EYE SIGHT ISSUES!!!

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tanya01
tanya01 Member Posts: 74
edited June 2014 in Stage I Breast Cancer

I am currently having some weird eye issues going on post chemo. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced sight issues after chemo. My last chemo was Oct 13.  I do have an eye appt. today as well. Just a little freaked out.

Symptoms

Dry and irritated

Blurry vision

Pressure

Really hard time driving at night  as the head lights and brake lights seem to be double for me or kinda of like a cloud below the light. ( if that makes any sense)

Comments

  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited January 2012

    Hi Tanya,

    Vision and eye problems can sometimes be a side effect of treatment. See the main Breastcancer.org site and the Vision and Eye Problems side effect page.

    Hope this helps!

    --The Mods

  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited January 2012

    tanya, it's probably a residual SE from the chemo.  I had some problem immediately following TCx4, but it seemed to clear up within a couple of months.  My problem could best be described as just a vague lack of clarity -- to the point that I wasn't comfortable driving at night for a month or two because I felt I wasn't seeing everything, especially along the really dark edges of the road.  And there have been other threads here talking about temporary eye problems after chemo.

    When it comes to chemo SEs, it seems we're all a bit different, so maybe yours just came on later/slower than mine did, but will hopefully clear up soon.  But I'm glad you're getting it checked out.    Deanna

  • jancie
    jancie Member Posts: 2,631
    edited January 2012

    I also had eye problems from chemo.  Bright lights would give me an instant headache.  I also experienced blurry vision.

    My eyes got better about 1 year after I completed my treatment.  My vision used to be 20/15 (better than normal) and now I have to wear glasses whenever I read or get on the computer.  I know some of this is due to old age but my eyesight progressively got worse from chemo for the first year.

    The good news is that this may not be permanent - just a problem to get through for the time being.  The bright lights don't bother me much anymore.

  • truebff
    truebff Member Posts: 642
    edited January 2012

    When I started rads, I had eye problems. The RO seemed unconcerned. His nurse advised eye drops. So also did ALL the previously raded women in my support group. It's on the list of those things they don't tell you about, so you don't develop it by anticipating it. (Soooo unhelpful not to have information, isn't it!?)

    Anyway, from rads, the eyes, skin, throat, hair all become very dry. You need to keep up your water intake and use drops a lot and often in your eyes.

    I was so worried when it first happened. It was scary! I wish they had told me.

    The eye drops took care of it though. Just dry eyes.

  • tanya01
    tanya01 Member Posts: 74
    edited January 2012

    Thanks everyone for your help!  I really thought I was going crazy! It was just all of a sudden there  and i could not figurer out what was going on. I really hope its just dry eyes.

  • marilyn113
    marilyn113 Member Posts: 118
    edited January 2012

    I had my 15 rad tx today and afterwards my eyes were sore and dry.  Thanks for the tip about eye drops.

  • tanya01
    tanya01 Member Posts: 74
    edited January 2012

    Thank you all so much for responding and making me feel better. .it's always good to know that you are not crazy! I went to the eye doc yesterday ( 2hrs it took ) and he said I have very dry eyes and sever eye strain in both eyes. He gave me some drops I have to put in 4 times a day. Thanks again for all the support. This wed site has been so great!

  • bcisnofun
    bcisnofun Member Posts: 488
    edited January 2012

    I totally had weird eyesight issues.  I thought it was the tamoxifen, but it could have been post chemo because I was probably 5-6 weeks PFC when it started.  I'm not a headachey person but it was like a light migraine.  My eyes felt like they weren't shaped right anymore.  Headache in the light, etc.  it went away in about 2 weeks I think.  You're not crazy!

  • Hope60
    Hope60 Member Posts: 223
    edited January 2012

    Glad I found this thread.  I've also had issues with my eyesight since treatment.  Started about 6 weeks after chemo ended....blurred vision and halos around bright lights.  My eye doctor said I had extreme dry eye & prescribed drops, which helped a lot.  Then during rads, I developed a really bad headache that lasted for about 2 weeks.  My onc was about to send me for a cat scan, but fortunately it went away.  I'm 9 months out from treatment and it's much better, but I still have some residual issues.  I don't think I see as well as I used to, especially at night.  And I have to wear glasses instead of contacts to my job, where I work at a computer all day.  Of course, this could also just be the aging process, but I really think it's treatment related.  

