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After Iridotomy - eye pain and headaches 2 months later

Posted by dibr @dibr, Sep 28, 2018

I had a YAG iridotomy done July 24th because my angles were closed. No pain, no nothing … no symptoms. My left eye was done first and yes it hurt but in 5 minutes, pain was gone. A whole different story with my right eye. The initial laser zap was an unbelievable pain that I have ever experienced (I have a very high tolerance for pain) and it never went away and I also had extreme headache on right side as well. I asked the opthamologist what happened because of the extreme pain and headaches. He said nothing. I asked if everything was ok, he said yes. I continue to have headaches and pain in my right eye 2 months later. Has anyone else experienced this?

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hopiegirl915 | @hopiegirl915 | Apr 13 1:58pm

I will post here if I get help. Also please remember to have them check your eyes before dilating. They are suppose to do that anyway, but every dr I have seen insists that they have to dilate first before dr will look at your eyes. Keep in mind that dilating automatically causes angles to narrow. That is a fact and I believe that is how and why they are able to get away with scaring people.

Think about it….who goes around dilating their eyes all the time? So it is not a problem until they dilate eyes. Only one dr I seen did not give me any grief when I asked not to be dilated because my eyes have always been sensitive to light. That dr took a picture instead. Lots of time all those tests they do to people cause more harm. No one in my family has ever even had cataract surgery The drs hurt my eyes so much that my poor eyes developed cataracts. I was too young for that!

Let me know what other dr says. Take care.

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varinabray | @varinabray | May 9 6:29pm

I had the same problem. I was told that the YAG procedure was not even supposed to hurt. I have so much pain in my both my eyes along with great light sensitivity. I cannot fully focus. No ne will listen to me. They don’t see anything wrong and are dismissive. I had yag for closed angle glaucoma. No one will listen to me.

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sharrielee | @sharrielee | May 20 3:54pm

Here is my book,
It all started with my eyelashes on my left eye hurting to touch, and then to the lacrimal caruncle feeling itchy and irritated. Thought I was getting an infection in my tear duct. Then started constantly feeling like glass or metal in my eye. Then it moved to right eye, same thing started. Went to my opthalmologists, she said it was not an infection, but said I had really dry eyes, that's why it felt like something in there. Could not explain the painful eyelashes, gave my steroid eye drops. Pretty soon my eyes looked red as a color crayon and burned like fire. I stopped those drops, she sent me to another DR. he did the LPI on both eyes. Multiple shots also gave me steroid eye drops and some other drops for pressure. The pain in my right eye was so intense! Eventually felt like an Ice pick from the inside to the back of my right eye. Pain around my eye socket, extending to my temple up right side of my head and light numbing to right side of my face. I had 3 different MRI's, all clear. Had Serum tears made, and told to use Simbrinza drops 2x per day. Nothing is working. My GP started me on Gabapentin 3x per day, which has dialed it down a bit. I still have pain around the eyesocket and temple of right eye. The ice pick pain has gone thank goodness, that was unbearable. Tylenol or Advil do little. I have no idea what to do.

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kalpana10 | @kalpana10 | Sep 17 9:40am
In reply to @colleenyoung "Hi @longislandmike, welcome. Allow me to tag @natliek @anilaj @chicagoprof @gwenr @mgtbren @karen888 @lacy2 who have..." + (show)
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Hi @longislandmike, welcome. Allow me to tag @natliek @anilaj @chicagoprof @gwenr @mgtbren @karen888 @lacy2 who have also experienced headaches after iridotomy and to bring them back into the discussion.

Did your headaches start right after the procedure? What testing will you have done this week?

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I had LPI for the left eye last week and its been hurting to look at the screen. I hope it goes away keeping my fingers crossed. For that reason I am not planning to do the right. I hope I wont go blind because of closure angle and I am not planning to go thru this pain again

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kalpana10 | @kalpana10 | Sep 17 9:41am
In reply to @varinabray "I had the same problem. I was told that the YAG procedure was not even supposed..." + (show)
Profile picture for varinabray @varinabray

I had the same problem. I was told that the YAG procedure was not even supposed to hurt. I have so much pain in my both my eyes along with great light sensitivity. I cannot fully focus. No ne will listen to me. They don’t see anything wrong and are dismissive. I had yag for closed angle glaucoma. No one will listen to me.

