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Eye Care Archive (Expert Forum)
Eye allergies or something else?
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Eye allergies or something else?
by Ryan_1577, Sep 09, 2006 12:00AM
I posted here a while back due to problems with allergies. I have eye allergies, and I have been to the eye doctor a total of three times regarding this; the first time I was given alrex and patanol (which worked well, but the prescription was only for a total of 8 days), the second time I was given elestat, which did not help at all; the third time I was given patanol and alrex again, with several refills (about 5 on each). The last time I went was in about early July, and since then up until about beginning-mid August I took alrex regularly every day (I only took patanal sometimes, as the alrex usually made me feel better by it’s self). Then in August, I got this very weird and irritating feeling in both of my eyes (which was kind of unusual because since the beginning, it has always been my right eye mostly affected by the allergies), that lasted for three days: I don’t know if I can describe it well, but I will try; it felt like something was constantly moving around the surface of my eyes, and like something was clamping down all around the eye, rubbing against the edge of it (but not actually clamping down on the eye); it also felt like there was an extreme amount of pressure in my eyes. Anyways, this feeling was very, very bad (far worse then the normal symptoms I have been experiencing due to allergies). It lasted for three days, then a few weeks later I got this again (but this time it was less severe), and it also lasted for about three days. I almost went in for this problem alone, but then it went away so I figured I didn’t need to at that point. And the alrex nor patanol helped at all with this particular symptom, and now they seem to usually work some of the time, but not as much against some of the more severe bouts of allergies, so it makes me wonder if this has turned into something more serious then allergies.
Then when I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I started seeing these things in my vision; I am not talking about floaters (the regular dark spots in vision) but rather these things, that sometimes look like a little spider, a web, a thin piece of cloth, a circle, or just a line (they always look brown-ish), which I see in my vision and it will move around ( like for instance, I will see it at one place and then these “things” will move around the other side of my line of vision, and it repeats in a pattern like this); I see these thing every day (some days more then others), and while they may not affect my overall ability to see, they are very distracting and noticeable, and certainly not something I normally see in my vision, so it is starting to concern me. I also seem to being noticing floaters more in my vision, as compared to when I didn’t have any eye allergies. I do not see these things in my vision all of the time or anything like that, but I see them everyday for a fair portion of the day. Now as far as my overall vision, it seems to not be changed overall by this, although sometimes I get this general feeling like it’s a little bit “off” (sometimes even a little distorted), and I also notice a lot of time if I look at something with only one eye or the other, that sometimes the first few times it will not look as clear with my right eye only (which is the eye that has always been mostly affected by the allergies) as it does with my left eye only. Also, I am a 19 year old male, if that information helps at all, since I know many of the more serious eye conditions are more likely to occur as the older you get.
So I have some questions:
What do you think it is that is most likely going on?
What are the chances of it being something serious like glaucoma, cataracts, or anything else besides allergies? (I read that alrex can possibly cause these things……..)
Do you think I need an eye exam?
And in the event that it is nothing overly serious at this point, are there any specific things I should watch out for to indicate that it has changed into something beyond allergies?
Then when I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I started seeing these things in my vision; I am not talking about floaters (the regular dark spots in vision) but rather these things, that sometimes look like a little spider, a web, a thin piece of cloth, a circle, or just a line (they always look brown-ish), which I see in my vision and it will move around ( like for instance, I will see it at one place and then these “things” will move around the other side of my line of vision, and it repeats in a pattern like this); I see these thing every day (some days more then others), and while they may not affect my overall ability to see, they are very distracting and noticeable, and certainly not something I normally see in my vision, so it is starting to concern me. I also seem to being noticing floaters more in my vision, as compared to when I didn’t have any eye allergies. I do not see these things in my vision all of the time or anything like that, but I see them everyday for a fair portion of the day. Now as far as my overall vision, it seems to not be changed overall by this, although sometimes I get this general feeling like it’s a little bit “off” (sometimes even a little distorted), and I also notice a lot of time if I look at something with only one eye or the other, that sometimes the first few times it will not look as clear with my right eye only (which is the eye that has always been mostly affected by the allergies) as it does with my left eye only. Also, I am a 19 year old male, if that information helps at all, since I know many of the more serious eye conditions are more likely to occur as the older you get.
So I have some questions:
What do you think it is that is most likely going on?
What are the chances of it being something serious like glaucoma, cataracts, or anything else besides allergies? (I read that alrex can possibly cause these things……..)
Do you think I need an eye exam?
And in the event that it is nothing overly serious at this point, are there any specific things I should watch out for to indicate that it has changed into something beyond allergies?
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-OD-MP, Sep 09, 2006 12:00AM
"Then when I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I started seeing these things in my vision; I am not talking about floaters (the regular dark spots in vision) but rather these things, that sometimes look like a little spider, a web, a thin piece of cloth, a circle, or just a line (they always look brown-ish), which I see in my vision and it will move around ( like for instance, I will see it at one place and then these “things” will move around the other side of my line of vision, and it repeats in a pattern like this)"
these are floaters. that is the classic description of true ocular floaters. which is really interesting to me b/c now i'm wondering what it is that YOU call floaters...?
what do i think is going on? i dont know.
do you need an exam? probably.
could it be serious? um, yes it is technically possible that you have steroid-induced glaucoma or some other big problem, but i HIGHLY doubt it. i dont think alrex has ever caused that. if it has i dont know about it or have not read about ti. but i have to admit that it is technically possible.
these are floaters. that is the classic description of true ocular floaters. which is really interesting to me b/c now i'm wondering what it is that YOU call floaters...?
what do i think is going on? i dont know.
do you need an exam? probably.
could it be serious? um, yes it is technically possible that you have steroid-induced glaucoma or some other big problem, but i HIGHLY doubt it. i dont think alrex has ever caused that. if it has i dont know about it or have not read about ti. but i have to admit that it is technically possible.
Member Comments (2)
by Ryan_1577, Sep 09, 2006 12:00AM
Those really are floaters? Thats interesting..... because I've always considered floaters to just be the constant/still (as in not moving..) dark spots I see in my vision; like the type when you close at anything, you can see the dark spots all around it, but it doesnt actually impair your vision or anything like that. I considered these other things not to be floaters, because they look different then what I thought to be the floaters, and they move around in my line of vision from one end to the other. I guess they all could be considered floaters, but if that is the case these..... "new" floaters that move around have only been present for about a month now.
by Ag-i-doc, Sep 09, 2006 12:00AM
then you need an exam. floaters move. when you look up, they move up. when you look left, they move left, etc. you have recent onset of new floaters....
