I went for a routine eye test yesterday as I’ve been having a lot of eye strain lately (I still maintain my current specs haven’t been right since I got them 18 months ago - even though I questioned it a couple of times))
It was a bit of a shock to find that in nearly 5 years of taking Pred, and routine eye tests during this period, this was the worst deterioration in my vision. The optician seemed adamant that my slow forming cataracts affecting my vision are caused by the Brinzolomide eye drops which I have to take to regulate my eye pressure (caused by the Pred). And apparently the cataracts don’t need surgery at this time. It’s just one vicious circle, isn’t it.
Furthermore, he said that at the current time I’m not in the legal limit in one eye for safety in driving!
And then to top it all, my GP’s pharmacist phoned today to witter on about my cholesterol being borderline at 5.2 (the limit). Everything else from the full bloods were fine, and I’ve told him I’ll reduce my cholesterol by doing more exercise and cutting down on things - like I’ve done in the past and been successful. Anything not to take statins , unless it drastically went up any higher.
Sorry for the long chapter, I just wanted an offload.🙂
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Doraflora
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Just looked at patient information leaflet for eye drops, doesn’t mention anything about cataracts….whereas Pred does..so why are they being blamed? As you say, you cannot just stop them.
If you cannot drive, then is that not a viable reason for replacement surgery? I think I’d be following that up.
Like DL - if you are failing the legal limit to drive in one eye - surely that speaks for a cataract op? Because if the other deteriorates, that'll be no driving. I'd get a second opinion ...
But as the optician said: the cataracts aren’t bad enough yet for surgery and he couldn’t possibly say when they would deteriorate further. It could be some while.
No probs, but I had to change my lens a few times, before optometrist said - “no more, it’s costing you money”, and referred me to surgeon at eye department for replacement.
Different situation though, as you know I only have sight in one eye anyway…and by then was widowed and needed to drive.
I did get surgery done before surgeon really wanted to do it, but as I said, I’ve just paid a lot of money to go to New Zealand, and want to be able to see it properly!😳
I was diagnosed with high cholesterol thirty years ago, and it was agreed that I could try and 'manage/reduce' my levels through diet and exercise alone before I considered taking statins.
It's commonly taught that cholesterol levels are pre-determined & 'set' by one's own body and therefore not significantly influenced or altered by anything that we may try to do ourselves.
I did much research and explored around the whole subject very comprehensively and although initially my efforts definitely did prove a success (with a reduction of my overall levels from 6.2 down to around 4.2) this was only because I followed an incredibly disciplined regime.
This regime eventually impacted so much on my social life and eating habits that it became impossible to sustain and I didn't want to live such a restricted lifestyle anymore.
I also discovered that as time went on, my body's ability to maintain a safe level of cholesterol began to diminish, to such point that the levels began to creep up again.
It was becoming harder & harder for my body to deal with and eventually it became necessary to take a statin.
I have now been on statins for many years and although I've had to change them a couple of times, I've generally not had any significant issues with them.
I wont & don't take any medication unless I have evidence that supports the need for it, and I feel this is a really important consideration to be mindful of.
However, it's also just as important to be able to recognise and acknowledge when you're seeing that evidence and to not ignore it.
I managed to avoid taking statins for almost 2yrs, but eventually, with my own family history and health issues, the consequences of not taking them were just too dangerous and it would have been irresponsible of me to not heed the advice.
Your situation will be unique to you but you'll probably find it becomes more difficult to maintain an acceptable cholesterol level as time goes by.
Thanks for that, Kendrew. I totally take that all on board and, believe me, if I’m not able to control my cholesterol to a lower level then I would opt for the statins.
I have no family history of cholesterol or high BP and in fact my dear parents lived to almond 101 and 98, so I hope I have inherited their genes!
All that apart, I’ll see how it goes within the next six months and then see.
Thanks for your good wishes and I hope you are doing well these days?
May be try a different optician? I went to independent one (not Boots) and she helped me get cataracts fixed. I avoid statins too — offered to lose weight ( some success off and on)
Well as I had to pay for the new specs upfront (ouch!) I will see how I get on with them for the next few months and if I have any problems I will be challenging Specsavers in a big way!