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I wish I had this read post before doing this YAG LPI. I just got one eye last and not planning to do for the other one

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kalpana10 | @kalpana10 | Sep 17 9:55am
In reply to @hopiegirl915 "I can only speak about my own experience, but I do know that getting those holes..." + (show)
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I can only speak about my own experience, but I do know that getting those holes put into my irises feels like there is a flashlight shining into my eyes all the time. I can see a white glare across both eyes when my eyes are open. Only relief is when eyes are closed obviously. I was not told this either. The dr said the procedure was at corner of my eye, not in the iris! Our iris is like our camera lens really.

Getting the cataracts removed did help me to see better as far as some of the blur, but it actually caused even more glare because the cloudiness had been removed. So now I see halos around everything. My eyes also shimmer. It is so awful. Going outside is blinding and I get lightheaded. After getting the LPI I went to so many drs desperately trying to see if I could somehow get holes in my irises stitched back, but was told I would just get used to it. Every dr also told me that LPI does not affect vision. This angered me because it did indeed mess my eyes up. One dr even told me that the good news was that I now would get cataracts a lot sooner. I found no humor in it at all, but he was correct. I did indeed get cataracts that progressed very fast. I guess what he meant was that the cataract would cut down on the glare because it would kind of clog up the holes. He was right because the glare is brighter since getting cataracts removed. I wish now I had not, but I
had to wear 3 different pair of glasses to see. Strong ones to read, ones for just seeing across the room, then lighter ones to drive. It was insane. I had glasses everywhere. Another dr told me I was just spoiled because I had such great vision before. It is like looking through a puffy dandelion, but center is more clear now. So upsetting.

Just 2 days prior to the LPI I was target practicing and hitting targets better than my hubby. I never needed glasses.

I truly regret believing the dr and I indeed curse him for the issues it has caused. Since I had great vision prior I think it has effected me mentally as well. I know that sounds dumb, but I never realized how much I depended on my eyes for so much. My balance is even off, my depth perception is gone now as well.

Sorry for the long novel, but please get another opinion. Vision is a precious thing. That LPI messed my life up in so many ways. If you do not have high pressure I have no idea why any dr would do this! It is barbaric in my opinion. I asked over and over if it would harm my eyes or affect my vision. Every person said no way. Then AFTER it was done the same ones I had asked said I would get used to it. So they knew it caused issues! It boils down to getting the money.

For me it has been like trying to see over a cotton ball taped under both eyes at all times. Try that all day every day and see how awful that is.

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wish I had read this before getting it

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mcr779 | @mcr779 | Nov 14 2:56pm

Wow! I am reading all of the feedback regarding the after effects from the LPI surgery and this has me very concerned. Two eye doctors (board certified) told me to get the LPI surgery due to having narrow angles in both of my eyes.

I am 46 years old. My vision is fine right now (I wear glasses to see everything). I remember years ago I did see halos around street lights in the morning on my way to work at 6am, but that hasn't happened in 2 years. My eyes are sensitive to the sunlight, but I live in the sunshine state of Florida where it is always bright. I do get bad migraines every month, but I don't think it is from my eyes since it stems from my neck and back of head on my right side every time.

I am now questioning if I should get the LPI surgery? What does the laser pain feel like when it zaps your eyeball on a pain scale from 1-10?

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taterjoy | @taterjoy | Nov 16 12:13pm
In reply to @mcr779 "Wow! I am reading all of the feedback regarding the after effects from the LPI surgery..." + (show)
Profile picture for mcr779 @mcr779

Wow! I am reading all of the feedback regarding the after effects from the LPI surgery and this has me very concerned. Two eye doctors (board certified) told me to get the LPI surgery due to having narrow angles in both of my eyes.

I am 46 years old. My vision is fine right now (I wear glasses to see everything). I remember years ago I did see halos around street lights in the morning on my way to work at 6am, but that hasn't happened in 2 years. My eyes are sensitive to the sunlight, but I live in the sunshine state of Florida where it is always bright. I do get bad migraines every month, but I don't think it is from my eyes since it stems from my neck and back of head on my right side every time.

I am now questioning if I should get the LPI surgery? What does the laser pain feel like when it zaps your eyeball on a pain scale from 1-10?

Jump to this post

@mcr779 I’m in the same boat. My ophthalmologist seems confident the laser surgery will go well bout said we start with one eye only. It is scary. I don’t know what percent of theis type of surgery ends up with troubling complications.

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mcr779 | @mcr779 | Nov 17 12:49pm

For the patients that already had LPI surgery done and still having complications: did you get your LPI surgery done at the Mayo Clinic? If not, did you do research on the surgeon before getting the procedure done?

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