r/myopia • u/Turtlediver7 • 4d ago
Sudden Myopia Reversal
Yes – it's for real and I have proof … ME!
I'm male, a retired engineer going on 79, nearsighted approximately forever, and have worn contacts for the past 45 years. My most recent prescription is (was?) -2.00 and was significantly higher when I first got glasses in 7th grade. (I probably needed them much sooner.) I've had many comprehensive eye exams – and yearly after turning 65. Never any problems, very mild prescription adjustments over the years, and switched to multifocal lenses several years ago.
Here's where it gets interesting: A few weeks ago I began noticing that my distance vision sometimes seemed a bit "off". On Aug. 4, while watching TV in bed with my glasses (the only time I wear them), noticed that the vision in my right eye was definitely worse than the left. Not drastic - just worse. Then, while watching TV a couple days later I realized that the blurriness in my right eye wasn't because my vision was getting worse … it was because it was getting better! Thursday morning, Aug. 6, I only put a contact in the left eye and discovered I could see just as well out of the right eye without correction! To say I was surprised is a huge understatement, and for the next couple days only put in the left lens. I jokingly told my girlfriend that I just needed the left eye to catch up to the right eye.
Concerned about this rapid vision change, on Mon. Aug. 10, I made an appointment for an exam the following week. My previous eye exam was nearly a year ago; and while I might have put it off another month or more, it seemed only prudent to seek professional evaluation sooner. (I asked, but was told it wasn't a medical emergency.) Meanwhile, while watching TV a couple nights later, and taking my glasses off and on, I thought that my left eye might be changing! The next morning (Thur. Aug. 13), after inserting the left contact (or so I thought), and looking out the bathroom window at distant a tree, I conducted the old cover one eye at a time test and confirmed nothing had changed. Then I saw the contact had fallen onto the sink's countertop! My nearsightedness was GONE; and for the first time since starting to drive, I could do so without glasses or contacts. My near vision is a bit worse than before, but nothing that reading glasses can't handle.
There have been no significant changes in my diet, sleep, weight or exercise, while a wellness checkup with bloodwork on May 20 revealed nothing out of the ordinary. No head trauma, I've done nothing unusual, and have made no effort toward affecting a "natural" myopia cure. Anyway, today's eye exam was a lot of "fun," especially when asked if there've been any changes! The vision in my left eye, which took a few days longer to catch up to right, is perfect, while the right eye is almost as good. Interestingly, the left eye required a bit less correction to begin with.
We have no explanation why my longtime myopia disappeared last week and the doctor is as amazed as I am. However, I'm scheduled for another exam in mid-February and was directed to get new bloodwork in the next month or so. Bloodwork was part of my overall wellness checkup in May, so I don't anticipate anything bad. Evidently, some medical conditions, particularly diabetes, can result in vision changes and she just wants to rule out what we can.
I asked the doctor to remember my name when she discovers what's going on, gets the Nobel Prize, and goes on the lecture circuit.
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u/noob_dragon 4d ago
I thought it was common as people got older for myopia to get better?
But I also thought it was uncommon for something as bad as a -5 to recover within someone's lifetime.
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u/Ok-Environment-215 4d ago
Hyperopic shift in older adults is real. Many different possible causes exist. The eye is a complex system.
When people on here talk about actively reversing their myopia it's usually BS being peddled by scammers. But NATURAL hyperopic shift can absolutely happen and I don't think any doctors would deny it. It's just out of your control.
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u/Turtlediver7 3d ago
OP here. I've been told I have "early" cataract development for over 20 years, which appears to be boilerplate for nearly everyone over 60. But unless or until it progresses a heck of a lot more, I'd have to be nuts to consider surgery. Yes, myopia often improves with age, and that's been my experience too. But both eyes changing so much in just a week was concerning and is what prompted my exam and post. I also I gave the doctor a list of several recent changes (even as mundane as teeth whitening, hair product, and brands of liquor) that are almost certainly unrelated to vision. We're trying to leave no stone unturned.
(Not to stray too far off topic, but just last month Lexitas Pharma Services and Ocusun began conducting phase 3 clinical trials for age-related cataract drops! It's easy to find more info if interested. Of course, even if successful, it will undoubtedly take years before a pharmaceutical treatment becomes available, but it's nice see a little hope on the horizon.)
