Eye screening - side effects

[Ivostas66]

Hi folks,

Had my eye screening yesterday. For the second year in a row, the rest of the day was written off by intense headaches, dizziness and photophobia. I know that we are warned that "it might sting a bit" and that we shouldn't drive for 6 hours afterwards, but does anyone else have issues similar to mine? Anyone know of anything that can mitigate the reaction to the drops/ procedure? The doctor/ optometrist just told me to go to bed if I felt unwell.

 

[grovesy]

Hi folks,

Had my eye screening yesterday. For the second year in a row, the rest of the day was written off by intense headaches, dizziness and photophobia. I know that we are warned that "it might sting a bit" and that we shouldn't drive for 6 hours afterwards, but does anyone else have issues similar to mine? Anyone know of anything that can mitigate the reaction to the drops/ procedure? The doctor/ optometrist just told me to go to bed if I felt unwell.

The last few times I have been given an information leaflet, and had information who to contact if still having problems later on. Could you contact you local eye clinic.

 

[brisr949]

Do you use sunglasses immediately after regardless of weather..thats what i was told to do.

 

[Ralph-YK]

dizziness and photophobia.

I'm dizzy normally myself. As for photophobia, I wouldn't have used that word. However, it can take some time for my eyes to recover from the drops. As the point of them is to open (dilate) your eyes, they're set for dark conditions. And everything is blurred too.

 

[helli]

Thankfully the only problems I have had from the eye screening is the slight sting and blurriness.
I know some people are able to have their screening done without the drops. Might be worthwhile asking, next time, @ivostas66 and telling them about your previous reactions to the drops.
You haven't said this but please please please don't let this put you off the retinal screening, It is incredibly important for those of us with diabetes to get our retinas checked.

 

[Inka]

I wear my sunglasses for hours after, including indoors. I also avoid too much screen-time as that makes me feel worse.

But the main thing that helped me was having a ‘half dose’ of drops. It was discovered I’m very sensitive to them so the half-dose is the solution. My pupils still dilate but I don’t get the unpleasant side-effects or, if I do, they’re very mild.

You could try that @ivostas66

 

[Ivostas66]

Thanks for the advice folks. I stayed in a darkened room, but it took until this morning for the headache behind my eyes to shift. She did say my pupils were extremely dilated and so the screening process was really easy - maybe next time I will enquire about a lower dose of drops.

 

[Inka]

@ivostas66 Definitely ask. That’s the same comment I got re my pupils being very dilated when I had the full dose, so it sounds like there’s a good possibility a half-dose would work for you and reduce your problems significantly.

 

[trophywench]

I used to get that years ago, but don't now.

 

[Ivostas66]

Just came back from an apppointment with a neurologist (linked to nasty dizzy spells and a couple of 'collapses' I had back in February, March time). All good now thankfully, but he said that when they do screening they simply sit the patient in a darkened room for 2 minutes and then photograph the eye. He said it is because the drops that are often used have far too many side effects!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Just came back from an apppointment with a neurologist (linked to nasty dizzy spells and a couple of 'collapses' I had back in February, March time). All good now thankfully, but he said that when they do screening they simply sit the patient in a darkened room for 2 minutes and then photograph the eye. He said it is because the drops that are often used have far too many side effects!

I was half wondering of you might be able to go without the drops!

Hope you can find an amenable screener next year