Has your vision ever been affected by a condition unrelated to vision?
After I miscarried for the first time, I was in this deep depression. It actually affected my vision. Colors were less bright. Edges were less defined. The way I saw the world felt muted and flat. Like I was looking at a poorly printed image of the world.
Another less extreme example was when I had gestational diabetes. I hadn’t noticed the effect on my vision until after the fact. Probably because the difference was not as extreme and more gradual. Colors were brighter after my blood sugar was regulated.
Have you guys experienced anything like this?
Why do you think our bodies are reacting this way? (Besides “stress does weird shit to your body”?)
Would measuring depression through changes in vision be more objective?
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11 Answers
My mom has a problem with her eyesight that comes and goes throughout the week, she was diagnosed with MS last year but so far her doctors can’t figure out if it’s related or not because it’s not a typical symptom of MS, I guess.
When my wisdom teeth were coming in I had TMJ headaches. They affected my peripheral vision. I had the wisdom teeth removed and the headaches and vision problems went away immediately.
Does rage count? Well into my 30’s I was well acquainted with the conditions “seeing red” and “blind rage”. I thought I had an ‘ungovernable temper’ until there came a day I thought a temper tantrum was going to kill me, and then I put a governor on it.
To your question, I suspect that the brain can ‘dial down’ optic input the same as it does with hearing and touch. Likely the same time as your vision was dimmed, you ‘weren’t listening’ and were ‘fumble fingered’. I’m guessing that sensory input was taking a back seat to your brain dealing with a mental/physical trauma.
Anxiety can also mess with your vision.
Thing is, the same area of the brain that governs your senses (except for smell) is also one that governs mood and sleep cycles. It’s not weird for all three of those things to get messed up at the same time since they are wired together.
Last year I had to take Gabapentin for nerve swelling and pain. A side effect listed was blurred vision. I found that they actually meant: super slow focus. It took about an hour for me to focus on a computer screen properly, then at the end of the day it took an hour for my eyes to re-focus to normal. Because my drive home was only half an hour, I had to drive home with unfocused eyes. I only took if for a few weeks, but now my eyes are stuck with super slow focus.
My uncle’s peripheral vision was affected by a stroke.
I have had Migraine head aches so bad that they have blurred my vision.
The only time I took opiate pain medication was for about a week after abdominal surgery. It seriously affected my eyesight, particularly the ability to focus at close range. I was unable to read my computer screen at work. It was awful.
I have diabetes, and it’s definitely wreaking havoc on my eyesight, some days worse than others.
I have had several concussions in my childhood. I was not careful. When I was a teenager I hit the back of my head on a carpeted floor which had concrete below. Definite concussion. I had trouble seeing anything at all. over the course of an hour and a half, I slowly regained my ability to see and focus.
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