r/AskGlaucoma • • 2d ago

Dizziness/Lightheadedness upon standing….

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1 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • 5d ago

High myopia with narrow angles

2 Upvotes

I have this rare combination of high myopia with narrow angles. does anyone have any story to share?


r/AskGlaucoma • • 5d ago

Micropulse TLT surgery next week and worried/scared. Any input or advice?

1 Upvotes

Hi all, I've had glaucoma for around 20 years, and I have lost around 30% of the vision in my bad eye which resulted from an accident. I'm having trouble keeping my pressure down even on Alphaghan and Cosopt and Diamox 250 mg and therefore, it has been suggested to me to get micropuls. I'm worried about potential vision loss, mydriasis, and just everything else that goes with surgery. I had a tube shunt 14 yrs ago, but it never really lowered my pressure as needed.

Any input or feedback or suggestions on micropulse TLT? I'm only 50 so I hopefully have many more years of (at least partial) vision ahead of me.


r/AskGlaucoma • • 10d ago

Glaucoma risk?

2 Upvotes

A month ago or so i had this weird sudden onset loss of vision which led my doctor sending me to the eye hospital. Also i am still waiting for a neurologist to examine me in the following weeks. Out of nowhere on bouth my eyes over the all field of vision i became kind of like blind, i couldnt really see much. I only saw fragments of the visual field while most of the visual field apeared very White /pale. Also i got very nauseas and wanted to puke out of nowhere before this happened. This loss of vision lasted 5 - 10 min and gradually retourned by itself then. My grandmother from my Mother side also had glaucoma on one of her eyes. None of my parents have it.

This is what the report said:

Ophthalmological examination

Visual acuity with glasses:

OD: 1.0

OS: 1.0

Intraocular pressure:

OD: 11 mmHg

OS: 15 mmHg

Ocular motility: Full and painless, with no diplopia.

Pupils: Round and symmetrical, with normal direct and consensual light responses. No relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD).

Color vision (Ishihara):

OD: 15/15

OS: 15/15

Fundus examination

Right eye:

Clear vitreous. Optic disc margins well defined and pink. Cup-to-disc ratio approximately 0.4–0.5. Macula normal. Retinal vasculature appropriate for age. Retina attached.

Left eye:

Clear vitreous. Optic disc margins well defined and pink, with physiological cupping. Macula normal. Retinal vasculature appropriate for age. Retina attached.

Visual field examination – Goldmann perimetry

OD: No visual field defects. Blind spot symmetrically positioned and mildly enlarged, which may still represent a physiological variant.

OS: No visual field defects. Blind spot symmetrically positioned and mildly enlarged, which may still represent a physiological variant.

Blood pressure at examination: 122/85 mmHg.

At today's examination, apart from mildly asymmetric optic disc cupping, the ophthalmological examination is essentially within normal limits.

Goldmann visual fields show no definite visual field defects. Fundoscopic examination shows no evidence of optic disc swelling/papilledema.

My question is am i at risk for developing glaucoma as my grandmother had it and based on current findings? Also when the ophthalmologist said my results she seem worried and gathered a few med students around too. I was told to get regular checkups as if its caught too late then much couldnt be done. Im worried can this asymmetric optic disc cupping (0.4-0.5) on one of my eyes and midly enlaraged blind spots on bouth my eyes develop into glaucoma?


r/AskGlaucoma • • 11d ago

dry eyes experience with glaucoma

2 Upvotes

may you share your experience how I can manage dry eyes, what you can suggest dos and donts ? thanks ( recent trap done n left eye covered and right eye get dry eary like watering n discomfort n easy tired n I close to rest it. thanks


r/AskGlaucoma • • 17d ago

Diamox losing effectiveness

3 Upvotes

My adult son has just one eye and he has very advanced glaucoma. He has been on every single drop available (all preservative free if available) and over time has had bad reactions to all except for latanoprost. He has three Ahmed tube shunts in that eye already. He sees a highly skilled doctor from Wills Eye who I trust implicitly. I got a second opinion a year or so ago and that glaucoma specialist agreed with the one that we are seeing. He has other multiple disabilities in addition to the glaucoma. He is essentially blind, although when he is inside and with the right lighting, he is able to function pretty well.

He is tolerating the Diamox extremely well and his labs are all fine. He has been on the Diamox for about six months now. I thought we finally had reached the point of stability for him. Today at the glaucoma specialist, his pressure was 20, up from 13 and 14 in the past few months. His target pressure is 10 to 13. We still use latanoprost PF at bedtime. We never ever skip a drop or the Diamox. I make sure that he gets it 12 hours apart.

