stress https://www.fiteyes.com/taxonomy/term/10/all en Why guess about your eye pressure when you can know? https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/belann/why-guess-about-your-eye-pressure-when-you-can-know <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/belann/why-guess-about-your-eye-pressure-when-you-can-know" st_title="Why%20guess%20about%20your%20eye%20pressure%20when%20you%20can%20know%3F" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/belann/why-guess-about-your-eye-pressure-when-you-can-know" st_title="Why%20guess%20about%20your%20eye%20pressure%20when%20you%20can%20know%3F" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/belann/why-guess-about-your-eye-pressure-when-you-can-know" st_title="Why%20guess%20about%20your%20eye%20pressure%20when%20you%20can%20know%3F" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p> <meta charset="utf-8" />Hi all,</p> <p>I feel like I need to jump in here [in response to the discussion going on in the FitEyes email group].  I have had my tonometer for almost 6 months.  It has answered a multitude of questions about how my daily routine affects my health.  I didn't know, for example, that just taking a walk outside for a half hour or so would reduce my eye pressure, sometimes by as much as 50%.  I also didn't know that I <b>wasn't </b>one of the people whose pressures are higher at night--in fact my lowest pressures are at night.  (That was good news.  I was tired of sleeping with my head elevated).  I didn't know that my pressures are often lower after going to a movie--unlike those whose pressures are higher after a movie.  And, I was able to see that drinking a lot of any fluid at one time raises my eye pressure.  </p> <p>I, like David, have found <b>no</b> supplements (and I know a lot about supplements) that had any effect on lowering my IOP, but I have found that some supplements will raise my IOP quite significantly (triphala for instance).  I know that out of control thoughts and periods of stress significantly raise my IOP in spite of the two drops I am using or any other healthy lifestyle choices I am making.  ( I haven't as yet taken advantage of the Serene Impulse training.  That will probably be my next step when employment issues are resolved.)</p> <p>I have gathered a significant amount of data over the last 6 months about what I can do to prevent the loss of vision in my only good eye.  (The right eye had a trab, but a little too late)  When I presented this data to my very competent ophthalmologist, he didn't even want to see it.  I tried to explain some of the things I had found, and he said as he made his way for the door, "Well, just keep taking walks."  The truth is, his job is to be a surgeon when my pressures get out of control.  He can give me drops to see if they will control it, but his concern ends there.  I am the one who is responsible for keeping my vision.  I can't give the task to him, he has enough to do.  I feel blessed to have found David and fiteyes.  Now, I feel I have a little control over what seemed to me an inevitable negative outcome.  </p> <p>Best to all</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/emotions">emotions</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/intraocular-pressure">intraocular pressure</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/Eye-Pressure">Eye Pressure</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-4"><a href="/tags/self-tonometry">self-tonometry</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-5"><a href="/tags/supplements">supplements</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-6"><a href="/tags/walking">walking</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-7"><a href="/tags/estimating-iop">estimating IOP</a></li></ul></div> Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:05:45 +0000 belann 874 at https://www.fiteyes.com Informal Survey: Risk Factors for Glaucoma https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/terry/informal-survey-risk-factors-for-glaucoma <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/terry/informal-survey-risk-factors-for-glaucoma" st_title="Informal%20Survey%3A%20Risk%20Factors%20for%20Glaucoma" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/terry/informal-survey-risk-factors-for-glaucoma" st_title="Informal%20Survey%3A%20Risk%20Factors%20for%20Glaucoma" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/terry/informal-survey-risk-factors-for-glaucoma" st_title="Informal%20Survey%3A%20Risk%20Factors%20for%20Glaucoma" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>Dave posted Oct 25 2019:</strong></p> <p>I would like us to have a discussion about the most important risk factor for glaucoma. To kick off that discussion I thought it would be fun to start with a quiz. There's only one question. Here it is:<br /><strong>What is the risk factor that has the strongest association with the development of glaucoma?</strong><br />I'm asking the question in the most general way. It isn't limited to a certain race or geography or group, etc. Just think of it in the broadest terms possible.<br />All responses are welcome. You can even ask a related question instead of giving an answer if you prefer. This is all just for fun and for our own self-improvement.</p> <p><strong>Here are the responses from our email discussion group:</strong></p> <p>Stress 12<br />Heredity 14<br />Circulation 6<br />Myopia 4<br />Caffeine 2<br />Environmental Toxins 2<br />Age/aging 4<br />Digenstive Disorders 1<br />Diabetes 1<br />High relative IOP 2<br />Steroids 4<br />Strong Emotions 2<br />Shingles 1<br />Diet 1</p> <p><strong>Dave's Response to the survey:</strong></p> <p>I am very impressed with all the replies. This is shaping up to be an interesting discussion. All the responses have been good. I see lots of good ideas and input. We can explore all of these.</p> <p>One of the most interesting responses to me is: <strong>aging</strong>.</p> <p>Aging is interesting because it is indeed one of the most important risk factors for glaucoma, yet possibly one of the most misunderstood. In fact, age is not even mentioned on the Wikipedia page for glaucoma. Here's a study on risk factors that also does not mention age.</p> <p>Risk Factors for Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) Progression <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4899511/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4899511/</a></p> <p>However, here are the well-established (mainstream) risk factors and <strong>age is at the top of the list</strong>:</p> <ul style="margin-left: 40px;"><li>Age</li> <li>Being of African American or Hispanic descent</li> <li>Eye injury</li> <li>Thin corneas</li> <li>Elevated eye pressure</li> <li>Family history of glaucoma</li> </ul><p>This (mainstream) list is not as complete as the one FitEyes members have generated in this discussion, but it does underscore the fact that age cannot be neglected in the discussion of risk factors for glaucoma.</p> <p>When I think about age as a risk factor, I'm personally thinking of biological age (and the <strong>process of aging</strong>, which is variable) more than chronological age, which marches on ceaselessly. However, when age is mentioned as a glaucoma risk factor it is described only in terms of chronological age. Chronological age as a glaucoma risk factor is useful for screening and for large scale management of health care, but it is not very useful for me as an individual who has been diagnosed with glaucoma.</p> <p>However, biological age as a risk factor is very interesting because <strong>we can influence our biological age through lifestyle</strong>. We can even reverse our aging process. With this in mind, I think a discussion around age as a risk factor becomes very interesting. It leads us into discussions of nutrition, exercise, stress and many of the other things mentioned in this thread, as well as throughout all of FitEyes. This perspective on aging ties a lot of these different factors together into a unified perspective.</p> <p>If our goal is to slow or reverse our aging process, and the aging process is one of the most important risk factors for glaucoma, it gives us a focus for our stress management, our nutrition, our exercise, our meditation practice, etc.</p> <p>Here's a concrete example. We could utilize the sitting-rising test (SRT) that is often used to assess aging. The SRT can  provide us with insights on the connection between mobility and health and can encourage us to get back in shape. If we score less than 10, we can work on improving our strength, flexibility and balance. We can measure our progress.</p> <p>In a Brazilian study that used the SRT we learned how this simple test relates to aging:</p> <ul style="margin-left: 40px;"><li>Those who scored 0-3 were 6.5 times more likely to die during the study than those who scored 8-10</li> <li>Those who scored 3.5 to 5.5 were 3.8 times more likely to die</li> <li>Those who scored 6 to 7.5 were 1.8 times more likely to die</li> </ul><p>Knowing that age is an important risk factor in glaucoma, we can also understand how something like the SRT might also be useful in determining our risk for glaucoma progression. That statement is based on connecting a number of dots rather than on a direct study of the SRT and glaucoma, but it is not a stretch. It's this simple:</p> <ul style="margin-left: 40px;"><li>age is one of the most important risk factors in glaucoma</li> <li>there are simple lifestyle changes we can make that dramatically influence how we age</li> <li>we can measure the impact of the changes we make through assessments ranging from blood lab tests to simple at-home tests like the SRT</li> </ul><p>I like the fact that this perspective is empowering. It completely shifts age as a risk factor from being something we can't do anything about, to something we can do something about.</p> <p>There are a growing number of doctors who now say <strong>aging is a treatable disease</strong>. That's a novel perspective, and one that takes a moment to wrap your head around. I'm not a big fan of calling aging a disease, but I actually do like the perspective of some of those doctors who are saying that aging is a treatable disease. I translate that statement as saying that <strong>lifestyle (including nutrition and dietary supplements) is a powerful treatment for the diseases of aging</strong>; if we optimize our lifestyle, we can avoid or reverse many of the chronic diseases of aging.</p> <p>Because all the chronic diseases of aging have so much in common, when we reverse our aging process through lifestyle, we are addressing all of these diseases, <strong>including glaucoma</strong>. This becomes a powerful perspective.</p> <p>I know an 80+ year old woman with Type 2 diabetes who completely <strong>reversed her diabetes</strong> this year and no longer requires insulin. She looks more than 10 years younger and everyone remarks how much younger and healthier she looks now! She also has glaucoma. The steps she took to reverse her diabetes, and which reversed her aging process by at least 10 years, also had a very beneficial effect on her glaucoma. (She no longer requires glaucoma eye drops, but there are several factors responsible for that, not just her lifestyle changes.)</p> <p>This person relied extensively on home blood glucose monitoring to track her progress. Likewise, in the FitEyes community, I a continued focus on IOP is important (even for those with NTG). Many people mentioned IOP in this thread. It remains the #1 most important medically treatable risk factor. Unlike blood lab tests, for example, IOP can easily and painlessly be measured at home (even multiple times per day).</p> <p>But the day may come when aging becomes the #1 treatable risk factor for glaucoma. Or, if it doesn't displace IOP as the most important treatable risk factor, maybe it becomes equally important. I'm speculating. But what is beyond speculation is the importance of learning about and practicing lifestyle habits that help us avoid all the diseases of aging as we get older chronologically.</p> <p>Some of the most important factors include:</p> <ul style="margin-left: 40px;"><li> <p>nutrition: dietary supplements</p> </li> <li> <p>exercise: flexibility - yoga and stretching exercises, balance, strength</p> </li> <li> <p>meditation (or regular daily periods of a quiet mind, free of thoughts)</p> </li> <li> <p>screen time</p> </li> <li> <p>outdoor time</p> </li> <li> <p>amount of time we spend seated</p> </li> <li> <p>relationships &amp; community (including FitEyes)</p> </li> <li> <p>joy and purpose</p> </li> </ul><p> </p> <p><strong>Dave added this 10-26-2019:</strong></p> <p>When I was younger I had great vision and I had probably never heard of glaucoma. I had also never visited an ophthalmologist, although I had seen an optometrist once or twice.</p> <p>One day, out of curiosity, I made an appointment with an astrologer who was visiting the USA from India. He warned me that I would experience problems with my eyes, and he said, "particularly your right eye." At the time I thought the problems might be something related to eye injuries so I began being more diligent about wearing safety glasses when I should, etc. However, the danger turned out to be glaucoma (many years later). And, exactly as the astrologer predicted, it affected my right eye much more than my left eye. This story was my first ever blog post on FitEyes: <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/PanditOjhaConsultation1992">http://www.fiteyes.com/PanditOjhaConsultation1992</a></p> <p>Sleeping position and genes are not the only things that can affect one eye more than the other. Injury (even subtle injury) could be a factor. But even stress does not affect both eyes equally. If you do careful enough research with your own tonometer, many of you will see that stress affects IOP in one eye more than the other. If you become good enough at unbiased self-observation, you may notice that you contract the muscles in response to stress much more in one eye than in the other. You may blink differently with one eye. We tend to have a dominant eye (like we have a dominant hand), and we therefore use that eye differently.