Comparing My Eye Pressure Over Six Months

A lot has changed in six months. For example, compare these eye pressure values:

Date	Left	Right
8th to 9th of Jul-2006	18.0	25.8
17th to 31st of Dec-2006	13.4	13.9

 

 

 

This blog attempts to tell the story behind those numbers on a daily basis. For this one post I simply want to look at the eye pressure values from six months ago side-by-side with the eye pressure values from recent days. 

Here are first 24 hours of eye pressure data we collected for this project starting the afternoon of July 8th, 2006.

		Time	Left	Right
Saturday, July 08, 2006		15:00	18.0	28.7
		15:05	19.0	27.7
		16:30	16.0	23.0
		17:17	16.7	24.0
		20:40	16.7	23.3
		21:40	18.3	23.0
Sunday, July 09, 2006		0:10	18.0	24.3
		9:30	18.0	19.7
		11:20	22.7	33.7
		11:45	16.3	30.3

The overall averages for that approximately 24 hour period were:

Left 18.0; Right 25.8

It is my opinion that these values are representative of typical eye pressure values for me during the prior two years, starting from when I was diagnosed in August 2004. My eye pressure values at each six-month checkup were most frequently in the range of 20-22, but the thousands of eye pressure measurements we have collected for this project make me believe that the real-life eye pressure value in my right eye was probably more like what is shown in these first 24 hours of data collection -- i.e., 26 mm Hg, or more. As I continue to believe, the infrequent eye pressure checks in my doctor's office did not reveal much about my true eye pressure. The activities that caused my eye pressure to reach the high 20's or the mid-30's are things I did every day during the two years prior to starting this project -- I just didn't do those things in the doctors office. (I discussed an example in this forum post.)

My medication at that time was one drop of Xalatan in each eye, as it had been since I was diagnosed with glaucoma.

Yesterday I posted a summary of my recent daily averages. Seeing how good those eye pressure values have been made me reflect on where I was six months ago.Here again are the average eye pressure values for the last 15 days: 

Date	Left	Right
17-Dec-06	14.3	14.0
18-Dec-06	14.4	13.8
19-Dec-06	15.1	14.6
20-Dec-06	12.9	13.3
21-Dec-06	13.0	12.3
22-Dec-06	12.9	13.8
23-Dec-06	12.7	13.6
24-Dec-06	12.3	14.7
25-Dec-06	13.6	13.9
26-Dec-06	13.1	14.6
27-Dec-06	13.6	14.6
28-Dec-06	13.5	13.8
29-Dec-06	12.9	14.3
30-Dec-06	13.0	13.1
31-Dec-06	12.4	13.1

The overall averages for the whole 15 day period are:

Left 13.4; Right 13.9

At this time I use Xalatan in each eye and I use timolol maleate 0.25% in my right eye only. The timolol is the standard type (not the gel forming solution), and I only use one drop per day (and only in my right eye).

As I have mentioned in prior posts about "lifestyle," I don't think the addition of one drop of timolol 0.25% fully explains the change in my eye pressure. What do you think?

Date	Left	Right
Aug-2004 no medication	34.0	48.0
Jul-2006 Xalatan	18.0	25.8
Dec-2006 Xalatan and timolol	13.4	13.9