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Eye Care Archive (Expert Forum)
Ephedrine and vision problems
Our Ask A Doctor Ophthalmology Forum is where you can post your question and receive a personal answer from physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Ephedrine and vision problems
by Ehronious, Apr 14, 2006 12:00AM
About three years ago I got a summer job that required me to be up early and work long hours outside (lot of sun, no sun glasses). I was 20 at the time and often would be up late, have a few drinks the night before and would be tired the following day. I would occassionaly take between 10-15mgs of an herbal Epherda based supplement to get me going in the morning. After two months or so of working out in the sun I started noticing floaters as well as tracers or trailers in my vision. Doing some research I discovered that the floaters are normal and after a visit to my optomotrist he could not find any noticeable problems with my vision besides some nearsightedness and the floaters. However I started attributing the problems that I developed with the herbal supplement because my eyes seemed noticeably more sensitive to light days after taking the supplement and the trailers were also more apparent. I believe it is possible that I only pay attention to the trailers since first seeing them and that they may be normal or always there. I havent used the supplement since and still today my eyes seem more sensitive to light than before. Have you ever heard of ephedra based supps causing any sort of permanent vision related problems? I havent really been wearing my glasses as directed the past couple years and with daily computer use I think that the extra stress put on my eyes may be a contributing factor to the sensitivity and degradation of my vision. Also I seldom ever exceeded 20mgs a day and rarely used it multiple days in a row. Thanks for all input.
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-OD-MP, Apr 14, 2006 12:00AM
no, i have not heard of that. a supplement or drug that permanently affects light sensitivity would be rather rare...
Member Comments (2)
by Ehronious, Apr 14, 2006 12:00AM
sorry, one additonal thing. I've always felt flush after drinking hazlenut coffee and once last summer a drank a cup and soon after I developed temporary tunnel vision ( cloudy & blurry around the edges ) It scared me but went away after about 30 minutes. Is it possible that an allergic reaction caused this? Thanks again.
by Ag-i-doc, Apr 14, 2006 12:00AM
not likely. a lot of people get "tunnel vision" when they quickly increase or decrease the blood flow to their brain/eyes. thats a much more likely scenario in your case (as opposed to "allergic reaction"...)
