Glaucoma Cure

hupostasis - welcome to FitEyes! Thanks for your comment. Would you do me a favor and take a look at this article: http://fiteyes.com/blogs/glaucoma/2007/04/22/Glaucoma-Inflammation-and-Oxidative-Stress. I would appreciate your feedback on it! It sounds like you are qualified to critique it.

Here is one other link that is relevant:

http://fiteyes.com/blogs/glaucomatreatment/2006/12/06/blocking-tnf-alpha-function-may-have-a-benefit-as-a-neuroprotective-treatment

I am so happy to see someone with credentials making the comment that pressure is not the cause of glaucoma. I had that premonition for a long time because I had inordinately high pressure for 20 years with no effects to the nerves. Only a couple of years ago did some small amount of damage appear on the infra-red scan.

Meanwhile, when the beta-blockers nearly kilt me, I went to sodium acsorbate drops. I have told Dave and now I will tell you: I no longer use my bi-focals. I have regained my vision to the point where I re-took the visual scans for the driver's license and they removed the glasses requirement from my driver's license. I still have need of some magnification when using a computer screen, mostly because they use rather insipid colors for Web Sites. I can read a newspaper w/o any magnification.

Meanwhile, also, I have developed some serious Prostate problems...as is common for men my age. The Dr. wanted to do a biopsy and all that bravo-sierra. I refused and took on the Budwig Protocol. My prostate has improved immensely since. As I studied the site relating to the Budwig Diet I found a number of people commenting that they had used fresh non-lignan flax seed oil drops for their eyes, and glaucoma had "improved," and Macular Degeneration was reversed. My wife has M-D and, of course, I have "glau." So we began the FO drops a couple of weeks ago. My wife has noted an improvement in her vision. I have noted that my "famous" "world class" floater (quoting optometrists for 20 years) is GONE...I can't tell you whether the sodium acsorbate did it or the FO drops, but...our vision has improved dramatically.

I have also partaken sublingual B-12 because there was a report in Japan that B-12 had some effect in decreasing the loss of peripheral vision. I apologize for not having that citation at hand.

All this is what led me independently to the observation that pressure may NOT be the cause of glaucoma. This and a salient comment by Dr. Ritch about the observed low levels of sodium acsorbate in the eyeball: 'there must be something wrong with the mechanism.' (as I remember his comment). It was then that I decided that if there is something wrong with the mechanism, why not help: If the eyeball can absorb beta-blockers, why not sodium acsorbate. Bingo. It seems to have worked.

Having studied the Budwig protocol, I noticed that her science (she was an MD with an advanced degree in physical sciences who was nominated for a Nobel some 7 times, her specialty being cells, membranes &c.) discusses the need for Omega-this-and-that within cells to maintain their proper functioning. How like the eyeball and it's need for sodium acsorbate (a chemical that is normally, I'm told, produced in the liver).

Here we are again, talking about the production and assimilation of what we eat (or don't). Budwig's science uses complex molecules to restore cell function, so one must eat properly. Back to the liver, folks...back to diet...back to ayurvedic knowledge...back to stress in our lives, and it's control. Back to drinking too much and killing our systems with chemicals, hydrogenated (petroleum term) fats...

There is a discussion group about Budwig's protocol. People attend it for everything from cancer to arthritis to gout (what ya eat) to, yes, eye health. It is found at  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FlaxSeedOil2/

To find the information on eye-health you would need to subscribe to the group (you don't have to receive the e-mails, of course...so you can opt out of that portion of the discussion, although you'd be amazed at the dietary stuff they cover) to access the "files" where various notes are made about FO and eye health.

In the meantime, I have ended my activities with 2nd amendment and Constitutional issues. I did that for peace of mind. I do believe that our Declaration, some 232 years ago, is still in force, but that is my newly directed thinking about quantum consciousness. I have, of course, renewed my activities with Tai-Qi and the enjoyment of Qi. I mention these things, as does Dave, to re-emphasize the fact that our health reflects our thinking. America as a nation is overweight, cancerous, and stricken with the use of fabricated drugs. Take a look at the movies, the entertainment, and the activities.