</p> <p>When it comes to genes, I like to remind people that DNA is not destiny. Our diet, stress and lifestyle affect genetic expression. It is possible that a disease-related gene is never expressed. Furthermore, think about the fact that even in those who have a strong genetic predisposition toward glaucoma, in most (but not all) cases aging causes the actual manifestation of the condition. And if not aging, then something like stress, injury, drugs, etc.</p> <p>Here's another thought: there is a difference between a specific cause of glaucoma for any individual and the risk factors for glaucoma in general.</p> <p>There's a lot of interest here in "what specifically caused my own glaucoma." For some of us, it is often impossible to know for sure. For others, there is a much more clear cause.</p> <p>For all of us, aging might be one of the most important risk factors. Heredity is a known risk factor. IOP remains the most important medically treatable risk factor, even for those with NTG. And while those statements remain generally true for all of us, any one of us could be impacted by a specific, unique causal event such as a steroid drug or a particularly stressful period.</p> <p>But here's another thought -- when our biological age is younger, we have a better chance of rebounding from damaging or stressful events. (And, by definition, our DNA is healthier too.) When our biological age is older, those same factors can lead to serious problems. The take-away, for me, is that I can practice the things I listed in my last message (good eating, exercise, meditation, stretching, etc.) and slow or reverse my biological aging, which will give me greater resilience to anything that happens (or has happened).</p> <p>We are not in control of many things that happen to us. Many of the specific causes for glaucoma that people have listed here were out of their control. But a healthy lifestyle is something we can do something about. If we make that choice and maintain regular healthy habits, we can slow and even reverse all of the chronic diseases of aging, including glaucoma.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/glaucoma-risk-factors">Glaucoma Risk Factors</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/age">age</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/aging">aging</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-4"><a href="/tags/Nutrition">Nutrition</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-5"><a href="/tags/exercise">exercise</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-6"><a href="/tags/meditation">meditation</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-7"><a href="/tags/joy">joy</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-8"><a href="/tags/purpose">purpose</a></li></ul></div> Fri, 25 Oct 2019 22:44:57 +0000 terry 1713 at https://www.fiteyes.com The cost of losing one's vision is far greater than the cost of buying a tonometer or of learning a proven meditation technique https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/the-cost-of-losing-ones-vision-is-far-greater-than-the-cost-of-buying-a-tonometer <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/the-cost-of-losing-ones-vision-is-far-greater-than-the-cost-of-buying-a-tonometer" st_title="The%20cost%20of%20losing%20one%27s%20vision%20is%20far%20greater%20than%20the%20cost%20of%20buying%20a%20tonometer%20or%20of%20learning%20a%20proven%20meditation%20technique" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/the-cost-of-losing-ones-vision-is-far-greater-than-the-cost-of-buying-a-tonometer" st_title="The%20cost%20of%20losing%20one%27s%20vision%20is%20far%20greater%20than%20the%20cost%20of%20buying%20a%20tonometer%20or%20of%20learning%20a%20proven%20meditation%20technique" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/the-cost-of-losing-ones-vision-is-far-greater-than-the-cost-of-buying-a-tonometer" st_title="The%20cost%20of%20losing%20one%27s%20vision%20is%20far%20greater%20than%20the%20cost%20of%20buying%20a%20tonometer%20or%20of%20learning%20a%20proven%20meditation%20technique" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Most FitEyes discussion happens on our very active mailing list. If you want the latest news, subscribe to our mailing list.</p> <p>I took part in a mailing list discussion today. A number of people asked me to post the following message on my blog for easy reference. For context I will include the comments I was responding to first, followed by my response. (I'm editing parts of this for privacy and clarity.)</p> <blockquote><div>Dear David</div> <div> </div> <div>I think you propose a worthy if perhaps somewhat idealistic perspective on meditation training. In the so-called  'real' world, most people have families and financial constraints and simply cannot afford the kind of ongoing fees required for accessing your recommended meditation.</div> <div><br />I'm guessing there are many cultural differences between the USA and the UK and certainly here in the UK, there is much more of a sense that lack of funds should not be a barrier to anyone's pursuit of health - particularly with regard to preserving sight. That's why we have the NHS I guess! </div> <div> </div> <div>[The things you recommend] may be fine for those who can pay large sums of money, however I'm sure there will be other paths for those less affluent. </div> </blockquote> <div> </div> <div>Thanks for your message. You have inspired a passionate response from me because this is something I feel strongly about. It is an issue that gets right to the heart of why I founded FitEyes more than ten years ago. The issue has always been front and center. While I haven't written much about it recently, not a day goes by where I am not confronted with this issue.<br /> </div> <p>I'd like to argue that in contrast to your statement, my perspective isn't idealistic at all. It is <b>hard-core</b> realistic. I believe it's similar to the perspective a seasoned business executive might bring to a tough business decision, for example. It is based on a thoughtful and very rational cost-benefit analysis.<br /><br />FitEyes has always been focused on the difficult decisions we glaucoma patients face at the current point in history where we don't have an easy option for preventing glaucoma progression. That difficult situation has shaped my perpective. I would say it is born of fire and forged by the hammer of real life challenges. For many people, losing eyesight is more fearful than death. We are absolutely dealing with situations that require a real-world approach, not an idealistic approach. Measuring our own eye pressure, for example, is as hard-core and real-world as it gets in this context. I put proper meditation instruction in the same category.<br /> </p> <div>My advice is most relevant for those who have lost some visual field or show some progression of glaucoma by other metrics. If one shows no progression over a long period of time, then one probably doesn't need need any of my advice. But most of us in FitEyes are more concerned about our vision for one reason or another. In my case, because I have a more aggressive form of glaucoma and I wasn't diagnosed early, I had already lost significant vision when I was first diagnosed.</div> <div><br />I think many people in this category (having lost some vision to glaucoma or at risk of glaucoma progression) are not thinking realistically about their finances vs glaucoma. <b>The cost of losing one's vision is far greater than the cost of buying a tonometer or of learning a proven meditation technique like Serene Impulse.</b> In fact, for those of us in this category, investing more in our vision is the wisest decision we can make. (And waiting for a possible future less expensive option is a very bad decision in my opinion.)<br /> </div> <div>If one properly adds up the increase in expenses and the reduction in earning potential resulting from vision loss, then the decision to invest in the things we most frequently discuss on FitEyes (including not only meditation but also other things such as a Rife Machine, a microcurrent device, etc.) is easy to justify. In fact, I don't see how a middle class glaucoma patient in a developed country can <i>not</i> justify owning a tonometer and learning meditation, at a minimum.</div> <div> </div> <p>I often hear people with sufficient means say they can't afford a tonometer (or meditation or supplements or whatever else it is that we are discussing at a given moment). I have a very hard time accepting that argument from anyone in a developed country. At a point in my life when I was in a <i>very</i> difficult financial position and facing an even more difficult future due to not working, I took every dollar I could scrape together and I bought a Reichert tonometer. I believe that if I was able to do it, almost anyone in a developed country can do it.<br /> </p> <div>In fact, I know of some FitEyes members who, while in a financial position as difficult as my own was, have also bought tonometers. So I am far from the only one. However, the more common situation is that people with plenty of money make excuses that they cannot afford a tonometer. And the same is true for meditation, supplements and almost everything else that isn't covered by insurance or NHS or equivalent.</div> <div> </div> <div>I made the conscious decision that I would rather live the rest of my life in poverty and maintain my eyesight than live in a normal situation without my eyesight. I stand by that decision today even after living a number of years with income below the official poverty level. (As a side note, I believe poverty is largely a state of mind, and I never feel poor even when I don't have money.) No amount of money and no material possessions are worth more than my health (physical, emotional and spiritual) and my eyesight. If I am healthy and I have vision, I can find a way to survive and be happy. Without those things (and especially without what I have learned from meditation training) all the comfort and money in the world will not mean much.<br /><br />Yet I see a lot of people unconsciously decide the opposite -- to maintain their financial status quo rather than seriously invest in their health and eyesight.<br /><br />Rather than upset the status quo when it comes to investing in things not covered (a tonometer, a proven meditation program, special dietary supplements, etc.) people will stay within their established bondaries. They will keep saving for retirement, keep buying everyday things, only avail themselves of treatments covered by insurance, etc. Sticking with the status quo of one's life in the face of glaucoma progression is akin to having one's head in the sand.<br /><br />To have a different outcome, we must act, we must get a new perspective, we must change our fundamental habits of living and our habitual state of mind. Instead, what many people do, is stay in their familiar rut in life and<b> worry, worry, worry</b>.  That's mostly what the thread that trigger this response was about (see "the stress of controlling stress").<br /> </div> <div>As adults, we can almost never make a fundamental self-change on own. We need a mentor or a coach to help us change at such a deep level. Otherwise, we'll select the book, the video, the whatever, that reinforces our existing state. Or, when things get tough, we'll stop. We need a dedicated teacher to get us through these challenges. And you won't get a dedicated teacher and a strong bond if it is nothing more than a casual relationship.</div> <div><br />My strong recommendation of meditation is also based on the fact that this training is the most essential training one can understake in life to ensure that one does not suffer regardless of financial position, health, vision or any other external circumstances.<br /><br />After I was diagnosed with glaucoma (and lost further vision in the first two years after that diagnosis while following all my doctor's advice), I made myself sit down and take a hard look at my life. At that point I made my health and eyesight my #1 priority in my life.<br /><br />Then I found a way to do everything i could to improve my chances of maintaining my vision and I did not let lack of income or anything else stop me. Sure, I faced obstacles, but I found a way to reach my goals. And I am still carrying forward with that attitude today. It isn't a path without challenges. I fall back into old habits at times but my support system corrects me. And I have to remind myself where my true priorities are and I have to stick to my disciplines. But I walk the talk every day -- and this is anything but idealistic. It is as pragmatic as any activity in life can be. I generally don't recommend anything I haven't done myself, and this includes making financial sacrifices to get proper training in meditation.<br /> </div> <p>I don't think this perspective has much to do with US vs UK either because these decisions are the same in every country in the world. I do not know of a single country that will pay for a tonometer or pay for the meditation instruction of a glaucoma patient's choice. To go this extra distance, we have to make the investments ourselves. Certainly, we will always have to do the most difficult things ourselves. We have to take the time each day to exercise, meditate, eat well, manage our stress, take our supplements, practice our Bates techniques, etc. For people in the category I mentioned above, there is absolutely no sane alternative to making a number of diffcult investments in our health. We have to look at the costs of not acting or delaying taking appropriate action, recognize how extremely great those consequences can be, and then find a way to make the required investment to minimize or avoid the costs of vision loss, even if making that investment requires that we move out of our current comfort zone.