Difficulty Focusing Eyes?: Hello! Sian's post... - Behçet's UK

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Difficulty Focusing Eyes?

magician profile image
20 Replies

Hello! Sian's post reminded me of a symptom and I would like to know if some of you experience it too.

I have had uveitis since 2007. It started really awful, vision in one eye was almost gone. Medication restored eyesight, my vision is sharp and the opthalmologist says it is the best that I could hope for, given my condition.

What does bother me is: despite good vision, i experience difficulty focusing my eyes. Reading hardcopies or looking at computer (as I am doing right now), produces something like a dull headache that seems to originate from my eyeball and pull my eyes onto my brain. This pain requires me to close/rest my eyes. The same difficulty arises even when I watch TV or try to maintain eye contact during long conversations. Sometimes the required rest is just a matter of minutes. Sometimes it is in terms of days.

I have always assumed this to be some kind of a collateral damage from uveitis but my opthalmologist does not think so.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Thanks!

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magician
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20 Replies
london_pete profile image
london_pete

Yes I recognise this! Particularly noticeable for me if I've been driving for a while. I find I just have to lie down and close my eyes for 15 minutes or so. I agree that it is probably collateral damage from uveitis. I think our eyes just tire out more easily...

goodlife profile image
goodlife

I had no lasting damage as a result of my uveitis, but I struggle with this. My opthalmologist thinks it's fatigue related. I find reading very difficult too

Jaxxi profile image
Jaxxi

I have not had uveitis, though my eyes are often bloodshot and red. I often experience what I call 'focus lock'. If I use the computer for more than an hour, my eyes refuse to focus at longer distances. So I can't use the computer then drive, for instance, without a rest in between. On a good day, my eyes only take half an hour to get back to focussing properly, but when I am flaring it can take several hours. I see it as a muscular problem rather than an eye problem, as other muscles in my body 'freeze' painfully if I stay in one position for more than a few minutes.

magician profile image
magician in reply to Jaxxi

I do have some kind of a freeze if i stay in one position for a while. Sometimes it feels like the muscles freeze, at ither times, the joints.

sian35 profile image
sian35

Hi

I get this focus problem too. It has bothered me a lot between flares. I am like an idiot at reading groups at Uni - I find it really hard to look at others in group and then look down at text we are discussing and find sentence or idea in text people are highlighting. My superviors has started to try to help me with this by saying page 2, 5 lines lines from the top. Even with this its still tricky. I still have same focus problem in other settings but the effect is less noticeable.

As I understood him, Prof Stamford in London COE said focus problem I am having can be influenced as well need for reading glasses due to age. i am just at age where i probably neeed glasses for reading which is caused by your eyes being less able to move between different uses (hard for me to explain - sorry). On his advise I went to optician . I have been prescribed some new reading glasses but can't have them made up yet as the opticiann needs imput from an orthoptist who prescribes prisms to help with a convergance problem I have. (muscles in eyes not working well together). I was going to see orthoptist for this aspect early Sept after having to delay a few times already this year but now have to wait again as he can't do his part until uevitis flare settled. Ahhh, how annoying.

Interesting you think our eyes might tire more easily if we have had uevitis , Goodlife. I guess there could be some tiny changes or weaknesses which drs can't see.

Oh well, got to keep going.

magician profile image
magician

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I do not want others to share in my misery, but it is nevertheless sort of reassuring to know that this does not come from my imagination.

This has been bothering me for quite some now. This, and the unending fatigue, are making me think that my body has supported me long enough and now deserves rest and relaxation. Seriously thinking of retirement.

Have a good day!

sian35 profile image
sian35

Hi magician

My GP thinks I might be ready to go down ill health retiremnt route - enough's enough. Still a big step.

Thinking of you in your dilema. So m uch computer work in workplaces these days.

magician profile image
magician

Hello, Sian! Thanks so much for your concern and for sharing. Your sharing encourages me to stay inthe path for disability retirement.

