RoboCheme

I'm glad that you have resolved the problem and thanks for sharing. It was refreshing that this thread didn't decline into the usual BF attack mode.

RUOkie

Thanks for the update! Very interesting.

StephenH

First off, if y'all don't notice, this is a year-old thread. But it's one of the better ones on the topic, so I'll bring it up again rather than starting a new one.

One of the local randonneurs had similar eye problems, as I have had. He said he went to the eye doctor, and the diagosis was dry eyes, with the result that the cornea gets scratched, which causes the fogginess, similar to using sandpaper on glass. He said one thing the eye doc did was that there are little drains that normally remove tears from the eyes, and she plugged those, which keeps his eyes moister. And then he got some more wind-resistant glasses made up.

I think it's interesting that for the identical symptoms, there are two completely different lines of thought as to what is causing it. I don't know if these two people actually had different issues or if one or the other diagosis was off.

Anyway, here's George, with the glasses that helped solve his problem.


Note that neither he nor I wear contacts, so lack of permeability in contacts isn't an issue.

I asked at the optometrist myself, and was told there wasn't no such thing available for me, so I had a set of side-shield safety glasses made up. They may help, but still, on yesterday's 135-mile, I was about blind by the time I got in, so I'm still working on the problem. Having very thick lenses tends to limit the frame options that are available to me.

CCrew

My Dr (who makes nothing from pushing them) recommends a brand by the name of Systane. They work well.

rusted_rider

defo not an ocular migraine

sosojeffcc

very interesting thread. I actually am going through some vision problems myself right now, however completely unrelated to cycling as I JUST bought my bike when the symptoms popped up(a bummer).

I was getting very blurry vision when I take off my contacts and switch over to my glasses. I at first thought my eyes were just getting worse, and the prescription on the glasses just weren't strong enough. However, when I went to the optometrist she diagnosed that my corneas had suffered some bad abrasions and believed it was due to the silicone contacts i had been wearing(acuvue oasis). It's strange because the I felt no discomfort whatsoever with the lenses. She said that contacts actually act as a bandaid and shield the now raw corneal tissues from the outside air. She was right, the minute I take off the contacts my eyes felt DRY as ever. Needless to say I am now on a break from contacts whenever possible, and will be going back to non-silicone lenses.

She now has me using a prescription rewetting drop called FreshKote, along with Muro128(for corneal edema). The combination of the two are used every four hours. However, for normal rewetting every 2 hours, she recommends the Systane vials(which are over the counter).

It's a bit shocking how much my vision will clear up immediately using the drops.

godsang

Hi, I'm the one who started the original post because of my eye problem. The contacts that I'm now using are Air Optics by Cibavision. They are "high O2 permeable lenses" with a Dk of 140. The Dk value measures the amount of oxygen that gets through the lense to the cornea. I found this article about the importance of Dk.

https://www.clspectrum.com/article.aspx?article=12953

Since I've been wearing the permeable lenses, I have noticed the blurriness occasionally, but only very slightly. I think I am so acutely aware of when the blurriness is beginning, that I can catch it very early now. I am fine with the slight level. I race mt bikes, and it is not happening on my rides or races, for the most part. If I notice a slight blur, it's always after, I've already stopped, and it goes away quickly. This has only happened a few times with the new lenses. I don't do too many road rides anymore, but I don't get blurry with these contacts on my normal 38 miles rides. I think I've found what works for me.

To anyone who tries the permeable lenses, they will feel a little thicker than normal lenses. It makes them heavier and they don't adhere to your finger when you put them in. As a result, they fall off your finger easily. You have to get used to handling them. They feel great in your eye though. So fresh, clear, and clean!

bigape

Hi, so glad that a cycling colleague of mine Dr Richard McWilliams, took the time to research a problem that I had been suffering with for a number of years...blurred vision in my right eye after a sustained period of cycling. He pointed me in the direction of your blog.

Your blog, Godsang has literally been an 'eyeopener'...I now ride with a good set of cycling glasses and as a result no longer suffer the blurred vision problem...only just today I covered 80miles ride during which I did interval training pushing myself to the max with no ill effects...normally my vision would have been blurred in my right eye especially for a couple of hours after the ride.

alanknm

One more variable that comes to mind is your heart rate. You may want to have your eyes examined while both your HR and BP are elevated.

alanknm

Your point about the Dk value is an interesting one since ones oxygenation levels are different when the pulse rate is elevated. What you are saying seems to make sense in that the cornea has oxygen demands as well and that by starving the cornea with a less permeable contact the wearer can experience blurred vision.

bobkit

Wow, I finally found other people with this condition! I too have had the same halos and cloudy vision in both eyes after a hard ride. I do not wear contacts and I bike with sun glasses. I am very interested in this post as I am currently dealing permanent vision field loss in my right eye. In the spring of 2008, I noticed a blind spot in my right eye vision. I immediately suspected glaucoma. I spent most of that year trying to get a diagnosis of the cause. Initially most of the doctors were stumped as my eyes looked fine. After seeing a neurologist and having a brain and optic nerve mri, they diagnosed me with "retrobulbar neuritis". Later, another eye doctor diagnosed me with "open angle" glaucoma because on that day my eye pressures were high (25mmhg). So I have been using pressure lowering eye drops ever since.

