Has anyone had any eye problems that are associated with lupus? I noticed some distortion in my left eye a few days ago and will see the doc tomorrow. I currently have retinitas pigmentosis (a deterioration of the peripheral vision) and my family has a history of macular degeneration and glaucoma, but I'm still awfully young for macular to be showing up. I currently take gabapentin and cellcept...gabapentin does list eye probs, but when I talked to my eye dr about it when I first went on it, he said he had never seen any problems with his patients...I don't remember seeing anything about cellcept causing eye probs. If anyone has experienced eye probs, I would love to hear from you.
Oh, and by chance does anyone know of a good rheumy in Denver, CO area? Mine is retiring.
Sorry that you are having issues with your eyes. I, too, developed problems with my retinas from many years of taking Plaquenil. I had to discontinue this drug in August and am being followed to see if the damage will abate or continue. I don't think that Cellcept causes eye issues as that was one of the alternative drugs that my rhemy suggested. Good luck!
Sorry to hear you have issues as well. I had a VERY severe reaction to Plaquenil so I was only on it a month or so. I hope Cellcept works for you and that you have some recovery in your eyes. Thanks for getting back to me and good luck to you Daisy!
You must let your doctor know immediately. One of the major side effects of Plaquenil is the eye issues, however after I had a couple of TIA's in May, I lost much of the peripheral vision in my right eye. More than just medication can cause vision problems, and there are several different eye problems that can be caused. My suggestion is that you get to the ER immediately. They will have a Rheumy on staff that can evaluate if it is the meds or a blockage to your optic nerves. The longer you wait, the more likely the damage could be permanent.
Besides Plaquenil hurting the eyes which Daisy as stated...i also suffer with distortion occassionally with both eyes through damage to the muscles of my eyes through Tegretol i take for my epilepsy and when it occurs i take a 5mg valium and it corrects itself in 20mins roughly.
SLE can cause problems with our eyes besides other problems and meds, i hope this link helps you.
I just had an episode with my eye that was diagnosed as Keratoconjunctivitus. I had swelling of clear fluid under the lens that was uncomfortable and caused headaches. The next day I pulled my upper eyelid back and found the white part irritated and red, and noticed that the top portion of the normally dark ring around my iris was white. This got me straight to the eye doctor where I was diagnosed. He had to look it up in his reference book, as he had never seen it in person before. The book stated that there was some connection with patients who had Graves Disease, which many of us that have Lupus also suffer with. Another auto-inflammatory response to be treated with steroid drops. I don't know if this is the same symptoms you have, but if they are you might look it up.
Thanks DeAnne. I'm sorry to hear about your vision loss...I have some loss of peripheral from retinitis pigmentosis that I was diagnosed with in 94. I only took plaquenil for a very short period (I think it was less than a month) because I had a severe reaction to it, and that was almost 2 years ago. I will get on this right away!
I know my eyes are incredibly dry for many various reasons. I talked to my eye doctor and he told me that extremely dry eyes can distort your vision, because it changes the way light reflects off of the surface of the eye. If I try to go for a walk with out sunglasses on, I can barely see straight by the time I get home. I can see objects but every thing is blurry. Some days are better than others, but it was starting to freak me out till I went to the doctor.
I wondered if cataracts could be developing...I have been on prednisone for almost 2 years. I'm only 48, so still seems young to me, but who knows...none of this crap was supposed to happen to me (i.e., the lupus) and it did! Thanks to everyone for sharing your information. I'll let you know what I find out at the eye dr tomorrow.
Thanks Ann, I am taking a Calcium + Vit D supp. I weaned off of prednisone last fall, but within a few short days, I was miserable again. I gave it about 3 weeks, but I was getting so bad I would have wanted pain meds again, and I DON'T want to go that route! Thanks again for the info!
Your welcome and i hope you find a good rheumo to turn to :)
There's many issues which can course the eye trouble which as been stated by members plus meds can cause issues besides but have you also been tested for sjogren's disease besides as that carries quite a few eye issues.
I guess the antimalarial drugs given for lupus has side effect of eye problems. Drugs like methotexratae may affect the retina. Hence consult your doc. for this
Good point made about the antimalerials and there's mainly to which damage the retina of the eye... Plaquenil and Aralen.
Terri :)
Karthik said:
Hai!
I guess the antimalarial drugs given for lupus has side effect of eye problems. Drugs like methotexratae may affect the retina. Hence consult your doc. for this
Thanks again to everyone for your information and support. My eye doctor performed a full exam, and it appears that my macula is showing some causes for concern, plus my eyes are extremely dry. I will be seeing a specialist to perform further testing. I'm not surprised to hear this, and it is what I expected, as macular degeneration is rampant on both sides of my family. I was just hoping it was something else because I am only 48 and that is just so young for macular. I will be sure to report this to my rheumy in case she has any additional thoughts on the matter. So, for now, it's just "onward soldiers we must march"...
Thank you so much for the update on seeing your eye doctor...sorry to hear you have macula trouble but some symptoms can run in family's it's just hoping you don't get them.
I'd definitely mention this to your rheumo as it's Lupus related but mainly sjogren's syndrome related and you also having dry eyes, you need to know if you have sjogren's.
This discussion you've mentioned on macula will also be mentioned on the sjogrens site plus this link will tell you about the macula with Lupus and sjogren's.
I am a bit confused with my eyes...what's new though. It seems so often I feel I'm caught up in the middle and don't know whether it's worth mentioning becuz I carry some symptoms, but not all. My eyes have felt for a long time as though there's something in them, and there's just this stringy white substance there, and I, of course, just rub them...lol They did feel dry when this started. Fast forward. For abt the past 2 wks I've had the opposite. They just tear and tear and then stop. But more troublesome is this black circular floaty thing that just hangs in front of my eye. If I shift my eyes it follows my field of vision, but when I stop moving my eyes, it just floats..... What is that? I keep getting all these crazy little things going on and I just put them off, but this kind of bothered me, and I have Diabetes, and have had visual problems(wear glasses)so I figured I needed to go see the opthamalagist(sp?)...yuk Thank you for reading if u did....take care Lupies;)
I just wanted to say that I looked up information(which I should have done initially)and it seems that these(floaters)are quite common in my age group...gosh I hate getting old! I guess they're pretty harmless, just annoying. Now, I am still going to see the opth. becuz I just nd to due to vision changes....new glasses..lol, and I have some visual weakness and blurriness. As I sd I do have Diabetes, so I guess it's best to go and get it over with....much as I detest having to go see another doc;(
Please go and see either your opthamologist or optician because your eyes are precious mate and also having diabetes the problems you've mentioned my mom had besides cataracts and stop rubbing them as it does'nt help having sjogren's as learnt me that lesson...keep some unscented baby wipes by you and freshen your eyes that way and drops help besides.
Please update we when you've sorted it or at least let me know as i'll keep on at you.lol
Love you loads Terri xxx
Angel312 said:
I just wanted to say that I looked up information(which I should have done initially)and it seems that these(floaters)are quite common in my age group...gosh I hate getting old! I guess they're pretty harmless, just annoying. Now, I am still going to see the opth. becuz I just nd to due to vision changes....new glasses..lol, and I have some visual weakness and blurriness. As I sd I do have Diabetes, so I guess it's best to go and get it over with....much as I detest having to go see another doc;(
Terri xxx