I am scheduled for cataract surgery in about five weeks. I decided to check out what causes some cataract surgeries to have complications. I discovered that amantadine can cause swelling of the cornea after cataract surgery and ultimately necessitate corneal transplants. In addition, I learned that amantadine can cause blurry vision in its own right. While my cataracts are not large, I do experience blurry vision and have given up night driving because of halos around oncoming headlights. Now I don't know if these things are from the cataracts or from the amantadine. Has anyone come across this problem, and did taking a holiday from amantadine result in improved vision? Of course, I will be contacting my eye doctor for his thoughts as well but I would appreciate hearing from others who have cataracts.


Ann

hi Ann -

My eye doctor detected the first inkling of cataracts during an exam last fall. She said no worries right now; also could tell that my eyes are dry enough to need daily drops. My eyes are also blurry. I take Amantadine, but the doctor didn't make a connection. I'll have to mention it to her.

I have blurry vision late at night..I dont know if it is linked to Amantadine, but, I dont think Amantadine is doing anything other than costing me money..I've been thinking of weaning off of it, to see if I really need it

I started on 200mg of amantadine back in 2001 when I first started on l-dopa. Within a week or so my feet and ankles began to swell to the extent that it alarmed my internest MD. He dropped the amantadine back to 100mg/day after conferring with my neurologist and the swelling abated in about another week. I have continued with 100mg/day since then. I don't know what its benefits are, but know that I read in pharmacology books that it is supposed to enhance the secretion of dopamine in dopaminergic neurons.
This is the first I have heard about amantadine complicating eye health or cataract surgery. Incidentally, my DW is having her first cataract surgery tomorrow (or today, since it is after midnight).
My opthalmologist said that my cataracts are not far enough along to mess with at this time.
Robert

My eye doctor said the same thing - that my cataracts were not that big, but my symptoms were. The halos and spikes around oncoming traffic made driving at night too difficiult. In addition, my everyday vision was getting worse and no glasses seemed to do the trick.

Now I am wondering about two things. First, is it cataracts or Amantadine that cause the vision problem, and next, am I inviting a disaster by having cataracts removed while taking Amantadine meds?

I got this information by googling cataract surgery complications and delving through a section on toxins causing complications, in this case the toxin being Amantadine.

Ann