Posted , 13 users are following.
I am still just trying to get a disgnosis, i have lost a little vision in my right eye over last 3 weeks, and tonight I felt pressure around my good eye and suddenly I have red blood vessels showing all over it like a blood vessel bursted. I am wondering if this GCA, because docs I have seen told me if it was it happens all at once.
0 likes, 13 replies
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richard07199 david34720
Posted
Stop mucking around on the internet and get yourself to an opthamologist immediately. Today if possible. Sorry to sound so rude.
david34720 richard07199
Posted
i have seen about dozen doctors, every single one just looks at esr and creatine and my age 42 and cancels it out. Nothing shows on the "normal blood tests", i had to beg and see one monday by luck. This just happneed to tonight so wasnt sure if i shold go emergency, but they don't do much. Here in toronto, because it's public health care emerg just tells you go to fam doc unless youre almost LOOK like your dying. Family doctors are pretty useless,
r.d.s26296 richard07199
Posted
very good advice .....
sandy08116 david34720
Posted
David - if I left the diagnosing to general practitioners I would have lost my eye sight, which would have been permanent.
My GP, though, unable to decide what was wrong, was intelligent enough to send me to see several specialists. (Under New Zealand's healthcare system this was free.) A biopsy of a temporal artery confirmed GCA. Treatment of prednisone was started immediately and my sight was saved. PLEASE see a specialist opthalmologist or rheumatologist. You need an answer. And I hope it is that you don't have GCA. Best of luck.
'If undetected, giant cell arteritis can result in catastrophic sequelae, such as irreversible visual loss, stroke and aortic aneurysm. Visual loss, due to ischaemic optic neuropathy, is an early manifestation and can be a presenting symptom. This occurs in 20 – 50% of people with giant cell arteritis if they are untreated. Large-vessel stenosis, and with it an increased risk of stroke, occurs in 10 – 15% of people. Prompt treatment with corticosteroids can markedly reduce these risks. For example, the likelihood of visual loss decreases from 20% to 1% in patients with no preceding visual loss once treatment is initiated. Patients who already have some visual loss at the initial presentation, however, have a poorer prognosis. One-quarter of patients develop further visual deterioration in the same eye, and up to 10% lose vision in the other eye, usually within the first few days, despite treatment'.
https://bpac.org.nz/BPJ/2013/June/arteritis.aspx
ptolemy sandy08116
Posted
Sandy I would have been so grateful to a GP with such common sense admitting they did not know everything. I am so glad things worked out well for you.
sandy08116 ptolemy
Posted
Thank you. I am still on the 'hospital list' so blood tests will continue - just in case.
EileenH david34720
Posted
Bleeding over the white of the eye has nothing at all to do with GCA - it affects the optic nerve in a region towards the back of the brain. Bleeding on the white of the eye is due to something called subconjunctival haemorrhage:
https://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/hemorrhage.htm
The doctors are also not entirely correct - while some people just suddenly lose their vision in one eye, most people with GCA do get warning signs for about a week. It can be double or blurred vision, dark spots, an effect like a curtain lowering across the eye, effects similar to the snow on a TV screen - and many other forms, it is almost impossible to describe all. That is why we say ANY visual symptoms should be taken seriously and checked out immediately.
However, while they are saying not GCA because of age - have you seen an eye special about the loss of vision you say you have? I know nothing about the Canadian system but in most statutory health care systems an optometrist is relatively easy to access and they can do tests to assess visual loss. Then they send you to an Eye Emergency Unit if there is cause for them to have concern.
darlene36688 EileenH
Posted
A curious question.
I lost perifal (sorry spelling) vision in both eyes.
I wonder if this is due to my GCA?
Sometimes my right eye seems a little cloudy.
I do see my opthamologist every 6 months & can get in sooner if needed.
EileenH darlene36688
Posted
Losing peripheral vision has several causes but I can't find anything that suggests GCA can cause it - other than indirectly via raising eye pressures leading to glaucoma and that must be checked regularly. Have you any sign of cataracts?
darlene36688 EileenH
Posted
I had cataracts removed 2 years ago.
The surgeon said they can return but it is usually within a ten year time frame.
I wonder if due to the medication and the headaches if they might be coming back sooner.
I see my eye doctor again in 2 weeks.
EileenH darlene36688
Posted
"I had cataracts removed 2 years ago. The surgeon said they can return "
As far as I am aware, that isn't true - once the natural lens is removed and replaced with an artificial intraoccular lens it is impossible for a cataract to regrow. What CAN happen is that something called posterior capsule opacity occurs - sometimes called a secondary cataract but it isn't a cataract.
https://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/cataract-complications.htm
It can easily be removed with a laser procedure - so do tell your eye doctor,
david34720
Posted
thanks for the reply ellen, i am seeing an ophthalmologist monday(which took alot of work to get), and i looked online and seen that as well about eye. I have bright red hears as well, so I was curious for info to see if I would would hold out till monday than go to emerg. Most doctors arent that good in emerg, in canada they just try to get rid of you to go into a very slow process of "family doctor", and you cam severe problems by then. This is why i guess it's free health care. anyways hoping the doc on monday can help diagnosis me
Anhaga david34720
Posted
I had my ophthalmologist check my eyes when I'd been on prednisone for a few months for PMR, not GCA, just in case. He was excellent. Had I not learned so much by then from my own reading it would have been like getting a little course on GCA and prednisone. He said GCA needs to be treated as seriously as a stroke, it is a medical emergency. He did discover I had the pred side effect of increased ocular pressure and had me make more frequent visits to make sure it didn't get into the danger zone but as my dose was tapered that side effect went away.
If your ophthalmologist finds nothing wrong with your eyes be sure to ask him/her what should be you next step because you are having worrisome visual symptoms and the cause needs to be discovered and deal with.