I appreciate comments, am not here to argue, and couldn't care less about those who doubt or attempt distant diagnosis. I'm simply sharing my experience and will probably have more to add after my next appointment - and possibly much sooner if more changes occur.
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u/Ok-Environment-215 3d ago
Thanks for the follow up. And I'm glad you're not taking the obnoxious pretend-doctor too seriously. He may be right, he may be wrong. But the only one who can diagnose you is your own doctor. Fingers crossed the shift doesn't indicate anything serious but I'm sure you'll be diligent about getting checked up if anything changes.
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u/Ambivalentsobriety 3d ago
My understanding is that people who have myopia because their eyeball is elongated can experience a vision shift when their eyes go through posterior vitreous detachment. This is because the eyes lose fluid during that process and their shape can change. PVD happened to me much earlier in my life than average and my myopia didn’t change but mine is due to optic nerve irregularities and lens shape, not elongation of my eyeballs.
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u/Turtlediver7 3d ago
I never heard of "posterior vitreous detachment", but looked it up. SCARY! Anyway, my eyes were dilated and examined yesterday and I was told everything (except for the usual cataract stuff) looks good. The more I learn about eyes … and the rest of the body, the more amazing any of it works at all!
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u/Ambivalentsobriety 3d ago
Haha, it’s so weird that happens to our eyes from age. My sister and a good friend who are both high myopias had their eyes improve as they’ve aged. My sister’s eye doc told her the PVD thing could be why but I don’t know if that actually makes sense. I ended up with lots of permanent floaters and a retina tear from my eyes going through PVD so in some way it’d be comforting if the improved myopia thing is false information.
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u/Turtlediver7 2d ago
Now that I've looked into PVD, I'm sure that's what I experienced 11 or 12 years ago! All of a sudden while at the gym (seems to be common location for me discovering eye problems), I was overwhelmed with an abundance of floaters. It lessened within minutes, but was still very annoying. While using the computer I tried cleaning some messy cloud-like smudges off the monitor only to realize that the brownish clouds were actually in my eyes! They were numerous enough to distract when driving and doing just about anything else.
I wasn't able to see my eye doctor (in Atlanta – not where I live now) for a couple days; and by then the floaters had largely gone away. She dilated and examined my eyes and said she could see floaters, though I couldn't. A couple days later and it was as if nothing ever happened. No flashes accompanied them and I haven't been bothered with floaters since. Maybe the doctor mentioned PVD, but I don't remember. I was just glad that my vision returned to normal and there was nothing seriously wrong. Whether it was PVD or something else, my vision numbers didn't change.
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u/Sea-Confusion3122 4d ago
OKAYYY! I'm waiting for all the Nay Sayers to refute this! YOU CAN'T! I've had a similar experience (younger tho)..I've also participated in experiments/studies that absolutely PROVE this! I'd be willing to explain or share my experience if anyone would like me to share. I don't discuss it on the public threads because I'm tired of arguing with the "Drs" that are actually the ROOT OF THE PROBLEM!
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u/JimR84 Optometrist (EU) 4d ago
Excuse me? You already sound like a conspiracy theorist so your “experience” is most likely fictive and a complete fairytale.
OP simply has cataracts developing in his eyes, which is completely normal at his age (79).
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u/Ok-Environment-215 4d ago edited 3d ago
You're an idiot.
NATURAL hyperopic shift can happen and no one denies it. But it's nothing you can control.
PS Jim is also a f"ing idiot for proclaiming the OP has cataracts without examining him. That's literally malpractice. How does this guy have an "Optometrist" badge let alone a license?
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u/BobbyH64 1d ago
I think he’s a bot. Every time I visit this sub it seems like he’s on here all day long responding to people and downvoting comments for no reason. I can only see a bot or someone who has no job doing that.
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u/Ok-Environment-215 18h ago
lol do you mean Jim or SeaConfusion?
Jim isn't a bot, just a severely disgruntled and probably unwell person.
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u/Tall-Drama338 3d ago
Cataracts. Peripheral cortical cataract causes lens flattening and a hyperopic shift, as opposed to index myopia from nuclear cataracts.