Hi all, hope everyone is doing well. I started chemo on Friday and have found my eyesight to be affected. I am very shorted but wear glasses so dont have any issues usually, however since Friday, my eyes seem uncomfortable when I’m outside and when driving, I’m struggling to see registration plates and road signs. Its not a generic blurriness, just blurry trying to read text. Does anyone else have this problem?
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Oh no this must be horrible. I haven’t noticed any change in my eyesight. I would contact the nurses to find out if this is normal. I usually don’t drive for 7-10 days after treatment as I’m usually floored by it x
I was unwell the day of infusion (Friday) and then over the weekend but then drove on Monday and thats when I really noticed it, today outside, I’m squinting as if my eyes are uncomfortable, not quite sunny enough here yet to wear sunglasses but might need to! I’ll mention it at my next pre meeting, hopefully it’ll wont get any worse i cant drive. Its awful you’ve feel been feeling bad for so long, hopefully you get some respite x
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Thank you. It’s maybe worth you ringing the 24/7 number about your eyes. I’m hopefully going to get a good week this week before last ec next week x
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When I was on EC, I found it hard to focus and read text for the first few days after treatment and I didn’t drive for the first week. My head and focus then cleared each time. My optician warned me before treatment that it could make things blurry but wouldn’t affect my prescription. I haven’t had the same issue on Paclitaxel. I agree about letting your treatment team know.
Ok thats good to know was only first few days, hopefully I’ll be the same. Im on EC then Paclitaxel too x
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How are you finding paclitaxal? X
I had a problem with close-up reading during chemo, but it seems to have settled a bit now (two months post treatment).
Much easier than EC. I was really sleepy for the first day or two. I get bone aches and pain in part from the Paclitaxel and later from filgrastim, it lasts about 5 days but manageable with painkillers. Otherwise I feel ok,just get fatigued easily.
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Phew that’s good to hear that it’s better than EC, are you having it weekly?
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Every 2 weeks for 4 cycles, two more to go!
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Well done! You’re doing great! I’ve got one more EC, then 12 weekly paclitaxal
Good luck!
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Hello there
I haven’t had chemo but I do tend to take notice any thread that relates to eyes and vision. From the replies you have received it sounds as though this may be a known side effect of your chemo that can resolve and as a Nurse I’ve seen other kinds of treatment that have temporarily affected people’s sight in one way or another . However following a retinal vein occlusion that I initially dismissed as migraine I’ve learned that you can’t afford to make assumptions when it comes to your sight so if it was me I would report it tomorrow and not wait until your next planning meeting . Best of luck with the rest of your treatment xx
Thanks for your reply, yeah my appointment isn’t until next Wednesday and I’ll definitely won’t wait if it continues or gets worse, however I’m not sure yet but think might be slightly better, will know when I drive later! If so, it will follow the same pattern as others i.e. following first few days after chemo so hopefully just a very short term thing albeit probably happen each time then
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Good to hear that you think it’s slightly better xx
I phoned the helpline when I had blurriness and light sensitivity on ECT and they advised to see my optician just to get a proper check up. My oncologist also didn’t want to offer eye advice and said the optician would be best. I’ve been numerous times to opticians due to it worsening last year then same happening again on further chemo this year. Mines was dry eyes and this can cause both bluriness and the light sensitivity. I was prescribed Hylo-Forte eye drops for during the day (you can buy these too) and Xailin Night eye ointment to put in right before bed and it really helped and stopped my eyes getting blurry during the rest of my chemo. On this one, it’s worse so I’m using Systane Complete (i was told it must be the complete one, not one of the other Systane ones) and these are making a massive difference again. I’d get into the habit of using eyedrops during chemo, as it’s a simple thing to add into your routine, so that it lets your dry eyes heal up and prevents it from continuing to happen
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Thankfully, I think my eyes have cleared up now (on day 7) but i have suffered dry eyes in the past. Good idea to start using the drops again, i hate putting stuff in my eyes! But think I’ll try putting them in the first couple days after my next infusion to see if they help. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, hope its under control now x
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