Had an optician appointment last week, i wear specs, mostly for driving but may also be for reading and watching tv if i need to. Eye test due so off i dutifully go. Recent aches and pains in there i thought i might need a new prescription for my specs as i thought it must just be eye strain, turns out that i don't my vision is fine.
Anyhoooo, my painful eyes are questioned by optician as his photographs look fine and my field vision is also ok. So i tell him i have thyroid problems but he doesn't seem concerned by that. Eyes constantly watering, frequently cracked at corners, intense pressure behind eye, it really hurts to "see" looking about and focusing near to far and back using those eye muscles can be so painful. Eyes themselves feels sore even though i just recently had anti biotics prescribed. I often have pain running along cheekbone and around eye socket, constant gnawing headache. All of which my Gp says don't concern him. Paracetomols / ibuprofen don't really take pain away & i can't take coideine, i don't think that's normal and neither did optician.
He referred me to eye hospital as he felt i needed further investigation. Today surgery has rang for me to go there and see Gp and he will probably cancel the referral. I also have to wait another 10 days in pain as there are no appointments.
Anyone else have similar pain / eye problems with Hashi's ?
Anyones Gp over ruled other professionals ? I find this very bizarre, as surely that guys opinion counts ?
Sorry for long post, i needed to vent a little, i hate this thyroid thing today.
Written by
ferretmam
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I wouldn't go until after you have been to the eye hospital. My GP has never got involved with my optician appointments because he is not an eye expert. I would talk to your optician and tell him about it.
Oooh ! Right thank you. I thought it was a bit of a weird phone call, and to be fair it felt like being reprimanded for seeing an optician for a check up that was due any way !
Going through an optician is usually a good way to ensure that an opthalmology referral goes through when GPs are uncooperative, at least in my own experience.
Did the message from your surgery indicate the referral may be blocked?
I sympathise with the eye pain. I've had this around my left eye for about a year, and mine also keeps moving to sinuses, then below the ear, and back up again to concentrate around and behind the eye. I thought it might be a trapped nerve caused by the position in which I have to sleep, but I haven't yet investigated it.
Yeah, that was the message i got from receptionist. I only went to optician cos i thought my prescription might have changed as i was having difficulty focusing and light sensitivity became a bit painful. I honestly thought the optician would have been the one in charge, but clearly not.
Your GP is not an eye specialist. I would refuse to see the GP in these circumstances. Contact the surgery and politely request that they follow the optician's referral instructions.
Why would your GP cancel the appointment? He is not an optician and your optician has referred you. I honestly can't see why he would do that. I had flashing lights last year and I had been suffering with blurred vision and I was using gel eye drops because my eyes felt dry. The optician examined my retina and said everything was fine and didn't need to go to the eye hospital unless the flashing got worse. Everything settled down and for some reason now I no longer have blurred vision or dry eyes. I think it has something to do with my thyroid levels being right for me at the moment.
My Gp thinks the answer to everything is fibromyalgia ! I have many symptoms including tremors and bone pain, probably related to low vit D and thyroid, bht i struggle with pain when focusing and light sensitivity. I think gp just thinks i'm being difficult.
Of course you are not being difficult. When I was suffering with dry eyes I would wake up each morning and have to bathe my eyes because I could hardly open them. I have had some bad experiences with Doctors and a couple of them wanted me to have counseling and take antidepressants for my thyroid disease. One actually made me an appointment with a counselor and when they rang to confirm the appointment I cancelled it. Your Doctor cannot make you do anything you don't want to they can just advise you. Whether you take their advice is up to you. Can you change Doctor because yours sounds like a right pain.
I am seriously considering changing doctors? Though it would be quite a drive as i live in the countryside. But i'm starting to think the drive would be worth it. These talk down to their patients (& they shouldn't - i'm old enough to be his mother )
I sympathise with you too - they're too quick to spout the counselling word. They also had me on anti depressants before i realised i had Hashi's. Had those suggested again 3 weeks ago, refused it of course
I was surprised by that because my GP has no idea when or if I visit the opticians and has never mentioned anything about my eyes. I did tell him I was suffering from dry eyes and he said go and see an optician.
I was surprised too, but the opticians sat there, did a load of clicks of the computer & job done. I don't know if he's linked in the same way as systmonline the patient portal, but most certainly has emailed them.
This sounds bizarre to me. It’s none of your GP’s business to overturn an optician’s referral? The only thing I wonder is if the eye clinic have contacted your GP about this referral and the GP is now feeling involved by default?
My eye clinic is the busiest department in my hospital and, despite having Sjögren’s, the inserted punctal plugs into my tear ducts at my optician’s request and then discharged me! I was so mad about this that I turned up at the walk in clinic service and showed them a blocked lacrimal duct and said I thought that I should be monitored annually at least.
