[mercspark]

Eugh. I've been having a horrible side effect which i don't hear many people reporting of, with most fo the drugs that i'm trying. My eyes swell up and often become quite tearful. This is a completely unbearable side effect to me because, to be honest, I am quite vain and my self confidence is one of the reasons I need meds to begin with. I know this side effect will sound minor to alot of you, but its effect on my self confidence can make me suicidal. Even the slightest difference in my appearance can make me not want to leave the house and my eyes swelling up is *gasp* ...actually noticable to other people. But I NEED a med that will help me sleep. The meds that have caused me this problem are desyrel, remeron, paxil and I thought seroquel was going to spare me but as I up the dosage to even just 50mg my eyes become a puffy nightmare. And sometimes they HURT.  I know there is nothing wrong with my eyes because as soon as I stop taking the meds my eyes are completely back to normal. I have had eye tests and it seems im fine. I hate this so much and it is bashing away at my already pretty piss poor confidence. I don't know if I am even expecting any response to this because I doubt it is a common enough side effect for people to have knowledge about, less alone help me. So I suppose I am just venting.

[StrungOutOnLife]

I remember hearing that certain psych meds can screw with glaucoma. And glaucoma usually involves there being more intraocular pressure than there has to be. Sure enough, Paxil is one of them; searches on Seroquel AND glaucoma and Remeron AND glaucoma turned up nothing on Pubmed.

The RxMed SEROQUEL page lists glaucoma as a rare side effect under "Special Senses."

The SAEPI (South African Electronic Package Inserts) Remeron page lists glaucoma under, "Uncommon side-effects, of which a causal relationship has not been established, include:..."

Desyrel, according this 1986 abstract written in French, is (was?) thought to be better in elderly patients because of its lower risk of glaucoma compared to the tricyclics. This is because it inhibits the activity of the adrenergic system. In this day and age, the University of Texas at Austin Desyrel page says to tell your doctor if you have or have ever had glaucoma. They never say you can get it from Trazadone.

[number_6]

What about Klonopin?

Have you had a glaucoma test amongst all the other tests you've been through?

6

[mercspark]

Thanks for the replies! I do have glaucoma in my family but I am only 18 I doubt it would be an issue?

[StrungOutOnLife]

mercspark, on Jun 15 2005, 10:49 AM, said:

Thanks for the replies!

You're very welcome.

Quote

I do have glaucoma in my family but I am only 18 I doubt it would be an issue?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation - Myths About Glaucoma page:

Quote

Everyone is at risk for glaucoma from babies to senior citizens. Yes, older people are at a higher risk for glaucoma but babies get glaucoma (approximately 1 out of every 10,000 babies born in this country is born with glaucoma), young adults can get glaucoma, and African-Americans especially are susceptible at a younger age than Caucasians.

[mercspark]

Thankyou StrungOutOnLife.    Oops it seems i've been a bit ignorant about glaucoma. I'll go talk to my doctor next week!

[StrungOutOnLife]

mercspark, on Jun 17 2005, 09:16 AM, said:

Thankyou StrungOutOnLife.    Oops it seems i've been a bit ignorant about glaucoma. I'll go talk to my doctor next week!
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're welcome.

[mercspark]

Well apparently I do not have glaucoma, they don't know for sure, but they say its very very unlikely.

I don't know if I can cope with this anymore, sorry to be all melodramatic but it if how I feel. My best friend is on remeron and doing fine without any of the eye puffiness and pain that I get. And I bet if I ahd taken it a few years ago I would be the same. I am so jealous of her. I didnt used to respond to paroxetine in the way I do now. Either there is something wrong with my body or my sensitivity to medication has changed. Either way I feel like finding out what is the problem and fixing it is a matter of life and death. Because I can't cope without medication by any means, but taking it is  just as bad because of the way that my eyes are reacting. I know there are probably people sitting here reading  thinking 'oh your eyes hurt get over it' but I cannot even leave the house because of it. The only medication which seems okish is seroquel but any higher than 50mg and the eye pain comes.

My mum think my reactions to the medications are allergy, she say that is just what I look like with the swollen eyelids. I tried antihistamine but it hardly helped if at all.

