hi there i have graves and i would love if somebody could tell me a bit more about this disease i look awfull my eyes look like tjhey are going to fall out i feel very depressed dont want to do any thing.
Ive just recently joined this group. I have had TED now for 13 months. When I first got TED I had large doses of steroids to help the swelling. It worked well for me to stop the progression...I had a sever and aggressive case of it...but it does not stop the double vision. I have achieved remission in Aug but still have issues with the double vision. I highly recommend the prednisone for the swelling but do know it has side effects. For driving, working or watching TV I use an eye patch. The problem with the double vision happens when your using both eyes together. If you block one off...and it dosnt matter which one...your eyesight is good. The whole TED process can take up to 5 years to resolve itself. Once you become stable you can look into corrective surgeries. Until then use lots of artifical tears, sleep with your head elevated, avoid wind and sunshine, get lots of rest and take supplements that aid in reducing the swelling. Omega3 is very good for that. I take 2400mg a day and it really helps.
There has to be an Ophthalmologist in your state that you can see. ASk your doctor about that kind of eye doctor. I should have mentioned that before...sorry.
There are different kinds of eye doctors. I see one to check my eye sight another to repair my eyes and yet another for my caterac.
Girls thanks for the info. You both sound very informed. I live in Nebraska, so my husbands eye doctor doesnt think that there are and occuloplastic surgeons in the state. He is going to check around, but he want the give the Predisone some time to work first. It been about a week now (no change in the double vision yet). very fustrating.
I guess like everyone else, We will practice patience. Thanks again
There is some evidence that prednisone will work to shrink the tissue behind the eye that is causing the double vision. However, I'm not sure how widely used it is. I didn't have that treatment. Instead, once my eyes "stabilized" (meaning stopped changing, not that they got better), I had orbital decompression surgery. I was lucky not to have double vision, but I had all the other symptoms.
Graves Eye Disease is an autoimmune disease that is related to Graves Thyroid Disease, but you can have one without the other. About 5% of people with the thyroid disease develop the eye disease which is caused by different antibodies than the ones that cause Graves. The antibodies work on the muscles and tissue behind the eyes, causing a fatty like substance to be deposited in the muscles. The buildup of fat causes the eyes to bulge out since the rest of the eye is surrounded by the bony orbit and out is the only direction it can move easily. The deposit of fat also causes the double vision, either by throwing the eyes out of alignment or by impeding the action of the eye muscles that move the eyes.
I am very sorry your husband has developed this. There is no cure for the disease, just a lot of waiting involved for things to stop changing, then for the surgery to heal. Occuloplastic Surgeons usually are the ones to perform the decompression surgery and the eyelid surgery that often follows. Sometimes surgery is also done to correct double vision (strabismus) as part of the process. I have not heard of the three surgeries ever being done at once, they are almost always done as separate events.
I always said God gave me Graves Eye Disease to learn patience since I never had kids. It is hard to be patient when your eyes hurt or you can't see. I wish you both the best.
By the way my eye doctor had me see an Oculoplastic's eye surgeon as I had Thyroid eye disease (TED). That looks like what you may have also. My eyesight didn't get worse it was just the double vision.
I had double vision for almost a year. I never took any meds for it, but wore prisims. When my eyes were stable (also bulgy ,watery and itchy) I had decompression surgery. it took a few weeks to get my eyes settled again. But no more double vision, bulgy eyes. It has been 4 years now and still no double vision. I actually only use reading glass's that are not very strong, which I have been wearing for almost 4 yrs.
I don't understand how meds would work. I know with my one eye saw up and one down. They had to be adjusted kind of like they do headlights of a car. That is how my doctor discribed it to me.
Seeing double will drive you crazy. Sometimes I would just wear a patch on one eye. That worked for me. "Alaway" eye drops stopped the itch for up to 12 hours for me. But lubricating drops work very well.