Eye probs with VDUs post lasering?...

[Twitchy]

Hi all,

Sorry I've not been around much, the stupid eye's been playing up off& on all yr & basically it's hard to get motivated to do anything that hurts! 😱

I was just wondering if anyone else who's had loads of lasering on the eye(s) has noticed an increased sensitivity to light, esp from vdu's / fluourescent tubes?... I don't know if its the blood in the eye or 'just' the damage from all the lasering to date that's causing this, what's worrying me is will this get better?... I'm finding my bad eye will now only tolerate 5-10 mins on a computer before it starts to kind of ache, I also get a headache above & behind (ish?!) the eye & feel like both the eyes are getting fatigued really quickly. (if I wear a patch unless I manage to get it on just right so absolutely no light gets in I can still 'see' the blobbs too, and the good eye gets tired really quickly) The bad eye itself feels just 'wrong', almost tender most of the time now, there's always a bleed / blood of varying quantities in there (bleed, ebb, bleed, ebb...! :😡) and basically despite numerous calls to hospital, GPs etc etc nothing will be done until June when I'm due for an angiogram & I can predict with almost total certainty that they won't be able to do anything because surprise surprise the blood will (STILL!) be in the way. I did phone DUK careline & their thought was that because my cond is not 'clinically urgent' ie I won't go blind tomorrow if they don't treat me immediately, the hospital are happy to wait & see what happens, teh utter havoc it's wreaking in my life is irrelevant to them...but taht's another story, not really what I was posting about, sorry going off the point!!

I suppose I'm asking:
- is it normal to have such sensitivity post lasering / with bleeds (never noticed it this bad before)
- and has anyone experience of this getting better?... just don't know how I can do my vdu-based job if things don't improve soon - I;ve touched typed this but most of my job involves using detailed data from spreadsheets / drawings etc & whilst I can pattern recognise words relatively easily on paper (no light to mess with the eye!!) looking at numbers is really really hard...

Sorry, not suyre if any of that makes much sense, too eye achey & feeling too fed up to re read & edit now... time to put 'puter down & rest the eye!!!

 

[Caroline]

Can't offer any advice, but hope things sort out for you soon. SOme one will be along soon who will have better advice.

 

[margie]

Sorry to hear of your problems. I haven't had laser surgery so can't answer those questions.

Have you tried turning the brightness down on your VDU - it may give you longer periods where you can tolerate the screen. The only other suggestion I can think of and you may think it a bit mad is to wear your sunglasses when looking at the VDU.

 

[Northerner]

Sorry to hear this Twitchy We used to have mesh filters that would fit over the screen that removed a lot of glare, or I wonder if there is a coloured filter that you could put over the screen - perhaps certain colours would be easier for you to look at for more extended periods than the bright white you so often get? (I've no idea if such things exist, perhaps I should patent it if not, if it works! 😉)

 

[Copepod]

Sorry to hear about your problems, Twitchy.

Agree with others about experimenting with adjusting brightness, trying filters etc.

Even if you can't get an appointment at the hospital until the summer, could you see an optician earlier? They might be able to suggest some measures to take while you're waiting to see hospital specialist clinic.

 

[Claire]

Hi Twitchy

I'm really sorry to hear about your eye problems. As you know, I have had loads of laser and I have experienced the same problems as you. I have noticed that the glare from my screen in work is more noticeable and even when I drive, the glare from the sun is difficult to deal with. Due to the recent sunny spell, I have not been able to drive long distances as I start to get a headache.

In work, I have tried to remedy the situation. The I.T department gave me an anti-glare screen which I found helped. I also got my seat moved (as I was sitting near a window) and I found my headaches have eased greatly. One of the lights broke near where I sat recently and my work got more productivity out of me that day as I was working with little light. My other colleagues struggled to work!! I too also find that my eyes tire easily, which I find frustrating as I love reading and the though of reading a newspaper seems like running a marathon. I get a similar pain to you, I get a sharp pain above my eyeball which spreads to my lower forehead. I also get some niggling pains behind my eyes (although my opthalmologist told me that the laser would not have caused this). I had a terrible headache yesterday as my eyes were not used to the strain of a long drive to work and sitting at a computer all day after the long easter break!

My husband also did some research on this and found an article advising diabtetics who have had lasering to wear sunglasses while driving as they will be more affected by the glare due to the lasering.

I have an appointment with my opthalmologist on Friday and I was going to ask him more details about this. When I ask my opthamologist about the side effects I am experiencing from lasering, he states that they will settle down over time.

I do feel like the retinopathy has ruled my life for the last couple of years and is always on my mind (I can't escape it as I am looking at it). I hope the hospital are more effective when you see them in June - have you considered suggesting a vitreonomy to them? I have suggested this to my opthalmologist but he said I am not serious enough yet (how bad does it have to get)??

Good luck

Claire

 

[Twitchy]

Hi Twitchy

I do feel like the retinopathy has ruled my life for the last couple of years and is always on my mind (I can't escape it as I am looking at it). I hope the hospital are more effective when you see them in June - have you considered suggesting a vitreonomy to them? I have suggested this to my opthalmologist but he said I am not serious enough yet (how bad does it have to get)??

