my eyes have changed dramatically. Not sure if it is the RA or the meds...or just plain old age. I can no longer wear my contacts due to dry eye so all has been a big adjustment.

I don't know, but I just told my huband tonight that the reading part of my glasses is too week, and it hasn't even been a year. Hmmmmm

You don't say your age, Blessed, but it could be age. Meds for RA can affect vision. Have you been on prednisone at all? Pred can cause cataracts with long term use, which would cause your vision to change also.

I got cataracts from all the prednisone which drastically affected my vision. But not quite bad enough for surgery yet.

My reading glasses are getting worse, slowly, but my distance is getting better for the first time in 48 years. So RA cannot be the culprit in my case. I could not believe the distance actually improved. But apparently that is quite normal. Maybe one day, all I will need is reading glasses, like the rest of the old foggies. LOL

Being in the middle of cataract surgery on both eyes, I feel RA and/or RA meds definitely accelerated the cataracts. When I saw the opthamologist in March, 2010 he said "early cataracts - 5 or 6 years away". Sept, 2010 - 3 years away, March, 2011- 6 montha away or do it now. Oct, 2011 - one done last week, second eye tomorrow.
Old age has got a bit to do with it, too, no doubt!!!

Yes. Opthamologist says my severe dry eye problems are RA-related. The dry eye makes my vision blurred somewhat. He tells me to keep hitting the Systane, fish oil capsules twice a day and use a humidifier. We've had to bump up my eyeglass prescription.

As always, thank you for your advise and comments. I am 53 so I am pretty sure some of this is the normal aging process, but it has changed so quickly . Well along with my Rheumy appointment next week I will just have to visit my friendly ophthalmologist. i have been on prednisone and mtx for about 2 months . I need to figure out how to download a picture of myself soon cause I love seeing all of your sweet faces And angelpuss-----good luck with the cataract surgery. Are you having lenses implanted? Actually, that would be a plus for me! My daughter was born with a congenital cataract caused by PHPV. She was wearing hard contact lenses at 3 weeks old with a lot of patching and surgeries. She is a darling 30 year old mother of two now. And I am getting some fish oil for sure. Thank you!

Yes, but it may just be the pot I have to smoke for the $#(^&^$!!#$ PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!lol

Yes and yes! I always had 20/20 vision in one eye and the other eye was labeled a lazy eye. For most of my life the good eye compensated for the bad one. But at an early age I have developed the beginnin g of cataracts something the eye dr. told me was a result of prednisone use coupled with TMB ( too many birthdays!)lol

I do believe if memory serves me that when on plaqunel you need to have 6 month eye exams. Wasn't on it for that long long and it was ions ago.

My last visit I was given a prescription for distance glasses which I didn't even know I needed. I have had issues with reading only. Low and behold when I went to the DMV I failed my eye exam and needed to prove I had glasses to pass. Now I need to get used to wearing these for driving.

So again yes. Some of the changes are RA drug related and others as the doc said just TMB's!

Prednisone elevates your blood sugar even if you are not a diabetic. Swings in blood sugar effect your vision. This quite possibly could be medication related vs. RA related. If you are on Plaquenil, an eye exam should be mandatory as it can put deposits in your eyes. Regarless, you should contact your opthalmologist abd report your symptoms to your rheumatologist.

Thank goodness for this support group. Thank you for you wisdom

Blessed,
I just returned from a visit to my eye doctor, and I don't intend my experience to be the same as yours, but here is what I am currently going through.

I started mthx in Feb, Humira in May, and Plaquenil in August. When I started the Humira I came down with some chronic sinus issues so my pcp says use Flonase (which has a steroid in it) and claritin to keep the sinuses from beoming a chronic bronchitis which is what was happening.

Since adding the Plaquenil, 5 weeks into it I woke up with junky eyes, red, irritated, sandpapery eyes and thought I had an infection in them so off to the doctor for antibiotic eye drops. 7 days later after I think I am improving, my eyes are just as bad as the start so off to the eye doctor, dye test, etc. and she says use the antibiotic drops with steroid in them. I do and 24 hrs later much improvement and I go 10 days of treatment and think I am cured. Not so, Within a week I am junky and red and irritated (not only my eyes) so today I am back at the eye doctor. This time I am finally able to see my regular doctor who knows me and I give him the history and does his thorough exam and tells me I am not suffering from any sort of infection in my eye.

