Hi i’m scott feudin burg i’m a glaucoma specialist at the wills eye hospital and i’m going to talk to you today about medication side effects medication side effects are really important and it’s important to understand your medications all medications have potential side effects however it’s also important to understand that in general the risk of the condition that’s
Being treated is far greater than the risk of potential side effects it’s also important to know that when you learn about medical issues including medications in their side effects that that may be a better way to stimulate questions than to answer them and when you have questions about your medications and what you should do in regards to taking medications you
Really need to ask your doctor so the information can be specifically tailored to your circumstance as far as glaucoma medications go there’s a few classes of medications that are very commonly used to treat glaucoma the first one is the prostaglandin analogues they’re the most common first-line agent for glaucoma they’re good medicines because they work very well
And you only have to take them once a day but they do carry the potential risk for side effects including growth of your eyelashes redness of the eye and increased pigmentation of the tissues around the eye the skin tissues all of those side effects go away if the medication is stopped in certain patients particularly those patients who are neither very blue-eyed
Or very brown-eyed there is the risk that that medication the prostaglandins may increase the pigmentation of your iris making your eye color more dark permanently and that’s something that’s also important to talk to talk about with your doctor the prostaglandins carry a risk of swelling in the retina now that risk is very small and it usually happens in people
Who are predisposed to have swelling the retina but that’s also an important potential side effect to discuss with your doctor another class of medications is called the beta blockers the beta blockers have been used successfully to treat glaucoma for decades they’re very effective most of the time they can be used once – twice a day but they do carry the risk of
Side effects although they’re typically fairly well tolerated in terms of ocular side effects they carry a greater risk of systemic side effects meaning sometimes they can make you feel slow oh short of breath tired and they can be a problem in people who have pre-existing lung disease or heart conditions it’s important to talk to your doctor about the specifics
Of your circumstance if you’re going to take beta blockers another class of medications is called the carbonic anhydrase inhibitors there are both pills and eye drop so the pills are rarely used to treat glaucoma the eyedrops are usually very well tolerated but some of the formulations may sting when you put them in your eye the stinging usually only lasts a minute
Or two and then goes away and this thing is not dangerous it has to do with the way they make the medicine so those medications are usually fairly well tolerated and they’re often used two to three times a day but it’s important for your doctor to know if you might have pre-existing conditions like gout or kidney disease if you’re going to take a carbonic anhydrase
Inhibitor it’s also important for your doctor to know if you might be self allergic since these medicines sometimes have a cross reactivity among patients who are self allergic and you might also be allergic to these medicines there’s another class of medicine called the alpha agonists these medicines are effective for treating glaucoma and may be used two to three
Times a day they do carry a risk of an intolerance reaction that’s particular to this class of medicine they can make your eyes red and irritated that may happen in five to ten percent of people who take the medication and if that happens to you it’s not the right medication for you so if you develop redness or irritation on an alpha agonist it’s important to share
That information with your doctor in summary all the medications we use may have potential side effects when we’re treating glaucoma though in general the risk of vision loss from glaucoma is far greater than the risk of potential side effects of the medications and any issues you may be having while you’re taking a medication are important to talk to your doctor
About so that you may get specific information regarding your case thank you you
Transcribed from video
Side Effects of Glaucoma Medications – Scott J. Fudemberg, MD By WillsEye GlaucomaApp
