I was diagnosed during lockdown with open angle Glaucoma in both eyes by community eyecare to whom I was referred to by Specsavers. My best corrected Visual Acuity being 6/9 in my right and 6/12 in my left eye. The pressure has been reduced in the last 3 months to 13 and 14 IOP by using drops.
I have been having tests at Specsavers yearly and was a contact lens customer using a monthly lens for reading in what is now my bad eye. I complained the lens wasn't working too well and that is when I was tested and told I may have Glaucoma and would be referred. I asked why it hadnt been picked up earlier and was told they didn't have the equipment until recently to detect Glaucoma?? I find this hard to come to terms with, surely something is wrong here?
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Daveeeuk
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Hi Daveeeuk I had the same issue with Specsavers. Had annual eye tests as my mum had Glaucoma as do most of her siblings. I nearly fell off the chair when the consultant told me I had it. I always thought it would be picked up by the opticians as this is what we’re constantly being told- “you must go for regular eye tests” well that didn’t work. I now have reduced vision in my right eye. Does make you wonder what the point of regular eye tests is. I even told them that I was getting blind/greyed out spots in my vision and they still didn’t pick it up or even suggest that I saw my GP. It sounds like your pressures are really good though so hopefully you’ll be OK.
I have had annual eye tests since high pressure was picked up 25 years ago. The hospital told me it was fine to go to an optician for the tests so long as they did a pressure and field test. I moved house in 2013 and started going to Specsavers, who also did a photograph each time so I thought it was quite thorough. In 2018 the optician said I did not need a field test as it was OK the previous year, and I didn't insist. 5 weeks later I noticed a blind patch in my right eye and returned to Specsavers, who told me there wa nothing they could do except repeating the whole exam, which they said was pointless, and I should go to my GP. The GP was surprised at this response and said I should go back. I then told Specsavers about the omitted field test, so they agreed to repeat it. I failed it the first time with the affected eye, so the technician repeated it and told me I had passed this time but my eye had wandered duringthe test. She showed the result (unfortunately to the same optician) who apparently said there was nothing wrong and "everybody has a blind spot", and I wasn't going blind.
The following year I paid £10 for the new OCT test which they had just begun and saw a different optician who said my main problem was macular holes, and the optic discs were suspect, and sent me to the hospital urgently.
The GP later showed me a letter sent by my previous optician in 2007 who gave the pressure as 27 mmHg, which has been constant throughout, and C/D ratio as 0.3. It is now 0.75 in left eye and 0.85 in right. I find it hard to believe this happened in the 5 weeks between my 2018 visit and the blind patch appearing.
I have pointed this out in my feedback form from Specsavers.
By the way, my left eye has a pseudo hole and the right has some kind of wrinkle which the hospital has now decided is neglible, although at my first visit to the retina clinic the doctor said it wasthe cause of the blind patch!
I have little confidence in both the optician and the hospital now.
Interested to hear about your eye care visits. I wonder if the 'wrinkle' in your Rt eye is an epi-retinal membrane ?
I have one of these which was picked up by the optometrist. It seems they tend to leave it alone unless causing sight loss when they may operate.
Our opthalmic outpatients dept mentioned a local optometrist who specialised in Glaucoma. He is excellent and also works at various hospitals.
Specsavers diagnosed my glaucoma, but I have not always found them very reliable eg; not sending a referal letter to my G.P and not calling me for my annual check. They often could not answer my questions and do not seem very knowledgeable about Glaucoma.
It helps me to learn more about the disease and ask questions . The Glaucoma helpline is excellent for direction and reasurrance. Also the digital support talks and the very interesting' Insight' membership magazines.
Are there other Consultants you could see? Could you ask the medical secretaries, who are usually very helpful ? or think about another hospital.
I found that writing everything down in my 'eye' book has helped , then I can ask questions with more confidence.
The first few visits at my hospital I saw a Doctor who hardly looked up from the screen and seemed uninterested, so I was told very little. Luckily we have quite a good team now, quite different. So things may change. Good luck.
Thank you for your reply. I think you are probably right about the epiretinal membrane, from what I have read.
The hospital staff ( I have seen a different person each time , except once) are mostly kind and will talk, but there are a number of issues which seem a bit peculiar.
