How common is eye pain and blurry vision in fibromyalgia? What are your experiences?

[Uhura]

Eye doctor insists that they can't make the glasses prescription stronger, and the blurriness is from dry eyes. Regular doctor says it is from fibromyalgia. Eyes hurt and I am always using the one eye drop that gives any relief and eye gel throughout the day. But they make things even blurrier. Reading is so hard. I end up closing the weaker eye to read. I do not have double vision every.

Anyone want to share their experiences?

 

[Froggyhop]

Hi Uhura,
I have not been officially diagnosed with FM, still ticking off all the other medical boxes that are required before the docs will seriously look at FM. I have eye issues also, and am not receiving any answers from the eye doc who I just saw again 2 weeks ago. He too tells me that the blurry vision I am experiencing is from dry eyes. I have been trying to use the eye drops more regularly, but to be honest, I have not found it to make a difference. The Opthamologist seems to get irritated with me when I try to discuss all of the vision problems I am experiencing, which apparently are not connected to my glasses prescription. I have some other eye problems, but they do not explain what I am experiencing. The doc has now defaulted to telling me it doesn't have anything to do with my physical eye, must be happening in my brain! Well, that's not helpful. Have you read anything about small fiber sensory neuropathy? Somewhere between 40 and 50% of FM folks have SMSN, and it can effect the eyes, causing pain. Corneal confocal microscopy is a non-invasive way to diagnose SFSN, I do not know where this can be done though, probably need to research. Also, Sjogren's syndrome, which can accompany FM can cause eye dryness (mouth too). If there is another diagnosis accompanying your FM, then treating it can sometimes be helpful for your FM too. It can be very disconcerting to have our vision functioning poorly, and not be able to correct it with a new prescription! I hope you are able to sort out what is causing the problem, so you can see more clearly!

 

[JayCS]

Hi Uhura: As I have an even drier mouth, docs checked me for Sjögren's, haven't got it tho.
I do think I have "sicca syndrome" as my skin, my stomach (= hyperacidic) and my throat are also dry.
I know my eyes are better after good physio like osteopathy, acupressure and Chinese acupuncture.

 

[Gianna]

Hi. In my case my eyes also hurt and I’m extremely sensitive to the light. Not everyday, just when fibro feels like bothering my eyes. They also burn.

 

[Carolyn Rhodes]

Hi Uhura,
I also have dry, blurry eyes. Today, they feel like sand is in my eyes, but I keep using dry eye drops. I find if my eyes hurt to bad that I just take my glasses off and quit reading anything, sometimes the break helps.

 

[NY Farmwife]

I had intermittent double vision with one image below and slightly to the right of the original. After the testing for myasthemia gravis was negative, my neuro-ophthalmologist sent me to an optist (a physical therapist for eyes!) who gave me exercises to do at home. Things were better as far as the double vision was concerned, but I still "needed my glasses on to find my glasses" with 20/400 vision. LASEK surgery fixed all that. I'm now 20/30 in both eyes, can read almost everything without glasses, and can drive without them, too. I sometimes need drops for dryness (and really needed them the first year!), but am so glad I had this done in 1997. Good luck. I hope this helps.

 

[Badger]

I wear glasses and have had pain mostly behind my right for many years. I'm not sure if it's related to an old neck injury. Sometimes vision gets blurry but mostly it's the discomfort. Would have liked laser surgery but too anxious about possible longtime pain.

 

[Con]

I am sensitive to light and do moisture drops as needed. I, too, have the blurring at times.

 

[GallyG]

I wish to thank those who offered eye drops as a solution for dry eyes being part of vision problems. You said it was helpful in reducing blurred vision. I have started regular use of Refresh Tears for double vision issues. What a difference . i read a greater part of t day. I can hardly believe it; late in day my left eye will suddenly go double so I irrigate both eye generally and go back to reading. Now I need to see if i can do the drops earlier as a preventative measure. Anyway, thank you all.

Graham

 

[GallyG]

I should add that sometimes I irrigate twice an hour. Other times it’s only once an hour when eyes are not as tired.

 

[fimi]

I also suffer with dry eyes and blurring, and find that when the water in the shower hits my eyes they can burn. I wear contact lenses sometimes and have suffered quite a few issues with dryness and blurry vision - now mostly wear glasses!

 

[iamitpal]

That sounds really frustrating, I'm sorry you've been experiencing that @Uhura . I have Fibromyalgia, Dry Eye Syndrome and a pretty high prescription. I've been using Systane Complete eye drops for the past couple years which has helped. In fact, my prescription actually went down recently because my eyes are less dry due to using these eye drops 2-5 times per day. I might be using these eye drops for the rest of my life and might not ever be able to wear contact lenses again but the drops have provided more relief than any other drops I've tried. I hope you find a solution that provides you relief!

 

[CathyRachelle]

I am also recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I was tested for sjorgens and thankfully i do not it. I have been battling dry eyes since before my diagnosis. The over-the-counter drops were not affective. I am currently using a warm compress and restasis twice daily. I also had clogged eye glands, that were treated and I go back this week to check my progress, but I must say the severe grit like feeling in my eyes is gone. My eye doctor said she has seen a comorbidity with dry eyes and fibromyalgia. Best of luck.

 

[FarmerJoe]

I began having problems with vision two years after my Fibro symptoms became severe. I changed from an optometrist to an Ophthalmologists and the result was unchanged. My glasses prescription began to become less and less effective. I would explain to him that my prescription wasn't giving me the clarity I was looking for, and basically, nothing. No suggestion, no offer of assistance, no offer of hope. I feel blessed that it is as good as it is, he did diagnosis very early macular degeneration, so in the big picture, Im blessed to have a prescription that doesn't work as well as it used to work. It is not due to the diagnosis of early macular degeneration, but Unfortunately, this doctor is not willing to even discuss FM. I appreciate all of your sharing, I thought this too was unique to me and it felt lonesome. Thank you for sharing.

 

[fimi]

I thought this too was unique to me and it felt lonesome.

You are never alone here @FarmerJoe