To answer your question...

Dave said:

This really is an inspiring story.

 “I look forward to learning more details about the many things you are doing that allopathic medicine generally doesn't credit ;) I'm also curious about what medications you are on... or are you not using any allopathic glaucoma medications?”

Do you care to share what your Secondary Closed Angle Glaucoma is caused by? Did you have a lot of pain when your IOP was 49? I have heard that closed angle glaucoma can be very painful. I have pigmentary glaucoma (which is an open angle form) and my IOP was 48 (in my right eye) when I was initially diagnosed. However, I felt no pain at all.

“What is the IOP in your other eye? And it sounds like your optic nerve appears OK upon simple visual inspection? Did you have visual field tests?”

 

 

I have taken no allopathic medications for 12 years now. In the 8 years before that, I had been prescribed quite a string. I hated the side effects of all of them and just felt “wrong’ about the whole approach. (At that time I lived in a much larger centre and my doctor (since retired) was the top glaucoma specialist in Canada. One of the benefits of having a rare condition is the welcome you get at a teaching hospital!)

I had a trab. 18 years ago with the hope of avoiding more medications. I found that to be an extremely invasive and draining experience. Within 2 years, the pressure was back up. My current doctor wanted to send me back to the coast for a 2^nd trab. which I resisted. He agreed with reluctance to let me experiment with medical marijuana, at that point. For the next 2 years it proved remarkably effective, with no side effects. I used so little, I never felt ‘stoned’. Then the pressure began to climb, just as I was feeling that daily smoking was no long term solution. (It certainly wasn’t addictive for me because when it was time to quit I quit without a thought.) It bought me some time to find my bearings, when I look back. He and I parted company 9.5 years ago when I refused the next prescription of drops. I forget what they were, sorry.

IOP in the left eye was 14 on Jan. 2. He said the optic nerve appears OK. The vision in the eye has dropped dramatically in the 10 years, however. That is, he says, due to a cataract not the 2^nd glaucoma. He wouldn't advise surgery or perform it himself for the cataract because of the weird nature of the underlying iris.

Yes, I had visual field tests last week. Before I go further, here is a link with some information. on Essential Iris Atrophy:

http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/eyeforum/cases/case14.htm

This is the problem with my right eye. In my case the condition is much more advanced than this case study. The iris is pulled over to the side and completely tattered with only a few strands still intact. There are at least 8 apertures which act as pseudo-pupils. As you can imagine, the vision is problematic at best? The only treatable part of the syndrome is the glaucoma and it is a recalcitrant variety. Thankfully, the condition is almost always unilateral. My left eye is in superb condition and the vision 20/20.

So my next challenge is the cataract. It is not lost on me that none has formed in the left eye. (My former specialist did acknowledge a direct link between eye drops and cataracts. The left eye never had drops.) For now, the cataract inhibits the photo sensitivity which might be devastating due to the torn iris and I am grateful to it. My theory is, if a holistic approach works for the glaucoma, I will continue on, step by step, finding a solution which works for the cataract and maybe, the eye, itself. Who knows, I may lose it in time but not before I have given it my best shot.

Everything I have done for my eye has been beneficial for my overall health. By managing the IOP, I buy myself more time before the eye needs to be removed while at the same time, the exercise and dietary changes make me healthier and more alive overall. I have been 20 years climbing back one step at a time from a much larger than a 'one eye' health collapse. I have learned to be patient, open to possibilities, willing to change, and to question authority. After all it is my eye in my body and no one else cares about it like I do!

I hope this helps, Dave? It is such a big subject; one hardly knows where to begin. Intelligent questions certainly give a starting point.  

 If I had to summarize in one sentence what I have learned, it is this:

If a proposed treatment is touted as ‘good’ for a specific part of the body and common sense says it is bad for the rest of me, I will keep on searching, thank you!