<br /> </p> <div>Laurel, you make it sound like Serene Impulse costs a fortune. It doesn't. It's very reasonable in my opinion. It is less expensive than the very well-known prior meditation technique I learned (and it is far more effective). In fact, there is never a charge for the Serene Impulse knowledge or instruction. (Those are considered priceless.) The only expense a student incurs is for the teacher's time. I think that's a very fair system.<br /><br />My central argument is that learning meditation without supporting one's teacher (or especially without having a living teacher where there is a strong personal bond) is usually a bad investment (of one's time and life energy). Students have to support their meditation teacher in one way or another. It can be via volunteer work or donations or direct payment. (In my experience, direct payment is the least expensive of those options for the average student.) If your meditation teacher isn't supported by his or her students, and that teacher is a dedicated full-time professional, how is such a person paying their living expenses in today's world? If the person doesn't face the same financial needs as the rest of us, they may not be the best person to teach one about stress management in the real world.<br /> </div> <div>(Alternatively, if one's teacher is supported by donations, but you aren't donating, that's simply not fair. In short, there is no free meditation instruction that can produce the kind of change I'm referring to. Any good meditation program has costs. Teachers, or the organization supporting them, have costs.)<br /> </div> <div>The kind of bond that is required to effect real change is the kind of bond that doesn't come with a casual relationship such as you might expect when you are taking something from a teacher and not giving back. Even if you find a teacher who can teach you for free, if you don't make a serious commitment of some type, that relationship will not help you achieve fundamental change. And without fundamental change inside, the course of our glaucoma will not change. That's another central argument of mine. We have to change inside or our stress will never be managed.<br /><br />The comments in these recent posts about the "stress of controlling stress" are illuminating. One fundamental decision I see being made over and over is that people will keep their fists tightly clutched around their dollars to their death. When I decided to buy a tonometer even though I couldn't afford it, this was the mindset I had recognized in myself and was consciously letting go of.<br /><br />The need to make that kind of decision is why we have the parable about how to catch a monkey:<br /><br /><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"> <p align="left"><i>Native tribes used to catch monkeys by hollowing out a coconut and filling it with rice or other delicacies, then leaving it tethered to a tree for a monkey to find. A monkey would reach in and grab the desired delicacy and be trapped because the hole had been deliberately made just big enough for a flexible hand to enter but not for a closed fist to leave. In short order, the monkey went from getting his dinner to being someone else’s dinner.</i></p> <p align="left"><i>Clearly it was not the coconut that was the trapping the monkey. Rather the true trap was in the monkey’s own mind, the monkey’s greed, the monkey’s attachment to his physical possessions, the monkey’s unwillingness to “Let Go.”</i></p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"><i>From that perspective, how are we trapping ourselves? Where are we creating our own boxes? Our own predicaments? Where would an outside perspective, one free of our emotional attachments, one unencumbered by our cultural norms, see a way out that we do not let ourselves see?</i></p> </blockquote> <p>We will hold on to our dollars tightly while we let our health, our vision and our happiness slip away. With that fist closed tightly, what do we risk? Glaucoma progression? A heart attack? Other health problems? To make the decision against investing in a proven program and to leave the door open to those avoidable consequences is very sad.<br /><br />I remind myself of this trap every day. Every day I dedicate myself anew to letting go of any attachments to money or material possessions that might get in the way of my health and inner peace. Two of my most discussed decisions in that regard were purchasing my first good tonometer (yes, I learned the hard way that the cheap tonometers are a bad investment) and investing seriously in good meditation training. Working with a good Bates vision teacher was also another similar investment I have written about here on FitEyes. But there are thousands of other examples, including things like my membership for regular therapeutic massages. (Regular therapeutic massages are yet another thing many people say they can't afford. Almost everything I do for my health falls into this category. When I mention that I eat only organic food, the most common response I hear is, "I can't afford that." But I hear it from people who wear nicer clothes than me and drive fancier, newer cars, and take vacations, etc.)<br /> </p></div> <div>As a side note I will mention that I started eating healthy organic foods when I was a college student. I was living entirely on student loans. Unlike many of the students around me, I had little or no financial help from my family. In this situation I stuck to my healthy eating because I gave myself no other option. I simply made healthy food a priority in my budget and I cut back on other things to make the budget work. Yet other students with more financial resource claimed they couldn't afford to eat healthy, organic food. Obviously, this was simply an excuse.</div> <div><br />However, even though I had some early insight into the importance of making healthy choices a priority, I still fell into the trap of subordinating my health to the (seeming) demands of modern life in many ways. Looking back, I clearly remember rejecting many of the same arguments I am making now. I can also remember being critical of my own meditation teacher in the early days. I remember resenting the cost of meditation instruction in the beginning. (And before that I wasted many years trying to gain meditation skills on my own.) Having those experiences is why I am able to understand now that the bond with the teacher must be real and it must strong. The change that comes about with meditation will test the bonds of that relationship more than once.<br /> </div> <div>For glaucoma patients in the category I mentioned above, the result we want is to maintain our vision for our entire lives. Mainstream modern medicine has limited answers for us. We need to make some effort ourselves. But in making that effort, we need to be wise. We need to select a good tonometer, not the cheapest tonometer. We need to select a good meditation technique and an execellent teacher, not the cheapest meditation course or what we find for free on Youtube.<br /><br />We need to be willing to make difficult choices. We might have to do without other things in our lives in order to make health and eyesight our #1 priority. But in that difficult choice are great rewards.<br /> </div> <div>However, the surprise is that making the choice to put health and inner peace <b>first</b>, is often <i>more</i> difficult for those who are affluent.</div> <div> </div> <div> <div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"> <div dir="ltr"> <div>Regards,<br />David</div> </div> </div> </div> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/meditation">meditation</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/tonometers">tonometers</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/glaucoma">glaucoma</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li></ul></div> Wed, 28 Sep 2016 06:16:17 +0000 dave 1688 at https://www.fiteyes.com FitEyes Podcasts https://www.fiteyes.com/events-and-media/fiteyes-podcasts <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- CALL: theme('field') --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--section.tpl.php * field--section.tpl.php * field--body.tpl.php * field--text-with-summary.tpl.php x field--fences-div.tpl.php * field.tpl.php --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'sites/all/modules/fences/templates/field--fences-div.tpl.php' --> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/field_images_inserted/phone_talk.jpg" style="height: 150px; width: 623px;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> <div style="width: 100%; margin: 3px"> <div style="width: 10%; height: 15px; float: left; margin: 3px"> <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/upload/2012_03_22_lovett_fedorov_teleconference_edited_final_16b_0.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/field_images_inserted/audiobuttonmini.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="width: 85%; float: right;"> <h4> <strong><a href="/node/1389" target="_blank">March 22 2012 Teleconference on alternating Current Stimulation with Dr Anton Fedorov</a></strong></h4> </div> </div> <div style="clear:both">  </div> <p> </p> <div style="width: 10%; height: 15px; float: left; margin: 3px"> <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/upload/2013_05_11_pam_kierce_story_with_fiteyes.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/field_images_inserted/audiobuttonmini.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="width: 85%; float: right;"> <h4> <strong><a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/story-pam-kierce" target="_blank">May 11 2013 Member Story: Stress and IOP</a></strong></h4> </div> <p> </p> <p> </p> <div style="width: 10%; height: 15px; float: left; margin: 3px"> <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/upload//positiveexperienceswithselftonometry-2023-04-03-with-intro.mp3" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/field_images_inserted/audiobuttonmini.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="width: 85%; float: right;"> <h4> <strong><a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/upload//positiveexperienceswithselftonometry-2023-04-03-with-intro.mp3" target="_blank">David Spontaneously Answers Question: How can glaucoma and self-tonometry be a positive experience?</a></strong></h4> </div> <div style="clear:both"> <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/upload//positiveexperienceswithselftonometry-2023-04-03-with-intro.mp3" target="_blank"> </a></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'sites/all/modules/fences/templates/field--fences-div.tpl.php' --> <div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Related Tags: </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/podcasts">podcasts</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/teleconference">teleconference</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/vision">vision</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/current">current</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-4"><a href="/tags/microcurrent-stimulation">Microcurrent Stimulation</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-5"><a href="/tags/dr-fedorov">Dr Fedorov</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-6"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-7"><a href="/tags/iop">IOP</a></li></ul></div> Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:33:26 +0000 dave 1183 at https://www.fiteyes.com Stress and Eye Pressure https://www.fiteyes.com/home/stress-and-eye-pressure <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- CALL: theme('field') --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--body--section.tpl.php * field--section.tpl.php * field--body.tpl.php * field--text-with-summary.tpl.php x field--fences-div.tpl.php * field.tpl.php --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'sites/all/modules/fences/templates/field--fences-div.tpl.php' --> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"> <address>It has been the conventional wisdom of the medical profession that stress and other psychological states have no discernable influence on eye pressures or glaucoma progression. However, we invite you to read from the perspective of our FitEyes self tonometry community, our doctors own reports, and recent research.</address> <p><strong>Stress and Eye Pressure</strong><img alt="" src="/sites/www.fiteyes.com/files/_uploads_cck/field_images_inserted/stressed.jpg" style="width: 225px; height: 175px; float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 3px;" /></p> <div>The ophthalmology community is not in full agreement as to the effect of stress on intraocular pressure (IOP) because it is hard to quantify subjective experiences in a clinical setting using the standard methods of testing and research.  However, there has been research which builds a case for the involvement of stress on IOP,  for example in the article<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Intraocular%20pressure%20changes%3A%20the%20influence%20of%20psychological%20stress%20and%20the%20Valsalva%20maneuver" target="_blank"> Intraocular pressure changes: the influence of psychological stress and the Valsalva maneuver</a>, pressure increases are noted, but these don't fully test the full gamut of stress. Additionally, many professionals in this field have witnessed these effects both clinically and in anecdotal observations from patients.  The most important input, however, comes from the group of FitEyes pioneers who as glaucoma patients, have begun practicing self tonometry and documenting important, relevant data concerning the behavior of their eye pressures.