Extremely high eye pressure while sleeping.

[Biggs87]

Hi, I have been diagnosed with glaucoma for about 12 years now and I also have uveitis since I was 2 years old.

The last 4/5 years the main focus has been managing glaucoma as my uveitis is in remission.

Recently I managed to get self monitoring eye pressure machine from Icare so I can keep track of my pressures.

While doing this over the last few weeks, I have noticed as soon as I wake up in morning my eye pressure can be anywhere from 23-35.

Which is the highest it will be all day. Throughout the day I'm usually anywhere between 20-10 sometimes even dropping as low as 8.

It just seems to be while I sleep my pressure seems to sky rocket.

I was wondering if anyone has a similar experience or any advice which could help.

I have mentioned it my specialist but they don't really say much. Any additional insight would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

[711debbie]

If you sleep on your side, you can buy an eye shield from Amazon; that helps keep the pressure down. "Eye shield after cararact surgery " will bring up plenty of options. I use one every night and my eye pressure is back within normal limits.

[Maisie79 in reply to 711debbie]

I’ve been trying to train myself to sleep on my back - it’s not going very well. I’d never thought about an eye shield. That’s really interesting.

[Ingaga in reply to Maisie79]

Since the medical eye shield might be uncomfortable, try getting sleeping mask that have cushions around, they also sell them on Amazon. I used to sleep too much on the pillow side waking up with my eyes sore, and this mask gives space and the eyes breathe.

Sleeping mask

[Maisie79]

Good morning. I’ve only fairly recently been diagnosed with bilateral NTG. So I’m just learning but I have read somewhere that IOP is highest in the mornings.

Some people have mentioned sleeping on a wedge pillow to slightly elevate the head - I thought adding an extra pillow would do the trick but only managed to pinch a nerve in my neck and gave myself pins & needles and numbness in hands and arms! So I can’t recommend that! I’m considering trying a wedge pillow.

I hope you find something that works for you.

[Loki666]

I have similar readings in that my morning pressures are always higher than evening ones. The range is usually between 6 and 8 points, but on occasions can be higher.

I guess you have an iCare Home2 and if so I’d suggest you take it with you when you next see your consultant and compare your reading with his. Mine seems to read a consistent 4 points above his Goldman machine.

I’ve been told that it is quite normal for pressures to change through the day which is why if you can’t test yourself you should try to see your consultant at the same time each visit if pressures are to be checked. Hope that helps?

[Beecalmed]

I think for some of us particularly those with suspected NTG there is a suspicion that our IOP pressure peaks in the early hours and this repeatedly happening causes more rapid vision damage and loss. Certainly this was mentioned by my consultant.

My reading and questions suggested there’s some suggestion that for most people blood pressure drops at night when lying down and IOP rises a bit . However I have low blood pressure and I believe it sinks really very low at night. My heart rate can drop to 41 beats per minute according to my fitness watch and the fitter I am the lower it drops and with it my blood pressure and IOP then spikes.

It might be worth checking your blood pressure and heart rate too. The IOP potentially could be linked if you naturally run a low blood pressure.

I was told that Bimatoprost (or other similar drops) are taken at bedtime to try and balance out this early morning spike. Are you on anything similar? If not you could ask why not.

I think there are some drops that can lower blood pressure which isn’t a good idea if you have low blood pressure already. This won’t help your IOPs at night if you’re like me.

It’s hard to get to the specialist these days if virtual health care but I think I’d write to my consultant with your findings and ask the questions.

That said my consultant says don’t get hung up on IOPs it’s a major factor in glaucoma progression but not the only one. 😕