I have some loss of vision going on as well, the reason is my eyes are so severely dry, he thinks caused by the plaquenil, flonase and claritin that the top layer of my eye has started crinkling up and doesn't meet where it is suppose to and allow my tears to collect where they normally would and so my tears are running down my face. (I could now get a job as a professional mourner or a sad clown). He also says my eye lids because of the irritation are now rough and not smooth as they should be. The vision loss issue is due to the swelling because of the irritation from the lack of sufficient tears.

So all of this is because of Humira requiring a med to fix the side affects which cause the need for another med to fix the side affects. I am going to try OTC drops of systane for two weeks, every three hours and if this doesn't work then I will have to get a steroid drop for my eyes which I will need as long as I need these meds, and we know that is the rest of my life.

I hate RA, and I am tired of meds, tired of keeping up with having to take them all day, tired of doctors, and tired of spending money so I can live with a chronic illness that keeps me running this hamster wheel that doesn't stop and I can't get off of. Can you tell I am a bit upset? It is only a stupid eye problem, but not really because it is just a part of the bigger picture.

I hope your eye problem is simple and unrelated to your RA.
Hugs, E.

And Chelley, thanks for that information about prednisone and raising your blood sugar. I don't recall ever hearing that, but it makes sense because when you take it you get such irrational cravings and weight gain.

I'm going to avoid it this med failure at all costs. Even if it costs some other part of the body something. Sigh.

@Elizabeth. Most of the time I am good, but right now, I am on the same page as you!! Hugs to everyone, but don't give up the fight against this horrid disease.

Angela, as a nurse working in the hospital it was necessary to temporarily put some patients with respiratory issues on prednisone and we always put them on a regimen to check a finger stick for blood glucose. If it ever went over 150mg/dL we began insulin injections... and these were non diabetics.

Oh, Off track I am so very sorry. What a blow! Eye problems are one of my greatest fears. And, no eye problem is a stupid eye problem. It is scary and extremely painful. The Cornea and our fingertips have more nerve endings than any other part of the body. I battled eye problems with my daughter since her birth. She has been on so many meds all of her life (30 years) , 17 surgeries etc. for glaucoma, retinal detachments, optic nerve problems, cornea erosions from the herpes virus, she wore a corneal "bandage" for 2 years on her eye to keep the air from the nerve endings etc. The pain finally became unbearable to her and she chose to have her eye removed six weeks after her second childs birth. Most eye removals turn out fine, not great, but fine. My daughters was a disaster. Her surgeon - "one of the best in N. America" - made the ultimate mistake of not measuring her eye socket before her surgery. He had measured it 7 months before, prior to the first attempt to remove it ( they did a pregnancy test in the hospital right before going in for removal and low and behold she was pregnant) evisceration canceled, needless to say. But, 9 months later when she asked the surgeon about a pre-op examination to properly measure for the orb they would be implanting, he said he "didn't need to see her. " A little arrogant if you ask me! We trusted him - after all he was "The best of the best." Well, that was not the case. Her eye tissue had deteriorated rapidly during pregnancy with no meds etc. and much more tissue had been destroyed by disease and her socket required a much larger orb. End of story is.......the orb implanted was so small that it slid way over next to the bridge of her nose, not staying centered as it should, and the surrounding tissue started to attach itself immediately . Nothing can ever be done to correct this. Her prosthetic eye is the saddest looking $5,000.00 thing that can not move at all because of the surgeons mistake and the orb that is unremovable. :( She will never be free of pain. Her tissue is always irritated and inflamed. She is allergic to the material that the prosthetics are made of, it just goes on and on and on. So, that was the extremely long, round about way of saying...... Drs make mistakes, they can forget important details, they can lump us into categories that we do not belong in. Honestly, we need to be more pro active as was mentioned earlier,in our own health care and ask as many questions as we can and keep asking until we are satisfied. Never dismiss that "gut feeling" or that "somethings not quite right" feeling. Everyones comments are so valuable to me. Something may click in my mind that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. Sometimes it just takes one little symptom or pain that is mentioned to a dr. that helps him put this RA puzzle together. I am so sorry offtrack... you have been through so much. I know my daughter had various problems such as you are describing throughout the life of her eye and almost all of them were resolved by good, kind doctors and medicine. I am hoping that will be the case with you. And no eye problem is stupid. You have been through so much in such a short time. You will be in my prayers!