Hi everyone. Little confused by vision changes at the moment. One of the most worrying symptoms I’ve had since last year has been worsening vision, both blurred and occasionally double. I’ve never experienced this before and initially put it down to age and went to the opticians. They gave me exactly the same prescription for reading glasses I was given 14 years ago suggesting no change. My vision has yo-yo’d since then, worsening at times but being better at others, always significantly worse in my right eye. In fact, the majority of my problems are concentrated in my right side. It got to the point where I booked myself another eye test a month ago as I felt I shouldn’t be driving. The eye test was vastly different to the previous one in November and suddenly I found myself being prescribed Varifocals. I returned to collect them last weekend but when they were fitting them I couldn’t see out of them at all as my vision had improved. I explained that because the problem seems to wain at times it was going to be difficult to sort out as I’m unlikely to get the same result every time. I now have to have another eye exam tomorrow. The thing is, since my exam when the Varifocals were prescribed, I’ve been put on a strong dose of steroids to shift a post viral cough I’ve had for 2 months. Since taking them there has been no difference to my cough but my vision has become clear again the majority of the time. Does anyone know of any links between steroid use and vision changes? Or has anyone else experienced similar issues? Thanks in advance. Autumn x
Autumn, don’t quote me on this, but it sounds to me like the steroids might have improved the vision (which would make sense if it were MS). Have you seen an ophthalmologist about the vision? I would think if your vision is changing this quickly then you should be. They may well have you seeing the hospital optician instead (I do). Leah 
Hi Autumn, If the vision changes were due to optic neuritis - that is, inflammation of the optic nerve - which is a common symptom of MS, then yes, steroids may well ease the inflammation, and thus improve vision. Without trawling back through all your posts, I can’t recall where you are re diagnosis, or whether you’ve ever reported the vision changes to anyone involved in the medical investigation, rather than just an optician? It’s slightly ironic that it sounds as if you maybe should have been offered steroids for a supected MS or MS-like episode, but have instead been given them to shift a cough, which is probably unconnected. But if you were given steroids for an unrelated reason, it’s likely they might also have an effect on any MS activity going on at the time. Although one thing I would say is that I’m not sure steroids prescribed for other reasons are usually such a high dose as would be given for MS. So it could be quite lucky if they worked anyway. On the other hand, it is a fluctuating condition, for most people, so spontaneous improvement could be down to sheer blind (no pun intended) coincidence, and not to medication. If you haven’t already reported the vision problems to the neuro team, I think you need to, as (a) it’s relevant to diagnosis and possibly to treatment, and (b) if the underlying problem is neurological, repeated visits to the optician may be barking up the wrong tree, as they may not be able to do much about it. They can occasionally prescribe a temporary correction for double-vision, by prescribing lenses to recombine the two images. But if the double-vision clears up by itself, the glasses will then be wrong of course. They will not usually be able to do anything about optic neuritis, though, as it’s not a fault with the eye as such, but with signals not getting through to the visual processing part of the brain. If you haven’t already, you should tell the optician if you either have, or are suspected of having a neurological condition, as this could explain any abnormalities he finds. Although, when I told my last optician I have MS, he almost snapped: “Well, we can’t do anything about that!”, as if I was an idiot, expecting he could cure MS. In fact, I was only warning him he might find sight changes linked to the disease. I could have kept quiet, but that would seem a bit cruel and uncooperative, considering I knew he might find things wrong that wouldn’t be found in “normal” people. I won’t be going to that particular optician again! Tina x
Thanks Leah and Tina. My neuro is aware of my vision problems but seems to think it is being caused by migraine and has changed my medication to take me off Tramadol as he believed that was responsible for the problems. I’ve now been Tramadol free for over 6 weeks, have still had 2 migraines which means Tramadol can’t be responsible for them, plus my vision changes does not correlate with the migraines at all - which I did tell him at the time but he had no interest in anything I had to say as he kept talking over me. I asked the GP I saw last week to be referred to a different neuro but she said I need to speak to my own GP which I can’t do until 22nd May. I feel going back to the opticians again this afternoon is a waste of my time and theirs but it seems to be expected of me as nobody is taking my vision problems seriously and that is all that is open to me. It’s frustrating but until someone actually listens to what I’m saying I’m like a human ping pong ball being batted back and forth. Thanks though. Really appreciate your replies. It’s interesting that I’m not going crazy and it is possible the steroids are helping me. Unfortunately I’m due to finish them in a couple of days. Autumn x
Reading this is interesting, I’ve had vision problems for a year they just got worse haven’t seen my ophthalmologist since jan was due to see him April not heard anything steroid drops didn’t improve my vision. I see floaters across my vision in both eyes, eye special think it’s caused by a auto immune disease, waiting for a MRI appointment neuro thinks it’s ms he is a ms specialist do steroids improve vision and concentration curious find it hard reading on white backgrounds. Reading steroids improve vision I know steroid drops don’t improve it just helps with inflammation.
I found this interesting too, I was wondering when I can book another eye test because Im exhausted from trying to focus my eyes, which I can if I force myself, but its less than a year from my last test.
Our place of work has stopped using white paper and only uses buff because people with dyslexia also struggle to read off white we were told.
Steroids in general only help with inflammation, even if they’re given intravenously or in tablet form. But there are different types of inflammation. If the inflammation is inside the body - specifically the optic nerve, behind the eye, then obviously applying topical drops to the surface of the eye won’t help, because the active ingredient can’t reach the site of the problem. If your vision problems are not the result of inflammation, then steroids of any kind won’t help. I’ve also never heard of steroids improving concentration, although they can make some people rather manic - although that is a side-effect, rather than an intended consequence. I don’t think mania correlates well with improved concentration, though. You might have more energy, but probably not matched by improved attention or patience. Some people have MS episodes or relapses that consist very significantly of fatigue, although it remains unclear exactly how the biological processes involved in MS cause fatigue. IF poor concentration was mostly due to fatigue, it’s possible steroids to treat an acute episode might leave you feeling less fatigued, and thus better able to concentrate. BUT steroids aren’t really a treatment for poor concentration in themselves. Any benefit would be more of a coincidence, because you were feeling a bit better generally. Tina
I had inflammation at back of eye and in my blood, went down with eye drops but I stopped using them as they didn’t improve vision. He said it was uveitis but caused by a auto immune disease, not heard from him since January just it will improve once diagnosed, I have fatique and can’t concentrate not nice 
Goodness, what an unfriendly reaction. I had an eye test yesterday and the optician did the usual ask how I am, I told him I’ve been diagnosed with MS and he said he would make a note, which is what I expected him to say.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to see him again! Good luck finding a friendlier optician.
This thread is really interesting to me as I have had similar problems with my vision and am also missing some vision in my right eye. The eye clinic I was sent to keep saying they can’t see anything at the back of the eye so it can’t be optic neuritis and is probably due to migraines? Yet I read that you can’t always see the inflammation in optic neuritis. I have read that steroids help so it does sound like they have improved things? Will be following this with interest.xx
Just a thought, but I believe blurred vision is a rare side effect of Tramadol. Might explain why the vision has improved since you’ve come off them. (I only know cause I have had some problems with vision, which could be medication related, so I read the side effects of all the meds I was taking at the time). Faith