Eyesight has gone downhill almost overnight. any one else

[NoWuckingForries]

I've never worn glasses. In in my 40s and towards the end of last week I started having trouble reading small print. At first, I thought I was just tired from work.

Totally fine for 40 odd years then boom, can't see small text anymore.

Thank feck you can alter the text size on Kindles.

Mine did this too. Just a grim age related thing.

Just jump in the car and drive North

Deterioration of sight can be a sign of hypothyroidism, too.

How suddenly? The other response sound panicky but it is normal to become long sighted in your forties and the detoriation can be fairly quick, id be more worried if it happened the space of a less than a month but if it gradually became harder over a few months welcome to.middle age! Go to.an optician and get it checked out, specsavers are offering emergency appointments, fingers crossed you'll just need reading glasses

My eyesight did that when I was pregnant...

OP I started wearing glasses at about 48 years. My opticians said that 47 is the average age for needing reading glasses. The same happened to me, a very quick deterioration. The optician said this was extremely common and could be like flicking a switch. Get yourself tested. Now I wear glasses, I can’t manage without mine.

Follow government advice and best practice and go for a 30 mile drive.

If you don’t crash, your eye problem is not serious. If you crash, go to the optician.

I have found mine getting slightly worse lately but I think it's just tiredness.

Mine got really bad from about 45 .. I still only need a plus 1.25 but I can't really very well without them . It did seem like it happened quickly but in reality it was a few years .

This happened to me this year...seemed overnight..I struggle to read small print..I’m 44...

I went to the opticians in January and they said I need reading glasses..

Good luck!

I'm 59. My sight is still okay in good light but I have noticed a drop off in ability to read small print (all right, moderately sized print) in poor light. It went fairly suddenly too, following a GA, which I always blamed, probably incorrectly.

Have you started any new supplements or medications?

The world of varifocals beckoned

I’m very long sighted so I’ve got terrible eyesight and have always hated wearing my thick glasses, but I bloody love my varifocals, I’ve never had such good vision.

This happened to me aged 28, turns out I had Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and my brain was squashing my optic nerve. An optician noticed as the nerve looked fuzzy and then I went to hospital

**Deterioration of sight can be a sign of hypothyroidism, too.
Someone always says this

What does Barnard Castle have to do with eyesight?

At mid forties this is likely to be the usual longsightedness coming in.

Once spoke to an Optician who told me that sight goes downhill when you reach 42y. She was so right- at least, with me.

I always wore glasses for driving/distance but my short range vision deterioted quite quickly in my late 40s. It seemed as though in the space of a week I couldn't read the TV listing anymore, especially at night when tired. Optician said it doesn't really happen that quickly, it just seems that way.

Dougal, are you in the UK...?

Definitely get checked, a friend had this happen, although she was 21, and it pointed to a serious sight condition. It could well just be age related but best to rule out anything more serious.

Get an optician to look at them tomorrow and if that’s not possible phone your GP for advice. It may be that you’ve just suddenly noticed a deterioration that has been natural and gradual but it could be something that needs quick action - hypothyroidism, idiopathic intercranial hypertension (IIH - this needs urgent attention) or another sight condition. Have you had headaches, felt unusually sleepy or nauseous? Any fleeting loss of vision? It most probably is just the joys of getting older but eyes are too precious to take any risk with.

I've always been shortsighted but constantly have to flip up my glasses to read small print. I hear varifocals beckoning.

Please don’t panic. If you are in your forties and have otherwise good distance vision it’s extremely likely you are just entering the next stage of your eyes aging process. We call it presbyopia and just means the crystalline lens in your eye that helps us focus is beginning to become less flexible.
This means focusing on near tasks becomes more difficult and typically you will need to hold print further away or move into good light. This will help for a short while but eventually you will need to succumb to reading specs. It very much depends on your distance vision as to how much it will effect you in the early stages.
If you are longsighted or have good unaided dust vision you will notice it more than say a mildly shortsighted person.
If you want reassurance you can contact your local optometrist but if that is your only symptom please don’t expect to be seen as an emergency! Research Presbyopia. Hope that helps. It’s annoying getting older.