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Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred?

J

John506

Well-Known Member
Had my eye screening today, it's not the first I've had as I've been diabetic for a few years now.

Everytime I've been, the drops that widen my pupils have made my vision really blurry.

I went to a new opticians today as it was round the corner from mine so I could easily walk there and back, and he gave me an eye test after the drops had been put in. I told him I can't really see because of the drops and he said the drops should not affect your vision, just disables your pupils from closing and everything should just look very bright.

He said my eyes were blurry because I have bad eye sight, and need glasses in the range of +7 in one eye and +7.5 in the other, yet I feel I can see fine without glasses. I have glasses at the moment but only need them for reading really small writing.

He said even thought I can see ok without glasses my eyes are working too hard to focus and shouldn't be.

Wanted me to come back to choose some frames and get some contact lenses.

Sound like he was just wanting a sale?
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

Go back without the drops in, or go to another optician for a retest.

I don't get blurry eyesight from the drops, just suffer from glare afterwards.
I agree with what your optician said on that subject.

I do get blurry eyesight first thing in the morning from lack of lubrication to the eye.

If an optician has said you need glasses then this is not something to ignore.

Oh, and before my retinal screening they tested me against a standard eye chart.
Assuming they did the same for you, how far down the chart could you read?

With my glasses I could read the bottom line with my left eye and two lines up with my right eye because the lens is too strong and needs changing.
I can normally read the bottom line of the chart with both eyes.

Cheers

LGC
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

I had my eye screening yesterday. I do all the right things. I take my glasses so that I can read the wall chart and I take my sun glasses for afterwards just as they advise. Even so I have never noticed any blurry vision or brightness. It's a bit of a non event in that regard for me.
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

I've always found the drops give me blury vision for a while.. I had what I presume are the same drops for several tests pre D so I don't think it's that. Mind you my vision is not great, hence the number of times I had the drops, it could well be that.
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

@Littlegreycat Half an hour after the drops, but before they took the photos, I couldn't read anything anysize off the wall during the eye test.

I'm just a bit confused as he is telling me my eyes are really bad and need super strong glasses and contact lenses yet I get up in the morning and without glasses can see fine, don't get eye ache, don't get headaches. I know that if I went into the opticians and read his chart without the eye drops I would be able to read it fine. I told him this but he says yes it's because your eyes are working well at making you focus, but apparently this is a bad thing?

Going to get a second opinion but it really is confusing!
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

I know when they test you for glaucoma they drop iodine in to make your pupils dilate for a better photo.
They say then you shouldn't drive for burred vision.
I was lucky enough to have a naturally diated pupil at the time so avoided the iodine.
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

I always have some blurred vision after a retinopathy; sometimes for 3-5 hours so don't drive
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

I take a newspaper with me and read before my name is called, once my vision is tested and they administer the eye drops around 15 mins later my vision is blurry to the point I can no longer read the paper, it does wear off after a few hours but this is why they strongly advise that you don't drive afterwards.
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

But, Noblehead, has your optician suggested you need glasses because of the blurred vision, as the drops aren't supposed to make you go blurry? How do you get on in the eye test they give first?
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

John506 said:
But, Noblehead, has your optician suggested you need glasses because of the blurred vision, as the drops aren't supposed to make you go blurry? How do you get on in the eye test they give first?
Click to expand...


My eye screening is carried out at the Ophthalmology clinic at my local hospital, I go there 9 monthly after having had diabetic retinopathy several years ago, the eye test is done before the drops are given and I always seem to do very well at reading the chart, at every appointment the nurse always checks that your not driving before she administers the eye drops due to them making the vision blurry, the drops make the pupils dilate so that the Ophthalmogist can see into the eye better and give it a fuller examination.
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

I always have blurred vision after drops. According to opthalmologist this is normal. If you are not satisfied with your outcome then a second opinion is the way to go.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

If you are talking about retinopathy screening, then the drops don't make vision blurry. They do however make your eyes sensitive to light. What I did last year was take a pair of sunglasses and wore them after the drops went in. Once I went outside into daylight and put my normal glasses on my eyes weren't too sensitive to daylight.
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

Had mine first thing wednesday morning. Stung like hell for a bit but normal within the hour. Good luck!

Mart
 
Re: Retinal Screening, do the drops make your vision blurred

John506 said:
Had my eye screening today, it's not the first I've had as I've been diabetic for a few years now.

Everytime I've been, the drops that widen my pupils have made my vision really blurry.
Click to expand...

When I went for mine the letter confirming the appointment told me to come with someone who could drive as I wouldn't be able to as my vision would be blurred. I was also having an eyesight test so they did that before the retinopathy because they couldn't do it afterwards.

It took a couple of hours to get back to normal.

Like an SLR camera, opening the aperture lets more light in but decreases the depth of field, ie the field of focus. Typically, large apertures are used to throw the foreground or background out of focus.

Depth_of_field_diagram.png


Widening your pupil is exactly the same as opening the aperture on a camera. Most of what you see is out of focus.

800px-Glass_ochem_dof2.png


"How should I prepare for screening?

  • Take all your usual spectacles with you
    Take sunglasses with you to wear home, as everything may look very bright after the screening test
    Arrange to use public transport or get a lift from a friend or family member for the journey home. You should not drive from your appointment as the eye drops administered before screening can blur vision"

Wearing sunglasses after the screening will cause the pupils to close up somewhat letting less light in and increasing the depth of field, but not back to normal.

http://diabeticeye.screening.nhs.uk/screening
 
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