Getting Glasses When You Have ME-related Variable Eyesight

Have you developed problems with blurred or variable eyesight since falling ill with ME?

  • Yes

    Votes: 43 93.5%

  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Not sure

    Votes: 2 4.3%

  • I've developed other eyesight issues

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • Total voters
    46
I had superb vision even for many years with ME/CFS though my eyes did tire easily. I had a virus when I was 40 and was in hospital for a couple of days. When I went to read the newspaper after I came home I couldn't see well enough to do so. I could read it by moving it an arms length away though.

The optometrist I saw shortly after laughed at me when I said it happened suddenly that I couldn't read at a normal distance. He said it was because I was 40, that the changes happen slowly and that I must have been compensating by moving things further away to read for quite some time. I didn't bother to argue with him.

For reading I went through 3 script changes in 2 years which surprised the optometrist.

For the last few years my eyes tire to the point I can't focus properly after a short time reading. The last optometrist I saw actually understood that. When I mentioned the difficulty with focus he said that would be because of the ME/CFS that he saw in my notes, that the eyes are muscles and would be expected to fatigue quickly. Turns out his wife has a post viral fatigue syndrome so he is somewhat familiar.
 
sea said:
The last optometrist I saw actually understood that. When I mentioned the difficulty with focus he said that would be because of the ME/CFS that he saw in my notes, that the eyes are muscles and would be expected to fatigue quickly. Turns out his wife has a post viral fatigue syndrome so he is somewhat familiar.
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Small world. Same happened to me on my latest visit to the optometrist. Made for an easier consultation.
 
This paper is of interest.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27799582

Am Orthopt J. 2016 Jan;66(1):92-97.
Binocular Vision in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Godts D1, Moorkens G2,3, Mathysen DG4,2.
Author information

Abstract
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE:
To compare binocular vision measurements between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients and healthy controls.

METHODS:
Forty-one CFS patients referred by the Reference Centre for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome of the Antwerp University Hospital and forty-one healthy volunteers, matched for age and gender, underwent a complete orthoptic examination. Data of visual acuity, eye position, fusion amplitude, stereopsis, ocular motility, convergence, and accommodation were compared between both groups.

RESULTS:
Patients with CFS showed highly significant smaller fusion amplitudes (P < 0.001), reduced convergence capacity (P < 0.001), and a smaller accommodation range (P < 0.001) compared to the control group.

CONCLUSION:
In patients with CFS binocular vision, convergence and accommodation should be routinely examined. CFS patients will benefit from reading glasses either with or without prism correction in an earlier stage compared to their healthy peers. Convergence exercises may be beneficial for CFS patients, despite the fact that they might be very tiring. Further research will be necessary to draw conclusions about the efficacy of treatment, especially regarding convergence exercises. To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study evaluating binocular vision in CFS patients.

© 2016 Board of regents of the University of Wisconsin System, American Orthoptic Journal, Volume 66, 2016, ISSN 0065-955X, E-ISSN 1553-4448.
 
Since I got my varifocals last year my eyesight seems to have really deteriorated. I have just bought some ready readers because the varifocals are either now too weak or I am having problems adjusting between long and short vision.

Its so frustrating trying to watch tv.

I suppose I should go for a new prescription but it does seem like the more I depend on glasses the more my eyesight deteriorates.

What to do!!
 
I've got a similar problem, I got given varifocals the last time round and TBH they are pretty damn useless most of the time, for a lot of things I have to take them off to be able to read. They now need replacing because the frames are going, haven't decided whether varifocals are good enough for general sight and to get a couple f grades of reading glasses as well, if they'll allow that, or just to get medium distance lenses with some reading glasses.

I will probably be asking for a home visit this time around, even tho it means I'm stuck with whomever they send for the duration.
 
Sean said:
I do wonder about long term effects of varifocals. Only had mine 3 months, so a bit early to tell.
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I've been using varifocals for about 20 years. I had been getting more and more short sighted, but I guess age related long sighted tendency started counterbalancing that. As a result I didn't notice my sight changing while I wore the same ones for over 10 years.

By the time I got around to having a home test last year and getting new ones there was still very little change. Just enough to make it worth getting new ones.

So I'd say using varifocals has definitely not made my eyes change more quickly.
 
Trish said:
The last time I had my eyes tested, I had it at home - in the UK if you're disabled or over 60 you can get a home test.
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Is that right? It seems to say so on the leaflets I have too, but when I phoned up I was told I would have to come to the surgery for a test as usual. I am 64.
 
When most of the my symptoms hit me hard in 2014, vision problems were among the most noteworthy. Prior to that, I had always had better than 20/20 vision. Since 2014, vision issues have steadily improved somewhat.
  • Fluctuating vision clarity.
  • Reduced ability to focus on moving objects.
  • Reduced ability to notice things in plain sight.
  • Extreme tightness in muscles surrounding the eyes.
  • Reduced ability to shift focus near to far and vice versa.
  • Increased tendency to simply stare at one point in space with corresponding "reluctance" to shift focus elsewhere.
  • Increased density of floaters.
 
[QUOTE="Trails, post: 9601, member: 128" Fluctuating vision clarity.
[/QUOTE]
I definitely have this. My vision used to be so good that I used to joke that I could even see things that weren't there! But I did actually hallucinate occasionally before getting M.E., but didn't take it too seriously as I took hallucinogenic drugs sometimes...

But recently my vision has varied enormously, and it's more than 2 years since my last optical appointment, when I had slightly stronger glasses prescribed, I think, and I'm not sure if I need new ones or not. Sometimes I think I definitely do, whilst at other times I don't, and the thought of attending an appointment is not pleasant, as I have deteriorated quite a lot cognitively.
 
large donner said:
Since I got my varifocals last year my eyesight seems to have really deteriorated. I have just bought some ready readers because the varifocals are either now too weak or I am having problems adjusting between long and short vision.

Its so frustrating trying to watch tv.

I suppose I should go for a new prescription but it does seem like the more I depend on glasses the more my eyesight deteriorates.

What to do!!
Click to expand...

"Those with focusing problems or blurry vision should not wear bifocals. These acquired defects are especially found in the first year of CFIDS and getting prescription lenses could compound the complaint! Half-glasses also have a negative effect. Bifocals and half-glasses only make the defect worse because the center of the focusing mechanism has to "jiggle back and forth across two different visual corrections." No-line multi-focals with graduated lenses are still worse and may cause a PWC to stagger, become uncoordinated, and disoriented. Two pair of glasses should be purchased. One is for reading and the second for distance viewing."
- from Keep Your Eye on CFIDS http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/diagnosis/eye.html
 
Stuart said:
No-line multi-focals with graduated lenses are still worse and may cause a PWC to stagger, become uncoordinated, and disoriented.
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I can see how that could be the case for some patients, seeing as that style of lens can even cause those problems for healthy people.

My optometrist said they are not for everybody. Unfortunately the only way to know for sure is to try them. :rolleyes:
 
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