Opthamologist symptoms and conditions

A year ago I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis and began taking 50mg Prednisone per day. The worst side effects in the beginning were weight gain, moon face, facial hair, hump-back neck, bruising (for example, just by my knees being together while I sleep,) excruciating joint pain and water retention to the point I felt my skin would split open. And poor vision which could have led to glaucoma, but an eye specialist put me on eye drops to reduce the pressure to normal levels. I've felt horrified and embarrassed by the change in my appearance but relieved that my sarcoid was being treated.
I feel confident in my case that Prednisone was the necessary treatment. My pulmonologist, opthamologist and regular doctor all agreed on a course of treatment. But I really advise people to get a second or third opinion before they take it. A friend of mine was prescribed a weeks course of Prednisone for a severe sinus infection. Luckily she didn't have any side effects but I really question if it was necessary. I'd also like to stress that if you're on Prednisone and experience worsening vision, please see an opthamologist who is a glaucoma specialist because it can lead to blindness if not treated.
And lastly, sorry this became a novel! I have been tapering off and I'm down to 20mg. But recently I've noticed my hair is thinning so much. I lose a ton when I brush it and it clogs the drain when I shower. Also my skin is shedding. When I shower and use a loofah sponge like I've always done and I lose layers of skin like a snake. I would really like to know if my hair will start to grow back when I'm finally off the Prednisone or am I going to lose it completely??

After being injected with lidocaine during a root canal procedure, the vision in one of my eyes was beyond distorted (the side they were working on). I had 3 injections prior to prep the tooth which is located upper right near the wisdom tooth. An hour into the procedure, I began to feel the doctor working on the tooth. So I wouldn't experience major pain, he then injected me one more time in the roof of my mouth. Within seconds, I noticed my vision was in that eye was beyond blurry. It was like I was seeing cross eyed, but my eyes were not physically crossed and my vision was distorted beyond belief. This totally freaked me out and lasted for a few hours until the lidocaine wore off. I have had a few root canals and dental work over the course of the years, but they used carbocaine instead, because I get too jittery with regular novacaine. Therefore no epi. What makes matters worse, is that they were unable to finish the root canal procedure, because it freaked me out so bad and my vision was messed up, that I was sent to the ER. I was told that he must have hit an optic nerve during the injection which most likely caused this situation and they were categorizing it as a possible allergic reaction, but again feel as though it was just the optic nerve that the lidocaine traveled to. Now I have to finish the rest of the root canal a week from now and will be having another dentist perform it. I'm so frightened that this will happen again. I honestly thought that my vision wouldn't be restored back to normal. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?

Thanks.

I have been on the NUVARing for 2 years and I'm 25. About 5 months ago I started having really really bad DRY EYE PROBLEMS. I have been to the ophthalmologist and I've been on restasis, refresh plus, Lotomax, and other ointment I put on my eyelids at night. The eye problem isn't getting much better. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, I use to have super thick curly hair. I lose about a handful of hair a week and I don't think this is normal anymore.

I'm wondering if it is time to take out the ring. Any advice?

I gotta tell ya this is scary. I am a 30 yr old guy my wife is 27 we have four children.Our last one was born Mar. 2007 She has been on Yasmin 6months or so.She has never been regular on periods. Well a few weeks ago she started having massive headaches.As of June 31st her doctor said she has migraines. Well by July first her left eye went blurry by the 2nd she has lost vision in both eyes.She only sees light and is very cloudy and can see shadows. We made 3 trips to ER. They did Cat scan and it was neg. the doctor said she might have even had a mild stroke because her left cheek went numb. By the 2nd we were in ER again because of total vision loss. They did a lumbar punture and no Meningitus. cat scan again neg. blood work neg. except UTI sound familiar ladies??? By the 3rd we visited her doctor and she passed out and was rushed by EMT to Hosp. They did and MRI,MRA,had a eye Doctor called an ophthalmologist clear her of vision problems.She has talked to a neurologist. So here is a 27 yr old female with all the test's coming back normal but she can't see.They even had a psychiatrist talk to her because she is on Prozac because she has PCOS and had half her ovaries removed and almost died.They even suggested that she had conversion disorder(google it).Finally I decided to check side effects for all her meds. When I checked this one I almost jumped outta the chair.She has about 10 symptoms. But before I get too excited has anyone had vision loss for a period of time and did it come back once off of it?? I'm throwing these away

I'm a 52 year old female and have been taking Zocor for about a year. During the past few months, I've noticed increased muscle pains in my upper legs. It's to the point that I actually hurt when walking, even for short distances. I have also gained about 15 pounds in the past year. It could just be "middle age spread" but I can't help but wonder if this drug is the cause of it. I've also had some visual disturbances in the past month or two, like something that just won't clear out of my eye.....like a film across my eye. Anyone else with similar symptoms? I go back for a physical in a few weeks and am going to ask my MD about another medication. I have genetically elevated cholesterol and low cholesterol diet has not helped previously.