We eat what we think, and the nation is eating poison. That is their choice.

Wishing all the best,
I remain, less  gruff,

Gruffy

Hi Gruffy,

That is such a positive post and I've now joined the flax oil forum!

How long have you been using sodium ascorbate drops and how often do you use them - I've been rather lax about them myself and feel I need to re-start.  MY IOP's are fairly good but my distance vision is not so brilliant.

How do you choose the flax seed oil that is best for use as eye drops?  Is it better to take it out of capsules?  Perhaps I'll learn that on the forum link you posted.

Thanks,

Elizabeth

This discussion has me wondering about all the oils that might be helpful. The one that seems most interesting to me is ghee -- because it has a history of being used for eye care that is thousands of years old. In Ayurveda they use warm ghee to bathe the eyes in a procedure called netra basti that is part of the seasonal cleansing and purification routine called pancha karma.

I have simplified the netra basti procedure slightly and now I do it at home. I simply warm some Ancient Organics ghee in two glass eye cups and bathe my eyes in the ghee for about 3-5 minutes.

Traditionally, ghee is said to nourish and soothe the brain and nerve tissue. I believe it is very good for the optic nerve. Not much is known about the exact fatty acids found in ghee at this time, but the rich history of its use for the eyes in Ayurveda gives me a lot of confidence that ghee would be one of the top choices for the treatment Gruffy described.

I am also wondering if fresh, pure cod liver oil might be another option. I have no basis for this thought except that cod liver oil is high in DHA and EPA and DHA has been found to be beneficial for the optic nerve and brain.

While speculating, I wonder if olive oil might not be another option. Anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

I will probably play it safe and continue to use ghee because I know I cannot go wrong with using it in my eyes. Another great eye treatment from Ayurveda is to make triphala tea and use this as an eye wash.

Hi. Elizabeth..

Wonderful (re FSO forum)...I told the flax-oil forum how much fun they were..there are no FDA nazi's on it doing the scientific-test-dog-and-pony-show. I was very humbled by the people, and how truly ill some of them are, and how incredible and amazing the results were for so many of them. I was also stunned by the wealth of dietary/cellular information therein. You will find yourself putting out some Qi for some of the people in the group with open ulcers that are healing, others who were just given the "death sentence," kind of like "your gonna go blind," only infinitely worse...nuff said...

I quit the beta-blockers a year ago March, after having so many heart problems, anxiety attacks, and nightmares my doctor said I'd best just drop the crap. I decided I'd quite rather be blind than dead, and one day, as I lay on the ground in the woods with a heart arythmia/heat stroke, I was sure I was gonna kick the bucket. That was the final straw. My MD is quite amenable to naturopathy...but I've not been back since to brag about my progress. So, i would say I've been on the drops for over a year (16 months, mas o menos)  I did them twice a day, my wife, once. Now that I've included the FSO drops, I do FSO in the evening (the blur is hard on my bedtime quantum consciousness readings, but what the heck). So I do my SA in the morning.

Flax seed oil is a very difficult substance to deal with. I'd assert that the capsules have FSO that is not the best quality (oxidation, if nothing else). If you are interested, you can get a very small bottle of Barlean's FSO at your health food store. Keep it refigerated. Then go to your neighborhood druggist and buy a brown 1 oz bottle with a dropper (costs about a buck and half, usually)...put a half inch (1+ cm if yer outside the US), keep it in the fridge. You'll be surprised how small the drops are that hit your eyes. Very cohesive substance so the drops are rather small compared to the slosh you get with your SA drops. Barlean's keeps for several months, maybe more if you keep the lid under the "squirt cap" and put it back on the bottle after you fill your drop bottle. It is just a matter of keeping the FSO from oxidating. By the bye, Elizabeth, don't get the high-lignan Barleans. Two reasons: 1) the lignans are parts of the seed husks and very scratchy on the eyeball; 2) High lignan Barlean's sounds good, but the lignans expire after 15 minutes, so why even put them in the oil? Whatever...I may be wrong about capsules if they are Barleans, I dunno, now that I re-read what I just said...

