# What's wrong with my eye? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520 "2013-02-16T18:05:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/21 "2013-02-17T19:30:08Z")
Marijuana has only a minimal effect on increased intraocular pressure. Also, glaucoma is usually a near-symptomless disease, barring an extremely slow loss of peripheral vision; there is a particular abrupt-onset version but IIRC that usually involves tunnel vision in the affected eye. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/22 "2013-02-17T20:14:57Z")
I guess this bears repeating…see your doctor and heed his instructions. Do not attempt to ask strangers to take a guess at what you may or may not have as it is irrelevant what anyone but your doctor says. Do not take a stab at diagnosing or treating a medical or psychiatric condition. Do not ask others to take a stab at it or follow the advice of anyone but your own doctor. Lather, rinse, repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/23 "2013-02-17T21:54:20Z")
Update - not better this morning (surprise!), so off to the hospital ER. After a couple hours of people making me feel like I was an alarmist internet self-diagnoser of the sort only put on earth to make them miserable, the doc on duty finally called the ophthalmologist on call to get his opinion, which was “I’m coming right down”. An hour later this changed to “have her come see me first thing tomorrow” followed by a handful of paperwork about all the horrible things it might be and the advice to not drive or look at anything in the meantime. Sucky timing since my husband flies to Tucson in the morning for 10 days to start training on a new job we cannot afford for him to risk losing and I’m on my own. So, best guess right now is an inflammation of the optic nerve. ER doc wanted to do an MRI but they decided to wait until tomorrow. So, who knows. More to come as the fun continues. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/24 "2013-02-17T23:41:16Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > Op said she went to a hospital ER ..but in a weekend, if someone is having serious symptoms it would be irresponsible to advise someone to sit at home and wait…although doctors at an ER or urgent care may not have specialists in a certain area available, they are still qualified physicians who can provide some type of intervention and usually advise you to see a specialist if need be after > > The urgent care on my plan has excellent doctors…one of the doctors on staff there is chief of emergency medicine at the local hospital, so he has plenty of training treating serious issues including cardiac arrest, trauma, etc. my relative went there for an unusual ear symptom, and the doctor provided preliminary diagnosis and treatment No, actually, the OP said she went to an Urgent Care. And by all means, if you find yourself in cardiac arrest, please show up to your local urgent care facility. I always find it kind of exciting and a nice little distraction to call 911 for you and to get to ogle/chat with the hot paramedics that often show up. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/25 "2013-02-17T23:48:31Z")
? ? Ogle…hot paeamedics? I do.not understand what your talking about. The op described serious eye symptoms and everyones advice was to get in to care the same day…there are er depts and urfwnt care…bottom line is if your having serious symptoms get medical attention rather than waiting around and taking guessea at what it could be. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/26 "2013-02-17T23:59:47Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > Hi, > > I’m not a doctor but it sounds like glaucoma. If you google it and it matches your symptoms, take a puff of weed (it’ll reduce the pressure) and go see an eye doctor. It’s questionable if anyone should ask for medical advice on the internet because of people like you, you’re obviously not an expert due to giving blatantly bad advice and I hope no one too naive to understand that these forums are open to anyone off the street takes your comment here seriously. From the Glaucoma Foundation: > [@](#): > > Advocates of medicinal marijuana cite evidence that hemp products can lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in people with glaucoma. However, these products are less effective than medicines prescribed by an eye doctor. > > The high dose of marijuana necessary to produce a clinically relevant effect on IOP in the short term requires constant inhalation, as much as every three hours. > > The number of significant side effects generated by long-term oral use of marijuana or long-term inhalation of marijuana smoke make marijuana a poor choice in the treatment of glaucoma, a chronic disease requiring proven and effective treatment. > > Currently, marijuana is designated as a Schedule I drug (drugs which have a high potential for abuse and no medical application or proven therapeutic value). > > The only marijuana currently approved at the Federal level for medical use is Marinol, a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most active component of marijuana. It was developed as an antiemetic (an agent that reduces nausea used in chemotherapy treatments), which can be taken orally in capsule form. The effects of Marinol on glaucoma are not impressive. And from a doctor poster here: > [@Is Marijuana Medicine?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marijuana-medicine/593087/47): > > Pot is a crappy drug for treatment of elevated intra-ocular pressure. It needs to be dosed regularly every 2 to 3 hours, around the clock, to deliver enough lowering of the pressure to reduce the risk of vision loss. There are FAR FAR better ophthalmic drops on the market which are more effective and may be used once or twice a day. And you can drive and operate heavy machinery while using them, too. With less weight gain. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/27 "2013-02-18T00:01:09Z")
