Hi, another flare up started 4 days ago. Current dose was 5mg. Tried 7 first day,
8 the second and then up to 10 yesterday and today. Feeling the relief, not completely
but got rid of the worst. Last flare up, I did 5 days at the higher dose then back down to
5mg and all was ok. I have had a deteriorating cataract for a year and was referred
3 months ago and appointment is Thursday 29 June. I am desperate for the procedure
as the sight in this eye is so bad. I had my other eye done 5 years ago and then
developed a detached retina a year later which the "experts" say cataract ops
can sometimes be the cause. It was a bad detachment and they were unable to fully repair it
So I have permanent double vision and a slight crooked vision in that eye.
I am a little nervous about the procedure!
Query is, as I am feeling good at this level of 10mg, I dont want to think about reducing
this week, how long can I stay at 10mg but then still return to my normal dose
without a very slow reduction?
If you had a flare at 5mg - that really does suggest that, even if you feel it is your "normal dose" it may be not quite enough. A flare can be due to reducing too fast or too far - or it can be due to an increase in the activity of the disease in which case you might need a slightly higher dose ongoing.
But up to a week on a higher dose would mean you could reduce fairly fast - but personally I'd go back to 7mg first for a few weeks and then reduce further if you are still OK.
Your talk of cataracts scares me. I see my eye Dr every 3 months and yet after seeing my eye Dr I made an appointment with an ophthalmologist to see if he could get a better handle on my dry eye problem and he is the one that told me that I had small cataracts. This was news to me and when I was next at my eye Dr I asked him to check them and he seemed surprised to learn that I even had them. So now I wonder if they can develop in less then 3 months or did my eye Dr miss it.
They can progress very quickly in some cases - especially if it is the form that are steroid-induced. Another lady went form "fine" to needing cataracts removed in under 6 months.
My first cataract was before pmr and steroids, when I was 53.
After that one the optician said he could see the other developing but it
was slow at first, the latter speed of it, the opthamologist said could
be down to the steroids. My sister, who is 6 years older than me had her
first develop 18 months after my first, looks like we are just unlucky!
Trust me, you will know when you have a bad cataract, it is awful, specially when your other eye is poor.
I lost most of sight in left eye, and some in right nine months ago with GCA, and now have steroid induced cataract and gluecoma in both eyes!! Going into hospital on tuesday for operation.. I 've stayed on twelve whilst all this is ongoing, got down to nine, and bad flare up, so had to go back up.... x
So sorry to hear what you have been and still going through. Will the op regain your sight?
Sight won't be improved, but will stop glucoma and cataracts continuingg at speed!! ....I live in hope!! my eyes were perfect before CHA, but at least I can still see, and for that I m grateful...x