UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

I am in my late fifties and for the last 5 years have been noticing so many of the symptoms of this eye problem that I have read about on this forum. As I live in Spain they tell me it is a lazy eye but I suspect it isn't as my vision can't be impoved with glasses and light annoys me so much as well as seeing double and many moons etc.The trouble is I only have one eye like this and wondered if the symptons can start in middle-age and only affect one eye?
It has got to the point that I don't like to drive anymore and never at night-time because of the glare and if I knew that it could be a possibility.

It sounds like KC to me!
I don't think anyone is likely to say KC cannot occur in middle age. I think it is very much possible. You maybe a statistical outlier but that doesn't make KC any less real.
KC seems to have a way of not conforming to our expectations.
You may find that a corneagram or some other investigation will help.
I found I had to be quite insistent that KC was tested because the opthomologists were pretty keen to dismiss it. However, because I had researched the symptoms, I was sure it was KC. Such symptoms are unlikely to be confused with other disorders. There are a couple of disorders with similar affects but these are incredibly rare.
Stick to your guns and insist on a second opinion! Good Luck!

Hi Sucre and welcome to the forum.

You say "they" tell you it is a lazy eye. Is this just a normal optician or someone with knowledge of KC. It may be worth asking the optician if they are familiar with KC because if not it would certainly be wise to seek a more expert opinion.

It may be a lazy eye or something else but the probability is that if it is KC, suitable glasses, or failing that, contact lenses could improve your vision.

There are plenty of others here with more knowledge than me who will no doubt be offering you better advice and help.

My optician picked up on what he thought was KC on my annual eyetest. After going through the different stages to hospital referral I was toldI had mild KC last year at the age of 57.
I queried it because I understood it happened mostly to teenagers and young people.
The reply I got was that I have probably had it for many years and that due to advances in technology and knowledge, a lot of previously undiagnosed mild cases are now coming to light.
Although I was offered lenses I declined them as I have a phobia about anyone (myself included) touching my eyes.I still have a vivid memory of when I was about 7 or 8 and having stitches taken out following a squint operation. The horror remains with me to this day.
However I am lucky and am able to manage with glasses.
At work I have had a workplace assessment and been provided with a large flat screen monitor, a keyboard where although the keys are normal size, the letters on them fill the whole key (available from the RNIB)
also Supernova software to magnify the text. attachment and a CCTV system
I have also been provided with a daylight desk lamp which has a seperate magnifier. Still to come is the larger desk to house all the equipment, special magnifying sheets to read paperwork, and a music stand type document holder. The assessor also said my chair was wrong as when doing computor work or desk work in the workplace standard chairs are not suitable as people are not standard in size. She took all my measurements and a purpose made chair is being made, Did you know that from where the edge of the seat meets your legs to the inside of where your knees bend should be 4cm. With me the distance on the standard chair is 13cm. No wonder I have never really been comfortable. I am not very tall about 5ft 7". I bet half the country's workforce is sitting in chairs that are the wrong size for them

sucre

Yes, you can develop KC in your middle years, or at least have it identified later in life.

On the upside, I think it is unusual for people who have their first diagnosis of KC after their 30th birthday to go on to need any of the surgical interventions you will see discussed here.

All the best

Andrew

ps welcome!

Sucre,

Welcome to the forum.

To the untrained optometrist, KC can look like glaucoma, lazy eye or cataracts. There are similarities which is why in the UK optomotrists can say what they suspect but they then refer us through our GP to a specialist eye unit for a definite diagnosis.

Yes KC can be diagmosed in later years, not all that common and the best person to make a formal diagnosis is to visit the specialist eye unit in your local hospital.