PD and Vision Changes

[Pauldmd]

I'm curious if anyone here experiences vision changes day-to-day. I find that depending upon my pain and/or stress level my vision goes from perfectly sharp to annoyingly blurred. I assume that Parkinson's disease is affecting the eye muscles the way it affects many muscles but when I address this to my neurologist I don't get much of an answer. Given all the problems the Parkinson's disease can cause this is more of an annoyance than a major issue but I was still wondering if others have experienced the same thing.

[12stargate]

@Paulmd

I have exactly the same problem.

And it is very annoying!

Any suggestions?

Blessing, Eva 🌺

[enjoysalud]

I am the caretaker for a 54 year old male DX Jan 2015 with PD. The first symptoms were DOUBLE VISION, slurred speech, and fatigue. His are mostly all non-motor symptoms, although his PD vision is influenced by poor eye muscles. We just saw his neuro-opthalmologist today for blurry vision. His thought was that the cataract in his left eye is growing. His right eye had cataract removed April of 2016. He also thought that the PD pushed my son over the edge into DOUBLE VISION. My son has always found his DOUBLE vision challenge to be VERY LIMITING. He hasn't driven since March, 2016. He was fitted for prism glasses 10 OB. MY son is often unable to do computer work or enjoy TV. So, for him it is more than an annoyance.

[adrienneb]

I also find that I do not see well, especially in the evening, when I am tired. I have figured it is due to muscle fatigue, and the only way I can read is by covering one eye. That in itself is exhausting, so I basically do not read when it happens. When I saw my optometrist, he noted that there was no muscle imbalance. I think that is because it was during the day, when my medication was working. I understand that it is a common problem with PD. Another challenge from this snowflake disease!

[oceanflower]

Yes - I have days or times when my vision is blurry, and other days, it's almost normal. I went to an ophthalmologist and he didn't say anything, as if I was complaining about nothing. Even though often I can't recognize my own neighbour about 20 feet away in daylight, the tests my eye doc had me do make me out to have near 20-20 vision! It's frustrating me since it's not true

! Do you find that your vision gets temporarily worse when you exercise hard? Above 120 bpm) My neurologist says (jokingly...I think) that things "look blurry when you run so fast". I'm not sure if this is normal.

[paddyfields]

There seem to be so many areas where the PD angle is not part of the particular medic or physios expertise. When you think how long PD has been identified and how many people it affects, , it is really surprising.

[Court]

I also experience these problems with my eyes. Sometimes my eyes are sharp and other times I seem to be almost looking through a mist. This has started only recently and I assume is connected to Parkinsons. What next?

[Hidden]

My vision started to be affected before diagnosisI (2013) but has degenerated ever since. My eye muscles will not move well enough to allow me to read... It's the back and forth movement that just doesn't work well. I end up with painful eyes, even to touch, total blurryness as well as headaches. Balance is also affected. Nothing that the Opthamologist can do. I no longer read books and even have to restrict reading my emails and short stints on .facebook. I started a Bookclub ove r 20 years ago and now have to rely on a friend to read the books to me. VERY frustrating and downright depressing. Wherever there is a muscle, PD can affect it. Sad but true, unfortunately.

[Abdiqani]

Actually , PD shortly is a chronic neuro-degenerative disease that has a mass effects in the body at different stages when it occurs . as general PD when experienced by the body particularly the brain it begins to damage cells within the brain coronal section known as substantia nigra comapacta (SNc) . The depletion of dopamine which is the principal cause of PD also renders to effect other parts of the body such as vesto-ocular system in the eye system at large as the disease spread its physiological effects . Newer evidences suggest that PD has a clinical effect to the vision when it measured in different clinical trials of parkinsonium patients . So in fact it is important to have contact and consult with ophthalmologist about vision fluctuation to understand the right visual acuity you need . Furthermore may you take prism correction about eye problem . And feel free to eat carrots and other rich fruit diets with green tea if it possible to you .

Hope you well .

eyewiki.aao.org/Ophthalmolo...

[haugenk]

Yes, blurred vision (especially in the morning) is something I have very often. According to Abdiqani's explanation above, this is (unfortunately) to be expected. I see many comments in here on how it could be that all negative effects of PD does not seem to be explored nor communicated to patients. I have a theory that this is not due to lack of knowledge, but perhaps instead a psychological choice by doctors.

If you give a patient a PD diagnosis and add all potential negative effects on your body; problems sleeping, problems peeing, problems crapping, problems with sex, problems with moving, problems with memory, problems with hallucinations, problems with almost everything actually, it could perhaps be a bit much to handle? Hence, let the patients realise the devastating effects of this horrible disease by themselves over time. It might be easier to handle that way. Do you agree?

Best Kjetil - diagnosed a year ago, symptoms for at least 8 years.

[racerCP in reply to haugenk]

There is PD and there is life. As you age different parts of your body misbehave and everyone ages at a different rate...as good an explanation as any

[haugenk in reply to racerCP]

Definitely! Maybe we should rename Parkinson to AA - Accelerated Aging?

[Hikoi in reply to haugenk]

Yes, if we all lived long enough we would all get PD but we must be more evolved because we got it early

[racerCP in reply to haugenk]

That is my posture exactly. An interesting Anecdote: I was attending a Parkinson's exercise session actually it was a voice and singing class where I met a stately older woman and in discussion we found that we had the same Parkinson's neurologist. she complain bitterly that she still felt tired evenings even though she was still working as a songwriter and musician. I gently asked her her age where upon she told me she was 93. she had just been diagnosed with Parkinson's last year. more credit to her You're Expecting full life at every stage.

