Dilating eye drops - took 3 days for pupil to normalise

[mermaid]

Just wondering about this symptom as I asked a medical secretary (not had a chance to ask a Dr yet) and she seemed to think it was rare for it to go on for more than 24 hours.

I was due for an eye operation on Monday (cataract) and had to put one drop in before I got there. 2 hour round trip to the hospital, and then had 3 hourish wait having been told I was end of list, so not likely to get in the theatre until at least another 1.5 hours on top of this. I had 2 lots more of drops put in while waiting, and then at around 3.15ish it was suggested to me that I go home as they would not be able to fit me in that day! So.... very stressful, (and still no new date for the op) but the point about the post is that it took 3 days for the pupil to normalise to the size of the other one. That's today, and only just about there this morning, so that's over 3 days in fact.

Is this an ME/CFS thing then? According to the net they say not more than 24 hours and that's for children.

 

[lansbergen]

Was it atropine?

 

[TenuousGrip]

@lansbergen makes a good point. Not just Atropine but Homatropine and one or two other cycloplegic (ie, dilating) eye drops can leave your eyes dilated for days or longer.

 

[mermaid]

@lansbergen and @TenuousGrip unfortunately I don't know for sure what drops were used as there is no information on that unless I ask (I will ask maybe next time). They were drops to dilate the eye to prepare for an operation and each time there were 3 different ones given (not all for dilation presumably).

Today I happened to meet with a friend whose son has just had eye surgery and apparently his pupils stayed dilated also for some days - but he also has ME/CFS so I don't know if this happens to everyone yet! Maybe it's normal, but the medical sec didn't seem to think so.

 

[TenuousGrip]

Depending on the drops, or combination of drops, there's a huge amount of variability from person to person.

I actually have no idea how ME/CFS might affect this issue, but .... a couple of days really isn't very unusual.

http://www.globalrph.com/ophthalmic_mydriatics.htm

 

[caledonia]

Wow - if I get mine dilated at the eye doctor, it's maybe 4 hours. But I found out I'm a fast metabolizer for certain things.

If you had your genetics done, you might be able to look up which CYP (detox) pathway the eyedrops go through, then see if you have any mutations on that pathway slowing things down. Otherwise it could be a general liver/glutathione/detox issue which is very common for ME/CFS.

Maybe some milk thistle and/or vitamin C would be helpful to support detox?

 

[mermaid]

Depending on the drops, or combination of drops, there's a huge amount of variability from person to person.

I actually have no idea how ME/CFS might affect this issue, but .... a couple of days really isn't very unusual.

http://www.globalrph.com/ophthalmic_mydriatics.htm

Thank you @TenuousGrip My own googling only came up with 24 hours as a maximum, and even this article says 24 hours is the usual max, however, it does say that it can take several days in some individuals, and I hadn't seen that before. I am writing this on Fri pm and I had the drops in on Monday afternoon. It was pretty much back to normal by this morning, (so that was over 3 days) but if I look closely I can see they are still not exactly the same size.

 

[mermaid]

Thank you @caledonia

Wow - if I get mine dilated at the eye doctor, it's maybe 4 hours. But I found out I'm a fast metabolizer for certain things.

If you had your genetics done, you might be able to look up which CYP (detox) pathway the eyedrops go through, then see if you have any mutations on that pathway slowing things down. Otherwise it could be a general liver/glutathione/detox issue which is very common for ME/CFS.

Maybe some milk thistle and/or vitamin C would be helpful to support detox?

Thank you @caledonia
I guess it might have been longer to clear as I had a triple dose due to being made ready for surgery, but even so....
I do normally take Vit C and NAC but I didn't take them on the day of the drops, but I have done afterwards.

 

[TreePerson]

My eyes react very quickly to these drops. Usually optician/doctor will come and check dilation after 20mins -mine are always ready early.
Some drops wear off quicker than others because they're designed to. I think I've been fairly normal with the length of time they last.
I have had a problem with dental anaesthetic taking a long time to wear off longer than average.

 

[Sushi]

he point about the post is that it took 3 days for the pupil to normalise to the size of the other one.

Next time ask for drops without epinephrine. The normal dilation drops are available without it (but you might have had another sort of drop that isn't). I had extended dilation too when I had drops with epinephrine

 

[Forbin]

FWIW: Several years ago, after having my eyes examined, my ophthalmologist asked if I would like to try some drops that would reverse the effects of the dilating drops he had used earlier. He didn't charge me for them and I got the impression that he was just interested in seeing how well they worked. Anyway, they didn't totally reverse the initial dilation, but, as I recall, they hastened the recovery time by maybe 25 - 50%.

When I just googled this, it seems as though the drops are not generally used because they are expensive and not considered terribly effective.

 

[mermaid]

Next time ask for drops without epinephrine. The normal dilation drops are available without it (but you might have had another sort of drop that isn't). I had extended dilation too when I had drops with epinephrine

Thank you @Sushi . I will certainly see if that is possible. The NHS in the UK is on its knees right now and I and I don't want to delay the op again, but I will certainly be telling them and suggesting that!

 

[mermaid]

FWIW: Several years ago, after having my eyes examined, my ophthalmologist asked if I would like to try some drops that would reverse the effects of the dilating drops he had used earlier. He didn't charge me for them and I got the impression that he was just interested in seeing how well they worked. Anyway, they didn't totally reverse the initial dilation, but, as I recall, they hastened the recovery time by maybe 25 - 50%.

When I just googled this, it seems as though the drops are not generally used because they are expensive and not considered terribly effective.

Thank you @Forbin That's interesting!