Since you commented on "Positive Posts," (thank you!!) I'd like to toss out another INCREDIBLE discovery I've made...it's called COCOA. Not sugared cocoa, but the old-fashioned stuff in the Hershey's can you find on shelves in the cooking section. I've been making cocoa every day...I add it to my Budwig FSCC, I make a thermos of it with Stevia (ONLY) sweetner for recreational drinking..and I put it in our "greenie." I think somewhere I mentioned that my acidity caused this problem...and my naturopath has me doing a "greenie" (you'd call it a smoothie with all kinds of basic [Phj] green stuff in it...anyway, folks, I went in for my chelation last month and the IV nurse took my BP..he looked at me and said (see I'd been bragging about cocoa and BP)" I don't believe this"..."you who were 155/110 all the time, and now you're 110/72" "you've been doing the cocoa, haven't you!!" I poured some out of my thermos, toasted him, and said "yup."

Dave knows I talk a lot. Ok..here's the deal. My grandparents lived to 92 (GM), 84 (GF)...&c. They were all cocoa drinkers...I remember that well. In those days their sweetners were cane sugar, not this cancer feeding, cell swelling, intractably poisonous fructose corn syrup. So, now I think I know one of the things that contributed to their lower BP and longevity.

So, how much cocoa? A couple of TSP's a day....Google it under Blood Pressure "'discoveries"....here's the kicker...Cocoa is a relaxant...I've not slept as well in quite a few years...so what about relaxing & glaucoma techniques...I'll bet you see my point....

OK - I'm done....I sure hope this helps....

My best to all...remember, when you're not looking, the world is nothing but possibilities,,,,so, why not set your mind on the possibility of joy, peace, and improved vision...

Spiritual hugs to all,

El Gruffo....wanna know where the name came from? My students gave it to me many years ago because I was always playing this wonderful poem/song for them up in Alaska  Glacier Gruff

LOL that's better than a photo!

 Hi Gruffy,

I'm new to this website and find it most informative.  Just this past summer, as a result of a routine eye exam with my Optomotrist, it was found that my eye pressure was such that he referred me to a specialist for a glaucoma workup.  Over the course of several weeks, I've had to take the peripheral eye test, and yesterday went in for Optic Imaging, where they took photographs of my optic nerves.  Next week, I go for the followup and to get the results of these tests. I'm petrified that the doctor will suggest eye drops. I'm someone who is very much against any pharmaceuticals in general and have always relied on my immune system to correct anything. There just has to be a way to control eye pressure than these drops which have such serious side effects. Anyway, there isn't much I can do until I hear the results and his recommendations next week. 

In the meantime, I was reading about your Cocoa for keeping blood pressure under control. My question is, do you make the cocoa with water or with milk?

I'm happy to have found this most informative website and people who don't just roll over and let the medical community dictate to them without researching on their own and have a say in their treatment.

Svenska,

It's great that more like-minded folks are finding their way here.

Lots of info for self help.

Even if you find you 'have' to start by using eye drops at least hopefully you will be able

to use the minimum once you get to grips with ideas of what is right for you.

E

 Thank you, Elizabeth.  This website is so refreshing as opposed to all the others which scare the heck out of you and just tell you to comply. That's what is wrong these days and why so many people are so sick, because they are on so many meds. In general, most of the meds people are on, they could do without and would probably have better health.  The pharmaceutical companies seem to be running the show.

What prompted me to look further into alternative treatments for Glaucoma is after reading the OHTS Study.  (Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study) It is after reading this study that had me shaking my head. I was thrilled to see in the study that the control group who were just "observed" rather than treated for high IOP did rather well.  90% of them had no changes.  I'm wondering, if there is no sign of Optic Nerve Damage, then why start a patient on drops?  I'd rather take a "wait and see" approach and just have my Optic Nerve checked rather than putting so much emphasize on the pressures. 

