Can Migraines interfere with eyes focusing properly

[tmoxon]

Hi I have just joined this group to ask whether its possible that migraines can cause eye sight issues where the focus comes and goes, it moves around when looking at the screen. When i look it up online all I seem to see is auras being mentioned.

I found out that i had a lazy eye, my brain had stopped using this poorly functioning eye and was just using my good eye. I wasn't aware of this for many years (as my brain had adjusted to it) until I started to need reading glasses. I have since had the lenses changed in my eyes, similar to cataract surgery but am still having the poor focusing issue. With my normal eye sight i thought it was the different eyes fighting each other. Not sure whether its dry eyes due to the surgery or whether the migraines I get are playing a part.

I had a bad migraine last week which lasted over 4 days. I take Sumatriptan when they come on and when looking at my computer screen its like the focus moves about. I felt ok yesterday and didnt notice it much. But today the focus isnt great again and i have feeling of a slight headache coming on, so far not bad enough for meds.

At the moment I don't know whether the focusing issue is my brain getting used to the new lenses or whether my eyes have dry eye syndrome after surgery or whether it could be down to migraines.

I have been given a prescription for amitriptyline to try if I want to try to stop the onset of the migraines but am a bit nervous to go on medication that needs to be taken on a daily basis and all the side effects that might come along with it.

Does anyone on here have any similar issue with their eyes not focusing very well please

Thanks for any advice anyone can provide

[bamboo89]

You don't say how long ago you had the lens replacement surgery, but if you had migraines before that surgery,and you weren't having the exact same problem with focusing then, you should get your eyes checked to make sure its not a problem with the replacement lenses. Sometimes a problem occurs with the capsule that contains the new lens, and it may require a bit of laser treatment to correct it. I do know the average time for vision to settle following lens replacement is expected to be up to about a month, but can be longer..

Otherwise, It's not that unusual for someone who is about to have a migraine or in the middle of one to have some difficulty seeing properly even without a visual aura (photophobia for instance) but intermittent or moving focal point issues are not usually listed, and shouldn't' be an issue when not in a migraine phase anyway. The fact you had one eye which wasn't working properly, and you were primarily only using one eye for most of your life with out realising it won't have caused focus problems - both my sister and I have the same problem (only one eye that works properly) and never really noticed any problems even though we both knew we had lazy eyes most of our lives; if you didn't know you had a lazy eye,that suggests you had not had eye tests during your life, because any optician would have picked that up. If you were having these problems before, its hard to know why, but you should get the (presumably private company if it wasn't cataract surgery) eye surgery people to check what they've done, then talk to your migraine clinic and your GP regarding this problem - sometimes focusing problems can be caused by poor sugar regulation in the body, which might suggest a problem with glucose levels.

[tmoxon in reply to bamboo89]

Thank you very much for really helpful and informative reply, you are correct in that i never felt the need for eye tests until later in life due to what I thought was really good sight, however my sight deteriorated for reading and I have since found out due to being long sighted, as I have gotten older its more noticeable than a short sighted person would notice. I had un-diagnosed coeliac disease for at least 25 years and I wondered whether this had made my eyes worse ( lack of nutrients for a long period), as I was comparing them to other people of my age group who managed to read a lot better than me, however they are short sighted.

I did have problems in focusing and had eye ache whilst I had a migraine before the eye surgery but feel it is worse now. I feel I could see my PC screen more comfortably whilst wearing specs before.

Again you are right about the yag capsule, I am going to need laser surgery in my left eye and I was told may need it in my right as well, I go in May to have this done, but when I look this up it says that the symptoms of this are cloudiness.

It was November when I had the lens replacements done, the surgeon could have done the yag laser surgery last month when I went for a check up but because of the focusing issues wanted to make sure that the lenses are the right ones for me as once the laser surgery is done apparently it makes changing the lenses much more difficult. When they give me a book to read i can see very small print now.

Thank you for mentioning the diabetes link as well as i was pre-diabetic a few years ago and then lost some weight but have put it all back on now, so that may be worth checking.

I also have a archnoid cyst that was found over 9 years ago and I have asked to have an MRI scan which I will have done at the end of this month, not sure whether that has any bearing on it, although the specialist has told me they are very common and if they scanned 7 people 1 out of the 7 would have a cyst similar to mine.