Oral Medications For Glaucoma

Oral Medications For Glaucoma

Oral medications for glaucoma can be used when eye drops are not enough to bring your eye pressure down to the desired level.

Examples of oral medications are: carbonic anhydrase inhibitors like acetazolamide (Diamox) and methazolamide (Neptazane).

These medications can also be used in case your eye doctor wants to decrease your intraocular pressure fast and also they can be given as a prophylactic after complicated intraocular surgery like after phaco-emulsification surgery.

These types of drugs will act also as a diuretics so they will change the electrolytes balance in your body. Try to add bananas and apple juice to your diet to minimize the potassium loss caused by these medications.

Possible side effects of acetazolamide are:

1- Frequent urination and a tingling sensation in your fingers and toe usually after several days, these symptoms will usually disappear

2- Rashes

3- Depression

4- Fatigue, lethargy and weight loss

5- kidney stones

6- Stomach upset

7- Metallic taste in carbonated beverages

8- Impotence.


Another type of oral medications called Hyperosmotic agents.These drugs are used in case of severely high IOP which must be reduced immediately before permanent, irreversible damage occurs to the optic nerve.

They act by reducing intraocular pressure through lowering fluid volume in your body and in your eye.

Examples:

1- Glycerin-oral

2- Isosorbide-oral

3- Mannitol-intravenously

4- Urea- intravenously