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I developed cataracts in my mid 40s; an opthalmologist told me about a decade before that I had the beginnings of one in one eye, only visible when the eye was fully dilated. When they started getting worse, they did so rapidly to the point where I couldn't drive at night.
The opthalmologist who examined me said sometimes they go quickly like that, and he had operated on patients in their 30s. An optometrist should have caught them, and given the failure to do so plus the rudeness, I'd get all my vision services at whatever opthalmologist you go to. There's nothing an optometrist can do that an opthalmologist can't handle. I'd ask your retinal surgeon for a referral to one.
Thanks everyone. I had an emergency visit with my excellent retinal surgeon today. And, guess what? My optometrist misdiagnosed me. I do indeed have a cataract in that eye (“stage 3”). What a relief! Pretty sure I’m going to “fire” my current optometrist though. Not only did he get it wrong, but he was pretty rude to me in the process.
I had both cataracts removed last year. Before the surgery, I was still able to get corrected to 20/20 with glasses, but had contrast issues to the point where I was uncomfortable driving at night.
I had a monovision correction with the new lenses they implanted, and now I don't need glasses for distance OR for reading - and driving at night is simple again!
I hope they get you fixed up in short order. Any optometrist should have seen cataracts the minute they looked in your eyes. Mine followed mine for 3 or 4 years before he said they were "referable" - meaning Medicare would pay for part of the surgery. Each visit he would explain to me how they were progressing.
Thanks everyone. I had an emergency visit with my excellent retinal surgeon today. And, guess what? My optometrist misdiagnosed me. I do indeed have a cataract in that eye (“stage 3”). What a relief! Pretty sure I’m going to “fire” my current optometrist though. Not only did he get it wrong, but he was pretty rude to me in the process.
My optometrist suggested that my blurry vision was a result of my face mask causing my glasses to fog up. This was after I told him that I had switched from contacts to glasses because I could see better with the glasses on. The cataract didn't show on their fancy machine but he saw it later after he dilated my eyes.
I said, "Do you think I wear a face mask when I'm at home? My vision is blurry all the time! It's not the face mask!"
I didn't have to fire him because now I see a real eye doctor.
I had cataracts in both eyes and it took YEARS to get to a point when I said let’s do it.
Such a rapid loss?
There are several different types of cataracts. The posterior subcapsular variety that I had form very quickly and start in the center of the lens where they cause the most damage. My vision was deteriorating so rapidly that every morning I woke up with the depressing reality that my vision had measurably deteriorated since the day before. Twice I called the eye surgeon and begged them for an earlier appointment because I was afraid if they couldn't get me in earlier I wouldn't be able to continue driving or working. In less than 3 months I went from "I need to make an eye appointment" to being nearly functionally blind in one eye.
Thanks everyone. I had an emergency visit with my excellent retinal surgeon today. And, guess what? My optometrist misdiagnosed me. I do indeed have a cataract in that eye (“stage 3”). What a relief! Pretty sure I’m going to “fire” my current optometrist though. Not only did he get it wrong, but he was pretty rude to me in the process.
Update: I just saw a cataract surgeon and sto my surprise (and horror). he agreed with my optometrist—I don’t have a cataract, or more precisely, I do not have a cataract which would explain my one-sided vision loss. According to him, my cataracts are mild to moderate and the same in each eye. Actually, he said that the cataract in my good eye (the eye that was not operated and that I am corrected to 20/20 in) is slightly worse than the cataract in my bad eye. The cataract surgeon said that the vision loss was due to the macular hole. I told him like I told my optometrist that this couldn’t be the case. I tested at 20/25 in my operated eye six weeks after the surgery and in fact had no problems in that eye (no worsening on my vision) until about six months after the surgery. Besides, macular holes affect the vision in one central spot. I still have the central distortion (it is very small), but I also have blurriness that covers the whole field of my vision in addition to the small gray spot in the middle. He had no explanation for the overall blurriness. He actually showed me the pictures of the cataracts and I could see that indeed the one in the left eye looked slightly worse than the one in my right eye … and yet my left eye is fine.
So, I called my retinal surgeon back again and spoke with a nurse. She re-iterated that the problem in my right eye was due to a rapidly progressing cataract. When I told her that I saw the pictures of the cataracts and saw that they were basically equal in both eyes and I was only having vision problems in one eye, she started talking about his cataracts are “subjective” and just someone could have really bad cataracts and not be bothered by them, but someone else could only have a mild cataract and be very bothered. Ok, I told her, but it is not that it is subjectively “bothering” me. I am not complaining about halos from lights or color distortion or lack of contrast or anything subjective. Instead I can’t see out of that eye and the lack of vision shows up in my eye tests (can’t read the letters). It’s not a matter of how much this is “bothering” me. It is rather, why the heck is there’s this difference in the first place?
