Presbyopia? Already?

I went for an exam today to see about new eyeglasses. My eyes are darn near perfect except for some astigmatism that makes vertical lines appear double, so I don't wear the glasses except to read road signs. Now today they've found that I need a little help with distance, and ugh—bifocals.

Well, just the bare beginnings of bifocals—so I deferred. Let my reading vision get worse before I go for bifocals.

Now I am wondering if the congestive changes of Graves' may have affected my distance vision.

And both the assistant and the optometrist noted that I have that Graves' stare. :-(

May eyeopener

Greetings from the month of May. This is the first month I have not had labs drawn, and unless I become very symptomatic, I will not have them drawn until mid-July.

As you can see by the photo at left, my right eye still has a startled appearance. It's not too bothersome aside from having to scrape tape adhesive off my eyelid and cheek in the morning. I am worried that the lid retraction and puffiness will not resolve on their own. They might, they might not. It might take minor surgery to get the lid to close more on its own.

This marks the seventh month of active eye disease. the eyes will be fine for weeks or even improved, and then I'll have a day of swelling and eye pain and afterward will have reached a new level of lid retraction. I wonder if the overmedication with ATDs and low FT3 and FT4 are responsible for the exacerbations.

Other symptoms are the occasional heart palpitation and some weird twitches, mostly of the right eye and lips. I have more patience than I did (which is not saying much, for those who know me), and no more bouts of "Graves' rage"—the hormone-fueled disinhibition that makes Graves' patients difficult to live with.

And hair—it's still falling out, though not quite by the handful. A fine fuzz is growing in, too. I'm off beta blockers entirely, now, so if they had any effect on hair loss, that should have passed by now. Here's to regaining my former crown of glory.

I also have the chance to rest and de-stress for a time, since I've completed nursing school. Now to take the boards, relax a while, and then go off to the salt mines.