A Puzzlement: Sudden Change in Refractive Error Following Conjunictivitis

One morning this week I noticed a large change in the focus of my left eye.
My correction has always been symmetrical and small. Suddenly one eye was
blurry both for closeup and distance vision, but the effect was much more
pronounced close up. I could easily read standard size print with my good
eye, but not with the bad one. My closeup vision in the bad eye was
completely correctable with a reading lens.

Since this happened suddenly, I was alarmed and went to an opthalmologist. I
explained that I had had conjuctivitis several weeks ago in both eyes, but
that it had subsided after a course of antibiotic and corticosteroid eye
drops. He tested for glaucoma, did a refraction, and a retinal exam. His
examination found nothing wrong with my eyes. He seemed surprised to find
nothing and almost disappointed. He said matter-of-factly that it wasn't
likely the result of a stroke since it was unilateral. He tested my visual
field and it was normal. He acted somewhat mystified but then gave me a new
eyeglass prescription and said I would see fine with new glasses! Needless
to say, I would like to know why my prescription changed drastically in one
night and I am not eager to get new glasses only to find my prescription
changing again suddenly.

I have to believe this is a sequela to the conjunctivitis. As a physicist,
since my retina didn't move, I have to assume something changed either the
shape of my eye, the curvature of my cornea, or the shape or position of my
lens. The most obvious would be the shape of my cornea. Is there an
opthalmologist out there who can suggest an explanation? As for his stroke
comment, could a stroke make things blurry in a way that was correctable
with a lens? The only way I could see that happening is if it affected the
muscles that control the lens of the eye.

Thanks in advance for your help,

J.W.T.

 

IT IS VERY STRANGE FOR ME TO SEE THESE VERY LEARNED PEOPLE REPORTING
THESE CLEAR SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL STRAIN AND DO NOT RECOGNIZE THEM!!!

THE EYE IS PERFECT, THE RETINA TOO, ETCETERA, AND STILL YOU HAVE
IMPERFECT VISION.

WHY DON'T YOU LOOK BEHIND THE EYE, INTO YOUR STRAINED MIND???

YOU WILL SEE THAT THE PROBLEM IS MENTAL STRAIN.

GET RELIEF FROM THE STRAIN BY MEANS OF REST METHODS.

Visit http://www.thecentralfixation.com if you want to know the truth
about vision.

 

Mike,

Thanks so much. Your answer is very helpful, much more so than my
ophthalmologist. I should point out that I have had a mild myopia since
early adulthood, that I am now 53, and that presbyopia has been a problem
for the last 5 years or so. The reason I strongly suspected the
conjunctivitis is that I have never had any acute eye problems before and
now within the past few weeks I had a rather severe conjunctivitis,
requiring three rounds of antibiotics and prednisone eye drops, and just
after that seems to have healed, I suddenly developed this new problem. I
caught the eye infection from my daughter who got it right after returning
from Vietnam, where she spent three weeks providing medical care in an
impoverished area (she is a pre-med). Who knows what strange tropical
organism may have been responsible. Is it possible that some swelling of the
cornea could be a result of a lingering infection? Would such a swelling be
noticeable to the doctor?

The doctor clearly said that my retina looked excellent, which is why I
ruled out any kind of retinal detachment. I looked up ICSC as you suggested,
but perhaps it was too subtle to be seen in the ophthalmoscope. Interesting
comment about the double vision. I believe my doctor must have been testing
for this. I remember him asking me to gaze in eight extreme directions. Was
he watching my eyes to see if they both pointed the same way?

I now have one additional symptom to report. I think it is new today, but it
is possible I simply hadn't noticed it. If I look at a bright point source,
I see a beautiful, almost circularly symmetric diffraction pattern, with a
bright outer halo, and beautiful colored fringes inside. The angular
diameter of the halo is about 1.5 degrees, or about twice the diameter of a
quarter at arm's length. My physics training leads me to suspect a rather
small (~30 micron) particle, bump, or imperfection in or on my eye, but I'm
not an optics expert so this could be off-base.

Thanks again for your excellent response to my message. I really appreciate
it.

J.

 

Rishi,

I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your
right to say it.

J.

P.S.: You should get one of those newer computers with a SHIFT key.

 

I really thank you, but I deliberately used the shift-lock because I
wanted to convey that I was screaming out loud.


Why don't you try to understand better my saying?

Perhaps you won't disapprove it anymore.

Feel free to ask help, I am available!

 

quarter at arm's length. My physics training leads me to suspect a rather

Your physics training is what is harming you the most.

You believe that have studied some of quantum mechanics, and have the
right to discuss the work of God in creating the eye and mind.

Please, be a little bit more humble.

Choose the simplest way: discard all the difficult explainations and
go directly to the root problem, which is the mind under a strain.

Demonstrate some useful rest method for yourself, for example, reading
or gazing at microscopic type for ten minutes, and see how your
presbyopia simply disappears, even for only few seconds.

If you need help, please visit http://TheCentralFixation.com

 

Mike,

Thanks again. I noticed today that my corrected visual acuity is declining
in my bad eye. My doctor now wants to measure my corneal topography,
scheduled for next week.

I really appreciate your help.

Regards,

J.

 

I know its a longshot - but what happened J? Because I appear to be experiencing almost the exact same thing here and Im wondering what to do next?

K.