{"id":9254,"date":"2022-08-24T13:16:43","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T11:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/blog\/drugs-that-can-damage-vision\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:12:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:12:35","slug":"drugs-that-can-damage-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/blog\/drugs-that-can-damage-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Drugs that can damage vision"},"content":{"rendered":"&#13;\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Side effects of many drugs also include visual disturbances, higher risk of developing <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/blog\/cataract\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cataracts <\/a><\/strong>or permanent damage to the optic nerve. Rarely, however, do we pick out just those related to vision from the long list of side effects &#8211; we are more concerned about the effects of drugs on the heart, kidneys or intestines. <\/p>&#13;\n\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n&#13;\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, even popular over-the-counter drugs can adversely affect the eyes. What kind of inconvenience can we expect? <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">&#13;\n<li><strong>Ibuprofen <\/strong>&#8211; may be responsible for color vision deterioration (dyschromatopsia), central and paracentral darkness in the visual field, and decreased visual acuity.<\/li>&#13;\n<li><strong>Corticosteroids <\/strong>&#8211; with prolonged use, they increase intraocular pressure leading to the formation of so-called <strong>post-cortisone <\/strong> glaucoma, and may also contribute to the formation of posterior subcapsular cataracts, usually occurring bilaterally and affecting the innermost cortical layers and leading to deterioration of visual acuity over time. <\/li>&#13;\n<li><strong>Anticoagulants<\/strong> &#8211; prolonged treatment can cause subconjunctival and retinal hemorrhages.  <\/li>&#13;\n<li><strong>Amiodarone <\/strong>(used in ischemic disease and in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias) &#8211; is deposited in the cornea in the form of white-yellow-brown deposits, can cause photophobia and exacerbate the halo effect and dry eyes. in extreme cases, causes visual disturbances.   <\/li>&#13;\n<li><strong>Antirheumatic drugs<\/strong> (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine) &#8211; cause photophobia, abnormal color vision, impaired accommodation, central gloom, narrowing of the visual field, and may cause degenerative changes in the retinal periphery.  <\/li>&#13;\n<li><strong>Antibiotics <\/strong>&#8211; penicillins and sulfonamides can cause allergic reactions in the conjunctiva and eyelids; metronidazole &#8211; after prolonged use, deterioration of vision, photophobia.<\/li>&#13;\n<li><strong>Antidepressants<\/strong> &#8211; can cause numerous dry eye symptoms: burning, foreign body sensation in the eye, pain, photophobia.  <\/li>&#13;\n<\/ul>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This, of course, is not a complete list of drugs, on the leaflets of which you will find a list of ocular side effects. Note that even this short list contains a very wide range of drugs! Whenever you reach for a new drug, pay attention to what effect it has on your vision and eyes.  <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is because some of the side effects may resolve when the drug is discontinued, but some may be lesions that require ophthalmologic intervention and targeted treatment.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, taking medications that affect vision badly requires constant monitoring of our visual organ by a specialist and catching alarming symptoms in time.  <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One drug that can permanently damage vision, for example, is Ethambutol, used to treat tuberculosis. It has a toxic effect on the optic nerve, causing central and peripheral visual field loss as well as impaired color vision.  <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also, chronic use of corticosteroids can permanently damage the optic nerve. On the other hand, the antidepressant Amitriptyline in high doses can cause acute glaucoma attacks. <\/p>&#13;\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Side effects of many drugs also include visual disturbances, a higher risk of cataract formation or permanent damage to the optic nerve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eye-protection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swisslaser.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}