After using Topamax for a week and two days for migraine prevention, I pretty much went blind. I went from having 20/20 vision to -6 in a matter of hours. I was diagnosed with Acute Induced Myopia, a "rare" side effect of topiate drugs. It was prehaps one of the most frightening experiences of my life. While this side effect is widely documented online and in numerous neurolical and other health journals, my neurologist failed to mention the possibility to me. From what I've learned, this is a fairly common, yet reversible side effect, and is found mostly in women ranging in age from 25-50, if topamax isn't stopped immediately, it can result in permanent glaucoma. In 2001 the World Health Organization released a warning describing this side effect and urged medical professionals to discuss it with their clients prior to taking the drug. Apparently my neurolgist missed that memo. Now, three days later my vision has returned to 20/20- much to the surprise of my new opthamologist (never needed one before). I urge everyone who takes Topamax to pay very careful attention to their vision and stop taking the drug if any decrease in vision or blurrieness occurs. I'd hate to see anyone cause themselves permanent damage.

27 yr old healthy male. Have red-irritated eyes, occasional sneeze and runny nose, live in Denver (highly polluted). Come to think about it, never started having symptoms until after about 1 yr of living here. Symptoms have persisted for 2 yrs now. Maybe I should move?

doctor thought was allergies, so tried: Patanol, Singulair, Claritin, Duramist = no help. Eyes are still itchy, eyelids are embarrassingly red (I look like I'm high all the time). After 4 months on Singulair, noticed significant weight gain, dehydration, and sensitivity to light. Couldn't work out, play paint ball. Urine was always dark yellow. Singulair seemed to help at first, but as time went on, symptoms were worse and had additional problems, weight gain, etc. Things seemed to be spiraling out of control, and I am really depressed b/c there seems to be no solution.

I complained of some loss of vision (i.e. blurriness, hard to focus), so doctor sent me to ophthalmologist. They prescribed glasses and said I have dry eye like that person posted on Nov 18th. They told me to wash my eyes with baby soap. No help! These people have no idea what to do, I got fed up and quite taking Singulair after reading this website. I hope to lose weight and start working out again. I can't believe that doctors prescribe Singulair and have no idea (NO IDEA!) of all of us who must suffer from this terrible drug.

I don't do drugs, drink occasionally and have really cut down trying to get this problem solved. I have become sensitive to caffeine, if I drink coffee, my eyes hurt so bad, I can hardly keep them open. I'm going to do as much research as I can to find a solution. I trusted my doctors - bad idea!

I am a 56 year old female who was very active ranching, balng hay taking care of irrigation etc. 3 years ago I had pain in my left arm and my heart was racing went to the E.R. where they did a 12 lead ekg. Could not find anything wrong other than my blood pressure was up to 160/90 they gave me ToprolXl 100 mg and told me to see my primary care physcian. Which I did. He continued the medication.

Since that time I have complained to all of the symtoms I have seen on this site. With one exception. Two months ago I was watching TV and had double vision. It only lasted for a few seconds but noticed the next day my peripheral vision was gone. I made an appt with an opthomologist and he spent 3 hours with me and recommended an MRI which was conducted some 2 weeks later. I was referred to a neurologist who ran a lot of blood work. My first batch of blood work showed a raging inflamation. They started testing for MS, lymes, lupus etc. Last week i met with my neurologist for the follow up blood work report. Everything is normal he says but by the way you have myathenia gravis. You get double vision again you call me I will give you medicine. Like I am a two year old.

I have researched myasthenia and the one thing you dont want to do is be on a beta blocker or a calcium channel blocker, as both of these will aggravate the condition. I called him to ask that he change my blood pressure medication. He says I wont do that. My primary care physcian is no longer in practice with the original medical group and has left the area. I saw him only 2 weeks ago and nothing was mentioned. The point is folks Don't trust anyone. Oh and by the way the side effects you are seeing mimic myasthenia gravis. Now no one knows what causes it for sure. Stress is a factor. But if you have not been tested get yourself tested. I may not even have this disease but I am getting off this medication and I am going to find out for sure what in the heck is going on. By the way I have seen a cardiologist last month without a referral because I wanted answers and he says there is absolutely nothing wrong with my heart...so why was I put on this medication? Heaven help us all.

