Blurred Vision

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Buglaw

Active member
Joined
Jun 20, 2022
Messages
79
Reason
DX MND
Diagnosis
10/2022
Country
US
State
IL
City
Chicago
My vision has been getting worse recently and its started to get blurry and I’ve gotten some mild double vision at the end of the day. I’ll message my clinic on Monday, but I’m wondering if this is an ALS symptom.
 
are you on bipap?
The only thing I can think of is CO2 building up.
ALS doesn't affect actual vision, but can affect blinking muscles which could also make the eyes dry.

Any other symptoms - headache, tired, a bit vague feeling, anxious or agitated?
 
If the vision loss has been progressive, I would think of cataract, glaucoma, or a retinal issue first, so I'd make an appointment with an ophthalmologist or an optometrist to be sure it's not your eyes per se.
 
Some medications can cause blurred vision as a possible side effect.
 
I’m not on bipap. I don’t think I have breathing problems yet. My svc was just tested and it is in the 90s.

Unrelated vision problems seems possible. It’s pretty minor right now. I’ll check out an eye doc.

It could be simple eye strain. I’m spending more time staring at screens then I used to.
 
I've had to increase my Windows 10 display to 125% a few weeks ago.

I hope you're blinking a lot! Do you get any dryness? If so, there's an over-the-counter drop that helps with that.

Let us know what happens, please. I'm trying to decide whether to see an eye specialist (once I have fewer medical appts).
 
If there are no other CO2 buildup symptoms, I would think it is not ALS related but simply the eyes.
It could well be as simple as eye strain, needing new glasses, or having an eye health check.
I have cataracts just starting and things are going to get a lot more blurry before I will be eligible for surgery they get better again.
 
You may want to try eye drops ( not the recent recall though!). Retinal issues are halos around lights, floaters and flashers. Dry eyes can cause blurry vision. I use thera tears. Some meds have blurry vision as side effect.
Good you are going to the opthomologist.
 
Eye issues or meds jumped out at me. I would definitely see your eye doctor ASAP. It may be something as simple as dry eye but you don't want to take a chance.
 
they think it’s eye strain. I went from spending about 1.5 hours a day on my phone before als, to about 5 hours a day now (I was embarrassed when I realized this). They gave me a prescription for reading glasses and said stop using your phone so much.
 
The reading glasses will make a big difference I think!
 
That's a bummer that they told you to just stop using your phone so much without providing other ways to mitigate eye strain other than reading glasses (which will definitely help!). If using your phone is easier for communication, reading or accessing the internet due to your current physical needs, and that your requirement for using it will possibly go up as those physical needs change, I would have hoped you'd be met with a little less of a dismissive "Use it less." Even a blue light filter, changing the distance between you and your screen or changing the size of the font might help. There are eye exercises and timing breaks from the screen for brief periods to rest your eyes that can help.
 
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I bought several pairs of blue blocking glasses on Amazon. I don't need corrective lenses and these helped with eye strain. Also, I have thera tears eyedrops on my nightstand. I use them at night and in the morning.
 
I'm glad you are at least finding out what is happening.
Can you get an iPad? This may help reduce the strain by having a slightly bigger screen.
Also, think about how you can break up your time on the phone, even taking a 10 minute break after an hour can make a difference.
Apply drops if they feel dry, then close your eyes for 5 minutes.
Then spend 5 minutes focusing on something further away - looking out a window works. As suggested above too, at this time do some eye exercises, looking up, down, left, right, with your eyeballs only.

Get glasses that have glare protection too.

Hopefully the glasses will make heaps of difference, I know I've been there, putting off my next eye check too long, then complaining my eyes are dry and scratchy. doh!
 
I agree, a bigger screen is a good idea. Our phones were not really designed for constant use. There is a larger selection of Bluetooth keyboards than before, some with adaptive features, and hopefully one works well with either an iPad or a desktop or laptop computer for you.
 
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