Because mine is.
My eyesight isn’t that bad, but I’m in my 50s and after several years of wearing drug store “readers” I recently got my first prescription glasses.
Over the last year, I’ve noticed the following: for at least 30 minutes after I wake up in the morning, my eyesight is really blurry. Even with glasses. Either the rx ones, or the drug store readers I keep around the house.
What could cause this? And does anyone else notice it?
I wear monthly wear contacts for short-sightedness. It doesn’t happen to me, for what that’s worth. Eyesight is perfect as soon as I wake up.
Do you snore or take medications that can cause drying of the mucous membranes, by any chance? If so, it might just be that your eyes are dry and so your corneal surface isn’t smooth, which causes blurry vision. (Think about watching a movie through a projector that had pebbled glass in the lens.) That would fit with the issue resolving itself shortly after you get up–you start blinking, have a little something to drink, and your tear film gets back up to snuff and provides a smooth optical surface which provides a smoother picture.
Did you ask your eye doctor about this when you got your prescription?
I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 16. I’m 51 now and for the last 10 years or so, it takes a while for my eyes to focus in the morning and also depending on the light available and whether or not I’ve been wearing my glasses (normally for driving).
But I’m very near sighted in one eye and farsighted in the other so YMMV. 
My eyes are usually blurry for about 15-30 minutes. I have allergies, so my eyes are usually really watery first thing in the morning until everything settles down.
I have 20/15 vision in both eyes, so I’ve never worn glasses. That said, I can’t see SHIT when I wake up in the morning. It takes about 10 minutes before I could, say, read something.
Postmenopausal female here, so I just have to ask: Do you sleep with a fan on? My eye doctor told me that a fan will dry out my eyes even when I’m asleep (because we don’t sleep with our eyes squinched tight, I guess). I still do it, though.
Huh. Don’t sleep with a fan this time of year (sometimes on hot summer nights), no atopic allergies, no meds and I don’t snore…but it’s winter and the heating dries out the air, so maybe that’s all it is.
I don’t think my vision first thing in the morning is any different from any other time I take my glasses off, but I can’t be certain. Generally, I wake up when it’s still dark out, so I feel my way around in the dark and gradually turn lights on.
What’s really hit me is that *nothing *is sharp without my glasses any longer. Used to be my distance vision was still pretty good. Now I have a tough time reading street signs even in daylight with clean lenses. Stoopit old eyes.
Well, and also you’re not blinking, which means whatever tear film you’re making isn’t getting spread around. Get yourself some artificial tears type eye drops (I get mine at the local Dollar Tree), and start putting them in right when you wake up. If it does, mystery solved. If it doesn’t, call your eye doctor and ask about it.
I’m 51 and have worn glasses since I was in the 5th grade; I can see just fine up close but need them for anything involving long-distance such as driving, TV, movies, etc. Yeah, when I first get up everything is blurry even up close where I never wear my glasses.
I do sleep with a fan on a lot even in the winter.
I have worn classes for about 50 years. Without my glasses I can’t see much of anything that’s further than 12" from my face. However, there is no difference when I first wake up. I put my glasses on and the world sharpens up.
I often sleep with a fan on during the summer. In the winter I guess the heater dries out the air. So it could be the dryness that causes it. All I know is that I get really frustrated trying to look at my cell phone (which I use as my alarm clock) to turn it off properly. If I don’t hit the “button”* exactly right and drag it to the other side of the screen, I will accidentally activate the snooze function (which is activated by hitting anywhere on the screen besides the button). I end up hitting the snooze by mistake about half the time. Pisses me off. Stupid blurry morning eyes.
*really a touch screen, so a picture of a button
I also agree that your eyes are likely dried out. It’s something my sister has to deal with, though I’ve never really had a problem.