Fibromyalgia Support Group
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It's bad enough our brains have trouble focusing on day to day things.
But I notice that my eyes have trouble focusing when I read. I have needed glasses since I was a kid and a few years ago began to have trouble driving at night.
Last year during an eye exam I failed the depth perception test.
So a month after that I went and got my eyes fixed.
I can see great far away, still can't drive at night and I still require reading glasses.
But when I read, my focus still goes in and out a little.
They said some of my meds do that. But part of me wonders if a lot of it has to do with fibro?
Does anyone else have trouble with their eyes, focusing, or driving at night?
But I notice that my eyes have trouble focusing when I read. I have needed glasses since I was a kid and a few years ago began to have trouble driving at night.
Last year during an eye exam I failed the depth perception test.
So a month after that I went and got my eyes fixed.
I can see great far away, still can't drive at night and I still require reading glasses.
But when I read, my focus still goes in and out a little.
They said some of my meds do that. But part of me wonders if a lot of it has to do with fibro?
Does anyone else have trouble with their eyes, focusing, or driving at night?
I wish I knew the answers, best we can do us tell of our own or go to mayo clinic or webmd and do the symptom checker or just google our question.
Don't we just love the fibro title!!!! NOT!!!!
But...
My fibro makes my eyes fatigue for me. And due to this I have to wear a weak prescription when I'm flaring. Or if I know I'm going to be on the computer for any length of time.
And yes, driving is bad. We have a higher vehicle (jeep) and when a truck gets in behind me, it's blinding. I immediately adjust all mirrors.
I have a hard time adjusting my eyes back after looking at light. It takes several minutes (about 10) to adjust back. So driving at night is nearly blinding to me. It sucks!
Wonderbaby.... sucks your eyes get fatigue. Maybe that's what is wrong with mine.
We have a truck. I actually prefer driving that compared to the small toyota compact car we have. I can't see through the tiny mirrors on that tiny car. Maybe I should just get huge mirrors for it. lol
Hugs~
Melanie
That's the bad news - the good news is that surgery fixed it and I have 20/20 vision for the first time in my life.
My first issue was driving at night - the lights were blinding and at the worst I could see more than one light for every one that was really there.
Hope you figure it out soon - vision problems suck. I'm a big reader so it drives me crazy not to be able to see.
Yes, cataracts will show up on an eye exam but unless it is because of an eye disease you are far too young for cataracts. They result from a natural aging of the eye & mostly occur in people over 60 years of age. Of course it is possible to have them at a younger age but again a good eye doctor will make you aware of them. Cataracts will blur your vision - doctors often say it is like looking thru a "foggy" window.
Also some meds can cause us to have difficulty with our eyes.
You said you had your eyes fixed - sounds like you had your distance vision corrected but not your upclose vision. We actually seen at three different distances.
Upclose vision is from our eyes to about 24 inches - you correct that vision with either prescription or over the counter reading glasses. Surgery is not the best option for this condition generally.
The computer has added a second distance to our seeing. Most computers are generally from 28 to 32 inches from our eyes so we need good eyesight from about 24 inches to 48 inches for the computer or need some means of correction.
Our distance vision kicks in at about 4 feet & beyond.
Throughout our lives, our eyesight is prone to change. We can even be nearsighted (myopic) in one eye & farsighted (hyperopic) in the other + have an astigmatism (focusing problems) in one or both eyes.
In addition, it is possible to suffer from night blindness. All of these conditions can be corrected thru correction or surgery or both.
The most important thing about our eyes is the eye health. As mentioned you can almost always correct a vision problem, but an eye disease is another matter.
You did not go blind from vision problems - you go blind from diseases of the eye. That is why a good eye exam is important on a regular basis. A good eye doctor will spend about 15 to 20% of his or her time checking how well you see. That remaining 80 to 85% of the exam is checking your eye health.
In my last job, before I had to quit due to my fibro, I traveled all over the state I live in conducting FREE vision screenings for a non profit organization. Worked with many different eye doctors & talked with thousands of people about the importance of going for an eye exam. I Was in that position for 10 years & during those years we checked close to 200,000 people's eyes so I do have some knowledge of the eyes.
Hope this info is helpful to you.
Peace and Love!!!!
Di
When you said you had your "eyes fixed", what procedure did you have?
Like Peace said, cataracts growth has similar symptoms.
Although cataract development may usually be slow and most common in older people that IS NOT always the case.
I had a friend who had cataract surgery in her 30's.
I began 2012 blind, when in April of 2012 I'd had 20/20 vision. I went from fine to blind in 4 months. Now, like Peace, after surgeries I can see very well again.
You can temporary stop each of your meds to see if vision improves. If it doesn't start that med again etc.
Are you seeing an opthalmological surgeon for your eye exams? Recommended.
Hope you get it sorted out
Eye exam - it depends. An ophthalmologist will see them. An optometrist might not.
Age: I was in my early 50s when mine developed and they were medication related.
Speed: My eye doctor first told me it was just my perception that they came on quickly. However, I had the first eye done and when I went back for a pre-op exam for the second, I had lost three lines on the eye chart in three months. She was shocked and said they were moving very quickly.
My early symptoms were no different than any other time when I needed new glasses. A bit of blur, a bit of double vision, and a bit of distortion.
I have so many things going on right now omg
Anyways, to answer the question about the eye surgery, I had the far distance corrected. They said if I wanted to have a correction so I could read up close (eg: books) they could leave one eye a hair off so my one eye could focus on the book. I told them it was a bad idea and Id rather get reading glasses instead of having one eye completely perfect and the other eye a bit different. Just in case I got a head ache that would suck.
The eye doctors opinion is that it's possible that a few of my meds may couse blurriness.... also that I have chronic dry eyes.... and when I say dry I mean severely dry, like my eye lids stick to my eyeballs in the morning. I use 4-6 eye drops per day but it's like it doesn't do anything.
I have tried tear duct plugs but they only help 50% so I end up needing a few drops a day instead of 5 or 6. And the plugs dissolve every 6 months so I have to keep getting them. It's irritating.
I thought when I used to wear contact lenses that it was the contacts that were causing all these issues... and now that I have my eyes fixed, the chronic dry eye is still a battle sometimes worse than when I had contacts.
I need to make another appt..... I need to vent to the eye doc about this... my eyes frustrate me!