Sudden bluriness in left eye

[mizu]

48 and had 1st pair of glasses in February half term for distance and TV. Am a teacher so I've been wearing them in class too.

A few days ago I noticed that my left eye is now really bad and if I cover my other eye I can't read anything at all it's so blurry. Literally can't read anything. Seems to be just writing not anything else in view. If I cover my left eye the right one is fine. I've had a stye / cyst on the lid for a few weeks which is finally going but going to sleep at night I can feel it and it feels quite scratchy.

Have booked a appointment at optician again next week but my mum says I need to call the gp ASAP.

Any ideas mumsnetters??

I would say optician, but call round to get one who can see you hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks for reply. So difficult at the moment as teaching full time and students have important exams, no cover available. I know my eyesight is important though!

Maybe try for Saturday then, or you could go to eye emergency then.

Sudden blurry vision in one eye? Given some of the things that can cause that, I'd be tempted by A&E.

Call 111 now. Sudden blurred vision can be serious. They will know where you should be seen. Not all places can deal with eyes.

111 or A and E I cannot stress how important this is hugs.

If I were you I'd go to eye casualty and get it seen to tonight. I think you can self refer in most places. Id want them to check for retinal artery occlusion which this nhs website describes as an ophthalmic emergency

patient.info/doctor/retinal-artery-occlusions (for doctors)

patient.info/eye-care/visual-problems/retinal-artery-occlusion (for patients)

From about halfway down :

"What are the symptoms of retinal artery occlusion?
Central retinal artery occlusion
If you have a central retinal artery occlusion, the blockage of your artery occurs just as it enters your eye, before it divides into two, and then into four, branches. The whole of the nerve layer of the retina is affected. You will usually notice a loss of vision in one eye, which comes on quickly and painlessly over a period of seconds. In 19 out of 20 cases the loss of vision is so profound that you can just see fingers to count them, but nothing more. If you can't even count fingers that suggests ophthalmic artery occlusion (see below)."

Good luck. Hopefully it isn't anything serious but definitely worth checking tonight.

Is it blurry or do you have blind spots. Cover your good eye and move a pen around, keep looking straight ahead and check you can always see the pen.

How is your colour vision in that eye? Look at something red with your good eye and again with your bad eye. Does the shade of red look the same?

I would urge you to speak to 111 about this.

Eye emergency if you have one locally, otherwise A&E.

There are eye problems which can be fixed if caught early but can't if you leave it.

My own experience a few years back was a central retinal vein occlusion. I had had dreams the previous night that I was getting a detached retina but things seemed ok in the morning, At work I was struggling to see. Driving home in the rain it felt like someone was shining a bright light into my eye. When I got home, there were patches missing on my computer screen.

I went to local A&E. The nurse practically laughed at me and they kept me waiting for hours. Eventually I was examined by a very junior doctor who couldn't find anything.

Three days later I ponied up at the regional eye emergency clinic. They did take me seriously. They made a very careful decision to see if it recovered without invasive treatment but held that back as an option. I had to go back regularly for a full examination.

I was lucky. My eye recovered to about 98%. Practically it's just a bit more light sensitive than it was. But I could have lost effective sight in it, had I stuck with local A&E and had it been just a tiny bit more serious.

Crikey, thanks for the replies. The bluriness is only when I'm reading, nothing else is blurry and my sight is fine otherwise. You've got me worried though. I'll call doctor 1st thing.

OP I’m an optician, I wouldn’t bother contacting the GP as they’re not well placed to examine eyes (often by their own admission)
The fact that the blurriness is just when reading is a good sign as most serious eye problems would be blurred whatever you were looking at so don’t panic!
It does need to be checked though sooner rather than later. If you’re in England there are various emergency eye schemes running in optical practices, called MECS in some areas, CUES in others, where you see an optician with extra qualifications. They will be able to identify the problem and if emergency referral needed organise that directly.
The receptionist will ask you triage questions and if they can’t accommodate you within the relevant timescale find you an appt at a different local practice with sooner availability.
Hope you get answers soon! But GP isn’t the way to go 💐

allsizes thank you - so visionexpress is not the way to go? I'll do a bit of research today.

MECS completed at Specsavers this afternoon and all fine- it is the lump on my eye which is causing the blurriness and it is slowly going down. Another appointment in a months time to check it. Thanks all for the push

@mizu sorry only just seen this now 🤦🏼‍♀️ but incase you need the service in the future could be any chain opticians, Specsavers,
Vision express etc etc or a local independent just somewhere the optometrist has done the extra qualifications. Glad you’re sorted now. Yes a big lump in the lid can distort the shape of the front surface of the eye causing blurriness but will go back to normal once lump has gone. Did they say to bathe with warm water and massage the lump to help it go down faster?

I've got a mask to put in the microwave and put on and then massage. The lump isn't that noticeable but is obviously making my poor eye poorly! Thanks for the info, much appreciated, think I needed a push to do something!

@Allsizes8to14. I fully agree with not the GP. I am one! We don't have the correct equipment, dark enough room not experience to deal with eye problems and we advise all our patients to go to an optician. They provide a fantastic service. They spend years learning about the eye and we do 2 weeks at university and don't always get the chance to have further training in eyes as GP trainees.

Patients think we are being lazy not seeing them but it's better care.

You go’s are not lazy some like me are too complicated so we go to the expert’s. My Gp is a wonderful lady and knows anything with eyes it’s Moorfields.

@Musicaltheatremum GPs absolutely not lazy but you are right, don’t have the training, equipment or relevant experience for eye problems (my GP friends say this themselves!)
The problem used to be that optometrists couldn’t prescribe, so someone could potentially see their GP, then be sent to the optometrist who identifies the problem, but if it just needs medication not referral the poor patient then had to go back to the GP for the drops! So 3x appts used, thankfully the new schemes allow us to prescribe from a specific list to that has streamlined things!