I'm not an expert by any means, however, it sounds to me as if your eyes are having to work very hard to focus on the up-close work of tying on the fly. Then it takes a while for them to "re-focus" at a distance. My advice would be to get a pair of reading glasses at the dollar store and see if wearing them while tying on the fly puts less strain on your eyes and, therefore, easier to get your distance vision back. This "experiment" will only set you back $1.00. That will help you decide on your next step whether that be a prescription of some sort or sunglasses with magnifiers, or whatever.
I will add that, like many folks, once I hit my 40's, it became obvious that bifocals were in order (I had been wearing glasses since grade school and contact lenses since college). I now wear "multi-focal" contacts (somewhat like bifocal glasses but work a bit differently. They are GREAT for everyday use. However, I still struggle with seeing clearly at very close distances like tying on a fly. Since I started putting on a pair of dollar store reading glasses OVER my multi-focal contact I can tie on a fly in half the time and it really has increased my enjoyment of fly fishing.
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