</div> <div> </div> <div>Trying to define stress in light of intraocular pressure influences needs to be approached carefully, as there is no universal definition of stress without relating appropriate experiences in context. Stress which elevates eye pressure may not always meet the definition of a 'negative emotion.' For example, many who practice home based self tonometry, report that excessive stimulation (being in crowds, at parties, movies, sporting events etc) can raise pressures. Additionally, overthinking, scheming, and excessive mental activity can raise IOP. However, it is not just the activities alone which can raise IOP, but more likely, unconscious psychological factors. Therefore, to get a true picture of the often subtle effects of stress, requires considerable practice in home monitoring of eye pressures - while employing as scientific an approach as possible. Much insight and many beneficial lifestyle changes can be realized! For more on this, see "<a href="/node/1197" target="_blank">Evolution of a Self Tonometrist</a>.'</div> <div> </div> <div>For some, the effects of  transitory stress on IOP  are evident, but for others the effects are quite subtle and can even have a latent effect following a particularly stressful period. <em>Here are a few examples and related commentary by one glaucoma doctor;</em></div> <div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Some patients have asked whether a stressful incident (argument with a child earlier in the day over homework or something, for example) would affect their IOPs. I've been inclined to tell them I didn't think that experiencing transient stress on a particular day had much effect, and anyway, it is part of life. There are patients whose IOP has been well controlled for quite some time, and one day they come in with an IOP 15-20 mm Hg higher than usual.  If you ask, many (I dare say most) will tell you of a major chronic stress - - a very recent death of a spouse, in the midst of bitter divorce proceedings, and in one instance seen by Paul Palmberg, a woman whose son had the day before been found guilty of first degree murder.</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> </div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> I remember one time a resident came to my clinic while I was in the midst of examining a patient to say he had a patient with a pressure in the 30s, when before it had always been in the teens.  He wanted to know how to proceed to identify a cause, as he could not find one.  I told him to go ask the patient whether his brother died recently, or some other major emotional event.  The resident returned in 5 minutes, amazed, and reported that indeed the patient's twin brother died the day before and they were in the midst of making funeral arrangements.</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> </div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">My experience with relatively chronic stress (a prolonged divorce proceeding, prolonged grief over death in the family, etc.) can keep the IOP high and pretty much uncontrollable for months, but (n=10 or so) progression of disc damage and fields has not happened.  I have tried various tranquilizers, but none seem to affect the IOP, but I may not be good at choosing the right drug for the person's emotional state.  Eventually the IOP comes back down, except in one case of a woman with marital troubles who said they were resolved, but IOP didn't come down much.  It could be that it was still weighing on her mind that she had been betrayed.</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> </div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Anyway, I am convinced that everyday stress, even in stressful jobs, doesn't seem to impact IOP, and neither does a transient event that causes anger.  However, I am equally certain that a deep-seated emotion that is prolonged can have a big effect on IOP, but will gradually go away, and generally before it causes much harm.  So I tended to treat with maximum medicine and wait, watching for progression (in which case I might contemplate surgery), but never did have to resort to pressure lowering with surgery even though the pressure was clearly above the goal I would have in mind or the IOP I thought should be dangerous for that person.</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> </div> <p>From the perspective of what is reported in the self tonometry community, most can agree with this doctor's comments. However, the part relating to things like stressful jobs not having an impact, is probably not correct. Here is another excellent example as reported by renowned glaucoma specialist Dr Robert Ritch of the New York Eye &amp; Ear Infirmary, which illustrates effects of both transitory and life change stresses;</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">Over the years I have had a number of patients who were well controlled for long periods whose IOP rose 10 mmHg for several weeks after the death of a spouse. I also had a lawyer whose IOP was 20 mmHg consistently except when after she got out of arguing in front of a jury, it was 40 mmHg.</p> <div>It was further reported that the lawyer was not able to bring down her pressures in spite of medications. Therefore, in susceptible individuals, certain stressors can even overwhelm glaucoma medications!</div> <div> <div> </div> <div>Adding to the above, Bailey of FitEyes says that his own glaucoma specialist reports seeing an often high spike of eye pressure in patients who have gone through a divorce, lost a job, or have had other major life changes and stressors.</div> <div> <!--break--></div> <h2><strong>Examples of IOP and Stress from the FitEyes Self-Tonometry Community</strong></h2> <div>An excerpt from Dave's Blog on FitEyes  <a href="/node/178">Medication Less Effective Under Stress</a>?</div> <blockquote><div style="margin-left: 40px;">In recent weeks my eye pressure have been higher, on average. I presume that situation coincides with the meetings and discussions about my new business venture. We had casual conversations for a while, but the beginning of serious meetings and the financial negotiations, correlates closely with the increased average eye pressure values. (Of course, there could be something else that changed around this time that I'm overlooking, so I'll try to keep an open mind.)</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">The Timoptic, which had been working so well when I used only 1 drop in my right eye every 3-5 days, seemed to become ineffective during this recent period (beginning the last week of October through yesterday). I even switched to a brand new bottle of Timoptic just to rule out the question of whether there was a problem with the medication itself. The switch made no difference.</div> </blockquote> <div>From Sally,</div> <div> <blockquote>My IOP can fluctuate rapidly (within seconds) depending upon the situation, my thoughts, and feelings. During one period of IOP measurements several years ago, the first 2 measurements were in the mid-high teens. Then just as I was taking a third measurement, my husband called to me, saying that an ambulance was at his niece's house next door. That measurement was in the low 30s. After we checked and found that everything was OK, I took my IOP again and it was back down to low 20s.</blockquote> </div> <div>Similarly, another individual reported that his elderly father was visiting him from out of town and had to have an emergency heart procedure. His pressures had been measuring in the teens, but he decided to check his pressure shortly before taking his dad in for the procedure and found his eye pressures to be 30. In addition to being fearful regarding the outcome of the procedure, he was also stressed that his dad might be with him for a long rehab. When the situation was resolved, his pressures returned to normal.</div> <div> </div> <div>Here is a report from Marvin, <a href="/node/825">Things That Lower My IOP ( other than eye drops )</a>. These illustrate the flip side of stress, namely, enjoyable activities;</div> <ul><li>Laughing ( light-heartedness )</li> <li>Enjoying company of friends and family ( probably laughing involved )</li> <li>1 or 1/2 drink of alcoholic beverage ( perhaps increasing the chance of feeling light-hearted )</li> <li>A light schedule at work ( perhaps these are all different ways of saying the same thing? )</li> </ul></div> <p>There are many such examples, and they illustrate that there can be an immediate reaction to stress (which can correspondingly resolve appropriately), and there can also be a prolonged elevation of IOP resulting from a chronically unresolved stress state. In the latter case, it may take a concerted effort and lifestyle changes to bring pressures down. </p> <div><strong>White Coat Syndrome and Eye Pressure</strong></div> <div> </div> <div>White coat hypertension as seen in blood pressure elevation during doctor visits, also effects the eye pressures of many (especially those with ocular hypertension and/or glaucoma). This is another argument for the role stress plays in eye pressure and is demonstrated by the following examples:</div> <div> <div> <ul><li> <div>Tonometry measurements on doctor visits will in many cases result in lower pressures on successive measurements as the patient relaxes (or when taken by a technician versus the doctor).</div> </li> <li> <div>Eye pressures following a visual field test have been demonstrated as being higher as shown by this study; <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21673592" target="_blank">Elevation of intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients after automated visual field testing</a></div> </li> <li> <div>Measurements taken at home are usually lower on immediate successive measurements. As in the first point, this demonstrates anticipation anxiety on initial measurements and therefore, demonstrates an effect of stress.</div> </li> <li>Doctor office visits have been reported to be higher than 'at home' before-and-after measurements by those who self monitor. This might be due to discrepancies in the type of tonometers being used, but some have reported taking their tonometers into the doctors office to do side-by-side comparisons in order to rule this out. Additionally, there have been other comparisons such as in <a href="http://www.optometricmanagement.com/mtotw/tip_new.asp?tip=132" target="_blank">Non-contact tonometers... they get no respect.</a> Note this quote:<a href="http://hrcak.srce.hr/14387?lang=en" target="_blank">Comparative Analysis of Intraocular Pressure Measurements with Different Ophthalmologic Devices</a> <ul><li><em>Myth: The NCT is not accurate. I've actually found them to be quite accurate, especially the newer models. I've had 4 NCTs over the years. Two that I'd call "first generation" and my two present identical machines, used in our two pre-test rooms. I've compared IOP measurements from these NCTs with Goldmann readings on thousands of patients, and they are consistently within 1-2 mms.</em></li> </ul></li> </ul></div> <div><em>An excellent example of 'White Coat' effecting IOP as reported by Dave of FitEyes:</em></div> </div> <blockquote><div style="margin-left: 40px;">I usually measure my eye pressure many times per day at home with my Reichert AT555 tonometer. Today I measured my eye pressure throughout the day, as usual, and it averaged about 12 mmHg. Just before my eye doctor appointment I measured my eye pressure again. It was 13.0 in my right eye and 12.0 in my left eye.</div> <div style="margin-left: 40px;">Then I left for my appointment and I took my tonometer from my house to my doctor’s office. At the doctor’s office, we measured my IOP six times using both a Goldman applanation tonometer and my AT555 side by side. The Goldman tonometry was done by the doctor. I did the AT555 measurements exactly like I do at home. My doctor observed all my AT555 measurements. In short, my eye pressure (right eye) went from 13 at home (immediately before leaving) to 20 in the doctor’s office and then back to 12 when I returned home.</div> </blockquote> <div style="margin-left: 40px;"> </div> <div>Read the full article with experiment results: <a href="/node/64">White Coat Syndrome for Eye Pressure.</a></div> <div> </div> <p><strong>Effects of Meditation on Eye Pressure</strong></p> <div>While it might seem intuitive that if stressful states raise eye pressure, meditation and relaxation training would have the opposite effect of lowering them. Unfortunately, for many, it doesn't seem to work that way, and in fact, many report that certain meditation practices can noticeably raise intraocular pressures. This is not the same as a having a quiet time or 'kicking back' which is very beneficial, but it pertains more to the active practice of different meditation forms. There are certain types of meditation like Serene Impulse which are reported to have beneficial lowering effects on IOP.  Because there are many with glaucoma and/or ocular hypertension with type “A” personality, it is conceivable that meditation practices can raise eye pressures by increasing mental energy involved in concentration etc.</div> <div> </div> <p><strong>Mechanisms by which stress might elevate eye pressure</strong></p> <div>While there may not yet be sufficient scientific studies to pinpoint all the possible causes, the mechanisms by which stress and mental states affect intraocular pressure can be:</div> <ul><li>The body under stress releases higher amounts of cortisol (a natural steroid), and it is known that steroids can have a dramatic effect on IOP in susceptible individuals. There are many other hormones and chemicals released by the body during stress which could have an effect on raising IOP – including an increase in aqueous fluid production.</li> <li>Stress can dilate the pupils and this can have an effect on eye pressure in some individuals - especially those with narrow angles.</li> <li>The production of aqueous fluid in the eye can be heightened under stress.</li> <li>Stress affecting the facial muscles, and among them, the extraocular or orbital eye muscles (those outside the eye) have been shown to cause increases of IOP. Here is an excerpt from an article alluding to this, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3837669" target="_blank">intraocular pressure responses among ocular-hypertensive subjects.