> [@Tollhouse](#): > > ? ? Ogle…hot paeamedics? I do.not understand what your talking about. The op described serious eye symptoms and everyones advice was to get in to care the same day…there are er depts and urfwnt care…bottom line is if your having serious symptoms get medical attention rather than waiting around and taking guessea at what it could be. My point is, there is a difference between urgent care facilities and hospital emergency rooms. If you are experiencing eye problems, unless it’s a very obvious and basic conjunctivitis, an urgent care is not the place to go to- hospitals often have opthamologists on staff, while an urgent care doctor usually doesn’t have that sort of training. If you go to an urgent care for something that is beyond their scope, you will be referred (and transferred by ambulance, if life-threatening) to an emergency room, so sometimes it’s better to just go to the ER in the first place. At any rate, OP, I hope that your problem is diagnosed and resolved quickly and painlessly. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/28 "2013-02-18T00:33:29Z")
Wearing an eyepatch for the moment to reduce the strain because holy cow, how do I get through Sunday afternoon and evening not watching TV, reading or wasting time on the internet? FTR, as fun as a little weed was back in the days of my misspent youth, my husband is a commercial pilot so we cannot have it around even for fun. And while it is fun and useful to get opinions on the Dope I would always seek a professional diagnosis. Still, it is good to see everyone in agreement about getting help asap - I may not have received a diagnosis or any treatment, but it was probably the fastest way to get a real appointment on President’s Day. That’s just one of the reasons I read the Straight Dope - I was feeling pretty foolish for a while and might have decided against going in if not for the unanimous cry of “Go to the ER now!” Also, to clarify, I first went to the walk-in clinic/urgent care combo near my house on Saturday, and to a proper hospital-based ER today. Tomorrow first thing I see the ophthalmologist connected with the hospital for a proper diagnosis and treatment. Sucks that these things always seem to happen on a weekend. I noticed that happens with my cats, too. No one in my house ever has a problem needing urgent medical care during regular working hours. ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/29 "2013-02-18T01:32:53Z")
Martin Hyde, …yes…its inherently a bad idea. It can be downright harmful at worst and irrevelant at best, what people think a person might have, …its a bad idea to ask anyone other than their own doctor for medical diagnosis treatment or advice. I wish there was some type of rule against it bc all it does is encourage some people to think they can take a stab at making diagnoses and can be harmful if for no other reason than it spreads misinformed ideas and some naive person can come along and read that advice and take it to heart ---
**Author:** ![Tollhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@Tollhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tollhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/30 "2013-02-18T01:42:49Z")
Alice the goon, Oh, yea, definately a difference…obviously for life threatening emergencies such as heart attack, hemorrhaging etc an ER is the place to go…at my urgent care center there is a reference that outlines he to decide an ER or urgent care, it says life threatening things heart attack, bleeding, etc go to ER and for things like flu, sprained wrist, ear/ eye problems, urgent care…I have a relative who went to urgent care for some unusual ear symptoms and they got excellent care (was a weekend, so couldn’t get to a specialist)…that day at the ER they would’ve waited at least three hours as it was very crowded and only overt obvious emergencies were seen first. I was very impressed when I went to the new urgent care center, its not an independent one, it is affiliated with the local medical center and the staff there are physicians from the medical center which is top rated. One of the doctors there is chief of emergency medicine at the hospital. I think though the moral of tis story is for those with medical issues especially if they seem somewhat serious to get medical attention 🙂 rather than trying to guess with people online what it could be… ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/31 "2013-02-18T01:47:16Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Sucks that these things always seem to happen on a weekend. I noticed that happens with my cats, too. No one in my house ever has a problem needing urgent medical care during regular working hours. My dogs always seem to need euthanasia on the weekends :(. Fortunately I have a country vet. Glad you got it checked out. Those symptoms sounded scary. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/32 "2013-02-18T02:37:52Z")
