I have a condition called Kerataconus. They say it’s a progressive corneal degenerative disease that causes visual distortion and the cornea changing shape. Yet I only notice progression of these symptoms when I’m stressed or after periods of stress. Has anyone had experience with this condition? I’m really frustrated by this. Basically drs say if I don’t get the CXL surgery I will need corneal transplants and could become legally blind. I am rebelling the prognosis but I noticed it’s so much harder to read the phone tv and computer at all distances now.
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Eye condition Kerataconus. TMS?
- Thread starter Nickp36
- Start date
Cactusflower
Beloved Grand Eagle
Here’s a thread that may help. Scroll down to Steve Ozanich’s comments. He is a TMS author and was diagnosed with a similar issue. https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/tms-connection-with-eye-issues.1893/ (TMS connection with eye issues?)
Keratokonus is not TMS! I have the same, you realy have to be careful with this, i dont See good in one eye and need a Special lense. Its an organic eye disease not something brain induced. Of course stress makes it worse our eyes but this one you have to controll regular by the doctors and this cxl surgery is not that bad, so dont be scared, its with a laser right? But keratokonus does not cause pain
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Bonnard
Well known member
How were you able to determine that your symptoms were not TMS? That would be helpful here.
And, that's a tough situation to deal with--figuring out the difference on whether you have TMS or a debilitating long-term condition. Glad to hear the surgery is not that bad...but please be extra careful in identifying your situation as what's going on for someone else.
Respectfully, I strongly urge caution when making statements likes "xx condition is not TMS" when it's clear that so so many conditions can either be completely TMS or made worse/lengthened by TMS.
For those of us who were very close to unnecessary surgeries (when it was TMS all along), it hits a nerve when there's a suggestion that something is definitely not TMS and that a particular surgery is not that bad...
This is an obvious progressing eye disease, an organic one, If you dont treat it , you need cornea transplant. Its Not TMS , your cornea is degenerated and became thin. And you dont See anymore, you wont heal your cornea with TMS aproach to see clearly again. Tms is about learned symptoms and pain but not about organic eye diseases. Please ask for advice from an TMS doctor or howard schubiner. With this condition the Forum is the wrong place. But the anxiety about this symptom can be treated which causes much Trouble. But dont be worried, many people have this , you only need to avoid scratching your eyes If it itches, because this is making it worse. Its still no mistake doing tms work and still getting it treated and taking care of just to be safe because tms do make all eye conditions worse for sure
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Cactusflower
Beloved Grand Eagle
If you read Steve Ozanich’s (link I provided above) experience, he completely reversed this condition in himself by mind-body work.
he didnt say he reversed Keratokonus! Its a rare eye disease. He doesnt know if it is Tms, i had a privat chat in email with him. Its not possible to reverse this cornea change....its like a structural damage. Steve said he reversed his dry eye, not the conus
Cactusflower
Beloved Grand Eagle
Hmmm, the quotes above say something quite different.
JanAtheCPA
Beloved Grand Eagle
As you may or may not know, @gx92, I've considered myself to be a TMS success since 2011. In 2020 I was diagnosed with full-blown, sudden onset, late-in-life (age 69) Rheumatoid Arthritis, with zero family history of any auto-immune disease on either side. Given the circumstances at the time, it was obvious to me that a period of unmitigated stress and mindlessness over perfectionism and goodism and "doing whatever it takes" to get the job done - three jobs, in fact, on top of pandemic stress - was the cause. My rheumatologist can't overtly say I'm right, but he also doesn't try to argue with me about this. In a consult with Dr Schecter MD, well-known TMS doc, he definitely didn't dispute this, but he also said that now that I had RA, I had to be a good patient and follow instructions.
4 years later now 73 yrs old), I attribute the fact that RA barely affects my day to day living, to the fact that I accept stress as the cause, and I have taken many steps since that time to be more mindful, reduce the stress, and make a couple of lifestyle changes (including greatly increased exercise, always good for mental as well as physical health, and reducing sugar intake). I'm maintaining CRP scores of almost zero on a low dose of the most basic RA medication there is, and my rheumatologist is happy.