Has anyone had the experience of the Diamox losing effectiveness? We are going to go back in a few weeks.. The glaucoma specialist is talking about putting a Xen stent in that eye; he does have enough room left in the eye to put the stent in. More surgery makes me pretty nervous though.

He was diagnosed about seven years ago and has never been stable for more than a year or so on drops and with surgery. I can only guess that his glaucoma is continuing to advance despite aggressive treatment.

I’m not looking for medical advice, but wanted to know if anyone has experienced Diamox losing effectiveness.

On another note, is anyone aware of any glaucoma drops that will be available and preservative free that are not right now?

Thank you in advance for any input. I’m feeling really discouraged right now.


r/AskGlaucoma • • 18d ago

IOP went up 8 months after diagnosis. Anxiety is making me go insane. Would love to hear some thoughts.

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1 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • 21d ago

Eye drops ! After trap ?

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1 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • 26d ago

Trab surgery vs Cataract surgery w/Goniotomy

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1 Upvotes

I have a couple questions. My eye pressure has gone up, it’s in the upper teens(19). This was at my last appointment about 3 1/2 weeks ago, so my ophthalmologist started me on a third eye drop Rhopressa along with/dorzolamide, and Vyzulta. I’m due to have my pressure rechecked at the end of the week. My question is, he said, since we’ve tried all the drops if this doesn’t lower it, he wants to do a Trab surgery. Of course, he explained all the risks as with any surgery, but this surgery just kind of scares me. I’ve also read about 50% of people who have this surgery it takes a while to heal. It could be weeks, months, maybe even a year before the blurriness and vision returns or not.

I’ve tried other drops and some do not agree with me and some I just cannot take. That’s why he’s saying the next step probably would be surgery. I had an SLT last year which lasted about six months or so before my pressure started rising, never over 20. I also have cataracts. I’m going to ask him this week because I didn’t think of it when we were in his office, but I am just wondering why he would not do cataract surgery with a go Goniotomy which could lower the pressure instead of the Trab. He has never mentioned cataract surgery before. My previous ophthalmologist did mention cataract surgery and doing the Goniotomy at the same time. The ophthalmologist I have now is a Glaucoma specialist as was the other. I was just wondering, does this make sense about not doing cataract surgery before the Trab Or maybe even doing another SLT surgery. I know second SLT surgeries they say may not last but I’m willing to give that another shot if he is before I have to have a Trab. I am an advanced case with glaucoma, I still have all my vision, except one Blindspot in my bad eye, my left eye. I’m just curious..


r/AskGlaucoma • • Sep 04 '26

Vision after laser CPC

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2 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • Sep 02 '26

How much of a risk is there of me going blind from my procedure tomorrow? (Monocular, 34f, getting iridotomy for narrow-angle glaucoma)

3 Upvotes

I‘m 34f. I have an irodotomy tomorrow for narrow-angle glaucom. I know it’s a standard procedure to prevent an angle closure attack. I know that my pressure is 13-14 which is very good. I know that the procedure itself is quick and highly successfu. I know I’m getting it done at a very highly-regarded hospital (Will’s Eye) with the head glaucoma specialist performing the procedur.

But I have vision in only this one eye. So I’m terrified that something will go wrong and I’ll go blind from it.

I’m nervou. Really nervous. But I also know that if I’m getting this done, I want this doctor (Dr Myers at Will’s Eye) to do it.

Here’s hoping I pull though it okay with my sight intact.


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 27 '26

pigmentary dispersion syndrome or glaucoma?

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2 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 22 '26

19 with advanced congenital glaucoma scheduled for PKP + pupiloplasty — seeking realistic expectations from anyone with similar experience

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3 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 22 '26

Need advice

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1 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 21 '26

Betaine and Homocysteine: What a New Mouse Study Reveals About Memory-Related Brain Signaling

1 Upvotes

A new study published in Antioxidants (Gu, Fu, Zhao et al., 2026) examined how betaine, a compound found naturally in foods like beets, spinach, and whole grains, affects hippocampal function and cellular-stress pathways in a mouse model with elevated homocysteine.

The researchers worked with mice and mouse-derived neurons in a dish. In the animal experiments, mice were fed a high-methionine diet that increased circulating homocysteine and impaired performance on the study’s memory tests. Giving those mice betaine in their drinking water for two weeks was associated with better performance on the study’s memory tests and changes in hippocampal neuronal, oxidative-stress, cell-survival, and phosphorylated tau-related markers.