My vet (4 blocks away) started being open 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm. Now my cats have to wait until 8:30 at night to start leaking strange fluids. I love my vet - I wish she’d just accept that I’m an animal too and just add me to her patient list. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/33 "2013-02-18T04:11:17Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I get ocular migraines (google it) and there is never any pain or swelling. Usually it’s just flashing lights. I’d be tempted to follow up with an ophthalmologist\*. Your vision is to precious to screw around with. > > - I spelled that without looking it up! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Were I you, I would have gone on automatic and spelled it “ophthelmalougist”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/34 "2013-02-18T16:49:53Z")
Aaaand, back to square one. Doc is certain there is something wrong but damned if he can figure it out. Better send me right away to the neurologist who cannot even talk to me for two weeks. Cloudy area is bigger - it’s like half my eye is coated with purple vaseline. Good to know this is apparently nothing to be concerned about. I think the idea is to wait long enough for it to either fix itself or get so screwed up it is easy to diagnose. A second opinion may be in order but no luck so far finding anyone who can see me in less than 10 days. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/35 "2013-02-18T17:04:53Z")
Damn. You’d think that there’d be some way to see someone qualified quickly in a situation that’s obviously progressing. Here’s one suggestion. I have no idea if it would be helpful or not. Does your insurance company (assuming you have insurance) have some kind of help line that you can call? It seems like they would be motivated to somehow get you treatment quickly since a progressive problem is likely to get more expensive as time goes on. Maybe one of these places might have a suggestion. > **[The leader in eye health and vision care.](https://www.aoa.org/?sso=y)** > > The American Optometric Association (AOA) is the leading professional organization for doctors of optometry, optometry students and paraoptometric staff, offering advocacy, professional development and practice management tools. > **[Homepage - Optometry Cares](https://aoafoundation.org)** > > AOA/AOSA Opportunities in Optometry Grants To promote diversity and equity in the optometric profession for generations to come, the American Optometric Association and the American Optometric Student Association have created the AOA/AOSA... ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/36 "2013-02-18T18:06:32Z")
Wow, sorry you’re getting the runaround **Mrs. Cake** ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/37 "2013-02-18T18:36:28Z")
Thanks for the links and sympathy. My insurance at the moment (it changes to my husband’s new employer on March 1, so yay, I get to pay the deductible twice) is BC/BS, so unlikely to get help there. I’ll make a couple more calls tomorrow after the holiday and maybe get something moving sooner. Ibuprophen definitely reduces the pressure but I don’t want to take those any longer than I have to. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/38 "2013-02-18T18:44:24Z")
Check with your husband’s HR department. I know my health insurance FAQ’s specifically states that if I switched plans this year and have already paid my deductible, they’ll credit it to this year. I suspect most of the main providers may have agreed to reciprocity on this. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/39 "2013-02-18T18:52:51Z")
I would certainly get in to see someone sooner. Does the neurologist know the full extent of the sitch? Years ago, I had some eye problems and went to my GP. She was alarmed, and called an _ophthelmalougist_ [sic] who squeezed me into the schedule the same day. Saved the vision in that eye. What you don’t ever want is to get into see the doc and have him/her say,“If only you’d have gotten here sooner, I could have done something.” No one cares about this as much as you do, so be pro-active. Considering how fast this is progressing, I don’t see how you can wait two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520/40 "2013-02-18T19:01:02Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > My insurance at the moment (it changes to my husband’s new employer on March 1, so yay, I get to pay the deductible twice) is BC/BS, so unlikely to get help there. Still may be worth making the call. I used to have a BCBS (Florida) as a client when I worked in advertising, and I know that they had customer-service reps who specifically did this sort of thing. Regardless…sending good thoughts your way! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-wrong-with-my-eye/650520.md?page=3)