Has anyone noticed that their IOP is highest when hungry? I purchased an iCare HOME2 tonometer a few months ago and have observed that my eye pressure is highest in the morning and gets higher the hungrier I become. Once I eat, it's as effective as taking an eye drop. Within 20 minutes the pressures lower 4-6 mm Hg and remain lower for at least 3 hours after eating a meal. I observe the same higher IOP in the late afternoon right before dinner. Does anyone have any explanation as to why this could be?
This effect was confirmed recently when getting my eye pressure measured at my ophthalmologist's office. I'm not diabetic, and my fasting blood glucose and A1c are within the normal range. The rest of my blood work hasn't revealed anything unusual. I've taken eye drops for a decade, but hope that better understanding these trends will help control the pressure.
That's a very interesting observation. Good work elucidating that.
I have noticed that my IOP tends to be lower after a moderate or large meal. I hypothesized that when more blood is shunted to my digestive organs, that correlates with the reduced IOP. That effect is fairly easy to understand as other things that change blood flow to the head region have an impact on IOP. However, for me, this is a very minor factor in my overall IOP management, whereas for you this effect is much more important.
Even though a large-ish meal can reduce my IOP slightly, hunger does not increase it above my baseline. In that regard, we differ. Sometimes my IOP is low, even when I am hungry. I do intermittent fasting and that does not raise my IOP.
It seems like you are doing great with your tonometer so far. The observations you have made seem very helpful. I wish I could tell you something else about the deeper underlying reasons, but I don't have any insights to add at this time. That's why I'm responding with a comment rather than an answer.