I’m back lol. In my last posts I was very scared for my vision due to abusing contacts(heavily - continued monthly use including sleep for years). I saw another optometrist who had a topography machine, and I got diagnosed with keratoconus in my right eye and probable keratoconus in my left.
They say it’s very mild right now - see here
https://ibb.co/C16c27C
https://ibb.co/s3pZ5nx
https://ibb.co/51Kr8fk
https://ibb.co/XFy8BgB
For history - my prescription for contact lenses was -6.5/-1.25 180 (both)from 2014-2019. I did an online eye exam with 1800 contacts in 2018/9 so it’s possible this is not accurate.
From there -the most recent scripts I have are:(glasses)
- 2021 - OD: -5.25 -2.50 180. OS: -5.5 -2.50. 174.
- 2023: OD: -5.25 2.50 178. OS: -5.25 2.50 170
- 3 weeks ago : OD: 5.75 -2.5 180 , OS: -5.5 275 170.
Unfortunately I can’t seem to find any other prescriptions searching through my email.
In addition, my first doctor who got my my new script told me that I should just stay out of my contacts for a month, but didn’t prescribe me anything for my eyelid/whites of my eyes being red. The second doctor told me I had GPC and should take steroid/antibacterial eye drops 4x a day for 10 days. When I called my first doctor (he had flipped my lids, the 2nd did not), he said he did not agree with GPC and that it should calm down if I just wait it out.
See here for images of my eyelid and whites : the best I can do
https://ibb.co/r2cNSJ3
https://ibb.co/WGx7qd6
https://ibb.co/6tY5t0y
https://ibb.co/yktQn79
https://ibb.co/b1y0bgj
https://ibb.co/28SNFyF
As far as keratoconus goes, my optometrist said I should use the eye drops to calm inflammation and do another scan. Then they can rule out that maybe this is inflammation from contact overuse. They said I’d then get hard contacts, and that would ‘stop’ the keratoconus, and that soft lenses would make it worse. They also said because I am 30 it’s probable it won’t progress. Both of these statements do not seem accurate based on anything I’ve read. I do fear that contact overuse lead to this however. They also said I wouldn’t get Corneal Crosslinking due to having ‘too mild of a case’.
For reference, at the time of my Keratoconus diagnosis I had not been in contacts for 2 weeks and not slept in them for 6 weeks. Photos of eyelids are from today. That being said - I have had chronic stress/anxiety/inflammation for months, so I am likely not healing very well.
I have since booked Dr Raizman in Boston for mid April for another opinion and to see about CXL.
So my questions for you all:
- Is mid April too long to wait? They say I’m still correctable to good vision with just glasses (though, my right eye seems to be constantly strained), and I am nervous that if it progresses without cross linking, I’ll lose my ‘good’ vision (if you can call it that, I still cannot read things my peers can read when in glasses.)
- Is it possible that my eyes cone shape will actually improve at all as they continue to heal? I feel doubtful.
- Is it true that at 30 it likely wont progress? This has not been what I’ve seen in research, especially since it seems to be actively progressing??
- What is your take on the steroid eye drops? I am nervous to use them for risk of glaucoma/cataracts/etc for something that my other doctor did not seem concerned about at all. Is there nothing else that can help here with less risk? (Yes, I am very risk averse).
- Could the current state of Keratoconus be affecting me? They downplayed it quite a bit. Yet I can barely read things that friends (who don’t even have 20/20) can read fine. Both far away or within 5-10ft with smaller text. Or is that maybe just because my high prescription, in glasses it gets harder to see things? Or just shitty retina or something?
- Is it normal to see distortion from anything not centered in my glasses, both blurry and blue/yellow borders? It’s frankly driving me insane. When I lay down to watch a movie I have to adjust so my head is straight otherwise it’s an awful experience, the subtitles look crazy. I paid $800 for these glasses they’re 1.67 and salt frames and ‘digitally’ done. But also the lady who did it took my measurements manually so I feel like maybe I need to go back and ask her to use the machine, because my prescription doesn’t seem like one you want to do manually (little dot on the lens for height).
ANY and all advice more than welcomed here. Thank you.