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[Joyce]

Hubby, who is in his late 50's, announces this morning he needs an eye test.  Fine says I, phone and make an appointment, which he did.   He wears glasses for distance but until now has never needed for reading.  He says he can't see properly out of one of his eyes when he's reading.  I immediately said that he probaly needs reading glasses.  But I got " Oh no I don't think that's the problem!"  So I enquired as to what he thought it was.  He was being a bit funny about it and I repeated my question.  He says he thinks he's got what his dad had, which was age related Macular disease.  I still say it's probably because he needs glasses for reading.  At which point he starts raising his voice, saying I don't understand.  I said I did, but that until it's checked out he was being rather dramatic.  I got, "I'm getting old, it's got to start somewhere." True but just because he can't read clearly, doesn't necessarily mean he's in danger of going blind, at least not yet anyway.  He's says everything is cloudy in one eye, could be glaucoma, could be something, could be nothing.  He nearly hit the roof at me.  He can see the television well enough and can see me it's just print that's the problem. 

I'm not insenstive, but feel that he rather barked at me, or maybe I'm too sensitive to how he spoke to me.  It may well be Macular disease and I said to just to wait and see.  However considering, the amount of time he spends researching on the computer for work related stuff and preparing notes etc for work, it may well be eye strain.  I said if it turned out to be Macular disease he'd have to declare it as far as driving is concerned as they may not allow him to keep his license.  I was told that I would have to deal with it!  What???  I think both of us would have to deal with it.  He's got an appointment for next weekend to have his eyes tested. 

If it is something more serious, should he be getting checked out more quickly?  I accept that he is worried but I'm feeling rather upset at how he spoke to me as it is out of character.  He seldom gets rattled with me, work yes,.

[honeybun]

He is obviously upset and worried about it CG and its you that's closest and so you got it with both barrels.
He has seen this before with his dad and that's probably why he is so upset and hiding behind bad temper.
I will admit the fact he has one cloudy eye would say it needs checking out now.
I would wait for his appointment next week because if you fuss he will worry more.
Men are terrible about admitting anything so perhaps he has had it for a while and this is the first you are hearing about it.
Don't let him barking at you upset you too much. He could have been bottling this up for a while.

Honeyb
X

[Rowan]

I agree he is scared thats why he hit out, it has nothing to do with you cubagirl, its just the way some men cope with it. Give him a cuddle and just say we will sort it out.

[Taz2]

He's probably really scared and as Honeybun says has been bottling it up for some while. My  mother-in-law has macular disease and it is horrible to see her struggling. Her symptoms were not blurred vision though - more that part of the central vision was missing. She also found that straight lines appeared wavy. Could it be a cataract?

Hopefully it is just a case of needing reading glasses!

Taz x

[CLKD]

Men  ....... wait until he's had the appt..  Then let him tell you what he has been told and what the advice is.  He's a Big Boy now  and certainly, what you describe is unlikely to be macular degeneration.  But if his Dad had it then he needs to get his eyes checked anyway, my Mum has it and I was told it isn't hereditary.

[Joyce]

Oh I know, age old story of always hurting the one you're with. Just spoken to him about it. It's only been noticeable in the last 10-14 days. He's just finished marking over 300 exam papers in that time. Says his periphery vision seems clearest. I'm not going to push him about seeing about it sooner, unless it deteriorates rapidly between now and then.

I've always been a sensitive wee soul.  Hubby is usually the calm one. I was really trying to do likewise with him, not fretting, but he took it the wrong way.

[grandy]

Hi Cubagirl. My Mum has macular degeneration and because it is in my family my optician checks my eyes for any sign of it at each eye test. Do you think your hubby has mentioned it in the past to his optician? In which case he will already have been checked for it and presumably it would be in the very early stages if it was that. Hope all goes well at his check up. x

[bramble]

I have had eye problems over the last 10 years and I think if he is at all worried (and by the sound of it he is) then get it checked out sooner rather than later. It may be nothing but eye strain but best to get it checked soon.

Bramble

[Oldteen]

My mum had macular degeneration but it wasn't picked up at first as it was hidden under cataracts. She saw straight lines as wavy, and people's faces as distorted.

The important thing is that your husband has a thorough check -up and tells the optician his family history.

I'm of the opinion that everyone should have their eyes checked regularly, regardless of age and whether they need glasses.

[Suzi Q]

The new eye tests now they take a picture of your eyes
After eye tests etc they then look at the pictures
They can see Mac Gen Glaucoma Cataracts even thikning of veins there andf then you can see them too
I was freaked out but seeing your eyes is really cool especially when they say everything abso 150% eyes of a 40 year old even though I wear glasses to read and 30% time for TV sometimes my eyes go bleary
Theres nothing to say to him  he probably was unreasonable but then FEAR is and late 50s is the new late 40s
He may have abso nogthing wrong but fears a horrible thing fingers crossed its just bleary eyes xxxxxxx

[Joyce]

He was watching TV fine last night, but you know the ticker tape bit on news progs, well he said he can see it, but it's hazy.  His dad was almost 80 when optician found out why he couldn't see properly. He was always banging into things.  Maybe someone can tell me, if it was macular disease, would it not affect all his vision, not just reading?  I told hubby he was too young. Of course none of us is getting any younger, but I always associated it with older people.

[Oldteen]

There are always exceptions to "rules" regarding age. Again, to cite my parents: my dad had a stroke at 50 --younger than average-- my mum went through the meno at 38 - younger than average-- and she developed ulcerative colitis in her seventies- much older than average!

She developed the cataracts and macular degeneration in her sixties. It affected her central vision which was distorted at first and eventually she lost all but her peripheral vision. All she could see centrally was a black dot. Yes, it affected all her vision, not just her reading. I believe the degeneration could have been slowed down, if not stopped,had it been picked up earlier, but the cataracts she had masked it so it only came to light after they had been removed.

My optician said we're all destined to get cataracts.

[Rowan]

You do have fighting chance in preventing cataracts, my optician told me.

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/healthconditionsdisease/a/cataracts.htm

[Joyce]

 It affected her central vision which was distorted at first and eventually she lost all but her peripheral vision.

Hubby says peripheral vision is better than central in left eye.  He's only noticed in last couple of weeks, though not sure the degeneration can be stopped if it's macular disease.

[Taz2]

RNIB has a lot of info http://www.rnib.org.uk/eyehealth/eyeconditions/conditionsac/Pages/amd.aspx

Taz x