Blurred vision

[DSM3KIDZ]

Do POTS people experience blurred vision? I've had bad vision all my life. I had a major growth spurt when I was young and something happened to my vision at that time. Anyways My vision has been real blurry . Not all the time, mostly when I try to read something. Expecially when I wear contacts. Anyways, I'm alittle scared. Do any of you experience blurred vision?

[morgan617]

Absolutely, all the time. I have very dry eyes also, so can't wear contacts. But no matter what my script is, my eyes are blurred. I can only read large print books. morgan

[DSM3KIDZ]

I just realized that my eyes have been real dry so at least that answers the contact part. I'll have to get lasik cause I hate wearing glasses expecially when I have headaches.

Thank You

Dayna

[Roselover]

Dayna,

I was surprised to see your post, because I was just going to post the same question! Last night, even with my glasses on I couldn't read. everything was blurry. It was kinda scary. Then my eyes started watering - I've never had this before. I think I was trying so hard to see that I was straining them. It's better this morning, but it's interesting to hear others have this problem.

Roselover

[MomtoGiuliana]

YES! Especially post partum (for me). It freaked me out--I thought I had had a stroke or something--with the combination of being suddenly very clumsy. I had POTS symptoms during pregnancy, but the blurry vision is something that came up within days post partum. I don't have it anymore--that's the good news. Maybe yours will improve with time too.

Katherine

[Guest tearose]

Yes, I get blurred vision! I wound up going to a neuro ophthalmologist and he said that when our dysautonomic system is under great stress or fatigue we may experience blurred vision. He said it will go away in a short time. He said he sees this in people who come out of heart surgery a lot. The body is so busy healing from the heart surgery that quite often the patient is complaining more about the new lack of good vision than inquiring about their surgery!!!

best regards, tearose

[MomtoGiuliana]

tearose--I had forgotten about that fact about response to surgery. My ob-gyn told me she thought my blurry vision was a response to the c-section. This is possible, too--but I believe it was also POTS-induced. Like I said it did clear up after *several months*.

I do suspect there are MANY people who experience some level of autonomic dysfunction after surgery. My gp was convinced that my very changeable bp was a result of surgery response, not anything else (this was prior to my diagnosis). He said high and variable bp is not uncommon following surgery--it's a stress response.

Anyway--back to the blurry vision--I have seen this listed as a POTS symptom in literature.

Katherine

[PattiL]

Chrissy's not complained of blurred vision--at least that I can recall--but, definitely dry eyes. (People with large eyes are said to have drier eyes) In fact, her opthomologist just checked her a couple of weeks ago b/c her eyes were burning and there was pressure behind her eyes. (Partially due to allergies, we think) He said she only has about 15-25% of the amount of tear that she should and for one month gave her special eye drops and told her to take Flax seed oil supplements. They both seem to be helping. He also said if they don't help he'll place silicone plugs in the tear ducts which will block the outflow of tearing and keeps the tears in the eye for a longer period of time. My girlfriend had this done (not a POTS patient) and had terrific results.

Patti

[avais1]

I have this all of the time. My eyes are extremely dry, and I use refresh tears gel to help them out. The autonomic nervous system controls the lacrimal glands in the eye, and dry eyes are very common for people like us. My Dr. also told me that the ANS also controls pupil dilation, so don't be surprised if you have trouble adjusting to light and dark.

[Amy]

Does it ever occur in just one eye. I just went to the optomologist and discovered I have blurred vision in one eye. My vision had dramatically gotten worse both for distance and close up which was alarming in and of itself. In my left eye they could not correct my vision to 20/20 which again was alarming. They sent me to the hospital to have a field vision test. It showed the same thing problem in my L eye. Part of my field of vision I cannot see anything out of.

Next I am going to a nueroptomologist.

Anybody else experience something like this?

[Merrill]

I've had those neurological field of vision tests several years in a row, and for me, the results shows areas of "loss," for lack of a better word. I've had a lot of changes in my vision the last few years, but I think more of it is due to the aging process than to POTS. (I got glasses for the first time last year, and I only wear them for driving, movies, anything at a distance.)

Although I do have very dry eyes and tons of floaters and an area of bluriness in my right eye that is not corrected by glasses. It's just a blurry shape that hangs out all day in front of my eye; very annoying! My ophthamologist, who's been my eye doctor for 35 years (!), doesn't know what to make of that. This stuff IS related to POTS I think.

[yogini]

I agree with Katherine, I've read that visual disturbances are a common symptom of dysautonomia.

When my POTS was at its worst, I had problems with both eyes (dryness, floaters, blurriness, blacking out). These days, I sometimes have trouble focusing, especially when I first wake up. Amy, I also have the field of vision problem in only my right eye. It was constant at first, but now it comes and it goes. My vision tests were normal, so I just chalked it up to POTS an didn't bother to investigate further. Luckily it has gotten a lot better over time.

-Rita

[Ernie]

I have vision problems but I don't know what causes it. Sometimes I have to take my glasses off to see better. It feels like my eye muscles are not strong enough to focus.

Ernie

[ramakentesh]

When i got pots i had constant blurred vision, tunnel vision, weird migraine-like flashes in my vision, and i got vitreous floaters so bad that it was like looking through a curtain. My eyes have been sore and painful constantly since it all started.

My eye pressure went from 16 to 19 when i was real bad - 10-20 being the normal parameters, so there is definately something going on with POTS and eyes.

[briarrose]

I have the blurred vision, burning eyes and other visual effects.

I wish someone could come up with the answer to the burning eyes as this is getting worse and sometimes my own tears burn the corners of my eyes.

I think there are several things that can cause these problems. Hypovolemia, anemia, migraines, etc. The proper blood flow and oxygen aren't always getting to the brain or organs, so they don't work properly. I know that went I'm hypovolemic it's worse. There are nights when I struggle to see my computer screen at work. I have to adjust documents to read them.

One doctor suggested having my Vitamin K checked as that can cause some eye disturbances.

[ramakentesh]

I tried some bilberry tablets and they did seem to help - and drops every morning has helped the pain.

I also find that reading or using the computer for long periods - especially if there is glare - makes me get a headache and very sore eyes.

I tyry to avoid reading or computers five hours before bed every day and it helps in the morning