My GP thinks similarly as yours. My immunologist is supportive of the idea but is strangely enough encouraging me to remain on the workforce. She seems to think that if I do not have an active flair, then I am well and therefore capable of working.

With the fatigue and the eye focus issues, I simply cannot do serious work with computers. And these days, no computer, no work accomplished ( at least for my line of work).

I hope we get the respite that our bodies are screaming for

I have prism glasses and find them very helpful. I was told I have a muscle inbalance and that my brain is slow in interpreting what my eyes are looking at.

magician profile image
magician in reply to

Thanks! I'll ask my opthalmologist if I should be exploring this

BFalls profile image
BFalls in reply to

What kind of doctor makes that diagnosis and how is it diagnosed?

Miataman profile image
Miataman

I have had uevitis once. it cleared up very quickly. I got to a DR before it hurt me too bad. I may have lasting damage from it. But I struggle with this daily. I wear contacts. My DR says my eyesight is perfect with contacts 20/20 but I still have trouble focusing. Playing video games can be a challenge. I work in IT so I have to have my eyes.

BFalls profile image
BFalls in reply to Miataman

I get the same response... “You have 20/20 vision” I can’t get them to take me seriously. I feel like my eyes are constantly adjusting!

magician profile image
magician

Hello, Miataman! What does your doctor have to say about the difficulty in focusing your eyes? Mine says it has nothing to do with uveitis. I doubt that statement. But in case it is true, I would like to find out what is causing it.

BFalls profile image
BFalls in reply to magician

If you find out, could you message me.

distanttree profile image
distanttree

Dairy products can cause pain in eyes.

Tea causes the mouth to shed skin...then the eyes go blurry..then the ears and the balance goes a bit..and shedding also takes place in the bowels and can cause gut pain.

If only one cup of black tea the system repairs within twenty minutes to one hour.

Drinking water and mild exercise can help.

The lymphatic system cleans up the bits of shed skin and clears the system.

Exercise moves the lymphatic system along but can get clogged and cause headaches etc.

For that reason avoiding foods that cause shedding is best.

So a milky tea will cause inflammation as well.

The observation that you have shared is very sound and there is more to be found.

How about a diary where observations are noted..and time ?

magician profile image
magician

Hello ! First time i heard of foods that cause shedding. Grateful for links, please

Thanks

BFalls profile image
BFalls

I’ve never had uveitis, but I’ve noticed since flaring up this year that my eyes are more sensitive to light and when focusing. I was given prednisolone drops by the optometrist and my vision improve within a few days. When I tried to talk to my Rheumatologist about it (again, I’ve never had symptoms in my eyes before) he refused to discuss it with me because he says it wasn’t uveitis therefor it wasn’t my Behcet’s. Has anyone else experienced eye sensitivity separate from uveitis?

I’d still like information or remedies for this, but I don’t know how it get it. Should I just make another appointment with the optometrist or opthomologist?

lalamilw profile image
lalamilw in reply to BFalls

I have had symptoms like this. I've never had uveitis, but I'm having trouble with distance focusing and increased light sensitivity. (I also am starting to need reading glasses on and off, but that seems more normal for my age (47) And especially if I read outdoors with bright light, my reading vision will get horribly blurry after awhile.) I had my eyes dilated and examined, and the doctor said everything is fine. I did have Lasik about 15 years ago, but my doctor didn't say that was an issue. My focus problem is so inconsistent and comes and goes in either eye, but usually lasts a day to a few days. It would be hard to wear glasses to fix this because the problem is not consistent enough to have an accurate prescription. It's making it hard to watch live sports/theater events and hard to see the ball on my 1/week tennis game. My doctor called it a "transitioning" problem (between near and far distance vision). Makes sense, but how do I fix it? And not sure if it's related to Behcet's or is just normal for people my age?

Best of luck to you! Keep me posted if you find answers. :)

Is that professor who said, not uveitis? Did you ask him what is it, then? I tend to think it 's optical neuropathy. I hope prof did not say, it"s your fatigue. If so, you are fobbed off.

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