I have concluded that the Beta Blocker drops are probably the most problematic and cause the worst side effects.  The prostaglandin drops seem more benign, except for the fact that they can and do change blue eyes brown which is permanent. 

I know I am getting myself all "stressed" out just thinking about drops, and what my doctor will say if he suggests them, and I try and talk him out of it.  According to the posts I've read by Dave, all this worrying is doing me no good and I really need to practice "letting go". 

The Vitamin C drops appear interesting, as well as the Flaxseed oil drops which some of you are trying.

Svenska:

I'm petrified that the doctor will suggest eye drops.

I'm someone who is very much against any pharmaceuticals in general ...

There just has to be a way to control eye pressure than these drops which have such serious side effects.

 

 

Hi Svenska - welcome to FitEyes! In my experience, there are things we can do to manage our eye pressure. But it often involves making changes in our lifestyle and in our habits of thought and emotion. Those things usually take some time (because most of us resist change). I suggest that you go ahead and follow your doctor's advice regarding the eye drops. If he recommends you use them, then you can be comfortable knowing your eye pressure is being managed while you investigate all the non-pharmaceutical options such as the things we discuss on FitEyes.com.

When I was diagnosed with glaucoma, I was very against any allopathic drugs. However, I learned that this type of resistance -- even if well-justified intellectually -- creates emotions that are detrimental to our efforts to manage glaucoma (and improve our health). I suggest that we love what is. Reality is what is happening to us at any moment -- which is always now. When we resist or mentally/emotionally fight against reality, not only do we lose every time, we damage our health in the process. If glaucoma eye drops are part of your reality after your next doctor visit, embrace them and put your intentions on getting the most benefit from them with no side effects. Then go to work on managing your IOP in such a way that you will eventually no need to use the glaucoma eye drops because your pressure becomes too low with them.

Many people do not have any side effects from the glaucoma eye drops. Hopefully you will be in that group if it is indeed necessary that you take them.

Stay in a place of love. Don't resist. Be open to what life brings and accept it. Embrace it.

 Thank you for replying Dave.  I was actually reading your posts that you have listed as your favorites when your reply to my last post came through. I'm seeing a real similarity between how you "used" to think and how I've been thinking and fighting the Allopathic medicines most of my life.  I got a "wow" moment after reading your posts tonight, thinking that you are absolutely right on, about letting go and embracing what is.  I've always had "white coat" syndrome with my blood pressure being over the top whenever I have had to go into any medical establishment.  Even when it's been to accompany a family member, and I wasn't the one with the medical problem, my blood pressure would rise and my heartrate would beat so fast that I felt like I was going to explode. Some people are like this with heights or ladders, with me, it's anything allopathic. This "trying to control" my situation is probably what is causing all my high pressures to begin with, and it's a wake up call to change my way of thinking like you say.  Only then, will I experience better pressures. 

You mentioned Louise Hay, whom I've listened to and read some of her work.  People think I'm nuts when I speak of her work and tell them how she cured her own cancer.  Have you seen the website www.naturalnews.com?  Great information in general there, and they have great free newsletters.  It's not a glaucoma website, but it certainly touches on almost everything else.  Check it out, if you haven't already. It's my favorite newsletter. 

I thought you had to stay on drops forever once you started. No one tells you that you can go off of them if your pressure drops.  There is another website that I was checking out called www.willsglaucoma.org . It's pretty active and they have a weekly chat schedule with glaucoma specialists.  Last night the discussion was Incisional Surgery Risks.  August 20th the discussion will be Optic Nerve Imaging.  That might be interesting to see what the specialists have to say and how they interpret that particular test.

Anyway, I'm happy to have found your website by chance, but was it really by chance or by design?  What I like about your site is the the whole mind/body approach. Something, I've let slide over the years, and put too much focus on the body and not the mind. It's been a Godsend that your website has brought it all back into focus.