What on earth is wrong with me?

sorry for the me me me-ness.

[StrungOutOnLife]

I found a list of antiglaucoma medication here.

I know you don't have it, but it could lower the pressure in your eyes.

One warning, though: some of these things can cause depression. They also mention which drugs can do that--beta-blockers, carbonic anhydrase, and alpha agonists.

[mercspark]

Thankyou, you really are a sweetheart. 

[StrungOutOnLife]

mercspark, on Jun 25 2005, 05:10 AM, said:

Thankyou, you really are a sweetheart. 
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're welcome.

[ldo]

What if you take the 50mg Seroquel and do something else to make you sleepy? Like vigrous exercise in the afternoon, or a glass of milk and maybe some turkey at bedtime. Or a walk? I wouldn't expect them to do a lot by themselves, but maybe they would add just enough...

[pressmama]

Hi,

Do you know of any food allergies you may have?  I have a lot of food allergies and sometimes I will react to the fillers used in drugs.  For me, it's especially bad with the extended release formulas and I can't take any of them.  In fact, there are several allergy drugs I can't take including benadryl!!  Rynatan, which isn't used frequently, is the only allergy med I've found I can take.

[null0trooper]

mercspark, on Jun 24 2005, 06:08 AM, said:

I don't know if I can cope with this anymore, sorry to be all melodramatic but it if how I feel. My best friend is on remeron and doing fine without any of the eye puffiness and pain that I get.

My mum think my reactions to the medications are allergy, she say that is just what I look like with the swollen eyelids. I tried antihistamine but it hardly helped if at all.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

By "antihistamine" you mean something like Benadryl, right?

And by "puffiness" do you mean that you look like you haven't had any sleep for a day or two and it's hay fever season, or that you look like you blocked a couple of punches with your eye sockets and we're waiting to see the bruises?

If the puffiness is more of the first it could be that you really aren't getting quality sleep - as suggested by some of the others - and/or your eyes are drying out a bit more than usual and everything's getting a little irritated. At 18, your body may still have a few surprises on its schedule for you. Have you tried using those "liquid tears" products to see if they help?

The last couple of times I've taken aspirin I looked more like the second sort of puffiness... my tearducts swelled shut, and my eyelids swelled untill my eyes started to be forced closed. It was evaluated by an allergist as an allergy triggered by a combination of high stress levels and a foreign chemical trigger. So it's worth checking out with an allergist if you haven't. What worked for me was a cold compress/ice pack while waiting for benadryl to take the edge off the swelling. Once it started both were needed to do any good.

Do you wear extended-wear contacts by any chance? If so, it might be good to see if not sleeping with them in,while still on your med(s), is less irritating.

[wifezilla]

OcuHist Eye Allergy Relief Drops

Available OTC...may be worth a try???

[HaloGirl66]

is there an additive or a dye that is common to all of these drugs? maybe that is what you are having a reaction to? (of course, I don't know how to anwser this but maybe someone else can?)

[olga]

mercspark:

I think you will have more luck if you pursue the more sleep/food allergy/additive allergy lines of research than trying to get a doctor to prescribe glaucoma meds.

Glaucoma doesn't cause puffy, inflamed eyelids. High interocular pressure (within the eyeball) is a characteristic of glaucoma, but there is no outward symptom like the ones you describe.  Closed angle glaucoma can be painful, but the most common form is open-angle--and it has very few symptoms that the patient will notice.

If your family members have glaucoma, you should be checked every few years by a specialist.  If that doctor sees  1) damage to your optic nerves or 2) loss of peripheral vision as determined by a field of vision test or 3) excessively high inter-ocular pressure, then s/he may bein giving you glaucoma meds.

There are babies who have congenital glaucoma, so it is a possibility for people of all ages.

It definitely sounds to me like you're allergic to a medicine or food or additive.  Good luck!
olga

[mercspark]

Thankyou everyone. I seem to have it (sort of) under control. I'm now on minimal dosage and meds that my doctor will allow and I have started doing more exercise and sleeping with another pillow to help elevation. I still have puffiness to some degree but until I found out what the culprit is (like alot of you have said, probably something silly like an additive or what have you, i'll be ok. At least I look like I CAN open my eyes now. 

Thanks again.