Newley diagnosed at 48
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hi
Am looking for some general advice and reassurance please, having been diagnosed out of the blue this week.
I made an appointment with my optician as during a really bad cold sore outbreak my vision in the left eye became very misty. I was worried in case I had accidentally transferred the virus to my eye as it felt very dry and gritty.
After lots of exams / scans and photos of the back of my eye he said I actually had a cataract and that I was very unusual for someone my age (I did have a blunt trauma injury to that eye as a child which left my pupil slightly larger than the other). My maternal grandmother had cataract and glaucoma but not until she was well into her 60s.
The ophthalmologist said if he doesn’t come back to me after speaking to his consultant within two weeks, he would see me in six months as on the NHS it is not yet bad enough for surgery. I have private medical insurance with my work so am thinking of just getting it done now, as I’m a single parent to teenagers who is always driving at night and the glares are just awful.
Has anyone else had a similar story of a sudden change in vision? Am really scared I’m going to wake up blind !
Thank you
0 likes, 9 replies
soks AndiPandi
Edited
similar experience at 41 - now 4 years ago. wake up from afternoon nap with blurry vision in in one eye. optician said good news u have a cataract and nothing more serious. sorry u got this early. large pupil is not a good thing for cataract surgery. good luck.
AndiPandi soks
Posted
Is so bizzare isnt it! I just can work it out. That eye has always been a bit off (flashing lights coming in from the cold, the occasional fuzzy spot in the corner of my vision), but to wake up foggy was really quite scary. I had convinced myself I had a brain tumour or something. Can I ask, did yo have surgery?
Jennifer_Guess AndiPandi
Posted
I am 48 and have a similar story. I thought I had a brain tumor or something as I've had horrible headaches the past year and worsening vision. I am still in shock that I have cataracts in both eyes! I am scared!
soks AndiPandi
Posted
i had surgery 3 years ago with symfony lens. i do not have near vision. i have large pupil so at night the lens edge lights up and lights up the entire iol. wish they made 7mm trifocals.
author11 AndiPandi
Edited
Are you using glasses now? If no, be prepared to use glasses either for reading or for distance vision if you get a "standard" monofocal IOL (lens). If you get an EDOF (extended depth of focus) lens or a trifocal, you may not need glasses, but you'll certainly see some halos and glare and starbursts when driving at night. Many patients don't perceive that as a problem for the benefit of full range of site, but some do.
Unfortunately, there isn't a human-made lens that matches the optics and focusing ability of your natural lens. So unless you're using glasses now, you may want to wait the extra six months... or more.
I had cataracts in both eyes and surgery to correct... but originally, my right eye seemed to happen suddenly, and it was long before the left eye. Like you, I went to the doctor to figure out what I was experiencing, and was surprised to hear it was a cataract. In my case, I was able to wait years before the cataracts required surgery. I was wearing glasses. But if I had gotten IOLs at the time of my original diagnosis, I probably would have gotten monofocals and missed the later-available PanOptix trifocals (which I have now) that give me good vision from 14 inches to infinity.
Soooo... you may want to wait.
AndiPandi author11
Posted
Thank you so much! I currently have a prescription for -3.5 in my affected eye and -3 in my good eye, and I also use reading glasses. I am not so concerned with being glasses free, just want my night vision / driving to be glare free, as I am a single mother of teenagers so am always driving them about at night.
RonAKA AndiPandi
Posted
The first point I would make is that cataracts are pain free and should never cause a dry and gritty feeling. I would suggest that the cataract was coincidental to the gritty feeling, and was just discovered when they did the detailed eye exam. It is possible it has been there for some time and is not progressing rapidly. Perhaps if you asked your regular eye doctor to look at your past examinations they could check to see if there was any indication of a cataract developing.
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That aside, they don't go away and you should be making plans to get it dealt with if it is affecting your vision. It sounds like it is if you are getting glare effects at night in that eye only. It should also show up on an eye chart exam as reduced vision. It also can affect the colour of your vision. I currently have a milder cataract in one eye and it gives white objects a yellow tint. In my other eye which I have operated on, I was also seeing double images.
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If you go through the NHS I suspect you will be restricted to a monofocal lens, which typically is set for distance vision. You can still see as close as 2-3 feet with it, but will not be able to read without reading glasses or progressive prescription glasses. But, it is the lens which is most likely to give you the clearest vision without glare and halos at night. If that is a priority I would select a monofocal lens whether you go through the NHS or not. The other issue with IOls is astigmatism. You should have your eye measured by a surgeon to determine whether or not you have significant astigmatism in the cornea. Note that this is not the same as the total astigmatism measured with an eyeglass prescription. What I am coming to is if you need a toric lens to correct for astigmatism that may not be available through NHS. It may be better to get that through your private insurance route. In any case the question to ask is whether or not you would benefit from a toric lens. A toric lens while the best, is not essential as they can just leave you with astigmatism and let you correct that with eyeglasses. But, if clear vision in the distance without glasses is a priority then it is better to get a toric if one is needed.
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Hope that helps some,
AndiPandi RonAKA
Posted
Thank you so much for this. I am really scared an feel totally preoccupied with the worry of going blind! I wear toric contacts at the present time and my prescription is -3.5 in the affected eye and -3 in my 'good' eye. My main concern is night driving and glare, seeing as I already use ready / office glasses my long distance is my main concern. Fortunately I will be using my private healthcare via my job to get this sorted, so that may be an option. I am just struggling with the fact that one day my vision was ok(ish) and the next day it was foggy. I know sometimes there are no exact reason for things, so I shouldnt get hung up on it. Also, I shouldnt be reading horror stories online at 3am as to how things can go wrong !!!!
I am seeing my normal optician in the morning for a chat and some guidance, so hopefully hard facts will put my mind at ease.
RonAKA AndiPandi
Edited
OK, so you are moderately myopic and are starting to lose your ability to focus closer which is normal as we age. A monofocal IOL set for distance should not be much of a change for you. It will not let you see real close and you will still need those reading or computer glasses. The change will be that your operated eye will go to about -0.25 so really good distance vision with no glasses or contact. I would think the only change would be the need to continue wearing one contact in the good eye.
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Needing toric contacts would suggest that you may need a toric IOL in the cataract eye. It is not certain as the astigmatism is the sum of astigmatism in the lens plus that in the cornea. The cornea does not change as a result of the surgery, but the lens is removed, so the lens astigmatism goes away. If the remaining astigmatism in the cornea is large enough (>1.0 D) it may be best to get a toric IOL. In my part of Canada these cost about $1,000 per lens more than the basic monofocal which is fully covered by our government health care. Hopefully your private insurance will cover that extra cost if you need a toric. The only way to know for sure if you would benefit from a toric IOL is to have the detailed measurements of the cornea and size of the eye done. They usually use a couple of different methods to measure and should be able to show you on a computer screen what the topography of your cornea looks like. That will will determine if your astigmatism is symmetrical and of the type that can be corrected with a toric IOL. Since you have had an eye injury that may complicate things a bit. But, they of course will be able to figure that part out.
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I would ask your normal optician when you visit if they have seen any hints of a cataract developing in the past. That may give you some idea how quickly this cataract has developed. But in the bigger picture it does not matter much. The whole lens is going to be removed and the cataract will be gone after the surgery.