Blurred Vision from GCA

[peanutann]

Has anyone who had blurred/double vision from GCA ever regained normal vision? Is there any therapy or glasses that are known to help? I have appt with specialty ophthalmologist but not hopeful he will have any help. Thank you

[2013mayo]

Hi, I too have blurred vision, sometimes double vision, it’s one of the first things I noticed before diagnosed with GCA, I thought it was age related and ignored it for at least 6 months, it was only when I got severe headaches and feeling very ill I was told I had GCA.

I’ve got nowhere with eye hosp regarding blurred vision, it’s so annoying, as sometimes my vision gets slightly better, then the next day it’s blurred again, I don’t want to get new glasses at the moment as the sight may change again. I wish someone would come up with an answer to this problem.

Please let me know if you get anywhere with this.

Xx

[peanutann in reply to 2013mayo]

Being in TEXAS, I certainly understand about getting nowhere with the health system. You basically have to be in control of your own health because medical folks aren’t real concerned.

[Hidden]

Good morning peanutann, What mg are you on for your Prednisone ? If you're suffering any eye issues and do in fact have GCA it's a matter of urgency that you get seen sooner rather than later. I had it a couple of months after being diagnosed with PMR in 2019. Happily, no eye issues, but could have been had I not been told to increase up to 40mg. My issues were tender head and jaw pain.

Take care

Anne

[brambles22]

I've had about three cases of blurred vision , about 9 months into my GCA. I was on around 7 mg of steroids at the time. They were only temporary. They were associated with bad headaches. I took paracetonol and the vision and headache problems disappeared. If they had persisted I would have sought an urgent appointment with my local eye hospital or opticians-as advised by my consultant.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi,

Had a look at previous post and profile , but not sure exactly what you mean...

Do you mean you have GCA at the moment and are having sight issues...if so then immediate medical advice required...

Unless it’s the medication which is causing the blurred vision...and only reducing/stopping Pred is likely to make any difference.

Or do you mean you had GCA and are wondering if your sight will return to “normal”.......if the blurriness/double vision will go - well if the optic nerve was starved of oxygen and permanently damaged before medication taken - then highly unlikely.

[peanutann in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks for all your replies. I had PMR years ago. I credit antibiotics for recovery. My husband if 30 years died suddenly Christmas 2019 then Covid, then got second Moderna on March 4th. Was fine for about two weeks. Then extreme fatigue, low grade fever constant (never run fever in my life before) and crushing nonstop headache, Went to GP, it never occurred to me that it was GCA after all this time. Elevated CRP AND ESR. Doc gave me augmentin, and pred dose pack. it didn’t help. Then my vision blurred. Basically double vision. then it hit me what this is. After five weeks of being sick. Got my GP to give me pred and two antibiotics that put my PMR into remission for all these years so long ago. So now I’m feeling great, taking all three and tapering from 50 mg of pred. EXCEPT my vision is still blurred. I have eye doc appt Monday to see if he can help. I personally believe the vaccination was the ultimate final trigger.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to peanutann]

The vaccine may well have been the final trigger - the straw that broke the camel's back...

What dose of Pred did you start on this time? ..and are you saying the vision has never got any better since starting Pred. You really need to ascertain whether the sight issues are GCA or Pred related - hopefully your appointment on Monday will clarify this.

Please let us know, when you know.

[peanutann in reply to DorsetLady]

I will! Thank you! I’m hoping to at least rule some things out at eye doc. But you are right, I don’t even know for sure what is causing the double vision. I may have to go to an ophthalmic neuro also

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It very much depends on what is causing the blurred or double vision. In the case of GCA it will all depend on how much damage may have been done to the whole visual centre - nerve damage rarely heals even long term - but the other causes described here may also apply

skouraseyeandcosmetic.com/g...

As we age the muscles in the eye that are used to accommodate our vision also deteriorate - so changing from close work to distance work becomes harder - and some aspects of aging are sped up by pred. If you do a lot of reading or computer work that can contribute - I find it takes some minutes for my disance vision to really settle down. We also need better lighting to see well - and I notice that far more in the last year than I did before.

Dyr eye is common in autoimmune disorders, pred probably doesn't help and lots of reading or other closework contributes because we blink even less then. This can be helped with various artificial replacements - I like liposomal sprays you spray on your closed eyelids.

It could just be your prescription needs adjusting - which of course can be an expensive business. I stuck to very cheap single strength specs which I could move up and down my nose as required! Depending on the cause of double vision, there are things that can help - like prism lenses or even something as simple as an eye patch for some things.

stanfordhealthcare.org/medi...

stanfordhealthcare.org/medi...

[Jeswings]

I had blurred vision very soon after starting steroids (70mg for GCA in Nov 2019 ). In my case the blurred vision did not go away and I recently was diagnosed with cataracts, caused by the steroids.

[Predderman2020]

Yes! But only in left eye, though. i understand it abates when we get below a certain dose. I have been checked by opthalmologist twice and all ok in there. T

[pog165g]

I have the same problem my ophthalmologist has suggested prisms on my glasses