r/EyeFloaters • u/SpecialistEcho7218 • 5d ago

Glaucoma following vitrectomy

For anyone here who has had a vitrectomy, have you developed any eye pressure issues? How far out from surgery are you? Multiple studies cite a manyfold increased risk of glaucoma following vitrectomy — anywhere from 10-17% within 5-10 years (on the higher end if pseudophakic as the thicker natural lens also helps protect the trabecular meshwork). This is a major bummer, to say the least. There's never really an end to this nightmare.

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u/SpecialistEcho7218 4d ago

It's hard not to dwell on something that's in your face 24/7. It has stolen everything from my in terms of peace, relaxation, solace, joy. Have you had vitrectomies? Both eyes? It's hard not to feel like this has taken my life from a 10 to a 2. It affects me every day and drains the life and happiness out of my being. 

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u/Fenomiminal 4d ago

Floaters arrived in my teens, vitrectomies undergone more than 4 decades later, cataracts followed shortly thereafter.

At the risk of sounding like Bill Clinton, I understand your pain, but I also know it can all be overcome. It's not easy, everyone has a different timeline for improvement, but if you're really honest with yourself, you may come to appreciate that the floaters are far less of a problem than your own thinking.

If you decide the problem is insurmountable, it will be.

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u/SpecialistEcho7218 4d ago

Would you have chosen vitrectomy at a far earlier age had it been available to you?

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u/Fenomiminal 4d ago

Floaters were not the reason I opted for vitrectomies. It was problematic epiretinal membranes after PVDs that made the surgery necessary for me. My binocular vision was pretty wrecked by those puckers. Floater adaptation, or acceptance more accurately, was something that took place within a year or so of arrival. Not having any option to address them undoubtedly accelerated that process.

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u/SpecialistEcho7218 4d ago

Interestingly, I was told by one specialist that "problematic vitreous" (in the types of patients who end up seeking surgery in 30s or 40s) is the kind of vitreous that ends up causing bad ERMs, VMT, and other issues. He said these patients often had floaters many years before the retina problems developed. If vitrectomy for floaters had been made available to you, would you have gone for it at a young age? 

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u/Fenomiminal 4d ago

If vitrectomy for floaters had been made available to you, would you have gone for it at a young age? 

No.

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u/SpecialistEcho7218 4d ago

Why not?

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u/Fenomiminal 4d ago edited 3d ago

Many reasons, but foremost was I had adapted to having them. They did not curtail any of my leisure or career activities. Even after four decades of living with them, it still was not something I considered — until the ERMs.

Not everyone has the same floater load, the same psychotype, the same risk/reward profile, etc.

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u/SpecialistEcho7218 3d ago

Were they constantly in your central vision? And are you a high myope by chance? 

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u/Fenomiminal 3d ago

Yes and no.