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Dr. Marc Rose is a really good, upbeat, friendly and supportive opthamologist.  As he has said it to me, he supports ANYTHING that brings your IOP down.  He advocates a nutritional approach for patients who will listen, utilizing foods and supplements.  He wrote me a prescription for a tonometer and is supportive of that, although I have yet to find the budget.

Here is a recent thread on Fiteyes newsgroup

From Diane:

I have been doing self-tonometry every day for the past 8 months or so with the Reichert 7 cr.  I have experimented with different types of exercise, both aerobic and weigh bearing, meditation, visualization, deep breathing, etc.  It seems getting my IOP lowered through any of these measures is hit or miss.  Sometimes my pressure winds up going higher, even when I am feeling completely relaxed and peaceful.

 A FitEyes.com member asked the following question:

Just saw this article in the NewHavenRegister.  Dr. Nils Loewen of yale Eye Center uses a treatment for advanced cases  The article states " The second procedure involves inserting a gold shunt to drain fluid and is only used in advanced cases.  Loewen said it"s somthing that i'm particularly excited about because we're are only one of six centers in the US to offer this. 

A small piece of gold is inserted under the eyelid, which " shunts fluid into a previously unutilized area, the supra-choroidal space"

On the cover of page B3

Hello,

I was wondering if antidepressant raise the pressure in your eyes?

 A new FitEyes.com member wrote:

Hello, I have a query I would like some advice on.  I have only just joined and this is all a new area for me so please forgive me if i'm covering old ground.  I was diagnosed with early stage Glaucoma in one eye this week.  I have been given Xalatan drops to take.  I am loathe to take these because of the side effects.
 
Do I need to take these?  Are there other alternatives and methods?  Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Thank you

I read a post here on FitEyes.com regarding trabeculotomy success or failure. I've NOT had a trabeculotomy.  About 6 months ago, one of my several doctors suggested that this operation might be in my future, and I did some reading.  There's an excellent book on glaucoma, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Glaucoma, by Gregory K. Harmon M.D. & Nancy Intrator, published in 2004, that has the following to say about trabeculotomy success rates (p. 180):

Does anyone know which iCare self-tonometer is being used in the Duke trials?  Here's a link to a video of it being used:

http://www.king5.com/health/DIY-glaucoma-test-114737874.html

Richelle

From a reader:

The doctor looked at my self-tonometry eye pressure data I brought with me. But he did not give my data much credence. He said if the  intraocular pressure readings are ever high then that shows that they do go that high. He is quite intimidating.

The assumption by the doctor is that he must target his treatment at the maximum intraocular pressure peak no matter how short it lasted, or how infrequent it is or what caused the IOP to rise.

Ophthalmologists are not yet familiar with the concept of the ocular white coat syndrome (white coat ocular hypertension). Our self-tonometry data may show that our IOP is lower outside the doctor's office than inside the office. Many of us believe this is an important consideration and a few doctors are starting to pay close attention to this information.

But reading your doctor's intimidating response gave me an idea...

I have to be one of the luckiest people in the world: I have two wonderful kids. My son is an architect and my daughter, with a PhD in physics, is a college professor; he works and she's now not working to be at home and take care of her two little girls.

On the FitEyes email list we had an interesting discussion. I would like to share my response.

Here are my thoughts on this topic of altering IOP without medications:

Is the use of a Light box,( as used in the treatment on SAD) not advisable for glaucoma patients under any circumstances? Thank you.

Sometimes I wonder where all my time goes. I know I volunteer a lot of time to FitEyes that is unrelated to working with my clients or doing other things I "have" to do. So I did a quick check of where my time went on my recent "day off." Here's what it looked like:

1 hour emails (mostly related to FitEyes)

1 hour discussing new FitEyes website work with a developer

3 hours researching backup and storage solutions for the FitEyes website (long overdue)

1 hour to get a replacement computer part

I just received the email below. While I love these emails and each one makes me smile, this is a fairly typical response I see when someone receives their new Reichert tonometer. Keep in mind that the expectation from both of us is that we will have a telephone call when the person's new tonometer arrives and I will explain how to use it. The surprising result is that quite often I don't have to explain anything! That's how easy these Reichert tonometers are to use . This is true even for someone who is not good with technology.

Here's the email that just came today:

 I thought I'd seen someone post that there is a generic form of Xalatan.  Can't believe that this drug is over $90 per month!  Is there a generic form out there??  Thanks.

Can those who have glaucoma tell me if my symptoms sound familiar? The opthamologist says my optic discs are enlarged, however, my IOP and corneal thickness are "normal". I am very afraid that no doctor is going to figure this out, and that I will go blind. I now must do my own detective work. I am 27 and am a mom of young children - I need my sight to take care of them. Here are my symptoms, which developed six months ago, and have persisted until the present time:

I went right to our Walmart optical after having my IOP's read by my opthamoligist using a Goldman tonometer. The MD readings were 24 left and 23 right. Walmart used an air-puff and produced 28 left and 33 right. When I informed the Walmart optician of my experiment and the results, they remeasured the right, this time yielding 29. I know the relative accuracy and repeatibilty of these two instruments have been discussed before on this forum, but I feel these differences seem too large.

The topic of low body temperature, immune system functioning and glaucoma has been of great interest to all of us recently. I would like to summarize what we know and present some feedback that comes to us directly from some of the most respected minds in ophthalmology: Robert Ritch, MD, Martin Wax, MD and Gülgün Tezel, MD. I want to thank each of these experts for taking the time to help clarify this topic for FitEyes's readers. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Ritch for organizing all of this.

My understanding is that persons with deep valleys (optic nerve entrances) have an edge when it comes to IOP vs Glaucoma. Is this true? Does anyone know. I have had deep valleys all my life, and my pressures have always been on the high side. Recent IOPs range from 20 - 25. My doctor does not think we should rely on my deep valleys, and so has had me on Travatan for several years. Deep valleys also seem to accentuate my depth perception. Any comments?

Dave