</a></li> <li>Several animal and human investigations have indicated that intraocular pressure (IOP) levels may be associated with extreme drug-induced changes in the extraocular muscles. Further, recent data suggest that, among individuals with normal IOP level, moderate increases in facial muscle (EMG) activity around the eye while the eye is open are associated with increases in IOP.</li> </ul><div>All of the above points can probably be summarized by the fact that stress contracts the entire body, and we feel that this is bound to have an effect on the trabecular and uveoscleral outflows (the 'drains' by which the eye relieves built-up aqueous fluid).</div> <div> </div> <p><strong>Effects of stress on glaucoma as a whole</strong></p> <div>New research is shedding light on the fact that eye pressure is only one factor in glaucoma damage. Recent findings reveal that an underlying mechanism of inflammation and oxidative damage of the nervous system is involved. It is equally important in considering the impacts of the effects of stress on these as well.</div> <div> </div> <div>Vascular dysregulation via vasospasm and autonomic dysfunction have been demonstrated to be a primary suspect in normal tension glaucoma (glaucoma with normal pressures). See <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=E5MCaaOn4MoC&amp;pg=PA43&amp;lpg=PA43&amp;dq=flammer+glaucoma+vascular+dysregulation&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=gEe6Px7Aut&amp;sig=jPQ-dqND3SOOccy6IGbMxIK26Z0&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=IcpoT_v_NcT5sQLWtIiQCQ&amp;ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&amp;q=flammer%20glaucoma%20vascular%20dysregulation&amp;f=false" target="_blank">Ocular blood flow and optic neuropathy</a>. Psychological stress is a contributing factor in these conditions as evidenced by the other effects on related symptoms like migraine, blood pressure, body temperature irregularities etc which are influenced by stress levels.</div> <div> </div> <div>Most glaucoma is now believed to be part of an overall body and/or nervous system disorder. As stress has been shown to be involved in most disease processes and be harmful to many functions of the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system (of which the eyes are intricately involved), reducing stress should be of primary concern for those with glaucoma.</div> <div> </div> <div>Glaucoma damage ultimately involves oxidation and inflammatory stresses to the optic nerve and retinal nerve cell layers (and even the unseen brain side of the visual nervous pathway). Stress increases the release of adrenalin, cortisol, and inflammatory substances like TNF alpha - which is involved in the end stages of optic nerve cell death. Stress is also known to negatively affect the body's response to insulin, and this can also have an effect on glaucoma.</div> <div> </div> <div>Medical science is just now beginning to fully recognize the systemic effects of stress on inflammation (a key factor in glaucoma). Here is an excellent example:  <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120329171601.htm" target="_blank">Greater Traumatic Stress Linked With Elevated Inflammation in Heart Patients.</a> Stress also interferes with uniform blood circulation, which results in diminished and inconsistent blood supply to the optic nerve. Finally, stress also affects the ability to receive restful, restorative sleep, and sleep disturbances have been implicated in glaucoma risk factors. There is no disease which is not worsened by stress, and glaucoma is no exception!</div> <div> </div> <h4><strong>Jacqueline wrote 6-22-2019:</strong></h4> <div>My experience is that glaucoma, for me, is stress-based. Since I got a Reichart 7CR back in February I  have been able to track my IOPs many times a day. An average day had me in the mid-20s during the day with an occasional dip down to the high teens later in the day and evenings. <p>I worried about nutrition a lot, despite the fact that I own an organic / biodynamic farm and eat incredibly healthy. I added many supplements, worried every day about my situation, slept in a tilted bed, got blue blocking screen on my computers, and then I worried more.</p> <p>Since getting the 7CR, I am able to make immediate and longer term assessments about what affects IOP. Given the high quality of my diet, I see that food was not an issue. I eat organic, farm-raised, nothing refined. I eat meat maybe twice a week (ours), eggs, whole grains, raw dairy and a lush amount of veggies and fruits daily, raw nuts, honey, olive oil and coconut oil. That’s my diet in a nutshell. </p><p>But stress surely was a biggie. I have realized that charting stress was not simple at first. It takes a lot of self-perception to catch myself in stressful thoughts, which I chart-note aside the IOP for that hour. In the past five months I have learned a lot about myself.</p> <p>When I am stressing about a real-or-imagined thing, I have an internal heckler that has a good deal to say about every thought. If I choose to continue on with that worrisome thought, my IOPs will rise. When I have the presence of mind to opt out of that one-sided conversation, my IOP readings drop. When working in the garden, I can listen to reworking of an argument I had five years ago or I can choose to see the beauty of the flowers around me. Between February and April I made steady progress. </p><p>I was about to check-in in early May because I had gotten my IOPs down to a more healthy place, but that same week we got rear-ended while stopped in traffic and I pulled some muscles where the seat belt yanked. My IOPs were strangely calm the rest of that day but the very next day they went right back up to my February normals, mid-20s day and high teens at night with a few spikes even higher.</p> <p>For the next month I had Feldenkrais sessions with my physical therapist and cranio-sacral sessions with my osteopath. The first few weeks they made some difference but I was physically hurting still so I couldn’t maintain the results. By the fourth week I saw 8-10 pt drops in IOP during the afternoon following the sessions, from 25 down to 15-16. And I got a lot better. </p><p>The past few weeks I have stabilized more. Average now is mid-teens when I wake up. If I have a meeting or am rushed, I may hit the low 20s briefly, but I can immediately (no kidding!) decrease my IOP 3-4 points in 15 minutes by doing calm and slow deep breathing, clearing my mind of extraneous thoughts, letting go of any imaginable transgression (forgiveness is very powerful), and relaxing my body. Within the hour I am able to get back into mid-teens and even lower.</p> <p>Last week I discussed my IOP charts with my doctor and we agreed that I could decrease the brimonidine that I had been taking 3x day for the past few years. My new schedule is to take them when I wake up. I don’t take the afternoon drops if my readings are mid-teens which is becoming my new normal. I rarely take them in the evening because IOPs are usually 12-15 and have been as low as 10. After all that time in the mid-20s months ago, I now have entire days in mid-teens. </p><p>Access to my IOPs has been a game-changer for me. I have been able to develop a communication with my own body and psyche that are very useful.</p> <p> </p> </div> <div> </div> <div><strong>Some relevant links for your review:</strong></div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051199000125" target="_blank">Intraocular pressure changes: the influence of psychological stress and the Valsalva maneuver</a></div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23059484" target="_blank">Type A Behavior Pattern: is it a risk factor for open-angle chronic glaucoma? </a></div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/12/4/215.full.pdf" target="_blank">Life situations, emotions, and glaucoma</a></div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18239349" target="_blank">The relationship between IMPS-measured stress score and intraocular pressure among public school workers</a></div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11015038" target="_blank">Immobilization stress induces elevation of intraocular pressure in rabbits</a></div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08870449208402022" target="_blank">Stress and intraocular pressure in myopes </a></div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.eyesite.ca/CJO/4303/i08-035.pdf" target="_blank">Healthy lifestyle choices and glaucoma</a></div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'sites/all/modules/fences/templates/field--fences-div.tpl.php' --> <div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Related Tags: </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/valsalva-maneuver">Valsalva maneuver</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/overthinking">overthinking</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/scheming">scheming</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-4"><a href="/tags/excessive-mental-activity">excessive mental activity</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-5"><a href="/tags/chronic-stress">chronic stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-6"><a href="/tags/white-coat">White Coat</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-7"><a href="/tags/meditation">meditation</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-8"><a href="/tags/vascular-dysregulation">Vascular dysregulation</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-9"><a href="/tags/vasospasm">vasospasm</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-10"><a href="/tags/autonomic-dysfunction">autonomic dysfunction</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-11"><a href="/tags/traumatic-stress">Traumatic Stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-12"><a href="/tags/type-a">type A</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-13"><a href="/tags/imps">IMPS</a></li></ul></div> Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:20:44 +0000 dave 1145 at https://www.fiteyes.com The effect of measurement order between right and left eyes https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/bailey/the-effect-of-measurement-order-between-right-and-left-eyes <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="premium-message"><div class="premium_teaser_login"> <p><strong>Only registered users have access to the most valuable content of the FitEyes community: Blogs, Comments, FitEyes Discussion Group Archives, unique information on self-tonometry and other user-generated research.</strong></p> <p><strong>You must register</strong> because we have content that cannot be viewed unless you agree to our terms and conditions. </p> <h4>New users please <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/user/register" target="_self" title="New user registration">click here to create new account</a> to read more...</h4> </div> </div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/intraocular-pressure">intraocular pressure</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/eyes">eyes</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/iop">IOP</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-4"><a href="/tags/measurement-order">measurement order</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-5"><a href="/tags/right">right</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-6"><a href="/tags/left">left</a></li></ul></div><div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/bailey/the-effect-of-measurement-order-between-right-and-left-eyes" st_title="The%20effect%20of%20measurement%20order%20between%20right%20and%20left%20eyes" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/bailey/the-effect-of-measurement-order-between-right-and-left-eyes" st_title="The%20effect%20of%20measurement%20order%20between%20right%20and%20left%20eyes" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/bailey/the-effect-of-measurement-order-between-right-and-left-eyes" st_title="The%20effect%20of%20measurement%20order%20between%20right%20and%20left%20eyes" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:14:44 +0000 Bailey 1008 at https://www.fiteyes.com Thomas Hirsz, Personal Research Results Summary https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/thomas-hirsz/thomas-hirsz-personal-research-results-summary <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="premium-message"><div class="premium_teaser_login"> <p><strong>Only registered users have access to the most valuable content of the FitEyes community: Blogs, Comments, FitEyes Discussion Group Archives, unique information on self-tonometry and other user-generated research.</strong></p> <p><strong>You must register</strong> because we have content that cannot be viewed unless you agree to our terms and conditions. </p> <h4>New users please <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/user/register" target="_self" title="New user registration">click here to create new account</a> to read more...