Luckily for me, in 4 more years, psychiatric co-pays will go from 45% down to 20%.  Hm, how much is that in 4 years?  Medicare sends me paperwork indicating drugs that have been disapproved.  I keep worrying that one of the 4 I take will soon be included in that list.

I couldn’t find a lot of changes but I am sure that there are a lot more.  One of the things that does not make sense to me is having to duplicate a deductible.  I believe a law was passed that stated if you had paid a yearly deductible to an insurance and then changed insurances, that the second insurance company could not make you repay the deductible to them.  Yet this is what Medicare has done to me.  Hmmm, interesting

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. Sometimes called the silent thief of sight, glaucoma can damage your vision so gradually you may not notice any loss of vision until the disease is at an advanced stage. The most common type of glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, has no noticeable signs or symptoms except gradual vision loss.

Early diagnosis and treatment can minimize or prevent optic nerve damage and limit glaucoma-related vision loss. It’s important to get your eyes examined regularly, and make sure your eye doctor measures your intraocular pressure.

This is from the Mayo clinic site and does give some information about this disease, however most people want to know more.  What kind of symptoms are there; how do you know you have this disease, what can you expect afterwards, and is there any surgery or other cure?

Here are some symptoms:

Primary open-angle glaucoma signs and symptoms include:

• Gradual loss of peripheral vision, usually in both eyes
• Tunnel vision in the advanced stages

Acute angle-closure glaucoma signs and symptoms include:

• Severe eye pain
• Nausea and vomiting (accompanying the severe eye pain)
• Sudden onset of visual disturbance, often in low light
• Blurred vision
• Halos around lights
• Reddening of the eye

When to see a doctor

Don’t wait for noticeable eye problems. Primary open-angle glaucoma gives few warning signs or symptoms until permanent damage has already occurred. Regular eye exams are the key to detecting glaucoma early enough for successful preventive treatment.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends a comprehensive eye exam for all adults starting at age 40, and every three to five years after that if you don’t have any glaucoma risk factors. After age 60, you should be screened every year. If you are African-American or have other risk factors for glaucoma, your doctor likely will recommend periodic eye exams starting between ages 20 and 39, and every one to two years after age 40.

In addition, be aware that a severe headache or pain in your eye or eyebrow, nausea, blurred vision, or rainbow halos around lights may be the symptoms of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack. If you experience two or more of these symptoms together, seek immediate care at an emergency room or an eye doctor’s (ophthalmologist’s) office right away.

One such example is the drug phentramine.  This is the generic for the drug Phentermine.  Phentermine is used for obese patients and has good results.  It is a prescribed medication.  The other one is available over-the-counter and costs much less.  Phentermine is said to be similar to an “upper”.  It is an appetite suppressant that affects the central nervous system and gives you the same feeling of satisfaction as, say, eating a chocolate bar.  But it has some serious side effects that would make a whole lot of people really uncomfortable.  Compare these two drugs for yourself.  And keep in mind that a generic prescription is not always good as the original.  As your pharmacist.