So did did I fuck myself over? Yeah, and I can beat myself up over that, but I'm okay also saying "so it goes".
All of this is to say that - as affirmed by Dr Gabor Mate MD in all of his work - emotional stress and distress CAN end up affecting us physiologically and even make us diagnosably ill, to the point where we need medical intervention.
I also firmly believe that many conditions can be significantly mitigated if not reversed by the application of emotional awareness and techniques. ie: doing the TMS work. Such reversals and remissions have been well documented for decades.
4 years later now 73 yrs old), I attribute the fact that RA barely affects my day to day living, to the fact that I accept stress as the cause, and I have taken many steps since that time to be more mindful, reduce the stress, and make a couple of lifestyle changes (including greatly increased exercise, always good for mental as well as physical health, and reducing sugar intake). I'm maintaining CRP scores of almost zero on a low dose of the most basic RA medication there is, and my rheumatologist is happy.
So did did I fuck myself over? Yeah, and I can beat myself up over that, but I'm okay also saying "so it goes".
All of this is to say that - as affirmed by Dr Gabor Mate MD in all of his work - emotional stress and distress CAN end up affecting us physiologically and even make us diagnosably ill, to the point where we need medical intervention.
I also firmly believe that many conditions can be significantly mitigated if not reversed by the application of emotional awareness and techniques. ie: doing the TMS work. Such reversals and remissions have been well documented for decades.
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I remember watching a medical programme on TV about epigenetics where scientists at a hospital in London were studying identical twins, looking at their genes and comparing them to see which genes had been switched on in one twin but not in the other and trying to understand why and how. As you probably know, epigenetics focuses on physical changes that affect how the genes are “expressed”— whether, for example, a particular gene is active or not, as explained in this article entitled 'How stress changes your genes" https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-genetic-destiny/201501/how-stress-changes-your-genes-0 (How Stress Changes Your Genes) in which it says:
"Many people believe that if they're born with a mutation in a certain gene that they're doomed, such as women who inherit a mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA 2 gene, which increases the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. In other words, they feel that their genetic destiny is fixed. But a growing amount of research is showing that things like stress (as well as the food you eat and any cigarettes that you smoke) can affect the way that your genes are expressed."
And in this further article https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/epigenetics (Epigenetics) it goes on to say:
"Can you change your epigenome?
Lifestyle factors in adulthood, such as exercise and substance use, have been linked to epigenetic changes. And epigenetic changes associated with harmful behaviors may not always be permanent. Scientists have found, for example, that a specific epigenetic change tied to smoking can be reversed after a person quits. Research on exercise, psychotherapy, antidepressants, and other interventions has raised the possibility that they exert positive effects on well-being in part by altering the epigenome."
I noticed that it says 'psychotherapy' so even medical scientists are beginning to recognise that the mind/brain can alter the body.
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JanAtheCPA
Beloved Grand Eagle
Triple Likes for this, @BloodMoon
I'm not sure whether or not your last comment was directed at me at all @gx92, but in case it was, or partially was, I feel I that I should make it clear that whether or not keratoconus is a condition that can be brought on by stress triggering a previously dormant gene into action (as I wrote about in my last posting) if it were me, I personally wouldn't wait around to see if TMS work would serve to switch that gene off again, not if an eye specialist is telling me that I need CXL treatment. So, I agree with you on that score. I might get a second opinion from another eye specialist to reassure me that I would be doing the right thing for my particular case, but I wouldn't be relying on TMS work alone. (I have hypothyroidism; it came on when I was particularly stressed, coupled with when I was going through the menopause. That was over 10 years ago and, although I believe the stress probably triggered the disease, I know that by now I would be in serious trouble health-wise if I hadn't been taking a thyroid hormone replacement tablet every day since diagnosis to treat the condition.)
The wife of one of my husband's friends has keratoconus and she doesn't drive because of it as her consultant ophthalmologist advised that she needs to wear rigid gas permeable contact lenses to see to drive safely and she finds them very uncomfortable. She's 50 now, and was diagnosed in her 20s, and she's so far, fingers crossed, not needed any medical procedures to slow down the blurring of vision caused by the disease. But I know that not everyone with the condition is as fortunate.