But this halo and cloudy vision thing has always been a red flag in my opinion. This is why: In my learning of glaucoma, I know that there are 2 types of glaucoma; "open angle" and "angle closure". Open angle is most common and basically means that the steady high pressure over time is damaging the optic nerve head inside the eye. Open angle has no symptoms at all. "Angle closure" on the other hand means a "sudden" VERY high pressure condition exists (or existed) in the eye, and it closes or partially closes off the eyes drainage and can quickly damage the optic nerve head within minutes or hours. The symptoms of this is blurry vision with halos and also nausea and pain. The cause of the sudden high pressure is the mystery.

I have told all my doctors about this halo cloudy effect because it fits the symptoms of "angle closure" glaucoma and it sort of fits my situation. To me, it sort of makes sense that the constant air and sweat blowing around my eyes could block or partially block the drainage around the cornea and the pressure inside then could elevate. And, I first started experiencing this halo effect just a few months prior to my vision loss. Ive been biking for about 23 years. But none of the doctors so far have heard of a link between "biking" and high eye pressures. Additionally, one day after a long ride I got home and sure enough my vision was cloudy and halos. So I got my camera and took some close up pics of my eye. The pics show clearly the cloudiness in the cornea/iris. I took the pics to my eye doctor and she said that it was some sort of cornea edema. she said I do not have angle closure because my eye exam does not show a "narrow" angle between my iris and cornea (the classic symptom). My angle is normal.

So, hopefully the doctor is correct and this cloudy/halo vision thing is coincidental and unrelated to my vision loss and high eye pressure. But I am not 100% sure. I still bike and have not over the past year had the cloudy/halos.

godsang

I am so glad that my post about my eye issues has helped people.

Glaucoma is a very serious concern. I was relieved that my eye pressure was always normal (at rest and post ride). Bobkit, do you definitely have glaucoma or do you have retrobulbar neuritis? I'm glad you are still able to ride. Are the drops keeping problems from glaucoma at bay?

Alan, I had always wondered about bp and hr as well. My hr was always back to normal levels by the time I sat in the dr's chair, so he never had the chance to see any problems that only occur at elevated hr's. BP was never tested. I guess the only way would have been to do jumping jacks in the office and have him retest me.

If the eye requires more oxygen when exercising than it does at rest, then I would assume that highly permeable lenses may be perfectly healthy for daily wear, but may still inhibit oxygen exposure to the cornea while riding (at least to a small degree). This makes sense, because my eyes feel much healthier and clear with the new lenses. But when I cycle, I occasionally still get a small amount of blurriness.

I am going to be mt bike racing in Women's Elite this season. Most of my training has been indoors on the trainer due to bad weather. My eyes have been perfect. As I begin to move my training outdoors, I will watch to see if anything changes. I will repost.

JTGraphics

My friend had trouble wearing contacts, he now rides with prescription cycling sunglasses and has dumped wearing contacts while riding.
They are not cheap but made a world of difference for him.

Darrejm

So I have experienced the same issue but in one eye. I think it is a combination of allergies and dryness. What was your final outcome?

tomato coupe

Why do newbies so often dredge up zombie threads?

canklecat

Because Google prioritizes keywords, not dates.

And some threads go on for years. In the C&V forum there are no zombie threads, only vintage threads.

On this forum, the only zombie thread to worry about is the one where people might yell at you.

LAJ

I too went through this, and it only happens on cold days and cooler windy days. It started peripherally, and moved to the center until I was nearly completely without sight. No glaucoma, nothing unusual, just sight loss that comes back gradually within a few hours. Since I was doing Brevet's at the time, and cold and distance go hand-in-hand up here, I needed a fix. I bought these, and it did the trick. Since then, I went with this bunch and they also work just fine. I can't wear them in actual races, because your peripheral vision is compromised, but races generally aren't 4+ hours, so I'm good there.

I actually found an article many years ago detailing this, and the causes, but somehow lost the bookmark.

somecycler

sorry for bumping an old thread but I wanted to leave a comment because I went through something similar but different. Same symptoms as OP described BUT I don't wear contacts. Turned out it was indeed dryness causing the issue. I have dry eyes so I guess I was already starting from a bad place. Getting a nice goggle-styled cycling glasses worked wonders for me and fixed this problem for me entirely

seypat

I've heard it can happen if you're a mule feeling like a redlined old hot rod in the desert, particularly at night. It can also happen if you have a cocaine addiction.

sfrider 

I have a friend who experiences this, in his case it's ocular migraines. But it could in rare cases be a tumor, blood flow problems, or something else - so the medical center put my friend through all kinds of tests and exams, including an MRI (CT?) scan, to make sure it wasn't something else. He doesn't have headaches, just vision loss. Oh, and he occasionally has speech problems from it as well, which is what prompted the closer look.

Polaris OBark

The comment I want to make would probably get me banned.

ManyBikess

See an eye doc, you probably have glaucoma or other serious issue

koala logs

You might have been abducted by UFOs and gave you an implant. Next time, ask them to remove it. Hammer out a deal that will benefit both parties.

Another possibility is you don't belong to this alternate reality.

koala logs

I second this. Brain tumors may come without the obvious symptoms, not even headaches.