Who developed Glaucome while taking Femara/Arimidex

aussieched

Hi, I have been taking Femara for 7.5 years now, and out of the blue have been diagnosed with glaucoma. I have no family history of glaucoma, however since starting femara I have always experienced sore dry red itchy eyes. Could the aromatase inhibitor caused me to develop glaucoma. The pressure in my eyes has been building up in the last 1.5 years.

Has anyone else on aromatase inhibitors developed glaucoma?

thanks Ched

aussieched

Hi ladies, in trying to fix up a spelling mistake, I deleted the post by mistake.

I started Femara 7.5 years ago and always had red dry itchy eyes since going on the drug. Over the last 1.5 years the eye pressure has been rising, and have now been diagnosed with glaucoma. I have no family history of glaucoma, and will have to start treatment shortly.

Could this have been caused by Femara, and has anyone else developed glaucoma after taking aromatase inhibitors.

thanks Ched

aussieched

Hi Kayb, thank you so much for the information you posted. A lot to read and absorb, however I thought the drug was causing eye problems, however every time I asked my ophthalmologist about aromatase inhibitors and eye problems he kept saying he didn't know of any problems related to the drug.

Ched

doxie

Initially I had difficulties with blurry eyes that were worse in the mornings and eventually corrected themselves by evening. Neither ophthalmologists (I saw several at a teaching hospital) nor the MO knew much or anything, respectively, about eye SE from chemo and AIs. Through trial and tests we discovered I had severe dry eye caused by low estrogen. It made no difference which AI I was on. I gave my MO the above article along with a copy of a glossary of eye terms that helped me understand the content. Along the way I had a vitreous detachment that was also probably related to low estrogen.

april485

kayb, thanks for posting that study/article on AH and the eye issues associated with them. Depressing? Yes. But, it means we have some ammo when the eye doctor or the other doctors tell us that our eye issues are not related to the meds. Clearly, they are in some cases. My mom had glaucoma which means I am already at higher risk and my eyes are most definitely not the same now so...ugh! Thanks so much for the article.

magdalene51

I was guessing the dry eye was a result of the taxotere as that is an SE but it certainly is worse now. However, I now have a detached vitreous. Most likely an SE of the arimidex.

haj2016

Just read your post. Have been taking letrozole(Femara) for a year now. Eye pressures were totally normal before starting the medication. Have elevated pressures now and my optometrist is referring me to opthamologist for pre-glaucom, however she is unaware ofglaucoma being a side effect of this med. No history in family. More research and attention needs to be paid to this. Very disturbing if this is potential side effect. This might be the final straw for me to stop the med.

haj2016

Just read your post. Have been taking letrozole(Femara) for a year now. Eye pressures were totally normal before starting the medication. Have elevated pressures now and my optometrist is referring me to opthamologist for pre-glaucom, however she is unaware ofglaucoma being a side effect of this med. No history in family. More research and attention needs to be paid to this. Very disturbing if this is potential side effect. This might be the final straw for me to stop the med.

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Audreymarie

Hi Ched,

I started Arimidex in May of this year, and was diagnosed with glaucoma exactly one week ago. My ophthalmologist told me this was a side effect for some people. I asked her if changing toanother AI might help and replied "no, they can all cause it." She prescribed Travatan Z drops. I do have a family history of glaucoma but expect that the ageing process is accelerated with AI use.

I had seen my ophthalmologist in May and she said I would need to see her 6 months later for follow up.it was during the follow up visit she made the glaucoma diagnosis.

Moderators

Dear Audreymarie,

Welcome to the community. We are sorry about your circumstances but glad that you reached out to our members. We notice that this particular thread has not seen activity since February of 2016 so if you don't see a response you may want to start a new topic. Let us know how we can be of help to you with navigating your way around here. The Mods

Tresjoli2

I just wanted to say that I am on tamoxifen, and the pressure behind my eyes is high, and I am being watched so it doesnt turn to glaucoma. My optometrist told me all tamoxifen users should have their eyes checked annually. She also said that the steroid use during chemo can make pressure go up in the eye. I have to be checked every six months now. I was allergic to my chemo, so I was on massive amounts of steroids the whole time I was being treated.