View Full Version : Ocular Hypertension
Hi all,
Unfortunately I have been on here a bit much lately. As often happens with Health Anxiety it's one thing after the other.
Currently I am in the throngs of "eye" anxiety.
I went to an optometrist yesterday due to having some eye pain/tired eyes/sinus-y eye pain for the last couple of days.
She did the regular checks (whatever those even are) and did the air puff test which showed my "Intra Ocular Pressure" a bit high - something like 22 which is just past the limit of 21. I had this around 6 months ago (had sinus eye problems again) too but back then she didn't think too much of it because everything seemed fine otherwise.
She looked through my history and apparently the pressure has always been around 19-23 since at least as far back as 2012.
I am currently 34 so age is on my side but she figured I should check in with an Ophthalmologist to get a more detailed glaucoma workup. She did check the "optic nerve" which thankfully looked fine.
The soonest appointment is not for almost 2 weeks so of course I am now stuck with the spiral of thoughts between eye pressure, glaucoma, peripheral vision obsession, and so on. The second she mentioned "glaucoma" workup was enough for me to spiral.
I've been trying to gauge my peripheral vision by seeing how far to the sides I can see, and I think it's just straining my eyes further. Had a quite bad headache from this all yesterday to the point of needing to take 2 Advil.
On top of all this, my eye still is bothering along with a headache which was the original reason I went to the optometrist to begin with but she didn't find much there besides maybe dry/tired eyes.
I searched the forums and there are a few mentions of eye pressure but really not mention, would really appreciate some input as I'm petrified of eye issues.
Hullo,
Take all of this with a grain of salt as it's just my own understanding and I am NOT a doctor: High IOP is fairly common and usually monitored, I think, and it depends a lot of people's individual anatomy -- something about corneal thickness, I think? (I think of it like a balloon where the flexibility and thickness of the latex material is just as important as the amount of air pressure inside -- hence why glaucoma is usually an old people problem, as even the eyes lose flexibility as we age.) There are medications for managing it to keep high(er) pressure from progressing to glaucoma, I think.
I wouldn't worry about this at all, as you are literally just giving yourself headaches. Best wishes to you.
I don't think you have anything to worry about. I get annual, dilation eye exams and I am regularly 22-24. My doc just says that's my normal. I have no symptoms or indications of glaucoma or any issues related to higher IOP. If you ever did have an issue (you wont), it can be easily treated by beta blockers.
Thanks for the replies!
It's a huge pet peeve of mine when people on here don't post results, so I want to just post an update if people search for these tags.
Luckily the Optho had an opening today (cancellation) so I popped in.
They did a pretty thorough workup and like kyllikki said I do indeed have thicker corneas which may explain the higher pressure - they also observed higher pressure (22) using better tools than the Optometrist did.
All in all they didn't think any action needs to be taken now, just keep an "eye on it" - so that was good news! Dilated eyes weren't fun though but only lasted around 5 hours.
Hi all, so I have an update on this. It's going to be a bit lengthy.
I went for a scheduled follow up with the Ophthalmologist. It happens to be my eyes were bothering me for a week prior to that appointment, but I had just gotten over a massive health anxiety (include an MRI and sigmoidoscopy..another story) which thankfully all turned out fine. But then the next day my eyes started to bother me again (dry/tired/eyelid kept feeling "stuck"/headache above the brow/between the eyes). Just in time for the scheduled follow up.
In any case, I went for the scheduled follow up and they did some further testing. The IOP was still the same at around 21/22 with the "accurate" measure. They did not do another visual field test (the first visit I did fine on it except for one tiny spot), but there was something (burst vessel or inflammation or something along those lines) on the image of one eye that concerned the doctor enough to say he thinks I should treat the pressure - glaucoma or not. Of course I panicked right then and there which wasn't fun but the doctor was patient and I calmed down a bit. As a side note he mentioned I have blepharitis which is just irritated/inflamed eyelids - not a big deal.
Long story short - he did a small laser procedure right there in the office (literally 60 seconds), and told me to come back in a month to do the other eye. His thinking was that the laser may stall the need for drops for a couple of years or maybe more which considering my young age might be a good idea. Not much other guidance outside of that. I'm not even sure if I'm down as a glaucoma patient, a "suspect", or an "ocular hypertension" patient. Frankly I don't know that it matters as the treatment is exactly the same.
This was all about 10 days ago, and since then (and a few days even prior to that), my eyes have felt weird - more one than the other. The Dr. said that a pressure of 22 would not cause symptoms - glaucoma or not, and to just try artificial tears and whatnot. It doesn't really seem to be helping, and now the doctor is away for 2 weeks.
What I'd like to ask on this forum, is if hyper focusing on my eyes might be causing the symptoms I keep experiencing (sore eyes, headache sometimes, very tired eyes, little blurry, etc). As an example, since glaucoma is related to peripheral vision I went a little nuts with constantly closing one eye and then the other and seeing how much each one sees. I also spend time staring ahead but focusing mentally on the peripheral to see what I can make out. Or I would look at text (for example as I type this) and focus on a point and then try to make out letters around that focal point. I imagine I'm probably stressing out some muscles or whatnot but I'm kind of stuck in the cycle. I try to leave my eyes alone and trust the doctor, but then they'll act up and I'll start hyperfocusing on them. I'm ready to just take a Xanax or something but surprise - it can raise eye pressure! Yay!
There don't seem to be too many threads on IOP/glaucoma on here, although I read many threads on Reddit on the subject. Honestly even though that's "more serious" - I'm more bothered by the present discomfort which both an Ophtho and Optometrist said wouldn't be caused by pressures in the 20s.