Good luck

Claire

Hi Claire -that so sounds like what I have! I've been online for about 5-10 mins now & "The Headache" is in full swing - this is on a Macbook with a really good screen! I to am definitely becoming a dusk-lover, I hate fluourescent lights these days. I'm just getting so fed up with all this...basically I've been having bleeds off & on for 4 years now, the latest bleed(s) for over a year - I found a book online yesterday (about evidence based treatment of retinopathy, medical text book) that stated that in the US a study have found early victretomy had better outcome in terms of vision retained & restored (cos of getting rid of bloddy jelly) especially in type 1 diabetics... this was referring to victretomy after 3-4months of bleeds as deferred, so i can't understand why they have left me so long! Can only assume it comes down to cost, lasering being cheaper than an op?! 😡 I know there are greater risks with a vic, because they cut into the eye, according to the textbook post victretomy 82% have improved vision, 9% no diff & 9% lose vison (not sure if that's totally or partially?!).

Anyway after a couple of firmly worded letters from my GP I got a call from the hospital yesterday, appt not urgent enough to be brought forward, but when they do the angiogram in june the doc will probably refer me to a surgical consulatn for 'heavy' laser &/ir victretomy. (Bit scared about hte 'haevy laser' as he already described the theatre laser session as 'the sledgehammer approach"!!! 😱

So all in all, very frustrating, very scary, very disappointing. Like you Claire, I feel this has totally dominated my life for the past few years!! It's really really starting to get me down, I have never felt so negative about my diabetes as at this point. Anyway, enuf whinging, I feel like my eyebal;s' about to explode now (guess I've hit the limit!!), so off to close it for a while. Oh and apparently I've got to keep my (already low) bp as low as possible, not cough or sneeze or strain or lift weights between now & june to help the bleed stop! Don't know if I'm allowed to exercise though, does that raise BP?!! Feel like I just have to suspend my life until they are ready to help me! Right, dark room here I come.....

 

[Cate]

Hi Twitchy,

I'm sorry you're still not getting the help you need with your eyes. How frustrating for you xx

One of the risks of NOT doing a vitrectomy that I was told about is the risk of a detached retina increases the longer the blood stays in your eye for. I know that the first op I had was complicated as they had to fix some tears in the retina. The more recent one was simpler in terms of treatment as the retina was OK, though they did cause a slight tear in it during the surgery. This meant I had to lie face-down for 5 days post-op - annoying, but doable.

I believe that the risk of a torn retina is the reason people can lose vision post-op, though I'm not certain.

Re the screens, I put a colour filter on my work PC at the time which made everything a sepia colour with brown font, I found this much more comfortable to look at for long periods than black on white. Could you do something similar?

Really hope you find something that works for you soon.

 

[Flutterby]

Hi Twitchy, so sorry to hear of your problems. I realise this might sound a bit drastic but have you considered contacting the RNIB to see if they have anything that may help you. They may have gadgets that make life easier whilst this gets sorted. All the best.xx

 

[AJLang]

hi Flutterby. You've just written something similar to what I was going to say! When I had my retinal vein occlusion the hospital couldn't understand that I now needed extra help with my reading, using the computer etc. I contacted Access to Work for an assessment. They then arranged for Action for Blind People (part of RNIB) to arrange an assessment. They made various recommendations for help including Zoomtext etc etc and Access to Work then gave my employers a huge proportion of the costs for buying the equipment. Thanks to this I've managed to keep doing my job it's not essy but at least I can do it. I would strongly encourage you to contact Access to Work.

 

[Twitchy]

Thanks, I'll try them! I went to see the GP today - the previous note expires today (that was the 'lets see if resting helps the heamhorrage clear' tactic!) and resting doesn't seem to have helped much, still bleeding...

Given that I've enough sight to get by (the driving and awful headaches are the main probs) & given that this isn't going to get sorted any time soon, the doc kindly agreed to do me a 'fit note' to work from home, so I won't have to worry about the 40 min drive & whether I'll get a bad bleed whilst driving on dual carriageways! (Scarily enough, I'm still legal to drive as I have one good eye & partial vision in the other - the catch-all they use is 'if you feel safe to do so'!!! 🙄 ) I only ork part time as it is, 3 d per week, so I'll be able to jsut quaff nurofen plus (the only stuff that touches the headache) for those 3 days each week.

I'd done some research & found a hospital I wanted to be referred to for a 2nd opinion (Birmingham Midland Eye Centre) - it looked fantastic, but because it's outside our area, the doc was not keen to try as he'd have to write to the PCT (which is current;y being dissolved apparently) and ask for extra funding for me to be seen tehre which would probably nto be granted - so much for all that utter sh1te about "nhs choices" then!!!! 😡 He did say if I could afford to or had insurance I could be seen by them privately - guess I'd better go rummaging down the back of the sofa then!

He did offer to refer me to Nottingham for a 2nd opinion, but I have no idea what they are like there (don't want to jump out of frying pan into fire etc) - anyone got any good experience re eyes there by any chance??....

Other than that, basically I'm not supposed ot be doing any exercise other than gentle walking or climbing the stairs (certainly nothing to increase heartrate or make me sweat!)...so after the past 4 yrs ebing afraid to exercise cos it always wrecked my sugar levels whilst trying to conceive / preg, now I can't exercise cos of the stupid eye...so I guess I Have to resign from the weight loss group for the time being... (gosh, can you tell I'm feeling right sorry for myself?!) Anyway timex re eyes - nurofen time!!

xx