Specsavers have been very good about calling me for annual checks, by letter and email. At my local branch they seem to have opticians from other practices working for one or two days a week, so you see a different one each time, which is probably a good thing. I haven't been back, there doesn't seem much point as I only wear reading glasses. I only went because I had been diagnosed with high pressure 25 years ago and needed monitoring - for what good it did!
Thanks for your reply. I had told them for the last yearor two that i was having trouble driving at night and in bright sunlight, Also when playing table tennis not seeing the balls coming at me on the sides. I never suspected Glaucoma. Surely the opticians have a responsibility to check for these things or at lease inform you they cant test for all things.
Yes that’s exactly what I felt like after my diagnosis. It seems so unfair that you do everything right but it gets missed. If Specsavers had picked it up earlier I may not have lost the vision that I have lost in my right eye. Which ironically was my stronger eye. 🙄
Hi Wales99 and Daveeeuk. Yep! Same experience. I was diagnosed with open angle glaucoma 3 yrs ago aged 54. Family history of glaucoma and so I was regularly checked by optician since I was 40. Although my annual checks were deemed clear, I reported a weird grey patch just off centre in my right eye and generally grainy vision in around 2015. Optician put it down to aging! The patch was explained as a probable hangover from migraines as I had regular migraines with aura. I accepted it stupidly and felt like I was fussing. I moved house in 2017 and changed optician and by luck my new optician has an interest and specialises in glaucoma. I was I think borderline on all tests but I was referred as she was concerned by my report of a growing grey patch and 6 months later consultant confirmed I have glaucoma in both eyes with the right showing more nerve damage. I was at a loss why I hadn’t been referred earlier with my family history. 😕 I’ve just joined the forum so I’ll stop writing now as I could write an essay on my glaucoma journey.
Hi. Yes it is frustrating & like you I could write a book on my Glaucoma journey. 4 years to get a diagnosis. It seems a lot of people who suffer from migraines also have Glaucoma. I’ve read that Whoopi Goldberg (the actress) has Glaucoma and takes marijuana for her crippling headaches. Now there’s a thought.... 😂😉. Please feel free to chat anytime. I’m always interested in other people’s stories of Glaucoma. Do you have much vision loss?
Thanks for replying! So my situation. I’m still managing to do most things so I reckon I’m not too bad off. I’ve a grey eyebrow Scotoma arching ever closer to my central point of focus in my right eye and which just keeps growing. The rest of my right eye vision is generally blurry now too. That’s happened in just 5 years and on drops for 3 of those. My IOPS in both eyes fluctuate, a lot and respond to drops for 6 months then rise again and we change them. I’m now affected (impressive allergic reaction) by the preservatives in the drops so luckily I’m now on preservative free drops (Bimotaprost and Dirzolamide drops 3x a day). Big bummer is I’m affected by glaucoma in both eyes although left eye is not noticeable to me yet (yep I know silent sight stealer probably creeping up!), so as soon as I was diagnosed I had to surrender my driving license and I now have a 3 year medical license which will expire this year. I live in a remote rural location with no public transport so no car would be a big deal. Yes I had read about a possible link with migraines. I’ve read a lot of stuff on glaucoma! 😂 Just wish some research would come up trumps and find a way to protect those nerve ganglions! Or better still bring back to life those that are already dead! 😢 That’s my chapter 1 written. Over to you!
Ha ha! Bless you. Yes the sight in my right eye isn’t great but I only have it in that eye. I think now they are “on it” they should hopefully stop it getting worse in your other eye. That’s the way I understand it anyway. So can you still drive? I like to be able to drive to the gym & I don’t think my husband would tolerate driving me there twice a week although luckily he loves driving. At the moment I’m still able to drive. Not that I have driven anywhere lately because we can’t go anywhere! Yes my husband & I were saying that this morning- if only they could come up with a way to repair the optic nerve. I think they probably will eventually. Probably not in my lifetime (I’m 56) well you never know- a bionic eye maybe? Take care & stay safe. 😊
I have to disagree Specsavers picked my glaucoma up straight away and isn’t to eye hospital who said the optician picked it up really early. I can’t fault Specsavers
You need to bear in mind that all Specsaver branches are franchises and are usually a partnership. Some branches had the latest equipment well before others.
Hi Hidden yes Daveeeuk is quite correct they are all Franchises. I’m really pleased that you got a good one. It’s great that they picked it up & diagnosed you early. Take care.
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