Pilocarpine eye drops

[Crafted]

Does anyone else experience vision problems after this drop.? I have been on it since March and each time it goes in I have difficulty reading after instillation and a brownish circle in the centre of my vision. Sometimes it shimmers. This lasts for an hour or so afterwards. Does anyone else have this? Is it a side effect. I am trying to get back to work but this means I won't be able to drive until my vision normalises and its safe to do so. Interested in how others cope with drops 4 times a day and working, driving and other essential tasks. I am a carer too. I have great difficulty putting drops in myself as the containers are so hard for me to squeeze. Is there anything to help with this. My locum DR says he doesn't know of anything

[nat10]

I was on these drops 4times a day, for nearly 6 years. I can remember at first they caused numerous problems, which got mildly better, also didn’t feel able to drive for about 2hrs after so it takes a lot of rearranging when to take drops, sometimes I was a little late taking lunch time ones, but I didn’t work at this time. As you say they are quite hard to squeeze and I think this was also a big problem as I’m sure some days I was squeezing more then was actually needed, I used to squeeze a drop at the end then move that towards my eye, so not to squeeze near eye. Hope that makes sense.

Sorry I cannot be more positive

[Crafted in reply to nat10]

That's very helpful thanks and yes it does make sense. I will try that. I know what you mean about feeling as if you are getting too much in especially when it's a large drop. I secretly pray for a small drop or one that half misses! I am beginning to think that the preparation varies slightly between different manufacturers as I was not having so much issue with the bottle I have just finished. Thanks again

[nat10 in reply to Crafted]

I was on the preservative free single use drops, if you are not on preservative free drops I would ask your consultant to change you to them. My eyes not as sore since being on them, but occasionally have to go back on them as quite often they have production problems,

[Crafted in reply to nat10]

That's great thanks. The ones I have contain preservatives so I could certainly ask for some without and see if that's any better.

[Wales99]

Hi Crafted yes I was on these for a while- completely freaked me out & caused such terrible anxiety I wasn’t eating or sleeping- only plus side was that I lost a bit of weight 😉. I rang the Glaucoma UK helpline & they really reassured me. Explained to me exactly what the drops do & why they cause those side effects. They can explain it much better than me but apparently they work to freeze the muscle & keep the pupil permanently dilated. This is why I couldn’t see out of that eye at all in the dark! I went back to my consultant in the end & he took me off of them and prescribed Acetazolomide tablets instead.

[Crafted in reply to Wales99]

No, I can't sleep for more than an hour at a time so I am having to have a nap early evening just to try to get enough sleep. I get the anxiety too. All not helpful when I am trying to return to my job too! I can't do with losing any more weight as I am underweight now after diamox. My surgery has been put off for a couple of months as I have been in a state with the side effects from the drugs. I was on acetazolamide tabs before and between the 3 drugs had more than 16 different side effects. Think it might be worth a call to the helpline. Thanks so much

[Wales99 in reply to Crafted]

Oh bless you. It sounds like you really have had a time of it. Luckily I’m working from home which is a Godsend- not sure I would cope with going into the office. I am very lucky in that my company & my manager are very understanding & flexible. Take care & hope you start to feel better soon. 😊 x

[Crafted in reply to Wales99]

It's wonderful that you have that understanding from your company. I have a phased return next week and before being ill I was working from home as we were not allowed on site due to Covid. I think I will ask if its possible to work from home when I am not supporting interns or have my role modified. Thank you for your support. It means a lot. X

[Wales99 in reply to Crafted]

Ah I hope your work are understanding. I think most companies are re-thinking how they operate now. Let us know how you get on. 😊

[Crafted in reply to Wales99]

Update on work situation. Had my back to work assessment today and boss is reviewing my performance and difficulties every 2 weeks for now. I can work from home for the next couple of weeks and there is no immediate need to go in currently immediately after that but I may have to eventually - dependent on the workload and support needs for my cohort of interns as I work in a very small team.

[Wales99 in reply to Crafted]

Oh well that sounds quite positive. Are you happy with that outcome for now?

[Crafted in reply to Crafted]

Yes, it's OK for now. I want to return to full duties slowly and he is supporting me to do that. I am able to have input to say how I am feeling and if I am ready to take on more or to stay at my current level of duties.

[Helen_GlaucomaUK Administrator]

Good afternoon. Pilocarpine works by constricting or making your pupil smaller and by doing so it helps open the drainage angle a little inside your eye, which will increase the drainage of fluid. The brownish circle that you are seeing is probably just your iris as you may not be aware of it normally because your pupil is usually slightly larger.The difficulty seeing again is because your pupil is small and so less light can enter through your eye. This is often more noticeable when you are in dim or dark places. Normally our pupil will dilate get bigger but at the moment yours won't.

There are compliance aids available to help people to squeeze the bottle. Please do give the Helpline a call 01233 648170 and we can advise the best one to get for your drops.

[Crafted in reply to Helen_GlaucomaUK]

Thats great, thanks for explaining. I hate being in dim lighting atm and have all the lights blazing so it's not as noticeable. Am concerned about driving at night because of this and don't think that I would feel its safe to do so but that's no biggie presently as I am often asleep by 9pm as I don't sleep more than an hour at a time through the night. I will give the line a call for info for compliance aids. Thanks Helen