Astigmatism - anybody had it suddenly worsen so focusing is hard?

[GiantKitten]

I wear varifocals with a bit of correction for astigmatism already, but I'd had an eye test in Oct - first for 3 years I think - with almost no change at all.

My vision went weird yesterday afternoon - I just couldn't focus properly.Kept taking glasses off & on but couldn't tell which eye was wrong. Then by chance I discovered that if I tip my head slightly to the left I can focus ok, tip to the R & everything slips really badly

It's really disconcerting!

I think the increase/change in astigmatism is in my R eye, which is a shame as that's the better distance eye (I had lens replacement surgery years ago & corneas have changed a bit since then anyway)

I'll get an appt asap on Monday but I'm wondering if anybody has any encouraging information

Thank you - yes, retinal detachment is always a worry (I used to be severely short-sighted, & my brother, whose eyes weren’t as bad, has had a detachment) but there are no flashing lights or anything like that.

Before the lens replacement my myopia was -10 & astigmatism -5; it’s still nothing like that, thank goodness, & in fact I can still function reasonably well without the glasses.

There is an increase in cloudy floaters (which makes it harder to gauge exactly what the issue is) but I always have those to a certain extent.

I think my brain is adjusting now anyway but I will ring in the morning

Changing your eye angle with respect to the ground should never make a difference. That and extra floaters do make it sound like something has detached. Definitely get that checked out as a rush job tomorrow morning, and try to avoid fast movements with your head/eyes. I'd be very tempted to call 111 if it happened to me.

It's good you're getting it checked out - but I find I'm adversely affected by stress on the left side at times. It took years to diagnose, obviously, because there wasn't a physical cause and it would come and go. Not had some sudden stressful situation, OP? Or been under a high level of pressure for a while?

SpoonBlender I would have thought that too, but loads of hits on google tell me that it is actually a thing (in fact it’s also a reverse thing - apparently professional musicians whose instruments require head tilt/sideways looking at music develop astigmatism to compensate ) so that was actually reassuring!

I have a lot of floaters, of different kinds, all the time; they come & go. The optometrist I saw last time, who is afflicted herself, was very impressed!

No extra stress or pressure, Hefzi - I’m retired, and have a pretty restful life generally. This did happen once before, thinking on - I was working, although life still pretty quiet. I wore contact lenses then & kept thinking I’d put them in the wrong eyes but it turned to be increasing astigmatism (which eventually led to the lens replacement).

Today I learnt! That's fascinating. I'm always amazed that eyes work at all, let alone as well as they do. Hope it's something of nothing then, good luck Monday.

How did your check up go, OP? Been keeping my fingers crossed for you

Aw, thanks, Hefzi, you are sweet!

I haven’t actually been yet - despite my initial slight panic at the weekend my brain had managed to take care of the focusing problem by Monday, so I can function with my head straight again, and I have quite a lot on this week, so I’ve postponed.

I will go next week though, I promise!

please don't postpone. Sudden vision deterioration and/or floaters mean a dilating drops eye check within 24 hours if possible. It may well be nothing. It could be a Posterior Vitreous detachment which needs no treatment. But it could be a retina problem which needs urgent treatment if the sight in the eye is not to be damaged.

you should have a local optician who does these checks under the scheme which may be called MECS, if you are not in reach of an eye A and E.

this is more important than anything else you might have planned. Please go.

Please don't put it off further, OP! I know it might be nothing now your brain/sight has corrected for it, but wouldn't it be better to have this confirmed? And that way, if it does need further investigation, it's better this is attended to now - don't risk your sight, even for a small chance