I've had a few health anxiety scares, but I think this one takes the cake. Fear of vision issues is probably the #1 fear I never knew I had. I spent literally 4 hours on Reddit today looking for reassuring threads (my phone keeps track of app usage). Many were reassuring but some just threw me right back into anxietyville.
Thanks in advance for any input!
Hi all, so I have an update on this. It's going to be a bit lengthy.
I went for a scheduled follow up with the Ophthalmologist. It happens to be my eyes were bothering me for a week prior to that appointment, but I had just gotten over a massive health anxiety (include an MRI and sigmoidoscopy..another story) which thankfully all turned out fine. But then the next day my eyes started to bother me again (dry/tired/eyelid kept feeling "stuck"/headache above the brow/between the eyes). Just in time for the scheduled follow up.
In any case, I went for the scheduled follow up and they did some further testing. The IOP was still the same at around 21/22 with the "accurate" measure. They did not do another visual field test (the first visit I did fine on it except for one tiny spot), but there was something (burst vessel or inflammation or something along those lines) on the image of one eye that concerned the doctor enough to say he thinks I should treat the pressure - glaucoma or not. Of course I panicked right then and there which wasn't fun but the doctor was patient and I calmed down a bit. As a side note he mentioned I have blepharitis which is just irritated/inflamed eyelids - not a big deal.
Long story short - he did a small laser procedure right there in the office (literally 60 seconds), and told me to come back in a month to do the other eye. His thinking was that the laser may stall the need for drops for a couple of years or maybe more which considering my young age might be a good idea. Not much other guidance outside of that. I'm not even sure if I'm down as a glaucoma patient, a "suspect", or an "ocular hypertension" patient. Frankly I don't know that it matters as the treatment is exactly the same.
This was all about 10 days ago, and since then (and a few days even prior to that), my eyes have felt weird - more one than the other. The Dr. said that a pressure of 22 would not cause symptoms - glaucoma or not, and to just try artificial tears and whatnot. It doesn't really seem to be helping, and now the doctor is away for 2 weeks.
What I'd like to ask on this forum, is if hyper focusing on my eyes might be causing the symptoms I keep experiencing (sore eyes, headache sometimes, very tired eyes, little blurry, etc). As an example, since glaucoma is related to peripheral vision I went a little nuts with constantly closing one eye and then the other and seeing how much each one sees. I also spend time staring ahead but focusing mentally on the peripheral to see what I can make out. Or I would look at text (for example as I type this) and focus on a point and then try to make out letters around that focal point. I imagine I'm probably stressing out some muscles or whatnot but I'm kind of stuck in the cycle. I try to leave my eyes alone and trust the doctor, but then they'll act up and I'll start hyperfocusing on them. I'm ready to just take a Xanax or something but surprise - it can raise eye pressure! Yay!
There don't seem to be too many threads on IOP/glaucoma on here, although I read many threads on Reddit on the subject. Honestly even though that's "more serious" - I'm more bothered by the present discomfort which both an Ophtho and Optometrist said wouldn't be caused by pressures in the 20s.
I've had a few health anxiety scares, but I think this one takes the cake. Fear of vision issues is probably the #1 fear I never knew I had. I spent literally 4 hours on Reddit today looking for reassuring threads (my phone keeps track of app usage). Many were reassuring but some just threw me right back into anxietyville.
Thanks in advance for any input!
One thing I forgot to mention is that it's mostly one eye bothering more than the other, and that side I always have TMJ and shoulder issues - it's my right arm that I use for the computer mouse. I am beginning to wonder if having constant tension in the neck/jaw on that side is making the eye feel weird as well..but not quite sure how to rule that out. I also woke up this morning with my fists literally clenched so I'm clearly under more anxiety than I conciously realize (althought it may have just been a dream).
Really haven't been sleeping well which I imagine doesn't help things?
oystersreal
11-12-23, 03:45
Really haven't been sleeping well which I imagine doesn't help things? geometry dash world (https://geometrydashworld.net)
The eye is where many nerves are concentrated, so eye-related symptoms are very complex. Hope your situation will improve.
alpacagirl
12-12-23, 09:14
I get dry irritated eyes and at times blurry/filmy vision. One optometrists said it was due to the meibomian glands getting a bit blocked or not producing enough of the oily component of tears that coat your eyes. I just use hylo-forte eye drops when needed. They are a bit oilier and keep your eye lubricated longer than most of the other watery artificial tears. I've been monitored for ocular hypertension for the last 4 years. I haven't needed any drops as yet ( my original pressure was 22/23 ). It did measure higher at the optometrist mid year (28/23) but when I saw my opthalmologist last week for my check up with him it had dropped to 19/18 and he was really happy. He says some people just naturally have higher eye pressure and it doesn't cause any problems. All my peripheral vision tests, eye scans and optic nerve etc have been perfect so far. He does always mention that it can progress to glaucoma in 10% of people and that drops reduce that risk to about 5%. He prefers to monitor and then use drops if it creeps to high ( close to 30) or obviously if there's any physical eye changes. I had elevated my bedhead due to silent reflux issues plus I've started doing daily medition for the past month so maybe that's why the pressure was better ? There have been studies that show meditation can reduce intraocular hypertension. My mum had been on drops for it and it was still a little high. Started meditating 3 times a day and her levels were under 20 last time. Plus you get all the other benefits of feeling calmer :)
Really haven't been sleeping well which I imagine doesn't help things?
Watching asmr videos help me for that
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