</h4> </div> </div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/emotions">emotions</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/research">research</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/exercise">exercise</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-4"><a href="/tags/anxiety">anxiety</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-5"><a href="/tags/ocular-hypertension">ocular hypertension</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-6"><a href="/tags/intraocular-pressures">intraocular pressures</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-7"><a href="/tags/morning">morning</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-8"><a href="/tags/night">night</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-9"><a href="/tags/estimating">estimating</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-10"><a href="/tags/activities">activities</a></li></ul></div><div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/thomas-hirsz/thomas-hirsz-personal-research-results-summary" st_title="Thomas%20Hirsz%2C%20Personal%20Research%20Results%20Summary" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/thomas-hirsz/thomas-hirsz-personal-research-results-summary" st_title="Thomas%20Hirsz%2C%20Personal%20Research%20Results%20Summary" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/thomas-hirsz/thomas-hirsz-personal-research-results-summary" st_title="Thomas%20Hirsz%2C%20Personal%20Research%20Results%20Summary" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:08:43 +0000 Thomas Hirsz 929 at https://www.fiteyes.com I am trying to take life easy but I note that my high eye pressures does not come down https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/anonymous/i-am-trying-to-take-life-easy-but-i-note-that-my-high-eye-pressures-does-not-come <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="premium-message"><div class="premium_teaser_login"> <p><strong>Only registered users have access to the most valuable content of the FitEyes community: Blogs, Comments, FitEyes Discussion Group Archives, unique information on self-tonometry and other user-generated research.</strong></p> <p><strong>You must register</strong> because we have content that cannot be viewed unless you agree to our terms and conditions. </p> <h4>New users please <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/user/register" target="_self" title="New user registration">click here to create new account</a> to read more...</h4> </div> </div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/self-tonometry">self-tonometry</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/lifestyle">lifestyle</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/psychology">psychology</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-4"><a href="/tags/equanimity">equanimity</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-5"><a href="/tags/work">work</a></li></ul></div><div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/anonymous/i-am-trying-to-take-life-easy-but-i-note-that-my-high-eye-pressures-does-not-come" st_title="I%20am%20trying%20to%20take%20life%20easy%20but%20I%20note%20that%20my%20high%20eye%20pressures%20does%20not%20come%20down" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/anonymous/i-am-trying-to-take-life-easy-but-i-note-that-my-high-eye-pressures-does-not-come" st_title="I%20am%20trying%20to%20take%20life%20easy%20but%20I%20note%20that%20my%20high%20eye%20pressures%20does%20not%20come%20down" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/anonymous/i-am-trying-to-take-life-easy-but-i-note-that-my-high-eye-pressures-does-not-come" st_title="I%20am%20trying%20to%20take%20life%20easy%20but%20I%20note%20that%20my%20high%20eye%20pressures%20does%20not%20come%20down" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:54:49 +0000 Anonymous 847 at https://www.fiteyes.com List of all the things that affect eye pressure https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/list-of-all-the-things-that-affect-eye-pressure <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/list-of-all-the-things-that-affect-eye-pressure" st_title="List%20of%20all%20the%20things%20that%20affect%20eye%20pressure" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/list-of-all-the-things-that-affect-eye-pressure" st_title="List%20of%20all%20the%20things%20that%20affect%20eye%20pressure" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/list-of-all-the-things-that-affect-eye-pressure" st_title="List%20of%20all%20the%20things%20that%20affect%20eye%20pressure" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>I'd like to ask everyone with a tonometer and good eye pressure data to contribute comments to this post. What factors have we identified that affect eye pressure? I'm going to start the list informally with things that come off the top of my head. I'll revise and refine this list based on feedback from people with tonometers and good data. Thank you!</p> <p><u><strong>Reduces Eye Pressure</strong></u></p> <!--break--><p><strong>UPDATE: I am concerned about this post being misleading.</strong> For example, exercise does not reduce intraocular pressure for everyone. There are some people who find that almost any exercise, even something gentle like Tai Chi, increases their eye pressure. Therefore, generic rules of thumb like this are never appropriate for a specific individual. <strong>The only appropriate way to proceed is to measure your IOP accurately.</strong></p> <p>If you don't measure, you don't know. And when you don't know, it is quite possible that the things you think are helping are doing the opposite. Tai Chi -- for one individual -- is a good example. As a general rule, I believe Tai Chi is helpful. But if this individual had not measured his eye pressure for himself, he could have been misled into thinking that Tai Chi was reducing his IOP when it was actually raising it. And it is unlikely that one would ever discover this effect from regular in-office eye exams.</p> <p>For now the informal, incomplete list will remain, but only with the caveat that nothing on this list is a prescription for any individual. The most we can say is that these things are ideas you can verify for yourself with a tonometer! And, with a tonometer, you may learn how to make many of these things work in your favor, even if they do not immediately produce the results for you that they have for others. With the feedback from an accurate tonometer, we can often discover fascinating things that work to our benefit.</p> <ul><li> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />bliss in the physiology<br /><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /></li> <li>power centers energized (e.g., root chakra, dan tien, etc. )</li> <li>a quiet, settled mind (an easy absence of thinking)</li> <li>aware embodiment</li> <li>specific styles of breathing (probably impossible to specify or learn without interaction with a tonometer)</li> <li>good posture</li> <li>proper effective stress management</li> <li><a href="http://sereneiimpulse.com">Serene Impulse</a> (probably because it can help accomplish all the above items on this list)</li> <li><a href="http://fiteyes.com/forum/iop-decrease-with-movement-exercise-817#comment-2087">Tai Chi or Qigong</a> (for at least one person)</li> <li> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />slow mindful walking (seems to work for everyone)</li> <li>sunlight (maybe)<br /><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /></li> <li>certain types of exercise (or, for some people, any exercise!)</li> <li>certain relaxation exercises (including gratitude journaling) (for at least one person)</li> <li>playing with pets (several people)</li> <li>spending enjoyable time in the company of family and friends (for at least two people)</li> <li>laughing</li> <li>goofing off a bit, not working hard, taking the pressure off ourselves</li> <li>yawning and pandiculating (maybe - is it transitory?)</li> <li>glaucoma medications (but even this doesn't work for everyone!)</li> </ul><p><u><strong>Elevates Eye Pressure</strong></u></p> <ul><li>too much thinking</li> <li>too much energy in the head (whether from meditation or too much thinking)</li> <li>psychological stress -- See <a href="/stress-and-eye-pressure-solving-the-equation">Stress and Eye Pressure - Solving The Equation</a> and <a href="/Does-Stress-Increase-Eye-Pressure-For-Everyone">Does Stress Increase Eye Pressure For Everyone?</a></li> <li>attachment and aversion</li> <li>reification, hypostatizing (see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Loving-What-Four-Questions-Change/dp/1400045371/?tag=jaxfl32225-20&amp;s=books">Byron Katie's Work</a>)</li> <li>disembodiment or trance-like states (as in meditation)</li> <li>poor posture which leads to neck tension or constricted breathing</li> <li>head forward postures</li> <li>inverted postures</li> <li>sleeping (with at least two execptions in our group, neither of whom actually have glaucoma)</li> <li>lying down (again, with exceptions)</li> <li>neck tension, facial tension (or tension anywhere in the body)</li> <li>poor breathing</li> <li>most meditation techniques - See <a href="/forum/Intraocular-Pressure-and-Transcendental-Meditation">Intraocular Pressure and Transcendental Meditation</a></li> <li>fasting, skipping meals (for at least one person)</li> <li>dietary amines -- free gluatamates, histamines, tyramines (for at least one person<strong>) -- See </strong><a href="/blog/walk6981/effect-of-diet-and-othe-r"><strong>Effect of Diet and Other Environmental Factors on IOP</strong></a><strong> an editor's choice!</strong></li> <li><a href="http://fiteyes.com/blog/walk6981/darkened-room-effect">darkened room effect</a></li> <li>caffiene (according to some reports)</li> <li>junk foods (white sugar, white flour, desserts, etc.) (for at least one person)</li> <li>winter season (for several people) -- See <a href="/forum/weather-and-iop-729">Weather and IOP?</a></li> <li>deadlines and time pressure</li> <li>excitement with attachment (e.g., watching our favorite sports, etc.) -- See <a href="/WatchingTourDeFranceRaisesIOP">Watching Tour de France Raises IOP</a></li> <li>and a long list of many other things, a lot of which are totally unexpected and are only revealed by actually measuring with a tonometer</li> </ul></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/intraocular-pressure">intraocular pressure</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/Eye-Pressure">Eye Pressure</a></li></ul></div> Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:30:51 +0000 dave 825 at https://www.fiteyes.com Doing things slowly in a fast world https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/doing-things-slow-in-a-fast-world <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/doing-things-slow-in-a-fast-world" st_title="Doing%20things%20slowly%20in%20a%20fast%20world" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/doing-things-slow-in-a-fast-world" st_title="Doing%20things%20slowly%20in%20a%20fast%20world" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/doing-things-slow-in-a-fast-world" st_title="Doing%20things%20slowly%20in%20a%20fast%20world" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><em>The entire following blog post was intially written as a private email to a friend of mine. I decided to share it here.</em></p> <p>I grew up doing fast things in a fast way. I raced motorcycles -- and I have always loved anything fast. But I also tried to accomplish the maximum possible number of things each day and I always pushed myself to do things quicker or more efficiently. Then I developed glaucoma.</p> <p>As I have gotten to know myself more intimately (thanks in part to self-tonometry) I have realized that I actually like to take my time. I enjoy doing things in a non-rushed manner. You could even say that I enjoy being slow! (Something I never would have admitted to myself in my days of racing, even in my most private thoughts.) Even today, I still have a great admiration for people who do things quickly, as if this is an inherently superior way of being.</p> <p>But I now know that I like to take my time doi<img align="left" width="494" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="257" border="0" alt="go slow to reduce eye pressure" src="/sites/fiteyes.com/files/rsz_452300_47133.jpg" />ng things. I still enjoy efficiency. But sometimes it is more efficient to delay the next project's start and finish what was started rather than have to terminate it due to an artificial deadline and then pick it up again at a later time. I like going deep into things (whether discussions, research or building software) and having the time to do it well. And I have found that sometimes I even enjoy doing something in a completely inefficient manner (saying that still sounds <em>sacrilegious</em>). Sometimes I enjoy just plain being slow! (What have I just said! My gosh!)</p> <!--break--><p>Actually, slowness is a kapha tendency. Honoring one's tendencies -- without letting them become imbalanced -- seems to be a valid strategy for healing. Exercise is good for kapha people in part because it gets us going, prevents us from stagnating and getting taken over by inertia. However, keeping kapha balanced is a much different thing from trying to deny one's kapha tendencies and act like a vata or pitta person.</p> <p>When I realized these things about myself, I stopped trying to consult with clients for at least 8 hours per day, for example. I started leaving big gaps between my appointments. This cut way back on my stress and dramatically increased my enjoyment. I think this decision and other related decisions are important to my strategy of protecting my vision. This decision has certainly been a benefit to my overall health and happiness.</p> <p>I think one of the worst things I did was deny my desire to take my time. For most of my life I forced myself to operate in jobs and in situations that demanded doing things as fast as possible.</p> <p>My wife is the opposite of me in this regard. She does not like to spend much time on any one thing. She doesn't care about understanding something in detail, and it is virtually impossible for her to do deep research. But it also makes her an ideal fit for many modern workplaces. Bosses see her as someone who gets things done. Indeed, I also greatly admire this quality of hers. (And few bosses really care about doing things any better than she does them anyway, but now I'm getting off topic.)</p> <p>However, it is clear to both my wife and I that her (lack of depth + quickness) and my (depth + slowness) are complimentary. Neither is inherently better than the other, but modern society tries to force everyone into the mode my wife operates in. Even in areas where depth has traditionally been the most valued trait, CEO's have (for example) compelled employees to follow a model that emphasizes speed above all else, right?