Eye problems

[Graham]

I was wondering if anyone else here has had problems with their eyes? This is one of the symptoms of mine which comes and goes, but in the last week or so seems to have got worse again.

More specifically the symptoms I have had on and off have been.

1. An increase in eye floaters.
2. More trouble than usual focusing on things more than a few metres away (I was already slightly shortsighted)
3. Slight pain around or behind the eyes, especially when I move them.
4. Sometimes my eyes start watering for no reason.
5. Occasional twitching of my eyes. Like my eye muscles are twitching.
6. At the beginning of my illness my eyesight went slightly fuzzy, and I had trouble seeing in low light. Although this resolved within the first few weeks.

As I said these problems seem to come and go (like every other PVS symptom) but I have had 1-5 lately. I am going to make an appointment to see an optician soon just to check that there's nothing serious going on.

I was wondering if anyone else has had this kind of problem. I seem to recall people mentioning eye problems.
<em>edited by Graham on 2/22/2010</em>

[concernedcass]

Hi Graham,

I've had eye problems since the onset....that's one of the reasons they originally thought MS...b/c that typically starts with optic neuritis. Anyhow...after several MRI's, evoked potentials, etc...no MS...thank goodness! My eye problems were blurred vision and eye twitching...I never noticed the eye twithes, but my doc said that funky spasms/twitches were happening when she put light on them. I also had sensitivity to light in the beginning. A lot of the eye issues cleared up during the first couple of months for me. I wanted to note the following...their is something called post-viral reactive arthritis which encompasses arthritis like symptoms (aches, pains, weakness, stiffness, etc), eye issues, and frequent urination. One of my docs said that it is highly likely that part of my post-viral is a reactive arthritis...which will clear up for most within 3-6 months. He said it commonly follows viral infections, yet is undetected in blood tests like normal arthritis or RA would be. Fortunately, it's just temporary.

Speaking of stiffness...I get this on and off in certain body parts (hands...especially palms) and right leg (around shin area) since this all started. I find it weird that my stiffness manifests in specific locations instead of throughout body in various muscles. Can anyone relate?

[concernedcass]

Graham...

Bingo...haze is EXACTLY the way to describe my first month! I thought things were blurry, but didn't notice how bad it was until I got a B12 injection in November and within an hour I was seeing so clearly that it became apparent that I had been living in a fog during October! My arthritic like problems (apart from hands) are primarily in my right ankle and shin area too...off and on. Anyhow, reactive arthritis envelops all three areas (arthritis, urinary issues, and vision issues). I think I read in one of your initial posts that you were having urinary issues....so my bet is that you are having some post-viral reactive arthritis that will just continue to go away w/ all your other post-viral issues.

[Graham]

Thanks. My eyesight seemed to be badly affected during the first few weeks of my illness, as it went quite hazy as if the whole world looked like a badly tuned television. And I would occasionally see wavy lines in my central vision. I was obviously quite worried by this, but it seemed to clear up after the first few weeks. I've wondered if I may have suffered from some kind of migraine, as visual disturbance is a symptom of this and it was accompanied by bad headaches.

The eye problems seem to have mysteriously returned every now and again over the last few months, although nowhere near as bad as at the beginning, although they have then mysteriously gone away again, usually after a week or two. They have made a sudden reapearance during the last week.

It is interesting you mention arthritis, as I did have some slight arthritis like symptoms towards the beginning, mostly slight stiffness in the joints. This now seems to be confined to my right ankle/shin area, although like everything else with this it varies and is only there on and off, with different degrees of severity etc.

It sounds like we have gone through very similar experiences.
<em>edited by Graham on 2/23/2010</em>

[cajswansea]

I too have had eye problems. Earlier on I was watching tv for an hour and when I got up and looked around everything was blurry and it took a while to focus. I get that quite often and it was much worse for the first 2 months where I was also surrounded in a haze! I also get stingy eyes sometimes and if I look around the eyes ache.
I can also relate to the twiches, I get them every so often and they can get annoying! Also one time the skin around one of my eyes was tingling which really scared me! But its not happened since, dont know whether it was some sort of mild migraine?

[Graham]

It's funny how similar our stories are. It makes me wonder whether there is some wierd new virus out there doing the rounds. Anyway my eyes seem to have improved over the last few days, they feel less sore and I can focus better. I've been taking ibuprofen, as It felt like I had some sort of inflammation or irritation around my eyes, it seems to have helped. I'm having an eye test done on wednesday, so I'll see what they say.

[HomeopathAtHeart]

Thank Goodness! I am so sorry you all are experiencing this, but I am thrilled that we have this forum. I have been complaining to my family and doctors about visual disturbances since mid-November, specifically eye floaters, dryness, irritation, and a strange blurriness. I've seen 3 eye doctors and a neurologist who all tell me there's nothing wrong. They all give me the crazy look when I try to explain exactly what I'm experiencing. I find this symptom to be the hardest to ignore because it is quite literally in my line of sight constantly. Anyway, I guess this is one of those things that won't go away overnight, but it is nice to know I'm not losing my mind or suffering from some rare eye disease. Thank you so much for sharing and I'll let you know if I hear of any proposed solutions <img src="images/smilies/smile.gif" border=0 />
~H

[Wayne003]

I suffered from dry eyes and the feeling that i hadn't slept for 24hrs. It lasted for around three months and gradually i began to notice it less and less. No harm in getting an opticians opinion anyhow just in case it a symptom of something else.

[concernedcass]

I've even read some stories on other forums and MedHelp where the optometrist was the one to diagnose post-viral b/c some people's initial symptoms were the vision issues. I think the vision isses...like everything else...will resolve eventually.