Diagnosed with PDS left eye and pigmentary glaucoma right eye over a year ago. Been on several drops with varying success. Now awaiting MIGS. Basic advice from ophthalmologist at diagnosis was to not exercise with very little offerings of what you could/could not do. Exercise has been a big part of my life (football, running, Crossfit/functional fitness) and at 34 years old it's hard to comprehend a life without exercise. As told, I stopped running and football altogether but have continued with some basic gym/functional fitness.
I guess my question is, what exercise is deemed acceptable and has anyone seen significant progression in their condition when they've opted to continue with exercise. Selfishly, I would like to get back to running but am concerned I could make things worse? Are there any of you who continue to run?
If anyone has links to research findings, I'm keen to have a read.
Thanks in advance.
Written by
Luke1989
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Vigorous exercises are associated with Pigment Dispersion Syndrome (PDS) and pigmentary glaucoma. This is because some exercises involve strenuous movements and jarring motions, which can cause pigment granules to flake off the iris and enter the eye fluid. Activities such as jogging, basketball, combat sports, weight lifting, sit-ups, and pull-ups fall into this category.
However, it’s essential to note that individual responses can vary. While some PDS patients may experience changes in eye pressure during certain exercises, others may not. Regular eye check-ups with an ophthalmologist are crucial to assess the effects of exercise on your eye health. If you have concerns about exercise and its impact on your eyes, speak to your eye specialist for advice.
Although you are tempted to go back to running, it is important that you listen and take advice from your eye specialist. They would only recommend that you stop certain exercises if they feel it would be detrimental to your glaucoma and make matters worse.
Walking is still a good form of cardiovascular exercise.
As my user name suggests, I'm a runner with Pigmentary Glaucoma. I was diagnosed in 2017, shortly after taking up running (I was 46 at the time). I was put on drops and acetazolmide to control the pressures. As I read more about the condition, I stumbled across studies which had been done into the effect of exercise on Pigmentary Glaucoma. At the time I raised my concerns with my consultant. His response was that although these studies suggested a link, nothing had been proven, but what had been proven was that exercise was good for cardiovascular health. Given that my dad had already suffered one heart attack, his advice to continue exercising. Over the next 4 or 5 years I saw 2 or 3 other consultants - I always asked them the same question, and always got the same answer.
So, I continued to exercise until, in September 2022, the glaucoma in my right eye suddenly advanced. I had emergency cyclodiode laser treatment and a trabeculectomy on it, but unfortunately it was too late, and I've been left with very limited foggy & blurry vision in it. I subsequently had a trabeculectomy on my left eye to try and stop the glaucoma advancing. After a couple of weeks, that failed (pressure went to 56mmHg!), but after a needling it has now settled around 14/15mmHg. and has been fine since. I have good vision in my left eye and have been told I have "lots of reserve" in it - i.e. the cupping/damage hasn't progressed too far and I could sustain more optic nerve damage without affecting my sight.
During the period I was undergoing surgeries, and recovering, my consultant told me I wasn't allowed to do any vigorous exercise at all. After each trab, I was advised to stay at home for one month to avoid risk of infection. After the month, I was allowed to walk for exercise, so I started walking again at our local parkrun. In April last year, I was given the OK to resume my normal exercise routine (running & spin classes) - again I raised my concerns about the exercise/Pigmentary Glaucoma studies, but my consultant reassured me that now I had trabeculectomies the pressure should remain under control.
So, in April last year I resumed exercise. In the period of my scares last year I had invested in an iCare Home Tonometer so that I could keep tabs on my eye pressures myself. Over the last year I've regularly checked my pressures. In my case, I've not noticed any pressure spikes following exercise - sometimes the pressure is a bit higher than my average following exercise, other times it's a bit lower - I've not seen a correlation. Having the tonometer has given me peace of mind that my pressures are under control - I wouldn't be without it. I continue to exercise now. April 18th (next week) is the anniversary of me resuming running, and on April 20th I'm running the London Marathon for Fight for Sight.
My advice would be to speak to your consultant again regarding exercise - is his advice that you can NEVER run again, or is it just until you've had your MIGS surgery and recovered? Incidentally, my Glaucoma was considered to be such that they said MIGS wouldn't control it and hence why I had trabeculectomies. (I'm not on any Glaucoma medication now by the way).
Thanks for taking the time to respond RunnerwithPG. I too have an iCare Home Tonometer and have seen no correlation with exercise and IOPs, other than a slight reduction in IOP following aerobic exercise on the turbo trainer/bike (which gradually increases back to 'normal' over the day). My consultants advice has remained unchanged since diagnosis that jarring/bounding exercise should be avoided and that I could continue strength training but with low weight. I intend to revisit the conversation on my next visit but considering I am now on the waiting list for pre-assessment, who knows when that might be! Let's hope that once everything has settled post surgery, I will be in better position to make an informed decision.
Hi, I've had PDS for years, more recently progressing to glaucoma in the last few years. Have never been advised not to exercise.. I'm not into running but do yoga, walking and swimming..
Hi Luke, I can’t give you any medical advice but can only speak from my personal experience. I’m 41 and have PDS and glaucoma and I’m a regular runner and cyclist. My eye pressure has gone up and down and is currently 15/18 and controlled with drops. I count myself very lucky. So I certainly don’t let my PDS get in the way of my running. Again, that’s not clinical advice, just my experience.
I have the same and also bought a tonometer which has been invaluable. I used to do CrossFit and lift heavy weight, which I think contributed to vision lose because I used to lift extremely heavy and hold my breath. I have dropped CrossFit and mainly do aerobic, cycling, running and walking which reduce my IOP. I did some basic experiments with weights, and even light weight gave me a small pressure spike, but everyone is different and you should also experiment wigh you tonometer.
hi Luke I was diagnosed 6yrs ago and given same advice. I was in my mid 40s and stopped football and running. Advice was to avoid any impact sports so changed to cycling. I needed surgery in both eyes and have since started running again, my cons said we just had to monitor it but nothing more than 10k a couple of times a week, so far no impact on pressures.
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