</p> <p>A person who doesn't fit well in a corporate culture that demands we do as much as possible as fast as possible, will, at some point, have to face a hard truth. The lack of congruence here is almost guaranteed to result in the development of disease. Often people never make the connection between dis-ease and disease, but my experience tells me that the correlation is nearly 1.0. [EDIT: a correlation of 1.0 means loosely that the relationship is nearly 100% aligned.)</p> <p>I had to accept the fact that leaving time between clients (so that, if an occasional Thursday session needs to run longer, for example, I can go with that and enjoy it) would reduce my potential and actual income. In the beginning my old ideas about being productive, successful, etc. dominated the messages from my own body. I endured dis-ease. Eventually I did listen to my body -- but my first reaction was that I wanted to quit consulting and go back to my previous job. Eventually I just learned to really listen, to pay attention to what was right in front of me. When I gave up my concepts about "success" I found that I could easily do this consulting and be comfortable. But at the time it was a difficult decision. Choosing to be "less successful" goes against everything society wants us to do/be. Society rewards/honors those who destroy their health to achieve some material gains, right? As Eckhart Tolle points out, when we are on our death beds, we may finally see the folly of this way of living. Tim Ferris calls it the deferred life plan.</p> <p>One can learn mental discipline and psychological techniques for dealing with stress in the workplace. But when one is in a job that is against one's nature, it makes mastering the other eminent psychological skills we've discussed seem trivial. I do not feel that simply adjusting, as challenging as that would be, is sufficient to let me accomplish my goals of protecting my vision and improving my vision. I need to be in a situation where I feel totally right all the time. Where I live with comfort (the total opposite of dis-ease) in my physiology 24 hours a day.</p> <p>No matter what worldly success may be achieved by conforming to society's ideals of success, if doing so is against one's nature and takes one out of one's comfort zone, real success and real happiness will never ever be achieved. Nothing but misery, disease and suffering will come from that strategy.</p> <p>The beauty of self-tonometry is that we can quantify and test these ideas. In my case I see a near perfect long term correlation between dis-ease in my body and elevated intraocular pressure.</p> <p>As a postscript, I would like to add that even after I made this decision to honor my enjoyment of working more slowly, I still retained a tendency to want to do things fast and to do more in less time. For example, I have the habit of walking in the evenings. It is good for my eyes. Until more recently, I tried to walk fast. I felt like I needed to get the benefits of physical exercise (even though I was walking primarily for my mind and my eyes). That immediately led to the idea that the more miles I walked in my given hour of time, the better I was doing.</p> <p>Soon I discovered that my walks did not always lower my IOP. Eventually, I tried the idea of walking slowly. (Slowly I started applying the concept of being true to myself to all areas of my life.) At first walking slowly was actually psychologically painful. I felt that I was wasting my time. Eventually, I learned to let myself do it and I found that I could consistently produce lower IOP by walking slower. My best walking is when I turn off my thinking brain and just walk as slow and as relaxed as I feel like walking. When I give up on the idea of making it into a productive exercise, I get much lower IOP. Moral of the story: slower is better. ;)</p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/intraocular-pressure">intraocular pressure</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/Eckhart-Tolle">Eckhart Tolle</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-3"><a href="/tags/psychology">psychology</a></li></ul></div> Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:30:36 +0000 dave 822 at https://www.fiteyes.com I suspected stress was related to glaucoma https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/muse/i-suspected-stress-was-related-to-glaucoma <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/muse/i-suspected-stress-was-related-to-glaucoma" st_title="I%20suspected%20stress%20was%20related%20to%20glaucoma" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/muse/i-suspected-stress-was-related-to-glaucoma" st_title="I%20suspected%20stress%20was%20related%20to%20glaucoma" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/muse/i-suspected-stress-was-related-to-glaucoma" st_title="I%20suspected%20stress%20was%20related%20to%20glaucoma" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>When I went to get my eyes examined for a new prescription, the Dr. told me I had glaucoma. I couldn't believe it. I had so many health problems already due to stress, that I cried and cried. He said my eyes were dry and right away I figured it was from the adrenal exhaustion I suffered a couple years back, which I am on the mend from... but it is taking time. My nails, skin, hair, mouth and now eyes were dry. It is a good thing I know I am not a body. ~g~ I am a huge fan of Byron Katie and Gary Renard's contributions to the world.</p> <p>The optometrist sent me for further tests. All was well but my eye pressure was higher than healthy but not high enough to take the drops. I had heard about the side effects of the drops and didn't want to go there. ~g~ Now I have yet another reason to relax and not get stressed out. My sight depends on it.</p> <p>Dave, your article, <a href="/stress-and-eye-pressure-solving-the-equation">Stress and Eye Pressure - Solving The Equation</a>, just verified what I already suspected was the problem. I told the specialist that my adrenal problems were probably the cause, and I think he thought me daft. No one in the office seemed to be hip to the connection.</p> <p>Muffet</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/glaucoma">glaucoma</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-2"><a href="/tags/Eye-Pressure">Eye Pressure</a></li></ul></div> Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:34:58 +0000 muse 788 at https://www.fiteyes.com Detective Work Required - Eye Pressure Going Up While On Relaxing Vacation https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/detective-work-required-eye-pressure-going-up-while-on-relaxing-vacation <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/detective-work-required-eye-pressure-going-up-while-on-relaxing-vacation" st_title="Detective%20Work%20Required%20-%20Eye%20Pressure%20Going%20Up%20While%20On%20Relaxing%20Vacation" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/detective-work-required-eye-pressure-going-up-while-on-relaxing-vacation" st_title="Detective%20Work%20Required%20-%20Eye%20Pressure%20Going%20Up%20While%20On%20Relaxing%20Vacation" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/detective-work-required-eye-pressure-going-up-while-on-relaxing-vacation" st_title="Detective%20Work%20Required%20-%20Eye%20Pressure%20Going%20Up%20While%20On%20Relaxing%20Vacation" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>For many glaucoma patients, a vacation can present an opportunity to do some good thinking, maybe reflect on our direction in life or mentally solve some important questions that have been in the back of our mind but ignored because of our busy schedules.</p> <p>On my own recent vacation I started thinking about new career directions. And yesterday I received a phone call from a good friend of mine who was vacationing on a tropical island. He told me all about swimming in the ocean, jogging on the beach and eating healthy food. All of it sounded fun, relaxing and healthy. But he was perplexed by one thing -- his intraocular pressure was going up in spite of being on a relaxing vacation in a tropical paradise.</p> <p>I observed a similar thing on my own month-long vacation. For a couple weeks I could not figure it out. I was sure I was not under stress and I was doing all the things that usually keep my IOP very low. Finally, I did discover the answer -- and my eye pressure quickly returned to my usual low levels. So I gained some valuable experience and insights as a result of this challenging situation, and my data was very clear.The results agreed exactly with many past experiences, so my entire history of self-tonometry research informed my conclusions. However, I doubt I would have ever discovered the cause of my rising vacation-time IOP -- because it was very confusing at the time -- if I had not seen so many pieces of the puzzle in my years of prior self-tonometry work. This case took some real detective work to resolve. I was baffled for weeks, quite unlike Sherlock Holmes.</p> <p>In yesterday's phone call with my friend, I drew on this experience. I asked my friend some detailed questions about what he was doing each day. At first, there was nothing obvious in his activities. But from experience, I had an idea of what I was looking for. After a little more casual discussion, my friend eventually told me that he was in the midst of making "important decisions" about "<strong>the big issues</strong>" in his life. Bingo! That's it. We discussed these issues in a little more detail, and it became very clear to both me and my friend that this was the likely explanatory factor. He has a tonometer, so he may be able to verify his results eventually (provided he can overcome a challenge, which I will address at the end of this post).</p> <p>On my own vacation I started thinking about important career decisions and my eye pressure began to creep up day by day. As I said, the connection was far from obvious and the elevated IOP snuck up on me. In fact, I was enjoying the decision-making process and enjoying the ability to explore these various career options. But when I finally recognized that I was simply thinking too much and being too intellectual, I invoked <strong>the blessing of glaucoma</strong>, to instantly reverse my daily patterns. The blessing of glaucoma for me is that it gives me an excuse to throw off the expectations of society, or even friends and family. With the blessing of glaucoma, I no longer view my career decisions as being important enough to risk damage to my vision. My vision is priceless and that gives me the power to make healthy decisions and the power to live in the moment. In this specific case, I decided to stop trying to intellectually figure out the proper career direction. I decided to not decide. I decided live in the moment without knowing what my future career moves might be. As soon as I made that decision (to let go of deciding), my IOP came back down to my typical low levels (within a day or two).</p> <p>FitEyes member bstruss has been posting about his own unusual IOP patterns lately. I'm betting he'll find his solution in a similar way to what is described above. I don't know enough details about his situation to guess what the specific issue is. But once he identifies the issue, I suspect the real challenge will be letting go of lifelong mental habits in such a way that the IOP data will clearly reflect the cause and effect. In my experience, this kind of mental and emotional flexibility requires years of disciplined training in technologies of consciousness (such as Serene Impulse and others).</p> <p>Some people, even when they know that certain states of mind/emotions raise their IOP, feel compelled to continue invoking those same states of mind/emotions. In addition to a nervous system that lacks flexibility, we often hold tightly to certain beliefs that are more powerful than even the fear of blindness (or the rational recognition of elevated IOP is the #1 treatable risk factor in glaucoma progression). The tight hold to these beliefs is actually another facet of rigidity in our state of consciousness.</p> <p>Self-tonometry can give incredibly powerful insights into what makes our IOP go up (or stay up). And for me, Serene Impulse gave me the technology to change my state of consciousness quickly and free myself of beliefs that were keeping me bound to unhealthy ways of being. Byron Katie's work is also extremely powerful when one has the foundation of a daily practice that makes the nervous system more flexible. (And, quite often, the people who most dislike Byron Katie's work are the ones who end up benefiting from it the most.)</p> <p>In summary, there are two parts to what I did on my vacation:</p> <ol><li>I identified the specific issues that were elevating my intraocular pressure via self-tonometry and an understanding of "esoteric" psychology</li> <li>I immediately changed my state of consciousness based on the above information (and that produced some very useful data)</li> </ol><p>To make this more concrete, let's go back to the case of my friend vacationing on a tropical island. He has a lot riding on these big issues and he feels that his only choice is to take charge and make the difficult intellectual decision -- and to do so within a defined window of time. As long as that remains his reality, his IOP will probably stay elevated until the decisions are made. That may make his IOP data a little unclear as to the causative factors. In all likelihood, he will no longer be on vacation and many other factors in his life will have changed by the time his IOP changes. In my own case, I did make an instant change in my state of mind while I was still in the middle of my vacation, and the results (lower IOP) quickly followed. So the IOP data was very clear (being very free of any other potentially confounding factors). And the clear data showed me that I had indeed solved my mystery. I wasn't quite as fast or as observant as Sherlock Holmes, but I did eventually get it right.