UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

hello everyone

i got confirmed with keratoconus in may 2014 by moorfields and this year been confirmed with pmcd (pellucid marginal cornea degeneration). i had dots at start of last year why i went opticians they found possible KC and got referred to morrfields which is now pmcd. i have floaters/dots with 3 strands, in the daylight i am finding it annoying as i have to wear sunglasees more now during the day to soften the effect and if i forget me sunglasses have to walk with me had down as sunlight and dots are a pain in the bottom. im also finding eyes stinging on some days like i have tired eyes.

is this normal? do you find strands/dots appear more as the cornea is thinning of this with k/c or pmcd?
what bout sunlight with this disease?

just a bit worried
thank you so much

A lot of us with KC or PMD find sunlight and bright lights a problem (it's to do with light being scattered by our irregular corneas). I'm never without my sunglasses even when the sun isn't out. As for floaters, I'm not sure whether they're anything to do with KC, but I certainly had a few years when I had them, and as you say, they were worse in bright light. You'll probably notice them less as winter comes on. Mine eventually disappeared - no idea why! What are other people's experiences?

I was told I had floaters before I was diagnosed with keratoconus... since then though (maybe 2-3 years) they've almost all but gone now. One up I suppose! Still, not to say they won't come back again.

thanks for he replys

yeah sunlight and bright lights can be a problem am also finding some bright car headlights bit sometimes troublesome. Still have me floaters dots/lines even while typing this on laptop see floaters and finding me eyes stinging tonight kind of a tired effect. i have had me floaters from roughly beginning last year. Can KC or pmd sufferers get laser for floaters?. just find them annoying.

as im 40 now will pmd or KC like most diseases get worse but slower with me as im old.

thank you once again

Typically KC stops getting worse as you get older. This is because the cornea naturally stiffens with age so is less likely to change shape.

The main problem we face as we get older is contact lens intolerance when after years of contact lens wear the eyes won't tolerate lenses anymore. Sometimes piggybacking an RGP with a soft lens or a different lens design can help. As you can see well unaided this shouldn't be an issue for you.

Like most people with KC I used to live in sunglasses during the summer. If I didn't wear them I would end up with a headache above the right eye a few hours later. Sometimes people would comment that I couldn't possibly need them as the sun wasn't that bright. But I did. With my current contact lenses I have found that my need for sunglasses has reduced. I can only assume that this is because with these lenses there is no residual ghosting with right eye. Previously although the old lens for the right eye gave me 6/6 vision on the chart there was still some ghosting, although with two eyes together I was unaware of the ghosting.

As for floaters I have a few but I don't really notice them.

Lia