Case report of somebody with severe ME having observable problems with her eyes from overusing them

Brace yourself if you are squeamish

One of the members of the Irish ME/CFS Association who is quite severely affected called and wants us to pass this on to our members. She said she was sent to A and E recently as she was getting flashing lights in her eyes. It turned out she was over-using her mobile phone for zoom videos and things like this and her eyes got overstrained. The aqueous solution at the back of the melted and turned to liquid and when that was moving around it caused the sensation of the flashing light.

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I know very little about eye physiology. I don't know whether what she describes is serious, nor how likely it is to happen to others. It's not something I recall reading about before.

 

Sounds like a possible posterior vitreous detachment. So far as I know there is no reason to believe this would be connected with excessive use of her mobile phone.

 

Yes it does. I was diagnosed with an acute posterior vitreous detachment 7 years ago.

They are common after the age of 60 and more common in the short-sighted. The condition is usually non sight-threatening but occasionally can develop into a retinal detachment - so flashing arcs which can be seen in daylight and in the dark, and a sudden increase in floaters need checking, as an emergency, at an eye clinic. I was referred by my GP immediately to the rapid assessment eye clinic at a local hospital because if it had been retinal tear progressing to a retinal detachment it would have required prompt surgery.

Mine started with a large new ring shaped floater on the peripheral vision of my right eye. The flashing arcs came a week or two later. The large, dark floater took several months to be reabsorbed (or the brain learns to ignore it). You can also force them to move to the side of your vision so they are less intrusive.

https://www.rnib.org.uk/eye-health/eye-conditions/posterior-vitreous-detachment

https://www.asrs.org/patients/retinal-diseases/9/posterior-vitreous-detachment

Edited to add: I am not an ME patient, myself.

 

I hope she recovers quickly.

I am long sighted but with quite high astigmatism. I get some eye trouble when in PEM and a lot of bother if I overuse my eyes.

I suspect the muscles controlling the lens when I focus and that control movement of the eyeball itself are affected by PEM just as my other muscles are.

I have a lot of difficulty with new glasses and finally realized that when in or on the brink of PEM the distance between my pupils varies slightly. As my prescription needs to be fairly precise due to the astigmatism that can really complicate matters. Especially if I was in PEM when the test was done and measurements taken.

When in PEM it's not uncommon to find I have trouble focussing tightly on something.

I also get truly horrible pain right through the pupil of the eye - like a large knitting needle being slowly inserted.

I have a lot of bother with flashing lights but was told this was migraine related.