Are Your Medications Affecting Your Eyesight?

If you’ve noticed some adverse effects on your vision lately, the problem might not be your eyeglasses or contact lenses but some of the medications you’ve been taking. Some prescription drugs can have an effect on your vision and their seriousness can range from temporary to mild to even permanent damage.

 

You don’t have to commit to memory all the drugs that could affect your eyesight. Instead, it may be more useful to always make it a habit to check potential side effects whenever you are prescribed to take any medication. As it is, it would also be extremely helpful to familiarize yourself with a few ones that could have lasting and serious effects. Here are a few prescription medicines you need to watch out for from our eye specialists at Joel H McGahen OD.

High-Risk Drugs

It’s rare for over-the-counter drugs to be the most concerning. Instead, your eye doctor will warn you that the medications that pose the highest risks are the ones typically associated with serious illnesses. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Corticosteroids and antihistamines – These types of medication are the usual cocktail for allergy treatments. Some corticosteroids are also used for arthritis. Potential side effects for these medicines include higher risks of cataract development and glaucoma.
  2. Malaria medication – Antimalarials and drugs used for the treatment of other conditions such as lupus and arthritis can cause retinal swelling and might affect your eyesight.
  3. Antipsychotics – two antipsychotics stand out for being high risk to your retina. These are Thorazine and Mellaril. Always take these medications under the supervision of a doctor.

Best Practices

The best way to stay on top of which drugs might have an effect on your eyesight is to always ask your optometrist about them. If you’ve been given a new prescription, don’t forget to go over it with your eye doctor just to make sure that it will not affect your eyesight or, if it does, find alternatives with little or no effect.

Talk to our specialists at Joel H McGahen OD to find out if your medication is affecting your eyesight. Give us a call at (717) 264-4012 or fill out our contact form to book an appointment today. We serve customers in Greencastle, Shippensburg, PA, and other nearby areas in Pennsylvania.