My ophthalmologist has increased this now to every 6 months because one of the 3 types of dry eye disease of Sjögren’s, blepharitis, has been getting worse. I also have periorbital edema which my optician thinks is from being under medicated for my Hashimoto’s. I’m now on a raised dose of Levothyroxine abd this seems to be helping as my eyelids aren’t as swollen with fluid retention.
I know from a talk I went to by a consultant ophthalmologist about rheumatic diseases affecting the eyes - that GPs should be avoided for eye complaints as they just diagnose everything as conjunctivitis. We were told always to see the optician who can refer us on if necessary. This applies to teeth - GPs won’t see anyone about dental problems. So same should apply to eyes and vision surely?
Anyway it seems quite likely that your Fibromyalgia diagnosis is the issue and the busy eye clinic has seen this on your notes and jumped to conclusions? Sjögren’s, RA, Thyroid diseases can all be misdiagnosed as Fibro so I would just go to the eye clinic - they usually have walk in A&E service for anything urgent - and ignore your GP’s request. Or go straight back to your optician and explain - ask them to test you for all the 3 types of dry eye disease too and, since you’re diagnosed with Fibro - ask about RA (it can affect the eyes) and autoimmune diseases of the eyes, Scleritis and uveitis too. Fibro comes under the arthritis/ rheumatology heading so is surely more of a reason to see an eye specialist than a reason not to!
Thank you so much, for that info, that sounds just like me, i had no idea you could get RA in the eyes. Gp says no to RA even though there is close family history, but then he's the one who prescribed proton pump inhibitors to a hashi's patient (he won't agree to that either !) Keeps saying, "lets not get ahead of ourselves now !) Well patronising
My eyes drip like taps, i'm always asked if i'm ok because i look like i'm crying. I got chloramphenicol 2 weeks ago for blepharitis, it didn't work. Different locum gp that upped my levo said my eyes looked fine at the time. Had been hoping she was going to be there on my next review, but she's gone already ( probably got reprimanded for increasing Levo doses 😂)
I feel like he just bins me off with the fibro word cos he cant be bothered to look for the real cause, i'm supposed to take my Levo and keep quiet even though it keeps me ill.
I had no idea about those eye plugs, you've been really brave.
Aww thanks for calling me brave. I would do a disclaimer as getting the plugs fitted was easy peazy - but as I’ve just had a second molar extracted and have just emailed my new rheumatologist (my eighth in 8 years!) to point out innacuracies in her clinical letter - I do feel quite brave!
I take a PPI and Levothyroxine but I have no choice about this due to other autoimmune diseases. So I marched into my endo’s office during his gender reassignment clinic (the secretary tipped me off that he was free of patients!) and told him that I think the swelling around my eyes is due to me being under medicated and on a PPI. He was more than happy to agree, having checked my latest bloods first. He told me that although he hasn’t seen me for 3 years, he is always available by phone if GPs are being twats about my dosage. And he checked when I take my AdCalD3 and my Levo and esomaprazole. Then said I’m an expert patient and he will tell my GPS to let me self manage my Hashis!
Yes there are tiny synovial joints in the eyes and RA can cause them to be affected by synovitis - not to mention sicca syndrome, Sjögren’s, scleritis and uveitis. So just cut the GPs out where possible - especially if your eyes are the problem. Our sight is very important!! Go to your nearest walk in eye clinic and tell them a family member with RA and Sjögren’s (same family) has similar problems with their eyes. White lies and small exaggerations are sometimes called for these days!
I wish i had a good Endo, Gp keeps saying i don't need one. I'm in north east and haven't heard of any good ones in my area, but I think i'm gonna demand one when i see him next week as i think i do need help from elsewhere. Not sure how i'm gonna manage that interview but i have been keeping a diary of temp, bp,pulse and all my lousy symptoms.
Would agree with your ppi theory, my vit D plummeted over xmas because of those, i now use apple cider vinegar diluted prior to meals, works a treat. Busy bumping up the D with co factors.
Sorry to hear about your extraction, i'm quietly losing mine too. In fact i still have jaw pain from an extraction in November
I got out of bed today and hubby asked if i'd scratched myself - nope i now have some broken veins running in a line down my face, looks like i've been clawed by a cat ! My cheeks are bright red all the time and my head is hot, i have the biggest headache behind my eyes and the back of my neck and clavicle aches terribly.
