can pmr affect eye sight

[yusuf]

my eye sight is a bit blurry at night could this be just the pmr ?

[Hidden]

Hello Yusuf,

May be best to mention this to your Rheumatologist or GP.

It may be nothing to worry about, but there is a chance that it could be Giant Cell Arteritis (which can affect people who have PMR), the symptoms are blurring of the eyesight, severe headache and jaw pain. This can lead to permanent damage of eyesight if untreated, so best to get it checked out.

Take care,

Karen.

[Polywotsit PMRGCAuk team member]

Hi Yusuf, you're asking an interesting question here! If it's just blurriness on its own I would think it's probably not so much the PMR as some other inflammation going along with the PMR. What I mean is that, because PMR is an auto-immune inflammatory illness, there is every reason why you might have auto-immune inflammation going on somewhere else as well. Inflammation of the eyelids is called blepharitis, and can cause blurry vision especially when your eyes are tired.

I had laser surgery for long sight when I was coming off the steroids. One surgeon refused to do it because he predicted I would have an inflammatory reaction. But another surgeon agreed to do it and guess what? I had an inflammatory reaction! But I also learned a lot about eyes, eyelids and tears. Your tears are made up of three layers that are secreted by different sets of glands. The glands in your eyelids make an oily layer that sits on top of your tears and prevents them evaporating. If this layer isn't working for some reason your eyes get dry, although paradoxically they may feel teary because your other glands are churning out tears to make up for the evaporation.

Try doing this at night. Soak a clean face cloth in very hot water. Wring it out, fold it and lay it over your eyes. It's surprisingly comforting. As it cools down put it in the water again to heat it up. Do this treatment for about ten minutes. This will help unblock the glands. Every couple of days, in the morning, dilute a couple of drops of Johnson's baby shampoo on a cotton pad or facecloth and use this to clean along the edge of your eyelids. Don't worry, it won't sting! You can be quite vigorous, sweeping the pad along your eyelashes and massaging the eyelids at the same time. This will clean away any debris like dead skin cells and make your eyelids as clean as - well, as clean as anything. After a few days of this you may find that things are a lot better. If not, get yourself a bottle of eyedrops (intensive for dry eyes) from Boots and use them about four times a day. If none of this works, then tell the doctor.

I paid the price of a small secondhand car for this information and I'm telling you for nothing!

Hope it does the trick,

Kate

[Annodomini]

Hi Yusuf

How often do you get your eyesight checked? As well as seeing your GP, it would be a good idea to see an optomotrist as well.

Anno

[Hidden]

Hi Yusuf,

I think that as long as you get your eyes checked by an optician at least once a year, or 6 monthly as you have PMR, and there is nothing to worry about regarding your sight, then the blurry vision you are having could simply be due to tiredness at the end of the day. I am short sighted and because I have PMR and get tired easily this effects my eyesight. When I am experiencing so called "burn out" my partner just looks at my eyes. He says it's time to rest. My eyes look blurry and I often can't see as normal.

Pats. p.s. If you are over 60 your tests are free.

[2watsons]

Six months ago i woke up and had lost sight of on eye due to giant cell ,had PMR ,SIX YEARS AGO ,just felt days before eye loss a little under Weather and an sore jaw ,so real pain my shoulders where very stiff.

It was a

[2watsons]

I had PMR six years ago and six months ago lost sight of one eye due thought to be giant cell arteritis it was a catastrophic visual lost i had my eyes tested very year .

So any worry about eye sight do not leave it .I am now day my day trying to get bad to some normal life .

[raymck]

raymck, Hi Yusuf, I am a GCA single-sighted member who lost vision in one eye over a few days, when the field of vision gradually dropped by having a larger and larger area in the mid-field which looked like an "ink-spot". The 3rd day, the curtain came down completely, no more sight in that eye...ever. So, if you get jaw-pain, headaches, sensitive temples, go to see an optician ASAP, as any delay is crucial at that stage. I don't mean to worry you, but even a lot of GPs do not recognise these symptoms and that is one of the aims of this group. The other advice about Johnsons Baby Shampoo is spot on too, as I have blocked tear ducts & it helps. Good luck,

raymck