Looking back, the guy I saw this week is a ‘doctor’ and has been there a long time, whereas the young guy I saw last time - where I challenged the prescription- was newly trained.🤔. And as I said in my post, I’ve never been completely satisfied with my old specs despite going back to them a couple of times.
Both I and my daughter had problems with chain opticians specs, she with SS or VE in Cardiff, not sure which, I with a German company. When we took the specs to my wonderful private optician in Scotland, he identified the problem immediately. Yes, the prescription was right enough - but they hadn't put them in the frames with the correct distance between the centres. You know, the measurement they take between your eyes? It was minimally off - and our brains were fighting to make sense of the slightly fuzzy result. Hers were small lenses so difficult to do anything with but mine were very large and he cut them to fit in small frames and they were fine. But both the big chains insisted there was nothing wrong with their work.
Seem to remember being asked to pay a deposit for my last lot here - it was 2 lots of quite expensive frames so if I hadn't turned up to collect them it would have been a dollop to lose I suppose.
Think previous optician some 25 years ago may have asked for 10% -but current one never has. Mine are quite pricey too -varifocals, transitional lenses, anti-scratch finish and snazzy frames (more so nowadays!) .. and no reduction with one plain (balanced) lens either🤨
Following PMRpro comment….,, for two years I struggled with my varifocals from the well known chain , the vision in one eye was poor. Eventually I switched to Boots opticians and discovered the lens was twisted within the frame so was never going to provide good vision. New specs followed but after two weeks one lens cracked whilst wearing them. Boots replaced them without question which was great. At a later visit when I said my vision in one eye was poor they admitted they couldn’t improve it with anew prescription as my squint was turning in rather than just selling me something that would work. I still use Boots opticians.
Hi Doraflora - my comment on statins that might be of interest: over the last few years my total cholesterol result has been 5.2, then 4.0, then 6.0 and then back down to 4.0 again. I have made no changes to my diet along the way. Unless my trend is a steady climb upwards I don’t intend to add another pill to my growing pot.
I visit the eye clinic regularly as I have macular oedema. At one appointment I was offered a steroid implant in my eye which would last for about 6 months. The consultant said the only problem was it will cause cataracts. I said my optician says I already have the start. She had a look and put me on her cataract list and I had the first eye done 2 months later. The cataracts had not been causing any problems so I was surprised. Surely if your cataracts are causing problems you would think they are ready to be done.
Well fortunately I too am under the eye clinic for ocular pressure and in fact I’m next due there in the new year, so I’ll have a chat with the consultant and if he says I need surgery now then Specsavers will be taken to task - in a big way!
On a positive note, at my recent eye test my eye pressure was fine this time.😃
Well, I tell you what, if the eye clinic consultant says I need surgery when I see him in the new year, I’ll be back to SS hot-footed and they won’t hear the last of me.
Not sure it would be seen as "need" but more the stage at which it is possible to do something. It used to be that the cataract had to "ripen" before it could be removed and that's why there was such a difference pre and post op. But these days the technique is different and our demands too - if your job requires you to be able to see clearly and be able to drive, then you need surgery. You already have one eye that doesn't qualify you to drive - when might the other join it?
On my first visit to the eye clinic a rather unpleasant opthamologist shouted at me, saying I also had claucoma and put me on eye drops for it. At the next appointment I saw the top man who said I don’t think you have glaucoma but may have ocular hypertension from the steroids. He then checked the thickness of my cornea and they are very thick. My right eye they have to reduce the result by 6 and the left by 4. He took me off the drops! At the eye clinic they don’t look at cataracts unless you ask as their concern for me was the retina and macular.
I have cataracts that aren’t yet bad enough to operate…my optician said it’s rare to see anybody of a certain age without cataracts in the development stage, everybody has them. My husband had them for five years until they were deemed to be bad enough for surgery. I misread your post & thought you had one eye that was too bad to drive,but I think now you meant you didn’t have the right prescription glasses? Neither of my eyes are good enough to drive without the right prescription lenses!! Oh, & I’ve take statins since I was 40…my cholesterol was 12, my Aunts 11 and my Mums 10. None of us got it lower by diet. I’ve had no trouble with them at all, & as both Mum & Aunt died from strokes, I will take what helps! They’re not all bad!!