Svenska,

A brief summary of what's happened to me:

Diagnosed with high IOP and early stage glaucoma, put on timolol.

Changed to Eppy due to side effects.

Found a nutrition clinic specialising in glaucoma, IOP stayed high unless used drops.

Followed their diet and supplements for a year, IOP then took a week off drops to rise to levels of previous year.

I've fiddled about with diet and supplements for years!

Breakthrough was meeting David on another forum and being encouraged to buy a 'proper' tonometer. [I'd used a proview with some success of whether IOP was up or down but not a reliable actual measurement]

With my AT555 I can now get away with [mostly!] xalatan in both eyes once a week and timolol in either eye a couple of times a week.  That's 2 drops of each drug each week.

A far cry from what my ophtho wanted me to use a few years ago - the last 'order' was to use xalatan in each eye every night and trusopt in each eye twice a day!

My new ophtho is quite happy to check me once a year now and in between I visit a very good optometrist both of whom co-operate with one another.

 Hi Elizabeth,

I'm in the earliest of stages of determining whether or not I have "true" glaucoma, or just high pressures, not unlike my blood pressures when I get myself all hopped up, or when I am about to see anyone with an MD after their name.  Even a dentist!

So far my Orthomologist has only seen me once, and on that day, my pressures were 34 in each eye.  When looking at the Optic Nerve he said that surprisingly it looked healthy.  From that appointment, and our conversation, and my concerns about wanting to be conseravative in treatment, he told me he would make me three more appointments.  One was for the Peripheral Eye Exam, the second was for Optic Nerve Imaging, which I had done this week, and the 3rd appointment is next Thursday when I will see him again when he will go over with me  the results of my Peripheral Exam and his conclusion after looking at the photos taken of my Optic Nerve.

So next Thursday will only be SECOND time I've actually seen the Orthomologist.  I'm assuming he will take a pressure reading which will only be the second one I've had. 

One thing I'm thinking about, is the day I went to him initially, I almost cancelled the appointment because I had been sick for about 6 weeks with an upper respiratory illness. I had not been sick in two years, not even a sore throat, but in the beginning of June I came down with something that knocked me for a loop. I actually had to sit up in bed to sleep for over a week. I was so congested, all in my head as well as my chest.  It ended with a cough so bad that sometimes I had trouble catching my breath.  I didn't take anything for it, as I figured it was viral and would run it's course.  My thinking is that with all that coughing and the stress on my body fighting that for 6 weeks, if in fact it could have some effect on my eye pressure in his office that day. Although,I was feeling much better when I saw him, I had almost cancelled the appointment thinking I would have a coughing fit in his office which would interfere with any eye tests.

From my reading, I've learned that sometimes these doctors are too quick to put you on drops.  I've learned that you ONLY have glaucoma if in fact there IS OPTIC NERVE DAMAGE.  Just having high or low eye pressure, isn't enough.  You MUST have optic nerve damage to have a definitive diagnosis of GLAUCOMA.

Right now, I'm taking an Omega Fish Oil capsule from Minami Nutrition. Also, I am taking vitamins and minerals as well as a Berry Green concoction from a company called New Chapter. The New Chapter supplements are all derived from an organic whole food source.  I like things derived from whole food rather than pharmaceutical grade thinking that it's more bioavailable.  I also take flaxseed. Eat lots of blueberries, and am very fussy about the qualtiy of my food.  Never anything with MSG in it, nothing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. No Frankenstein food as I call most food that people eat on a regular basis.  I like the whole food, and nothign but the food. I'm a scatch cook, and cook for myself using the best ingredients I can find.

Do you live in the United States? I just turned 60 in May and work as a part-time bank teller.  Divorced after 30 years of marriage and live alone. One daughter, who lives nearby with her husband. No grandchildren yet.

My next thing has to be walking, especially after all I've read about how it is one the more important ways of lowering pressures.