Visual dysfunction

A wide range of ocular signs and symptoms occur in ME/CFS. These include eye pain, photophobia (light sensitivity), visual processing problems, floaters and spots, tearing, dry eyes, poor focus, double vision, scotomata, blurred vision, tunnel vision, night blindness, depth-of-field loss, nystagmus, and early cataracts.

Prevalence

 * 2001, In a Belgian study, 74.4% of patients meeting the Fukuda criteria and 77.2% of patients meeting the Holmes criteria, in a cohort of 2073 CFS patients, reported a problems with visual accuity.

Symptom recognition
Blurred vision is a potential symptom of Long COVID in the World Health Organization's definition.

Notable studies

 * 1992, Ocular Manifestations of Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome
 * 1994, Survey of the Ocular Manifestations of Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome
 * 1994, The ocular signs and symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome
 * 2000, Ocular manifestations in chronic fatigue syndrome
 * 2003, Pathology of the organ of vision in chronic fatigue syndrome
 * 2013, Characterising eye movement dysfunction in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
 * 2013, Patterns of abnormal visual attention in myalgic encephalomyelitis
 * 2014, Vision-related symptoms as a clinical feature of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis? Evidence from the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire (Abstract)
 * 2015, Increased Vulnerability to Pattern-Related Visual Stress in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
 * 2016, Binocular Vision in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
 * 2018, Restricted Spatial Windows of Visibility in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)
 * 2018, Visual aspects of reading performance in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) (Abstract)

Learn more

 * Visual Stress: A Symptom of ME/CFS
 * Visual stress could be a symptom of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, research suggests


 * Jun 4, 2018, Victory For ME Disability Claim – U.S. Court Upholds Plaintiff's Lawsuit After Being Denied Disability
 * Brian Vastag was able to prove with qEEG and cognitive tests he had "significant problems with visual perception and analysis, scanning speed, attention, visual motor coordination, motor and mental speed, memory, and verbal fluency" winning his long term disability (LTD) claim.