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/intraocular-pressure">intraocular pressure</a></li></ul></div> Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:31:53 +0000 dave 739 at https://www.fiteyes.com STRESS & GLAUCOMA https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/agnes-donnadieu/stress-glaucoma <div class="sharethis-buttons"><div class="sharethis-wrapper"><span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/agnes-donnadieu/stress-glaucoma" st_title="STRESS%20%26%20GLAUCOMA%20" class="st_facebook_large" displayText="facebook"></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/agnes-donnadieu/stress-glaucoma" st_title="STRESS%20%26%20GLAUCOMA%20" class="st_twitter_large" displayText="twitter" st_via="" st_username=""></span> <span st_url="https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/agnes-donnadieu/stress-glaucoma" st_title="STRESS%20%26%20GLAUCOMA%20" class="st_sharethis_large" displayText="sharethis" st_via="" st_username=""></span> </div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div><strong>I was reading the chat highlights from the "Stress and Glaucoma" Chat with Dr. Elliot Werner. I think some arguments are contradicting what we have been talking about all along.  It just confirms how narrow minded some glaucoma specialists can be. See chat highlights below.<br /></strong></div> <div> </div> <!--break--><h1>Stress and Glaucoma<br /> Chat Highlights<br /> July 20, 2005</h1> <p><strong>Norma Devine, Editor </strong></p> <p> <a href="http://www.willsglaucoma.org/supportgroup/20050720.htm">http://www.willsglaucoma.org/supportgroup/20050720.htm</a></p> <p> </p> <p>On Wednesday, July 20, 2005, Dr. Elliot Werner a glaucoma specialist, and the glaucoma chat group discussed "Stress and Glaucoma."</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#ff9933"><b>Moderator:  </b></font>Welcome back to chat, Dr. Werner.  Our topic tonight is stress and how it affects us glaucoma patients.  But, first, how does stress affect the doctors who take care of us?</p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Taking care of glaucoma patients can be very rewarding, but also very stressful.  Although the treatments for glaucoma are pretty good, they still have a measurable failure rate.  When things don't go well with a patient, it can be very hard on the doctor.  I've spent many a sleepless night worrying about a patient who was not doing well.</p> <p><font color="#ff9933"><b>Moderator:  </b></font>Are the complications of treatment the main cause of stress for you in your work? </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Yes. When you do something to a patient and instead of helping the patient it makes them worse or increases their suffering, that is really hard to deal with.  Also, unlike many other eye conditions, the vision loss from glaucoma is usually not reversible, so you don't have a lot of wiggle room when making decisions.</p> <p><font color="#ff9933"><b>Moderator:  </b></font>How do you handle glaucoma patients who may be feeling overstressed from bad news?</p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>It's tough. You try to give them the best possible outlook.  Never destroy hope.  I always try to find some good news to give the patient, even if I have to search real hard for something to say. Shutting up and listening to the patient for a while also seems to help.  It's also important to find out what is bothering the patient.  For example, the doctor can get all involved with IOP (intraocular pressure) or cupping (of the optic nerve), but the patient may be more concerned about red eyes.</p> <h1><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>Does being nervous or stressed increase the IOP (intraocular pressure) as it does blood pressure?</h1> <p> </p> <h1><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Not as far as we know.</h1> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>Learning anything new has been shown to beat stress.  A new study at the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Pennsylvania found that playing music significantly reduces stress. I knew an orthopedic surgeon who sang in a barbershop quartet.  Said it helped him relax.  Several in our group play musical instruments.  Two sing in choirs.  One fellow seems to know the lyrics to hundreds of new and old popular songs.</p> <p> <font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Music is great.  A lot of surgeons play music in the operating room for that reason.  If someone has a strong religious faith, prayer also helps.  I have sometimes prayed with patients when it seems appropriate.</p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>Can stress that leads to depression be harmful for someone with glaucoma?</p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Stress is hard to measure.  Depressed patients often do not take their medications and do not keep their follow-up appointments, which can hurt their glaucoma.  Psychiatric illness generally can interfere significantly with treatment of other problems, such as glaucoma.</p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>What are some ways to relieve or reduce stress levels?</p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>That's hard for me to answer since I am not a psychotherapist and really don't have any training in that area.  Exercise is a good one.  Many people say that exercise is a great stress reliever.</p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>When Harvard University researchers followed people over the age of 65, they reported that people who enjoyed games, such as bridge, found as much stress relief and prolonged life expectancy as did those who exercised regularly.  I wonder if that also holds true for people under age 65.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>That is probably true.  Something that is truly pleasurable and not harmful stimulates the production of endorphins in the brain and that relieves stress at the biochemical level.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>I still feel that a good laugh works wonders.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>That's a good point.  According to research from Western Illinois University, people who can appreciate humor are less stressed and anxious.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Laughter, of course, is a pleasurable activity that is not harmful.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#ff9933"><b>Moderator:  </b></font>I have heard it is the best medicine.  I went to a funny movie this weekend, just for a good laugh.  I was able to forget troubles and feel good and laugh.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>This chat room has probably relieved a lot of stress for many of us.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Support from others in the same boat also helps.  Another good stress reliever is a glass (that is ONE glass) of red wine, but not if you have an alcohol problem.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>How does stress affect glaucoma?</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Generally, when people think about stress and glaucoma, they are wondering if stress causes or makes glaucoma worse.  In fact, many studies have shown the opposite. Glaucoma causes stress, not the other way around.  A recent study found that the biggest problem newly diagnosed glaucoma patients face is anxiety and depression about their diagnosis, not vision loss.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>What about the role of cortisol, a natural stress-related steroid, in open-angle glaucoma?  I seem to recall reading that it's over-produced in times of stress, weakens collagen structures in the body, and may affect the eye.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>That is undoubtedly true.  The release of endogenous cortisol during periods of stress can raise the IOP. That has been shown.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>I get stressed at an office visit with my glaucoma specialist, but not when I visit my other doctors.  My six-month checkup is in two weeks and already I'm feeling stressed.  I think I worry about my eyes more than any other part of my body.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Why do you think seeing the glaucoma doctor stresses you?</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>He can be abrupt and dismissive and I get nervous and forget to ask him questions.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>In other words, it is the doctor who is causing the stress, not the situation or your condition.  I hate to say this, but maybe you should consider switching doctors.  The other option is to talk to the doctor frankly and tell him or her what the problem is from your point of view.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>I've seriously thought about that, Dr. Werner, but he has taken very good care of my eye.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>Write your questions down ahead of time.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>When doctors go to symposia, are there ever any presentations on how they can hone their people skills when dealing with patients?</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>No. It's not something that particularly interests the people who sponsor symposia.  I'll have to check again, but I don't think the next American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting is offering a single course on that subject.  It is a great deficiency.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>Dr. Werner, don't you think it's not so much the amount of stress that matters, but how we manage it?</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Again, I am no expert on stress. Stress is almost impossible to measure and quantify, so it's hard to know what the "amount" of stress is in any individual.  Some situations like being sent to jail or the death of a close loved one are obviously more stressful than others like breaking a glass in the kitchen, but it is the ability of the individual to cope that matters.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>Doctors don't mention that glaucoma eye drops can cause depression.  I wonder how many people are stressed or depressed from their drops?  Cosopt and Alphagan P are two drops that list depression as side effects.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Depression can be a side effect of several glaucoma medications.  Doctors need to keep that in mind.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>Dr. Werner, do you or your technician show your patients how to occlude the puncta to maximize the effectiveness of the drops and minimize the amount draining into the system?  I had to learn how and why to do that years ago by reading the literature.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Yes, our techs are trained to do that, and I usually ask patients if they are doing punctal occlusion.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>What is punctal occlusion?</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>You hold you fingers over your tear ducts for a couple of minutes after putting the drops in so the drops don't go down your tear duct into your throat.  That reduces the risk of side effects.  You doctor should teach you how to do it.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>I use punctal occlusion despite my doctor saying to use passive lid closure.  He says that's the general thinking among clinicians currently.  Supposedly, most people don't do punctal occlusion properly, so it's better to have them do something else, that is, passive lid closure.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>Gently closing the eyes is quite effective at occluding the tear puncta.  I usually tell patients to do both, close the eyes and compress the medial corner of the lids.  That seems to be pretty easy for most people.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>I didn't know that I should do that, but know that now.  I learned the hard way.  Wish the doctor would have told me.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#00008b"><b>P:  </b></font>People don't read the Patient Information sheets.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#a52a2a"><b>Dr. Elliot Werner:  </b></font>You are absolutely right. A doctor is legally obliged to make a patient aware of potential side effects of medications or other treatments.</p> <p> </p> <p><font color="#ff9933"><b>Moderator:  </b></font>Thank you, Dr. Werner.  We look forward to your next visit.</p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline inline clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Filed Under (tags): </h3><ul class="links inline"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/stress">stress</a></li></ul></div> Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:31:21 +0000 Agnes 628 at https://www.fiteyes.com Stress raises intraocular pressure in rabbits https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/dave/stress-raises-intraocular-pressure-in-rabbits <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="premium-message"><div class="premium_teaser_login"> <p><strong>Only registered users have access to the 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https://www.fiteyes.com/blog/anonymous/tech-checks-eye-pressure-and-its-fine-then-a-few-minutes-later-doctor-checks-again <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="premium-message"><div class="premium_teaser_login"> <p><strong>Only registered users have access to the most valuable content of the FitEyes community: Blogs, Comments, FitEyes Discussion Group Archives, unique information on self-tonometry and other user-generated research.</strong></p> <p><strong>You must register</strong> because we have content that cannot be viewed unless you agree to our terms and conditions. </p> <h4>New users please <a href="http://www.fiteyes.com/user/register" target="_self" title="New user registration">click here to create new account</a> to read more...</h4> </div> </div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference 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