I am so glad I found this website. I have had a lot of questions answered about my husband's health issues. My husband is a relatively healthy 32 year old and has been on 5mg Lisnopril for almost 5 years for slightly high BP and has had a lot of problems since he has started taking it. The most severe problem he has experienced lately is vision loss in his eye. He started complaining in late November of Floaters and Grainy Vision in his left eye. This will last about a week and then subside only to return a few days later. The vision problems will come on suddenly and get so bad that he can't see or read out of his left eye. He sees lines, floaters, cobwebs, colors, and grainy spots. My husband went to his family doctor when it first started and was told not to worry about it.

Last week I took him to the eye doctor, who could not even see in his eye because there was so many floaters. The opthamologist immediately sent us to a retina specialist who thought he had a detached or torn retina. Well, we have been to the specialist twice and he can't find anything that would be causing this problem. We've had 3 doctors and a pharmacist tell us that Lisinopril would not cause this vision problem. Since I have found this site and read posts from others who have had the same vision problems, I am convinced that this is causing his problems.

Some other side effects he has had is memory loss, confusion, aches and pains, weight gain, headaches, fatigue and dizziness. Thank goodness he has not had the awful coughing that countless others have experienced.

Needless to say he is not taking this medicine anymore. If anyone else has had similar vision problems please contact me.

I have taken Lisinopril for over a month now. I have been miserable. It wasn't until a couple of days ago when I surfed the internet about what other patients were saying about this medication and I decided to take half a pill yesterday and today. The side effects subsided some, not all the way, but manageable. I was getting this weird pressure in my head and eyes; neck, shoulder and back pain; hair loss; and it felt like I had a lump in my throat. I've gone to an psychologist, opthamologist, cardiologist and have a future appt. with a neurologist. After reading what others have felt, I emailed my PCP today and told her that it's the Lisinopril that's causing all my pains, stress and miseries. I told her that I want to change meds, but instead she suggested to get off the meds and see how I feel. I also have vitamins that we ordered last week in her office so I will be taking the vitamins 3 x a day. I'll keep you posted.

hi everyone!
trailblazen, it's interesting you asked angela about shingles. i had shingles and the urgent care doctor put me on prednisone for them along with some valtrex. then when i saw the opthamologist, he said i NEVER should have been put on prednisone in the first place! but i had to keep taking it until my prescription was used up. so basically i had all this prednisone junk for nothing.

As far as the Diurex... I wasn't sure it was doing a lot of good although my moon face has decreased. I haven't taken the Diurex for a few days and my ankles were really swollen! So i guess it did help a lot with water retention...

sanndiego

hi cjmom--
glad you found this site! hate to say it but i just swallow 2 tsp of vinegar before my meals. it's bad but not THAT bad. if it helps rev up my metabolism it is worth it! i really like drinking the pure cranberry juice... but be sure and dilute it in a lot of water or it is very tart. drink tons of it. it's also supposed to be a holistic remedy for shingles, which is why i was prescribed prednisone. so who knows? maybe it is also good for the hives? then my opthamologist said i never should have been on prednisone in the first place (it was prescribed by an urgent care doctor).

bottom line is my moon face has been going away. i don't know if it's the diurex or cranberry water or both. i'm going to keep using both just for good measure.

can eating a grapefruit a day cause bladder infections??? i was excited to be eating a healthy fruit!

good luck!
sanndiego

I have had a 60mg Kenalog shot in the hip every 5-6 months for ~10 years for allergic rhinitis and bad polyps. I had had 2 painful surgeries for the polyps (and in any case they came back within months). The Kenalog is the ONLY thing that restores breathing and sense of smell. The effect lasts ~ 3-4 months so I always have an uncomfortable period before my next shot. I am taking Rhinocort 1x day to try to extend this time but I'm not sure it helps.Kenalog side effects? I have one large divot in my butt at injection site from 5 years ago (fat necrosis they called it) so I will not be a thong suit model any time soon. None other that I can identify. My vision has deteriorated but the opthamologist says it is normal aging. I'd LOVE to have a more benign remedy. Xolair?

Am quest # 4859. After months off lipator, I tried 10 mg. for
the past ten days and again started having severe leg cramping.
Have noticed blurry vision and went to opthamologist and he
said I had some irregularity around both corneas that he was
stumped at and had know explaination for. Off lipator today and with eye drop lubricant only will recheck with optho doc
in a week to see if it has cleared before going to a conrea specialist. Blurry vision seems to be helped by otc eye drops
recommended by doc. He thinks it should get better. Will keep posted. Will inform him about Lipator side effect.

My eyes were dilated with Neosynephrine and it caused me to syncope (faint). The opthamologist sent me to the hospital for tests and it was discovered that the nerve endings around my heart are very sensitive to Neosynephrine and Nitroglycerine. They cause my already low blood pressure to drop and cause syncope. Not a common accurrence.