Sam , maybe your an angel? :-)

Have you tried a wand or pixie dust. lol

Seriously it sounds disturbing. Eyes are not to be messed with scariest part of SjS imo. I have some of the driest eyes ever and I don't see halos.
Mine just get blurry at times. But, I know the reasons. Still no info from the eye doc?


Maybe the plugs will help? (if its dryness)

Well, last night we were in the car again so I decided to pay close attention to the lights. I have to say now that I was wrong in my earlier post~~the lovely rainbow halo is only seen with the right eye, the one with the cataract. The left eye just sees a large exaggerated ring of glow around the light, but no rainbow halo. So the cataract explanation seems to be correct, at least for me. Remember, I'm not on any meds specifically for SJS. I do take Diamox for acute mountain sickness, but I was seeing the halos before I started this med.

Tom - no, I must not be an angel because I'm not seeing a halo on top of my head. I did try using my wand but it slipped out of my hand and broke. So now I am searching online for pixie dust.
My eyes have been dry for a very long time, so I doubt the halos are from that. I'll have to call the eye doctor next week. I have a feeling the test was normal so they haven't bothered to call me about it.

Springgreen - when I did some research on cataracts I came across an article that described your symptoms very closely. It even mentioned cataracts causing depth perception problems. Unfortunately I can't locate that site again or I would post it for you. I did have trouble finding out if it makes a difference if the halos are colored or not. Couldn't find a definite answer on that.

Hi Sam,
Thanks for your research on the depth perception issue that I have. I've gotten so used to my stupid family doctor's response ("it doesn't mean anything") that I was just blowing off my perception issues. Ha, I didn't even mention the halos to her. She already thinks I'm a nutcase. If I told her I saw halos around lights, she'd scream at me. Needless to say I'm changing family doctors.

I've been to two eye clinics (ophthalmologists) and they don't seem to care too much when I tell them I feel like I just can't see things like I used to. They dilate the eyes, look into them, and say "Your optic nerve is fine. You have floaters, that's why you feel like you can't see good." I've got punctal plugs in each eye and it has helped with the dryness~~but only some; it's not the silver bullet by any means.

Springgreen - here is a site that mentions the depth perception symptom. I still can't find that other article. It described your driving symptoms almost exactly.
http://commonspot.aao.org/veterans/disease_disorder/cataracts.cfm

I'm disappointed to hear the plugs didn't help more. But I have an appointment next month and will still give them a try.

I've had the problem with halo's too. But I had it before Plaquenil. Hmmmmmmmm. I'm also using the Restasis and to tell you the truth, my eyes felt better before using it. But I'll give it a few months and then make a decision whether to continue it or not. What the hell, what more do I have to lose, right????? lol The only problem I've had with the Plaquenil is a metal taste in my mouth at times and some stomach pain if I don't eat enough with the medication. Oh, and did I mention, bruising?????? Looks like I've been in a fight. lol

MissKristy - yes, that's what is making it hard for me to know what to do. I didn't see the halos until after 4 months into using Plaquenil. And the eye doctor doesn't see signs of Plaquenil damage or cataracts. He just says it could be early signs of cataract formation. I think I'm going to just have to stay off the Plaquenil and see if they go away.
Restasis can be irritiating at times but I have found it helps slightly with dryness. Sometimes I just use it once a day instead of twice. If I"m having a really bad day with eye pain I don't use it at all.
You're having trouble with bruising? That concerns me. This site lists bruising as a serious side effect.
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-6986-Plaquenil+Oral.aspx?drugid=6986&drugname=Plaquenil+Oral

Hi Sam,
Well, to be honest, the punctal plugs have in fact really helped. Before the plugs were inserted I was using drops about every 5 minutes. Now I can sometimes go an hour (longer in the rainy season since the air is more humid) without putting drops in. I think you'll see a difference. Good luck!

Ok springgreen - thanks. Every 5 minutes must have been a nightmare.

By the way, the eye doctor called me today and said my field vision test was normal and that I could continue to use the Plaquenil. I'm still not sure if I want to. I don't have a rheumatologist to talk to about it yet.

Sam,

I have to agree with your eye doctor. Plaquenil takes a very long time to build toxicity usually from higher dosages than ours too. BUT, other drugs in combination might it worse.
The rheumy won't have any answers they tell you to see the eye doctor, or at least mine does.
After reading an article on plugs I decided not to use them. If you are missing components to your tears adding more will only make matters worse not better.
It was confusing.
I see my rheumy in a few weeks I'll ask him about halos for you. Having more blood work done next week so we will have results on that too. I feel like I've been in that new moon movie all the blood taken.
Keep us posted and try the pixie dust. http://pixiedustdecor.com/

I think there was an episode on My Name is Earl where Earl has to put drops in an old lady's eyes every five minutes. When I saw that on some re-runs, I had to laugh because that was me too.

Funny Man: thanks for the link but I already ordered and tried the pixie dust. It bothered my allergies so I threw the stuff out.
Yes, please ask your doctor about the halos for me. Thanks. Hope the blood work comes out ok.
After you mentioned that issue with the plugs I did some research. I think they are talking about excessive tearing. I'll let you know how they work out for me.

Springgreen: I missed that episode. But glad you are making it to one hour now!

Thanks for the link Sam. i don't know if the bruising is from the Plaquenil. The rheumatologist also put me on 2 baby aspirin a day. So it could be from that too. I have always bruise easily anyway. But I will check with him about that.

MissKristy - yes, I had a problem with bruising when I used to take aspirin. That's why I switched to ibuprofen and have no problem with it now. But I"m sure the doctor has you on aspirin for a specific reason. So it probably is the aspirin causing it. I haven't noticed anybody on this site complaining about bruising from Plaquenil.

Sam: My rheumy told me your halo's are normal something to do with the sphincter behind the eye he said it gets a spasm and initially-first few months of use can cause the Halo.
He said it would go away in time. He also asked about your eye test being good. He said it is very normal a lot of his patients get it. Most get it within a month or so. As long as the eye test was good you should be just fine.

He will be looking over this site in the near future maybe he will post here?

Merry Christmas.....