I think you will know if it's worked when you go for your 4 week checkup.My pressure did come down after iridotomy but not enough, I also have cataracts and the consultant said that I will need them removing sooner than later as that will reduce my pressures more.PS I already had cataracts before the iridotomy.
I think they may be Diamox which is sometimes used to reduce high pressure more rapidly though I believe certain precautions have to be taken as they can reduce potassium in the body so eat bananas to compensate and sometimes you get tingling in the fingers
yes do be careful of Diamox. I was on that and it can be quite nasty with the side effects I had while body / face tingles rashes swelling . It’s nasty . It does reduce pressure in my experience not by much but every one is different .just be aware of the side effects . It’s very poor form they only gave paula pills in a envelope like who does that ??? That’s very poor care I’d be jumping up and down about that .
I had Irridotomy due to narrow angles , no glaucoma
My eye pressures at first visit to hospital were 26/28 when they did the initial checks . When I had gonioscopy to check angles they were 20 . Put forward for irridotomy .
On day of irridotomy after procedure they were in the teens, but I did have drops put in .
On my follow up , they were 18/21 and I was discharged , back to care of opticians . No drops .
On my routine yearly appt at Opticians , they were 21/22
Prior to being diagnosed with narrow angles they used to be 16-18
I do have thick corneas .
This year at a different opticians they were averaging 23/24/25 … she said she would recheck , and if the same would write to Moorfields at my hospital for advice
The optician redid them again at the end of the appt , where I could relax a bit more , they were 20/21/22
She was that was ok and I didn’t need referral .
so my eye pressures imo have not gone down since the irridotomy . The irridotomy is really a safety valve to let eye fluid have a drainage escape incase I have an angle closure attack . This is not a 100% given, but it does reduce risk , I was told .
If I have signs of an angle closure attack I’m to go to A&E …which I dread in this current NHS crisis .
I would have liked personally to have been monitored a bit longer at hospital rather than discharged after irridotomy back to opticians .
I’m diabetic so have to have yearly retina checks where pupils are dilated , it’s dilation that puts us at risk and the reason I was told for my irridotomy rather than be monitored .
It does concern me that my pressures are higher than they used to be before narrow angle diagnosis
I had iridotomy last August my pressures did come down a little but not enough 22 & 24 from 28 &29 I am on Fixapost drops at the moment,1 will be seen again next month at hospital.I have been told I will need Lens replacement next have you been offered that.
I had acute angle closure. What I will say is that if you think that is what is going on absolutely insist that you have your pressures taken in A&E. my pressures were 69 and 71 during my event but I had no pain except for a bit of a headache - which is unusual. Luckily I have an eye hospital close to me so that’s where I went - even there they thought I was having a migraine until they took my pressures. Once they knew my pressures I’ve never had treatment so quickly. With ten minutes I had a cannula in the back of my hand to enable injection of two huge IVs of diamox plus multiple drops. They were clearly very worried.
My pressures did go down pretty fast, I had to wait in A&E for four hours until they had dropped enough for them to feel comfortable letting me go home. I was discharged with three weeks of diamox and four different drops that gradually changed and reduced to the three I’m on now. I’ve tried to reduce them but my pressures spike really quickly. In terms of angle closure, I had iridotomy in both eyes. Apparently my angles are now so wide open it’s impossible for them to close again. So my pressures still rise but I don’t run the risk of angle closure thankfully
When they discharged me after irridotomy they said on my discharge letter angles open , but also told me re the angle closure symptoms and to go to A&E if I get them, which I dread , as the state of A&E now 😩
But I asked the optician in Jan ( new one I’ve not been to before ) and mine are still narrow as have between 1-2 quadrants open , which is what they were before I had it done 🤷♀️
I was never put on drops . If I wasn’t diabetic , don’t think they would have done the irridotomy , just monitored me . I’m glad I had it done though as it’s risky for me having the drops to enlarge pupils each year .
I do worry about having angle closure attack , and wish I was monitored at hospital even if just once a year rather than being discharged after my procedure
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