I have had an eye exam to determine whether I am a candidate for surgery. The eyes are fine and every indication given is that the surgery should be successful. However I currently take methotrexate for the R/A. I was told that the medication is a contraindication for surgery and they left me with only that information. Is there an alternate medication for the methotrexate? If I switch medications with approval of my arthritis doctor are there others that would prevent the surgery. I was set to have the surgery done and in the final chart review the meds were noted and I was shown the door. Unfortunately I was upset and did not ask all the questions I should have. Any enlightenment you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanl you for your time.

Lawrence R Williams

Larry, I think it is less the methotrexate and
more likely your Rheumatoid arthritis that stopped
your surgery. Active autoimmune disease like RA
is a contraindication for lasik. RA is known to
cause severe corneal disease in some people
including melting of the cornea. There are some
surgeon who might consider Lasik in very mild
inactive RA but if your require Methotrexate I
don't believe you fall in that category. We don't
like to disappoint patients but you don't want to
take extra risks with your eyes for an elective
procedure.
Leonard Friedman MD Washington DC.

Congratulations on encountering a doc who cares more about your eyes than his pocketbook.
I totally agree with Dr. Friedman. I certainly wouldn't want to operate on you.
I have heard of some docs doing LASIK successfully on people with inactive rheumatoid, and if you look hard enough, you'll probably find one of them, but my feeling is that there are some risks simply not worth taking.
Remember, nobody ever had a surgical complication by not having surgery.
Good Luck. Glasses ain't so bad!
Dean Hu