Her lowest has been 7.5 in the last year but only for a short time. She averages about 30, but also uses inhalers, nebulizers, and a few cortisone shots for good measure

Your sister has all the faith in medical science so they should provide answers. Answers or explanations are expected like old age, weak health, disease progresses and spreads, irregular taking of meds or wrong meds, eat wrongly, come too late to examine etc..

The reality is in oneself. You cannot find reality outside you. YOUR OWN BODY. NURTURE BACK TO HEALTHY LEVEL.

Of course your sister is in bad shape. To eat selectively natural foods can help and reduce severity.

kokako8839207.8147222222

Hi all,

I never got cataracts, bit I was on Prednisone for almoat two years, they finally tapered me off, but I have been required to get extra kinds of tests on a yearly eye exam.

I had cataract surgery (both eyes - but done 6 months apart) about 5 or 6 years before a hint of the RA, or any sort of anything else. I was a very fit and healthy about 52 or so. Dr. thought I was very young at the time to have cataracts, and I was tested for diabetes, but, nope - I was still nothing except the cataracts. The surgery was simple and results were immediate. When the eye patch was removed the next morning - I sang "OH - What a beautiful morning"!! as I looked out the window from my one new eye. But the wrinkles on my face were back/ Is anyone GETTING IT? We read post after post about the side effects and
permanent damage caused by this med. And everyone seems to love this
drug. I don't get it. Someone please explain this to me? Genesis. Has
anyone ever questioned the possibility that your sisters health couuld be bad
because of what the pred is doing? The more of these posts I read, the
more I hate this drug.I agree, it's a bad drug. I've heard horror stories about it and my dr. suggested I try it and I cut him off before he finished the sentence and said 'No way". My sister had to be on it during a pregnancy and her bones became so brittle she broke a bone in her foot just walking!!! I'm sure there are people who are going to post about the benefits far outweighing the risks but seems to me there have to be other options. I found one.I think most of us agree and now its a rotten drug but there are some people who just can not do with out it. Luckily, I am down to 3.5 mg and hope to be off it by the end of the summer.

I work for an optometrist. We don't actually do the surgery but see a lot of post op patients as we co mange with a local ophthalmologist. The surgery itself really isn't too bad. Honestly, if you live old enough you will get cataracts just like you will get wrinkles and saggy skin, its just a part of aging. Yes, we get these things much earlier because of the drugs we are on.

Anyway, you will be in and out of the hospital in a few hours and your vision will be so much clearer in just a day or two. It does take 4-6 weeks to fully heal but after the first couple of days, its no big deal! I know it sounds scary but really its a very simple and quick procedure and you won't have to worry about5 having it done later!! Hi Lorster, Yes the Drs. KNOW what the Pred. is doing to my sisters health and are really trying to get her "weaned" off it. If it was only a matter of pain management she would never have allowed this to happen. I must say she is really " strong" when it comes to enduring pain, but when you can't breathe and it's almost a matter of life or death you will choose the Pred., the inhalers and the nebulizers, whatever it takes to just breathe. The MTX or the RA has done so much damage to her lungs I don't think she'll ever be Pred free. She was moved to rehab today, after 2 wks in the hosp. but she still has to have breathing treatments every 4 to 6 hrs. Her pred. has been cut to 20mgs for the last few days, so thats better than 60. To my sister pred. is a necessary evil till maybe her lungs become stronger and the remicade starts working.......GenesisHi guys I have been on pred for 7 years due to having a new baby back then and being unable to move, hubby worked and I had 2 kids to look after so had no choice, I try to stay on the lowest dose possible which is 10mg for me, I am allergic to all the other Dmards and am about to try RITUXIMAB, hopefully this will enable me to get off of the pred or at least on a lower dose. I think even if people go on it for the pain, that is their choice and at the time I had no choice. Honey, you said you found an alternative, could you please tell me what that is as I would love to do the same. Many thanks Janie.

To me...pred is a love/hate relationship. I love it for taking away the inflammation. I hate for what it does to your body in the meantime. I also am on inhaled steroids for my asthma so I am well...in this love/hate relationship for a good long time.

If they could just figure out how to replace the corticosteroids we can not produce on our own that would be well....freakin awesome! So far...no such luck. There are times I would rather have the inflammation than risk all the other side effects of pred. Like I said...love/hate relationship.