The optician said that with my ‘current’ specs I’m not in the legal limit to drive - with my right eye. That’s why I’ve been prescribed stronger glasses.
And I wouldn’t hesitate to take statins if my immediately family had had such high cholesterol 😲
Oh, right! My husband had the same problem, they thought he had glaucoma, but had two cataracts & some laser surgery & is fine. I had a shock when I visited my optician last year…I have Macular Degeneration. My father went virtually blind with the disease as he aged. I’m just hoping mine progresses very slowly, as it’s not the type where you can have injections to help your sight. Makes you realise how important your eyes are!!
Don’t be too alarmed. One optician told me quite a number of years ago that I had macular degeneration, but the consultant thereafter said not and other opticians ever since have never mentioned it at all. I have regular visits to the opthamology department as well so I’m satisfied.
Mine is hereditary, & I knew it was likely. I saw my father go gradually blind over a period of about 12 years, so I know the process. If mine changes to the other type (very small percentage do), then I can have injections to ‘stop the rot’!! I’ve seen it on the screen for myself so I know it’s real! S x
Yes, I had very similar with cataracts that developed really quickly and was unable to drive for a couple of years. I was told to inform the DVLA who revoked my license. I've had 2 cataract ops this year, the results are amazing! I still wear glasses to read but can see distance pretty well without. Just got my license back and am taking it steady getting back to driving. Hang on in there.
There is a really helpful book called “A life without statins “by Aseem Malhotra. I would read this as it arms you with some really helpful evidence regarding statins. Hope this helps.
bit off topic but interesting…. I was born with a squint that was operated on when I was 3 in 1965. I am 63 next year and over the years have worn glasses and now varifocals. I have mild dry eyes and take drops to help this. Over the last few years my vision in my affected eye has got blurry and my glasses don’t seem to help, the optician said my squint eye is turning inwards again and therefore my glasses don’t correct the vision in that eye any longer. I have early cataract growth of course. Apparently NHS don’t offer squint correction operations now so not sure what I’m going to do. When driving it feels like the affected eye is not working to give me correct focus which is very worrying. I still pass the ‘read number plate from distance test’ but I shall have to consider how safe I am as a driver on the roads very soon or fund a private operation assuming I can find out how and where.
Have you got prisms in your lenses? How about asking for a referral to an NHS Orthoptist for eye exercises to strengthen your 'squint' eye? I'm seeing one in 3 weeks! My squint was operated on about 20 years ago when I was in my 50s and the eye muscles are getting lazier now - I blame it on the pred!
That’s interesting as I did take steroids for several years in my youth for Stills which may have had a contributory effect. My optician has already told me NHS here will not operate on an adult squint. However Dorset Lady suggested I look for a private option and the Spire here in Cambridgeshire seem to offer it.
If you have poor binocular vision due to a squint there are definitely options. As per Rugger below, after assessment by an optometrist, eye exercises, prismatic lenses or other possibilities may be suggested. It's quite a specialist field. I did very well with eye exercises on a yearly basis but my eye muscles were just weak without an actual squint. Cataract in the eye with the squint will make things worse cos you won't be able to 'fix' properly. An ophthalmologist would be able to advise you on how best to proceed with both problems.
Moorfields eye hospital does a lengthy download file on adult squint surgery so I'm not sure your 'no surgery ' info is correct. Especially since you were operated as a child.
I am an Orthoptist working in the NHS and yes we do offer squint surgery but it depends on the type of squint and they would have to weigh up whether operating would improve things. You must definitely have your squint assessed by an orthoptist prior to any cataract surgery.
I’d just like to throw into these discussions that you can always seek referral to your eye clinic via your GP. It doesn’t have to come from an optician. We see hundreds of referrals and to be honest they are not always accurate in their assessment of cataracts particularly the chain stores.