My most annoying feature that has joined the party is my difficulty in writing things down and spelling. I'm finding it hard to form the letters and forget to put letters in words. Never been like this in my life, always loved the english language. Been really busy today, but think i'm going to see my optician tomorrow , just for a little chat 😉
A few years ago I had double vision due to my GP taking me off levo (because I was cured, apparently!) After changing GP and developing double vision in the same week he told me to see an optician as a GP's knowledge of eyes was limited, plus they don't have the equipment to perform the necessary tests. The optician (a rather young lass) did a gazillion tests and said she thought she knew what it was, but wanted a second opinion from her senior manager. He repeated some of the tests, did a few more, turned to her and said she was right, it's my thyroid, then told me I'm under medicated, double vision is a common symptom. He wrote a letter for my new GP telling him this and I was put back on levo the next time I managed to get an appointment, the double vision started to clear up within two days of getting back on the levo.
The optician referred me to the hospital (a) just in case it wasn't my thyroid and (b) to confirm no lasting damage had been caused (the hospital spent an hour doing tests and didn't find a single thing wrong). GP was in agreement with the referral, didn't try to stop it.
For a while prior to the double vision, and for a month or so afterwards, I'd had similar symptoms to what you've described - my eyes felt like they were about to pop out of my head, couldn't focus properly, aching muscles etc. These symptoms all wore off once I was back on levo.
Having similar issues again right now, but they've increased my dose and they're slowly reducing, though if I do anything strenuous my eyes go weird and it's hard to see properly, though they usually recover after 5-10 minutes. Hopefully that's just because it's only been a fortnight since the dose increase and it's taking longer to recover this time?
I too have feelings like my eyes are gonna pop out if my head. I got an increase in Levo 2 weeks ago but its too early to say i've improved & i really haven't felt any better.
Hope you too get some improvement soon, this eye thing is so scary and its awful feeling like no one is listening x
Ive gone double vision just before I was diagnosed but its not gone right in a year so dont think it will. Eye specialist saw me for 3 minutes and discharged me. Recently been diagnosed with Sjogrens too (one runs like mad when out) so gonna write to her telling her how disappointing she was for her high salary. Taking an Eye Complex 7 by Time Health now, hoping it will help x
I would change your GP! That sounds cruel to me when you are in pain and scary with your eyes. Does the GP practice have to pay for the referral? Otherwise why is it bothering him? Very strange x
I think he is one of those GPs who thinks he knows everything when infact he doesn't. I have come across a few like that and I do argue with them if I think they are wrong. As I said my GP actually slumps in his chair when I walk in. I can imagine what he is thinking "Oh no not her again" lol
I honestly thought the referral would have gone to eye infirmary, but as a courtesy maybe to Gp. But my gp has a bit of a god complex, looks like i'm gonna have to get tough. I'm mostly mouse so it won't be easy !
Just imagine him naked that usually helps me if a man is trying to talk down to me. I worked with a lot of Doctors and actually mixed with them socially because my husband used to be a manager. I think that is one of the reasons I don't feel intimidated by them.
Eye problems need always be checked by specialist. Over here in Finland referral can't be cancelled but GP's are as clueless as yours.
You could have for example Hortons ,tho it's usually far worse and mostly affect men but still , watery , sore and painful eyes needs to be checked.
My childhood friend is eye surgeon and I always ask her advice about what to do and where should I go with eye problem. She tells me straightforward that eye problems should never be ignored. For example my brother has Horton and because of watery ,and a bit swollen eyes contact lenses scratched his eyes and could have caused so bad scar tissue he could have gone blind. GP did nothing but my eye surgeon friend advised to go to ER in university hospital where they have ophthalmologist always on call. It was a matter of days.
Ever since I have taken eye problems seriously. Just dry eyes can cause so much problems, nurse at eye hospital told me dry eyes can cause bad pain on forehead.
Thank you, i have never heard of Hortons. I always worry about my left eye, i was hit in the eye with a tree branch years ago and it took a couple of years to heal. But this is taking turns on both sides and does give dreadful forehead pain along with a dull nagging ache behind eyes, i seem to have light sensitivity too, sunny days hurt so bad but i can't hide from the few days we get as i need the vit D, mine is low.
Horton is what used to be called suicide headache/histamine headache causing stabbing pain behind the eye.
My brother also had very bad light sensitivity that he just had to stay indoors. Especially spring over here in Finland where we have snow and light reflect from it, can be hellish.
Vitamin A deficiency can cause eye problems. If nothing bad is going on you could take a short course of vit A or use vitamin A eye drops.
I hope its just something simple and easy to treat!
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
How to ask the GP for a referral letter
Has anyone used a private GP to get prescription after NHS GP has refused?
Appointment with Endo booked - need advice re GP and referral
Has anyone had to make complaint about GP practice?
