I went to the eye doctor not too long ago, and they had some bad news for me. I have glaucoma. The last time I had an eye exam was quite a while ago, and my eye pressure was never an issue. But, a lot can happen in 5 years, or however long it’s been since I went last. I have some field of vision degradation and abonormal pressure in my right eye.
The field of vision problem is unnoticeable. If I hadn’t taken the test, I would have never known. Apparently, without testing, it is impossible for me to know that I have it until it progresses to tunnel-vision like symptoms. As long as I treat it, it will never progress that far.
Treatment involves eye drops taken daily. I have a follow-up in a couple of weeks to confirm. After that, it seems I may start taking Xalatan daily. I’m really not looking forward to that, but I suppose I’ll get used to it.
Marijuana has also been shown to treat glaucoma, if taken daily, much like eye drops. There are currently 12 US states (and many other countries) that allow the medical use of marijuana. I don’t happen to live in one of them. That, alone, is obviously not reason enough to move. I’m not sure I want to take that much time out of my day to treat glaucoma anyway. Eye drops are much faster, and more convenient. Also, I’m not sure how long-term treatment would work with marijuana. In drug trials, patients who smoked, but didn’t get high, showed no improvement in intraocular eye pressure. Like any drug, a tolerance would be built to marijuana, eliminating the high, and possibly the treatment. But I’m no doctor, and wouldn’t want to speculate on such things.
One Comment
Holy Shiznit. This might be an omen from one of those whacked out invisible gods for you to move out to California, become a hippie, live in a redwood tree and spend your days getting high while singing Kumbaya. Be sure to stop at the marijuana stage though, hookers and blow never ends well.
See the hippie, be the hippie.