my rheumatologist said plaquenil eye exams are yearly. mandatory for retinal monitoring. i get it. but every time the appointment gets closer, something tightens in my chest.
it’s not just the dilation, though that’s miserable when you’re photosensitive. it’s the waiting after. the ophthalmologist asks about vision changes, floaters, blurred edges. and suddenly i’m scanning my own sight thinking "is that normal?
was that always there?" the thing that actually keeps me up: my rheumatologist keeps saying my labs look “fine at the appointment.” but my C3 and C4 have been tanking between visits. so what’s the eye exam going to find? everything clear, and then in three months when my labs crater, what shows up then? i’m on plaquenil for 2 years now.
has anyone actually gotten damage findings, or is it mostly the anxiety of waiting for bad news that never comes? like do the exams ever catch something real, or is it just… waiting?