Blurred vision after avr surgery

[OLDLADY]

I am wondering if anyone has had blurred vision after surgery and if so how long did it ast? I read where it advises not to have an eye exam done until 3 months after surgery, I guess to let the eyes return to normal state. I am having blurred vision with my glasses for long distance but can still see well without them for reading. Anyone have this problem?

 

[chaconne]

I don't have blurred vision, but I did have half of the vision in my right eyes blocked for a few hours on Monday. I had AVR a week before that. The block shrunk to a small blind spot below my center of vision in the right eye and is still there. I thought it could be a stroke, but my INR was 2.2 and I'm at very low risk for that. I've had this happen in the past, but it went completely away in minutes then.

I'm glad you posted about this because it seems that vision issues are common after AVR. I've heart Metoprolol can cause vision problems. Are you taking that? Also maybe the lung-heart machine can have some lasting effects.

Hope it clears up for you!

 

[offwego]

i was thinking of making a similar thread...I was borderline for reading glasses before surgery and my vision is noticeably worse close up after surgery. I want to get reading glasses but want to give recovery a bit more time to see where it all settles down.

 

[DebbyA]

I don't remember any vision problems, but am pretty sure one of the pre-surgery suggestions (from the surgeon's nurse practioner) was not to get my glasses changed for SIX months because there could be temporary changes to my eyes.

 

[piglet]

HMMM, I thought it was my imagination, my vision seems a bit worse since surgery 6 months ago.

 

[bstew7890]

I had periods where I lost some vision on my left side. It happened over several days during the 2nd week after surgery. It seemed to happen most often when I stood up and went away after resting a while. My vision is as it was before surgery now.

 

[Julian]

Wow, perfect timing. About 1 1/2 years before surgery I had an episode when I was driving. All of the sudden my vision became blurry, almost cross eyed if I can explain it. It quickly resolved within a few seconds but it wasn't a nice experience. It wasn't just plain ol' blurred vision it felt like more was involved, I thought TIA and told a doctor. Didn't have an explanation for it. Fast forward 9 months later while I was at work I got up to help a co worker, I was looking at her computer screen when I got the same blurry/crossed eye/Picasso painting vision, this time it lasted about 10 seconds, it freaked me it I thought TIA again. I stayed calm and it passed. I was thinking its because I needed surgery. Well TODAY 5 months after my last event I was getting out of a car with coworkers because we were doing training at another hospital and once I got out of the car I got the same blurry/cross eyed/Picasso vision issue, I thought well at least I'm at a hospital, this time it lasted about 30 seconds to a minute. I stayed calm and nobody noticed I was having this issue, I just kept walking even though it was hard to see. MAN NOT A FUN EXPERIENCE. Don't know what is causing this. Left me feeling kinda crappy the rest of the day.

I've also noticed another weird phenomenon that seems to be getting better the farther I get away from the surgery. Randomly throughout the day I notice what seems to be "seeing" the blood vessels in my eyes with every heart beat. Not like in a mirror through my own vision, look like black lines or xray vision but of my blood vessels only. Weirdest thing, it appears with every heart beat, it only last a few seconds and then goes away, happen randomly throughout the day but seems to be getting less and less. Ever since surgery I've also notice seeing certain colors being off at times, and "floaters" more often. Sheesh!

 

[Julian]

BTW right after my episode I got on my cell phone and found this link http://www.healthcentral.com/heart-disease/c/question/37999/29182 Some really interesting post of people experiencing similar things, pretty good read.

 

[Julian]

Here is also a google image search for scotoma might help some people visualize eye issues https://www.google.com/search?q=scatoma&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=661&sei=cJXETv_WNbT8iQLahvzvBQ#um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cZXETuiZA8nPiAK13pneBQ&ved=0CD4QvwUoAQ&q=scotoma&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=32cc6bb2d1612ee4&biw=1280&bih=661

 

[chaconne]

Hey Julian,

The experience you had today is something I've been having for years (Picasso vision). It happened to me yesterday so I guess it's not just a pre-surgery phenomenon. I'm used to it so it didn't freak me out but I thought it might be fixed after surgery.

 

[Debbrn]

My vision definitely changed after surgery. I bought $400 no line progressive bifocals 4 months before surgery and could not were them after. Luckily I still had my older glasses and they worked.

Debbie

 

[chaconne]

I'm 2 weeks post OHS and I still have a blind spot in my right eye from the episode 1 week ago. I've noticed that my migraine auras (horseshoes in the vision) and Picasso vision events, Julian was talking about, have happened a lot more than usual. I'm starting to think that it might be my lower than usual blood pressure. I've always been around 120, but post surgery, I seem to measure in at 105 or so. I'm taking 25mg Metoprolol and 25mg Losartan daily.

 

[Julian]

Hmmm. Could be the metoprolol, I'm kinda in the same situation. My BP was 120/80 most of the time before surgery, now on metoprolol its always 105/70 or 95/65. Before I had surgery last October I developed this dark spot in the middle of my vision. I could see clear around it but my center vision was very distorted. After about a month or two of dealing with it I went to the eye doc and they did an exam. Found that I had fluid build up, and said it usaully is brought on by stress. Not much can be done, maybe laser but didn't want to do that because it was in my center vision. My eye doc said it would probably go away just as strangely as it appeared. A few months later it did go away, I thought it was heart related because I would never get weird eye problems before. It was called macula something or rather. It was a cirlce of fluid annoying and worrisome at the same time, thought maybe I was going blind or had a stroke or something, sheesh.

 

[LeakyUK]

My long distance vision chaned for the worse after surgery (My eye shape changed). I was relived when I had an eye test and new glasses at 3 months.

 

[Kathy McCain]

Yes, I did have blurred vision. Had to change my lenses twice, before they got it right! I found that it is not permanent though. No one advised me to wait 3mos, but maybe I should have.

Take care

 

[Kathy McCain]

I also have migraine "auras", but have had this all my adult life. Surgery didn't seem to effect that though.

 

[Bina]

My visual migraine auras stuck around after surgery but they aren't frequent enough to be a problem.
And about 6 months post op I did go and get my first pair of reading glasses that were needed regardless of surgery.