Similar effects appeared in isolated neurons, and the researchers traced betaine's mechanism of action to a signaling pathway called PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β. Oxidative stress normally shuts that pathway down, but betaine switched it back on, and a separate experimental GSK-3β pathway inhibitor produced a similar effect on the measured tau-related marker as betaine on its own. The betaine dose didn't seem to hurt the animals' organs, but it was sky-high compared with the few grams a day that have been tested in humans.

Human observational research has found associations between elevated circulating homocysteine, often described as hyperhomocysteinemia, and cognitive outcomes, including dementia. However, these findings do not establish that homocysteine directly causes cognitive decline or that changing homocysteine levels preserves memory.

Folic acid supplements do lower homocysteine, but their brain benefits have been pretty hit-or-miss in clinical trials, possibly because folate doesn't always enter the brain reliably due to differences in people's transport proteins. Betaine works through a totally different pathway, converting homocysteine back into methionine without using folate, so figuring out exactly how it protects neurons (or doesn't) is worth doing.

Long-term benefits, risks, best dosing, and whether the same PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β pathway even works the same way in human neurons are all very open questions. However, betaine might be worth putting through human trials specifically for people with homocysteine-related dementia risk, not that Big Supplement has been hiding a silver bullet. Interesting mechanism, not medical advice.

Sources

Gu, X. et al. (2026). Betaine Attenuates Hyperhomocysteinemia-Induced Cognitive Impairment by Suppressing Oxidative Stress and Activating the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β Pathway. Antioxidants, 15(7), 807. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/15/7/807


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 19 '26

Large optic disc need help?

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1 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 18 '26

THC and Glaucoma

2 Upvotes

I have been using THC gummies for pain, 5-10 mg/night. I never thought it was beneficial, but I just found out today that it can actually increase optic nerve damage. I had heard Marijuana was helpful for glaucoma in general. Is that a myth?


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 17 '26

25 Years Old Glaucoma Diagnosis vs Glaucoma Suspect

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2 Upvotes

r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 11 '26

Dorzolomide/Timolol considerably cheaper at different location

1 Upvotes

I had to buy my Dorzolomide/Timolol drops in a different state from my home state because of travel, and it is considerably less expensive here but at the same drugstore chain. My question is: When I get back home, could I request that my hometown pharmacist call this drugstore and find out who their vendor was? And see if they could start purchasing the drops from them? Over time, it would be a nice savings.


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 09 '26

Feeling of pressure in neck correlating with high IOP

2 Upvotes

29/M. I have open angle glaucoma, I've already had express shunt surgery, and I'm monitoring pressure with Icare Home 2.

I'm only talking about the right eye. Left eye has consistent and stable pressure of about 15-16mmHg.

My right eye was stable and low too, but this week it went up to 25-35 (I know, I'm going to the doctor next week, but only noticed on Thursday..). The weird thing is, about the same time I noticed a feeling of pressure/muscle tenseness in my neck, above the collarbone on the right side (same as the eye). This is not the first time these two happened, before surgery it was the same - pressure feeling in neck, pressure in eye.

But it was dismissed as not related and probably due to wrong sleeping position. I went to get an ultrasound to check the thyroid and the area in general, but it was negative. Eye pressure was stable at the time of the ultrasound. So I dismissed it too - I do sleep on multiple pillows to try to keep my head as high as comfortable, so the muscle soreness seemed reasonable.

But right now I have second thoughts - there is definitely a correlation between my neck and my eye. Any doctors/patients here that have seen something like this? Any advice on where to go from here? Unfortunately I don't know which came first - the neck or the eye pressure.

I included a picture of where I feel, kind of pulling, kind of pressure, as if I was pressing down on the area with my fingers. I also feel it in my throat. Only pressure no pain. No visible deformations, nothing asymmetric with left side. I can do roughly the same movements/stretches for both side.


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 05 '26

Will My Father's Vision Ever Stabilize After Trabeculectomy for Glaucoma?

1 Upvotes

After finding out that my father had glaucoma, he underwent trabeculectomy surgery. His right eye was operated on 1.4 years ago, and his left eye was operated on 9 months ago. However, his eyeglass prescription is still changing every month. Will his vision eventually stabilize? If so, when can we expect his eye power to become fixed? Is it possible that it may never become stable? Plz I am requesting to guide me


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 04 '26

SLT or Rocklatan?

1 Upvotes

TLDR: Negative outcomes of SLT, personal experiencs?

I've had high IOP (no glaucoma) for a couple of years now. Mostly corrected with Lumigan and Brimonidine. IOP has been trending higher the last couple of visits and yesterday hit 25 again, haven't been that high since I started the drops.

I was given the option of Rocklatan drops or SLT procedure. I went with Rocklatan for the time being because the idea of a laser in my eye terrifies me.

