Myopia, presbyopia and discomfort

Hi

I have various defects with my eyes: high myopia (-13), astigmatism, presbyopia, dry eyes, and the early stage of cataracts. I've had glasses for the myopia and astigmatism since I was 2. I'm 51 now and the other defects have appeared in the last 7/8 years, resulting in a cycle of needing 6 to 9 monthly eye checks, eye strain and fatigue, headaches, fluctuating prescriptions and poor vision.

I have pretty much continual discomfort with my eyes which is impacting seriously on my work (I'm an accountant), social life, leisure time, and every aspect of quality of life. Neither my optician, nor my doctor seem overly concerned about this, and an eye specialist I consulted privately told me that 'at my age, with my prescription and in my line of work, this was the best I could hope for.'    

None of these defects seem to me to be particularly rare, in fact most are pretty common and probably on the increase.

So are there any others of you out there suffering with these sorts of issues?
If so, how are you coping? What advice have you been given? Have you come across any useful resources? Have your symptoms been taken seriously? I feel like I'm suffering on my own here.

Thanks
Jonathan

[nickppatel]

Not to minimize your discomfort in any way, but none of those things sounds particularly bad to me.  I suffer from several of them (high myopia, very dry eyes (esp. in winter), astigmatism).  I just constantly lubricate my eyes (constantly = several times per day and I use "heavy-duty" drops before going to bed), remember to blink, give my eyes periodic rest, etc.  I work in law and can sympathize with your situation, but there are far worse conditions to have!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

You may need to consider having cataract surgery. If you are age 51 and cataracts are interferring with your life then catarct/IOL surgery could do several things: make you see better, get rid of the myopia and make your glasses and unaided vision much better.

The risks of cataract surgery are higher because of your high myopia mainly the risk of retinal detachment. Your risk post cataract surgery may be as high as 6-10% depending on the length of your eye and other factors. Your risk without surgery is probably about 0. 5 to 1.0%

Also both eyes would have to be done to balance the vision.

This surgery would also be identical for someone without a cataract that opts for clear lens extraction AKA refractive lens exchange.

JCH MD