[4MCBFAMILY in reply to haugenk]

I agree somewhat but I would rather find out myself what is happening when it comes up. I they were to tell me everything all at once I don't think that would help me but hurt me. The whole power of suggestion thing. I would worry myself to death and hey I might not even go through that, for every patient's PD might not be like others even though most of those problems you listed I do have.

[cmHunter]

SAME HERE

[4MCBFAMILY]

Yes I have had some changes in my vision being blurred in the past 6 months and seems to be getting worse. I have also had very dry eyes so much in fact that my eyes are burning and red. Feels like my eyelids are dragging across my eyes like a dry paper towel over glass. However my eyes are watering and blink frequently.

[Carolinagirl123]

Hey there! I have problems with blurred vision too! It is especially bad when I go into stores with neon lights in the ceiling (I am not sure if neon is the right word--maybe ultraviolet light?) Anyway, my neurologist recommends eye drops to keep eyes from getting too dry because pd people's eyes don't blink as much as a normal person's eyes blink. I wear readers but I am getting a full eye exam in December

[Pauldmd in reply to Carolinagirl123]

I had lasik surgery years ago because I found wearing bifocals made it difficult to look down at the ground to maintain my balance. My reading prescription has increased over time but my distance vision is still good and find it much easier to maintain my stability without glasses. The reason I brought this topic up was that I was out running errands when my wife called me to tell me a patient has driven into the ramp leading to our office door, damaging it badly. The stress of that alone caused my vision to blur so significantly that I felt like someone had spread Vaseline over the windshield. Once I got home and saw it was not all that bad my vision cleared up considerably.

[4MCBFAMILY in reply to Carolinagirl123]

Have you had your eyes checked yet this month? Got mine tested yesterday but haven't got results yet. Crossing my fingers that it's fixable for the both of us. Be well, keep moving, and don't give in.

[Enidah]

Good subject. I had not put two and two together. I didn't realize the blurriness that comes and goes was PD related. I haven't had it for a while, who knows why?! But next time it crops up I don't know what's going on. Eye doctor was no help, of course. It was most noticeable when I was driving and I found myself blinking a lot trying to clear away the blur.

[Syncletica]

Most often my vision is blurred (unfocused?) and, significantly contributes to dizziness. Light exacerbates the symptoms exponentially. The use of a topical, over-the-counter dry-eye prep (i.e., Refresh or Systane) helps at times. I was told that this is "most likely" related to PD as no other cause is identifiable. Sometimes it is beneficial to view the world aslant!

[Motal]

Thanks for this thread, It seemed lately that my vision wasn't as sharp as before. Not blurry - just..less efficient.

My eyes didn't feel dry but since I'd been dx-ed with dry eye a decade ago, drops seemed worth a try. Last week I stopped by a drugstore, compared the 5 shelves of options for about 20 minutes - so much for executive functioning - before finally picking one. Been doing drops at least once daily since and vision seems better.

Wonder, though, why I didn't sense that my eyes were dry..

[oceanflower in reply to Motal]

ha ha - Motal, I had to giggle at your line about executive functioning. I noticed the same problem recently when standing before an array of different types of toothpaste. Crikey!

[plainbob]

I, too, experience vision problems. I was diagnosed 10yrs ago. Since then I have had problems that I can only liken to my eyes seeming to lose focus at times and needing to deliberately re-focus. Also, at the local large shopping centre (mall), walking along the wide aisles between the shops, with plenty of people around, it's sometimes as though my eyes don't know where to focus (quite disorienting!), though having said that, I was there today and don't recall experiencing that phenomenon at all!

[Annie81963]

I have the same problem. Suggestions?

[Hidden]

Looks like by the number of replies that this is more common than I thought. My husband is diagnosed 15 years and hasn't been able to read small newspaper print, go on the computer or read a book for about 5 years now. His vision problems started slowly and kept getting worse. Lately the most common eye problem with him is depth perception. Reaching for a drinking glass he might end up grabbing the vase next to it. He has never researched PD nor asked his Dr. much about it. NOT FOR EVERYONE but for him it was the right way to go. He has always been a fighter, optimistic, walked miles and exercised and even worked up until his early 80's. He will be 88 this month! I think he didn't get depressed because he didn't know what was ahead of him and adjusted as a problem came along.

[jacquiosz]

hey guys. there is an app you can get for your computer it reminds you to do eye exercises while you are on the computer. you can set it for every hour or half hour while you are using your computer.

chrome.google.com/webstore/...

[harding55]

This has been happening to me for the last several months. It is so frustrating!

[Lincpolio]

Husband experiences similar. Had both cataracts done and the second one had to have laser surgery as it clouded over. Still having issues. Going to make another appointment at Boots on Monday.

Just in case of interest... Post Polio Syndrome.. what we both have too.... I have muscles that move my left eye that are weaker than muscles that move my right eye and experience changes in vision. Move head rather than eyes to manage better.

Hils

[ecurb]

Yes I noticed a couple of years ago that my vision becomes more blury during off time and over time has become worse as my other symptoms have. I also tried to bring my neurologist's attention to this fact but he shows no interest ! Would seem they are all tarred with the same brush.

[Johnny_joe]

I SUFFER FROM THIS NY VISION HAS BLURRED SINCE MY DIAGNOSIS. I GET BY WITHA MAGNIFYING GLASS FOR READING