  • truebff
    truebff Member Posts: 642
    edited January 2012

    I think this is a very important thread. I know with radiation, they just don't tell you about the eyes unless you start freaking out.

    I am an artist and, even if I were not, I would still value my eyesight and I was VERY worried I was damaging -or had already damaged- it!  My eyes were sore, scratchy, red, and I had blurred vision they were so dry.  Now THAT IS SCARY!  A heads-up from the doc or team about this would have been helpful.

    And, even after I started the eye drops, my right eye (I was radiaited on the right side) stayed more blurry and needed more drops than the other. I am about three weeks out now and still using drops but my eyesight has seemed to resolve for which I am quite grateful.

    If I had had to seriously risk my eyesight though, I would have been piping mad about not being told.

  • Hope60
    Hope60 Member Posts: 223
    edited January 2012
    It seems to me that most of us aren't told about all the side effects our treatments can cause. Reading through these boards, there are a lot of ladies with vision problems, hearing problems, and other physical stuff  that started after treatment.  And most of the time,  their oncs aren't concerned, or they claim it's not from the treatment.  I for one don't believe it.   Don't get me wrong....I would have had my treatment no matter what....but I agree with truebff -- a heads up would be helpful.
  • sweetjolieblon
    sweetjolieblon Member Posts: 43
    edited January 2012

    I had, and am still having, strange blurry spots that come and go several times a day.  My onc says chemo does not cause that.  I never had any problems prior to chemo and the night of chemo I had vision problems so bad I could not see and had to feel my way to the bathroom. It was very dark and blotchy.  Same thing with my next chemo then none.  I reported it to my Onc and nurse.  Huh they said, strange, maybe I had a clot or something.  Then brushed it off.  My eye dr says it is an Ocular Aura/Ocular Migraine without the Migraine.  MRI of brain was neg for any pathology.  It is just so strange that this has happened since the chemo (Taxotere and Cytoxan) and not before.  Like I said, I still have those blurry spots.  Anyone else have this?  Ijust cant help but think it is related to chemo some how. 

  • tanya01
    tanya01 Member Posts: 74
    edited January 2012

    Hey Ladies!!  I thought I would share these great photos that my BF took. I think everyone that has gone through what we have should have a great photo session.

    http://www.rj3photography.com/Portraits/Tanya-S-Portraits/19214251_GfhrxD#!i=1498539970&k=FRfL46F

  • msunique55
    msunique55 Member Posts: 1
    edited January 2012

    Could my current blurred vision (looking through a dark gray fog) be related to my chemotherapy treatments?  On Aug. 31, 2011, I completed six cycles of Herceptin, Taxotere, and Carboplatin (cisplatin) for Breast Cancer-HER2/Stage 3 and Lung Cancer.  I am now receiving a maintenance dose of Herceptin every three weeks and finished my 12th dose of Herceptin on January 18, 2012.

    The gray fog first occurred in October 2011 in the right eye only.  It came and went away in two weeks.  However, this recent occurrence in January 2012 is more severe and came on slowly.  Again only in the right eye.  I've been looking through the dark gray fog for two weeks now.  I just visited the ophthalmologist and he has referred me to a neuro-ophthalmologist because there may be a problem with my optic nerve. I hope this problem is only temporary. Has anyone else had vision problems with the chemo drugs, Herceptin, Taxotere or Carboplatin.  I have no vision problems in the left eye.

  • sanbar8771
    sanbar8771 Member Posts: 281
    edited January 2012

    I have been having those eye symptoms for about a year. I went and got my eyes checked and everything is fine. I tihnk the chemo and all the meds I was on messed up my sight. I am still taking effexor and xanax so those both make my eyesite a little fuzzy. But yes, I think your symptoms are residual from checmo and I would not worry too much. I would tell your onc about these symptoms just to be safe.

  • truebff
    truebff Member Posts: 642
    edited June 2012

    Now, I have all these "spots" on my eyes.

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