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Question:

Hi All,      All the talk lately of whether glaucoma causes high IOPs or vice versa has caused me to think.  I’ve been wondering how much IOP actually has to do with optic nerve damage (at least in my case). The IOP in my left eye is 18 (untreated), the IOP in my right eye (which does have optic nerve damage) was 21 prior to treatment and was brought down to 16.   So from this I am to infer that the 3 point difference in pressure was enough to cause damage to my optic nerve.  I saw 3 different doctors before I started treatment and all 3 of them said it was one of 2 things.   I was either born with the optic nerve damage, or I have glaucoma. They all concluded that it is glaucoma.   My first visual field was in 1995 (the HMO I previously belonged to didn’t do visual fields as part of a routine eye check up) and that’s when the vision loss was noticed, which led to the discovery of the optic nerve damage.  Two years later my IOP had held steady at 18/21 and the visual field test was the same, the vision loss hadn’t progressed. All this has led me to think that maybe the IOP reading of 21 isn’t the problem.  Perhaps at one point my IOP was higher, and this caused the nerve damage.  Or the damage has absolutely nothing to do with my IOP. If the latter is true, it would seem to be unnecessary for me to take eye drops.  They’ve done nothing for me but make me sick anyway (well, they did drop the pressure by 5 points) The Timoptic made me so sick my doctor switched me to Xalatan.  The Xalatan made my eye hurt, started to turn my eye brown, and then I developed an allergic reaction to it.  I stopped taking the Xalatan a few weeks ago, but haven’t been back to my doctor.  I ended up breaking my thumb (I was attacked by a car door) and with all the pain I’ve been in with my thumb I haven’t felt like going.  I know I should take my eyesight more seriously, but I guess I figure that a few weeks won’t make a difference.  Also, I was wondering what the term "tilted discs" means.   Apparently I have tilted discs. Thanks for listening, Alex

Response:

TJ…@aol.com wrote: ……………. >The IOP in my >left eye is 18 (untreated), the IOP in my right eye (which does have >optic nerve damage) was 21 prior to treatment and was brought down to >16.   >So from this I am to infer that the 3 point difference in pressure was >enough to cause damage to my optic nerve.  

Well, I don’t think they want you to use that kind of logic (which really doesn’t follow — but theirs doesn’t either). >I saw 3 different doctors >before I started treatment and all 3 of them said it was one of 2 >things.  

# of MDs ^2 #  X  of things = max. mmHg w/o glaucoma, right? >I was either born with the optic nerve damage, or I have glaucoma.

So, some people are born with glaucoma.  And also optic-nerve-head damage that looks like glaucoma is glaucoma.  This logic is getting simpler all the time. >They all concluded that it is glaucoma.   My >first visual field was in 1995 (the HMO I previously belonged to >didn’t >do visual fields as part of a routine eye check up) and that’s when >the >vision loss was noticed, which led to the discovery of the optic >nerve damage.  Two years later my IOP had held steady at 18/21 and the >visual field test was the same, the vision loss hadn’t progressed. >All >this has led me to think that maybe the IOP reading of 21 isn’t the >problem.  

It most likely isn’t. >Perhaps at one point my IOP was higher, and this caused the >nerve damage.  Or the damage has absolutely nothing to do with my IOP. >If the latter is true, it would seem to be unnecessary for me to take >eye >drops.  

No, if you stopped the drops your MDs would be hurt and out of the job of trying to see if they work.  You wouldn’t want that to happen, now would you? >They’ve done nothing for me but make me sick anyway (well, >they did >drop the pressure by 5 points)

That’s more than they ever did for me (which was completamente zilch). No side effects though. ………..

Ray

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