Long term dizziness after cataract surgery.
Posted , 12 users are following.
Hello, I am new to the group. My eye doctor has mentioned that I will need cataract surgery soon but my present concern is for my mom. My 83 year old mom had cataract surgery roughly 10 years ago and although her vision has been very good 20/30 she immediately had an issue with what she calls "dizziness". She describes it as her "equilibrium is off.....a spatial type problem". Even after 10 years she still has the problem that she describes has been getting worse. She says it happened right after the surgery. Her eye doctor had checked her out and she has had MRI's and neurological appointments with specialists and she checks out fine. We are thankful that her vision is good but are concerned about this "dizziniess" problem. It appears that this happens primarily when she moves her head. When her head is still, it appears that the problem is not as much. She can drive without any issue and does not have a problem walking (no fear of falling). Has anyone had or heard of this problem happening to anyone else after cataract surgery and if so, what was done to manage or cure the issue? Thank you!
0 likes, 21 replies
jo61855 john753
Posted
It has the symptoms of "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo." There is a lot of information about that online It may occur naturally with ageing. but stress can trigger or make it worse.
pershoot john753
Edited
This used to happen to me as well, in an attempt to boost the effected eye's power to a point where my brain / eye has nearly-ever (late teen / adult-life wise) encountered prior, with supplemental lens(es), while working in conjunction with the other eye. I have nearly adjusted, at this point.
It may be best to liaise with an optometrist, to see if a more balanced prescription, for both eyes, can potentially be dispensed and adjusted to, to aid in smoothening things out, either for short-term or perhaps for a more longer term, moving forward.
judith93585 pershoot
Posted
Hi pershoot, I don't think I understand your first sentence:
"in an attempt to boost the effected eye's power to a point where my brain / eye has nearly-ever (late teen / adult-life wise) encountered prior, with supplemental lens(es), while working in conjunction with the other eye". Are you by any chance referring to some degree of monovision?
pershoot judith93585
Edited
In order for me to explain that, I would need to give you a bit of my history.
The eye that I am speaking of is double+ that of the other eye. I am myopic. It didn't develop like the 'good' eye did. I am a bit amblyopic in it (also have strabismus), so the acuity is not all there. I also have a Scleral Buckle in place (from a previous RD (Mac off) incident), which adds to the myopia there. My eyes don't work together in the traditional sense. I have to actively encourage this eye to synchronize with the other, to keep double vision at bay. My brain relinquished some supervisory control over to me quite a long time ago, so I am able to perform micro / macro adjustments all day every day to keep things fairly in sync when it tears apart.
Since standard soft contact lenses dont go past -20, I usually have been wearing a -18.5 there (perhaps a bit less at times over the course of decades). This was just to get rid of a blob I see and allowed me to keep it tucked under the other eye's image. I also now have metamorphopsia in it, due to the RD (Mac off) event, so the image is not really dependable nor reliable. I can't use the eye like the other, because its a bit of a shell of an eye, hehe. It was purely to provide some backing to the overall image I primarily depend on the other eye for and perhaps some light periphery work. When all was working decent (aside from the micro / macro adjustments I have to make for synchronization with the other eye), I don't really notice the eye's image.
Flash forward and I eventually get a cataract in the eye (due to vitrectomy and prolonged steroid use from the RD event) that has progressed enough to remove. They implanted a power which gets closer to the other eye, uncorrected, for balance.
Now I am ready to put a contact lens in there to take it the rest of the way forward and do not have a -20 restriction (the IOL provides me half the power, out of the gate).
In my quest to provide more factual data to my brain to create a better visual illusion to me, I decided to try and boost the power more closer to what can potentially be more usable, instead of my brain performing too much estimation. I would very much like to have this eye ready to take over (a dream perhaps, hehe), in case the good eye goes awall . I would also like more depth data from two eyes rather then from one and like a quarter from the other eye, ha. I put a -10.5 in there (may change it slightly up / down after some time adjusting / observation, etc.). Final current prescription: ~-22.0. However, in doing so, this made me feel a bit of vertigo / dizziness. True, I have the illusion of more depth now, but it was making me feel a bit off here / there. This lasted for some time. I don't really notice any ill effects of this particular sort any more.
Apologies for the wall of text. I hope this provides an explanation for that first sentence.
judith93585 john753
Posted
Thanks pershoot! Your knowledge and experience will help many cope with vision challenges. Wishing you all the best as you continue toward to your best possible vision.