I really don’t know what to do here. I have already seen my retinal surgeon (2x), my optometrist and a cataract surgeon. I am seeing another cataract surgeon tomorrow, but I just saw the images of the two cataracts and they look the same to me. I can’t imagine this second cataract is going to find anything different. Oh yeah, and I have had 4 OCT scans in the two months and they were all good ….
FWIW, sometimes effects we feel are subjective in spite of anatomy. You also have to keep reminding yourself that medical providers are presenting their opinions based on education, experience and the results of empirical testing. You obviously have your opinion too but you keep trying to replace one with the other. FWIW, I have hip dysplasia, severe enough to result in joint dislocations and lead to one THR in my early 40s. Various orthopedists have shown me x-ray proof of the defect. It is obvious. The hip in better shape anatomically was the one that made me so miserable I got rid of it. The "worse" side has never given so much as a twinge despite going through the same wear and tear (where one went, the other had no choice about ) as the "better" one. Go figure.
FWIW, sometimes effects we feel are subjective in spite of anatomy. You also have to keep reminding yourself that medical providers are presenting their opinions based on education, experience and the results of empirical testing. You obviously have your opinion too but you keep trying to replace one with the other. FWIW, I have hip dysplasia, severe enough to result in joint dislocations and lead to one THR in my early 40s. Various orthopedists have shown me x-ray proof of the defect. It is obvious. The hip in better shape anatomically was the one that made me so miserable I got rid of it. The "worse" side has never given so much as a twinge despite going through the same wear and tear (where one went, the other had no choice about ) as the "better" one. Go figure.
I am not replacing their opinion with my opinion. I am having three different eye doctors give me contradictory accounts of what is wrong. And frankly none of the three accounts makes sense of all the data.
And this is not subjective. In your story, you mention about pain. Pain IS subjective. It is well-known that the pain people experience frequently does not correlate with anatomical pathology, does depend on their emotional state, etc. etc.
Not being able to read the letters on the chart is NOT subjective. I can’t read the letters on the chart. It has nothing whatsoever to do with my personality or emotional state. Also these results are quantifiable and reproducible. I had my vision tested by both my optometrist in August and this morning by the cataract surgeon and they both came up with the same verdict/prescription. They both said that with my current lenses I was at 20/60 and they could correct me to 20/40. Reproducible, quantifiable results are not subjective.
They came up with exactly the same results, but neither one could offer an explanation that took into account both the fact that my cataract had not seemed to have progressed and that my vision problems could not be explained by my macular hole. They kept saying they were explained by the macular hole, but they are not. As I explained above the macular hole only affect central vision, not the entire field of vision.
I am actually starting to get flashbacks to my experience with Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease. I got denial, stories that didn’t make sense, shoulder-shrugging, refusal to make appointments, mis-diagnoses etc. for two months while I went deaf in my left ear. When I finally saw an otoneurologist that could help, he said it was too bad he didn’t see me earlier because he could have recovered the hearing in my left ear, but now it was too late.
Just afraid something strange like this might be happening again and I am getting a similar kind of denial of my experience. (I know if my entire field of view is affected or if it is just the center. It is not a question of subjectivity, but of them not believing what I am telling them).
I think I may finally have an explanation for my hitherto unexplained vision loss.
I went to see another cataract surgeon yesterday. Just like the previous surgeon and my optometrist, this surgeon said that he did not see a cataract (or more precisely a cataract that would explain my vision loss). Then I was given an OCT scan again and for the 5th time in two months it was normal (or as normal as one could hope to expect after the vitrectomy I had early this year for macular hole repair) with nothing to explain the vision loss. But then, he said he was going to send in another ophthalmologist with the practice so I could get a second opinion (a second opinion inside a second opinion! Yay!). This other ophthalmologist turned out to be his father.
Anyway, cataract surgeon #2 senior peered into my eyes, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, then sat back and told me that I have a rare “milky” nuclear sclerotic cataract that is virtually impossible to see from the outside while distorting my vision from the inside. In almost all cases, he said, the more mature a cataract is and the more it distorts and clouds one’s vision, the easier it is for an ophthalmologist to see from the outside looking in. But not in this case. I was skeptical, particularly since right after this when we moved on to a discussion of eye drops after the surgery, cataract surgeon #2 senior started to seem pretty crazy. But I did a little more research later, and apparently it is a thing.
So, in case there is anyone else out there who has otherwise unexplained vision loss, here is a possibility fir you.
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) as the "better" one. Go figure.