I appreciate that you know about keratoconus, but the following is for those who don't and might be interested...
The world famous Moorfields Eye Hospital in London has an information sheet about the condition on its website https://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/eye-conditions/keratoconus (Keratoconus - Moorfields Eye Hospital) which says:
"In very advanced cases, where contact lenses fail to improve vision, a corneal transplant may be needed. This type of intervention is rare however since the introduction of corneal cross-linking (CXL). CXL is a relatively new treatment that can stop the disease getting worse. It is effective in over 94% of patients with a single 30 minute outpatient procedure."
The Moorfields' information sheet also says:
"The exact cause of keratoconus remains unknown, although it’s believed that both genetic and environmental factors can have an impact. It is estimated that around 1 in 10 people with the eye condition keratoconus will have a 1st degree family member who is also affected. However, keratoconus is not typically considered to be an inherited disease."
Both Moorfields and the RNIB, the Royal National Institute for Blind People (also in London), state that keratoconus doesn't cause blindness. The RNIB website describes in more detail what the treatments are for the condition and the pros and cons of those treatments https://www.rnib.org.uk/your-eyes/eye-conditions-az/keratoconus/ (Keratoconus) and says this about how it affects vision:
"Keratoconus can affect different people to different extents, but it does not cause blindness.
In the very early stages of the condition, your vision may not be affected very much at all. However, as your keratoconus progresses and your cornea changes its shape, your vision will become more blurred.
You may be more sensitive to light (photophobic) and experience glare, leading to discomfort and difficulty seeing things in brighter lit conditions."
The wife of one of my husband's friends has keratoconus and she doesn't drive because of it as her consultant ophthalmologist advised that she needs to wear rigid gas permeable contact lenses to see to drive safely and she finds them very uncomfortable. She's 50 now, and was diagnosed in her 20s, and she's so far, fingers crossed, not needed any medical procedures to slow down the blurring of vision caused by the disease. But I know that not everyone with the condition is as fortunate.
I appreciate that you know about keratoconus, but the following is for those who don't and might be interested...
The world famous Moorfields Eye Hospital in London has an information sheet about the condition on its website https://www.moorfields.nhs.uk/eye-conditions/keratoconus (Keratoconus - Moorfields Eye Hospital) which says:
"In very advanced cases, where contact lenses fail to improve vision, a corneal transplant may be needed. This type of intervention is rare however since the introduction of corneal cross-linking (CXL). CXL is a relatively new treatment that can stop the disease getting worse. It is effective in over 94% of patients with a single 30 minute outpatient procedure."
The Moorfields' information sheet also says:
"The exact cause of keratoconus remains unknown, although it’s believed that both genetic and environmental factors can have an impact. It is estimated that around 1 in 10 people with the eye condition keratoconus will have a 1st degree family member who is also affected. However, keratoconus is not typically considered to be an inherited disease."
Both Moorfields and the RNIB, the Royal National Institute for Blind People (also in London), state that keratoconus doesn't cause blindness. The RNIB website describes in more detail what the treatments are for the condition and the pros and cons of those treatments https://www.rnib.org.uk/your-eyes/eye-conditions-az/keratoconus/ (Keratoconus) and says this about how it affects vision:
"Keratoconus can affect different people to different extents, but it does not cause blindness.
In the very early stages of the condition, your vision may not be affected very much at all. However, as your keratoconus progresses and your cornea changes its shape, your vision will become more blurred.
You may be more sensitive to light (photophobic) and experience glare, leading to discomfort and difficulty seeing things in brighter lit conditions."
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Since I wrote this post, it’s now progressed into my good eye and it’s progressing more and more not really sure what I should do about it. Don’t know if I should get special lenses, but I’m afraid that I will lose my ability to see if I don’t find something to do about this. my insurance would not cover the surgery so I could not get it And it’s just been progressing ever since But coincidentally the more stress, I’m under the worse it Gets
How do you know its getting worse? Despite i am seeing worse, the Konus didnt progress, it stops around 30 yo. They only see it with a special Scan. Did you do this ? Also i would get the lenses, so you can see normally, Its like glasses, nothing wrong with that. Do you Scratch your eyes ? I got mine from intense rubbing