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply and I shall certainly try this although the opportunity to speak with a GP is rare here but sometimes the nurse clinicians ring back she may well be able to speak with the GP (always locums) and get a letter sent. Thanks again 👁️
I have GCA and my eyes deteriorated in the first year of high steroid use. My optician said not bad enough for surgery and changed my prescription twice in 6 months. When I had a very close accident and nearly hit a road worker because I was blinded by the lights , I called my neuro Ophthalmologist, Who had done my biopsy, she had me come in right away as I was scared to death I was losing my sight. At the exam she knew right away that I had subscapular cataracts caused by the high steroid use. She explained that they form in the back of the lens and are not visible on normal eye screening, I still had my other cataracts that were slowly forming. I think they need what is called a slit lamp exam to see the subscapular cataracts. I had first eye repaired the next week and my other, two weeks later. I couldn’t believe the difference of my sight. I suggest you if you can to make an appt with an opthamologist, they are a medical doctor. An optician is a technologist and are great for traditional eye exams and glasses. Good luck.
It often helps to have an off load and it also helps others with their issues.
This is the first mention I've seen that there might be a connection between Prednisolone and eye pressure.
Following a recent eye test which showed increased pressure I've been referred to the Ophthalmology clinic for further tests. Knowing if Pred could be the cause of the increase will help me better to discuss it with the doctor.
Does anyone know what other causes can increase pressure in the eyes possibly leading to Glaucoma?
Thanks for your replies. What I was trying to say was that I was unaware of any posts about Pred and eye pressure. My concern arose from having bleary eyes not pressure.
Doing a search for 'bleary' eyes brings up posts mentioning pressure but it was only when I had an eye test that I realised that there was a connection between bleary eyes and pressure. That said I'm still a bit unsure if the bleary eyes are the result of the Pred or the pressure.
All patients on pred should have a baseline and annual checks thereafter to be sure occular pressures are not rising. I'm appalled you weren't told that. It either happens or it doesn't I'm told here - after 15 years on pred my pressures have remained absolutely normal. In the UK it is easy to get them checked - any optometrist can check them so if you go to your local CUES or MECS optician they can help. Pred patients used to be entitled to frequent checks on the NHS for this reason but then it was reduced to 2 yearly like everyone else. But a good optometrist will check them for you even if there is a small charge.
High pressures alone are not glaucoma but long term high pressure can lead to glaucoma.
Your cholesterol isn't that high. I would ask for a coronary calcium score ct. It measures what's in your arteries. If it's below 100, you're unlikely to need statins.
I went from nought to severe in a matter of weeks with cataracts over the summer. Was very shocked to say the least and had my first cataract surgery two weeks from specsaver referral - from start to finish was fifteen weeks and I think we need to be aware that original glasses prescription lenses do not work side by side and there could be an element of partial sightedness for a few weeks, certainly need a contingency plan for shopping if you are classed as severe.
It was suggested that pred had its part to play, I had taken it for 89 weeks, although I am grateful beyond belief that I have my sight reinstated, I am back driving and having my independence reinstated. What I am not grateful for is being met by a friend who made disparaging comments about my dark glasses - also not grateful that no one person offered me any help AT ALL.
Being seen as independent can be a big fault. I do ask for help. It arrives in the form usually from people with their own health problems!!!!
The world for me now IS CRYSTAL CLEAR, I say a huge amount of thank yous at any time of the day. My calendar is choc a block with activities and lunches, even though mobility is limited and pain lingers on - onwards and upwards!!!!
Good gracious me. No. Out of the question. Im staggered my comment could be taken as that. My support network is this site but it obviously can not provide physical help.
It didnt quite come over as tongue in cheek. Slightly upsetting actually. If you ever read my previous posts I have nothing but praise for all the support.
Sounds like a friend you can manage without!! People can be so thoughtless - I wear my sunglasses a lot and frankly, if they don't like it, they can do t'other thing! Know what you mean about not being offered help. Been there ...
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GCA Eye Stroke
Vision constantly changing
Blurry eyes - caused by Pred? And resolving after Pred stops?
Eye test
Delayed eye appointment warning 