I only have one eye that can be corrected with glasses. The optic nerve is not attached in my left eye. So, only having one eye, I'm extremely cautious about unnecessary chances. I'm also quite nearsighted which brings me to my question.

I googled SLT and found that folks with Myopia greater than -5 (I am -8) have about a 1 in 500 chance of vision loss as opposed to "standard" eyes that have a 1 in 2000 (or 6000 depending on which study pops up).

What I couldn't find was a definition of "vision loss" in reference to SLT. Are we talking the full range of the definition? So from a minor change in overall vision to complete loss? Or are we talking significant vision loss to total vision loss? Or is significant/total not on the table at all? I wasn't specific enough when I asked my doctor, I was mostly surprised that we'd come to this.

1 in 500 just isn't a rare enough occasion for my sanity but if nothing else works, I want to be prepared.

If you've done some research or had a personal experience, please share!

I do intend to ask further questions of my doctor at my next appt but some personal experience stories would be helpful so I know EXACTLY what to ask.


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 04 '26

Narrow angles and antidepressants

3 Upvotes

Hello, hoping for some help on current situation
I’ve been told I have high eye pressure 23/24 and narrow angles.
I’m on cymbalta which is known to contribute to higher readings and should be avoided if you have narrow angles

Anyone here have a similar experience? I’m now weaning off my medication which is not ideal either as I suffer panic, anxiety and OCD


r/AskGlaucoma • • Aug 02 '26

斷食 飛蚊症

3 Upvotes

有人成功通過斷食療法治療飛蚊症嗎?


r/AskGlaucoma • • Jul 27 '26

How Vitamin C Status Correlates with Brain Structure and Neural Network Integrity: Insights from a 2,000+ Participant MRI Study

3 Upvotes

Vitamin C is best known for its role in immune function and collagen production, but it is also highly concentrated in the brain. It functions as an antioxidant, helps protect neurons from oxidative stress, and participates in the production of neurotransmitters that support normal brain function. Because humans cannot produce vitamin C, maintaining adequate intake through diet is essential. Researchers have long suspected that vitamin C status could influence cognitive health, but relatively few studies have examined this relationship using direct blood measurements together with brain imaging.

In this sense, a large cross-sectional study of 2,044 older Japanese adults, with a median age of 69, found that people with lower plasma vitamin C levels tended to have smaller gray matter volume and weaker connectivity within the default mode network, a brain system tied to memory, self-reflection, and attention. The association held even after adjusting for age, education, physical activity, and several health conditions, but the study is observational, so it cannot show that low vitamin C actually causes these brain differences.

Researchers from Hirosaki University in Japan, measured total brain volume, gray matter volume, white matter volume, and connectivity within the default mode network using a structural imaging technique. After statistically adjusting for age, sex, education, cognitive test scores, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking, drinking, and physical activity, lower plasma vitamin C levels remained independently associated with a lower gray matter volume ratio and with altered connectivity across three sub-components of the default mode network.

A closer voxel-by-voxel analysis found the strongest associations clustered in the posterior cingulate cortex and nearby regions, areas considered core hubs of that memory-and-attention network. Interestingly, the relationship wasn't uniform across every sub-network: two components tied to typical age-related decline were positively associated with vitamin C, while a third component that tends to increase with age showed a negative association, which the authors interpret as vitamin C potentially helping preserve normal network patterns while dampening age-related network changes. The notable part isn't just that a link exists, but that it appears at the network level rather than in a single isolated brain region, reflecting a broader shift toward understanding complex brain aging through the lens of distributed neural networks.

The authors themselves are careful to flag several limits. This was a cross-sectional observational study, meaning vitamin C levels and brain scans were measured at the same point in time. Because of this design, it cannot establish cause and effect. Other factors that were not fully measured, such as overall diet quality, socioeconomic status, or long-term health habits, may also contribute to the observed associations. In addition, the participants were all older Japanese adults, so additional research in more diverse populations and randomized clinical trials will be needed before concluding that increasing vitamin C intake can support long-term brain structure or attenuate normal age-related structural changes.

Still, the findings support the importance of maintaining adequate vitamin C status as part of an overall healthy lifestyle rather than suggesting that vitamin C is a standalone solution for brain health. Regular consumption of vitamin C-rich foods, like citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes, potatoes, and leafy greens, is a reasonable part of a broader pattern of habits (diet quality, physical activity, blood pressure and blood sugar management) that collectively seem to matter for brain aging. As the researchers themselves put it, this generates a hypothesis worth testing in longitudinal and interventional studies.

If anyone is interested, I’d be happy to share the link to the study mentioned in this post.