Have any of you had a history of vision problems, even as a child, such as strabismus, cross-eyed, lazy eye, etc?

I have thought from the start of this dizzy thing that my history of crossed eyes and surgery to correct, could affect my vestibular compensation. (My initial diagnosis was vestibular neuritis and leading with weakness on the right.)

I've never had depth perception and used to see double as a child. My first symptoms before I got dizzy was my eyes kept switching as if I were covering one at a time, while driving.

So when I got the VN I had two abnormal systems to compensate for out of three balance systems.

Plus all the vestibular rehab exercises are based on your eyes. Except for eyes closes balance activities, and my balance did improve with eyes closed. And I can't focus my eyes! So when the dizziness felt worse I couldn't do even the most basic of vestib exercises because I couldn't maintain focus for more than a few seconds.

I have asked the doctors all along (its been 10 months of this with lots of diiferent docs) how this could affect my recovery. The million dollar answer of course is "I don't know." No suggestions, no hypotheses, no problem-solving, just "I don't know."

For some reason I kept ignoring my gut. Listened to the docs. Listened to the PTs even though they didn't have the answers to the eye questions. Even had an OT at work look at me, since they do more visual stuff than PT.

I finally went back to my first impression now that this has returned almost full force since beginning of Nov. I knew I needed to go to a developmental/behavioral optometrist. Someone who actually looks at my eye function, rather than just my eye sight and health, and someone who really gets that. She says, "Yeah, you can't focus you're eyes for more than 4 seconds at a time." That's what I've been saying all along! She also got the left eye/right eye switch stuff ,etc. so not only did she fully assess and understand the eye function issues but she says she can treat it with prism glasses and vision therapy.

I don't know if this is the answer, or if there is AN answer. BUT, I do think if I can get my eyes better, then I have a better chance to get the vestibular system to compensate.

Of course this discounts my new docs theory, but no one else will look at the big picture so I will. I'm still following his recommendations in the meantime.

I'm sure its not a common combo: VN with a history of eye issues, but at the same time these kinds of eye issues are not rare either. Anyone else deal with this?

Joni

Hi Joni

...."Anyone else deal with this?"...

Yes---I have

The---Dx was---Lab, then VN, then VN with BPPV---which is the one(VN W/BPPV) I thought was correct.

Its been a long haul--but after 13/14 months---its corrected---and now at 100%---&---have been there for about 4 1/2 years.

The pre--VN W/BPPV eye problem was---no binocular vision---&---originally saw double, etc..---it had been corrected----long before this junk hit---and when it did---it just messed it all up again....like I said---it took me 13/14 months---to get back....

:cool:

What did you do to address the vision issues?

Thanks!

Glad to know someone who got better from this!

Subs...

I have started to do some different stablilzing exercises (ones not given to me by PT)...they are making me have some head pressure and more dizzy. Is this what you found when you were starting yours?

Thanks.

What did you do to address the vision issues?

Thanks!

Glad to know someone who got better from this!

Hi Joni

Found my way to the Univ of Penn's Balance Center----were they Dx'd the problem---around 9 or 10 months---from there on out---it was smooth sailing---to 100% around 13/14 months.

:cool:

Subs...

I have started to do some different stablilzing exercises (ones not given to me by PT)...they are making me have some head pressure and more dizzy. Is this what you found when you were starting yours?

Thanks.

Hi Charlotte

Yep--what I found also---but it is all good---stuff---so it will help---did all kinds of walking day/night smooth road/rocky road---move my eyes all over---none of it---in any book---seemed to help---but boy---was it hard..

:cool:

Have any of you had a history of vision problems, even as a child, such as strabismus, cross-eyed, lazy eye, etc?

I have thought from the start of this dizzy thing that my history of crossed eyes and surgery to correct, could affect my vestibular compensation. (My initial diagnosis was vestibular neuritis and leading with weakness on the right.)

I've never had depth perception and used to see double as a child. My first symptoms before I got dizzy was my eyes kept switching as if I were covering one at a time, while driving.

Joni

This sounds like me except I still see multiples of things or easier to say ... one big blur. I am 58 now. Many times my eyes feel like they are having spasms and the muscles all around the eyes hurt like crazy. It is becoming increasingly difficult to focus for any length of time. When I try I get quite the headache. The difficulty I have with dizziness is overwhelming at times especially in light. Any suggestions?

Here is a good website that explains the different pieces of the puzzle for using our eyes functionally and exercises to practice. I think its a good assessment too. You can seen which parts are easy and which are difficulty. For me, I can't converge me eyes at all, and so I can't do the 3-D images at all.

http://www.eyecanlearn.com

I have sensitivity to light too, which gets worse when the dizziness is worse. In the beginning of this whole thing I used to wear sunglasses to work when I was trying to get back for just a couple of hours. It helped me to last longer. The optometrist I saw last week has recommended a subtle pink tint of the glasses she prescribed to tone down the light. This should let my eyes relax more overall.

I'm debating whether to just go forward with my plan, try the glasses and vision therapy and restart my VRT when I can focus for short periods of time, or to go to the UPenn Balance Center and see if they agree with my impression, since Subs found they obvously know this stuff.

I wear sunglasses all the time. I feel like I would make a good mushroom. Could you give me the name of the Center you went to? I live in California. Would love to call them and see if I could contact someone here. It has lifted my spirits talking to you. The answers you have found I believe might help me. Amazing to find someone like me.

Joni, have you been able to work with this? I had to quit working 14 months ago. Are you getting better with the therapy path you have chosen?

I am still working. When this all started (it was a gradual onset for me) I was out sick and leaving early a lot. At the time my husband was in school and I was working 30 minutes away. We only had one car so he would have to find a friend to drive to my work with him to get me. It was terrible. Then once it became full blown and my balance was gone in addition to the dizzziness, I took off for 3 weeks. It got to the point that I had no choice. I then tried to go back to work a few hours at a time. This was really hard/impossible, but I felt that I had responsibilities that I couldn't let myself drop despite how I was feeling- a student therapist I was supervising wouldn't have graduated without me finishing her intership and I was moving and had 30 childrenony my caseload relying on me with their health to update all their files, keep their treatments going, and train a new therapist. They had already missed about a month of therapy because there was no one to cover for me.

I left there and we moved to NJ which was previously planned. I had gotten the "perfect" job all lined up before I got sick and had NO idea this wasn't a short-term illness I had. Me, who had been trained in vestibular rehab as part of my doctorate, and I was clueless how long this could last! they don't teach that!!! I wound up with a couple months off because the clinic had a delay in its opening.

Once it opened in July its been VERY slow building up a caseload. So slow that it has given me the chance to still be working. Although I have gotten so bad since a cold beginning of November that I have hard time tolerating sitting around here doing nothin. I need to sleep every few hours to function. But the joy I get working with the kids and the financial issues (I'm have the only solid income and benefits) are two big things blocking me from leaving.

This week is a big deciding factor. My bosses want be to be a therapy intensive- get this- a child who has the opposite problem as me! He is undersensitive to vestibular input. I told them I don't think I can physically handle it, but they please find a way to try, they need the money. I felt that if I said no I would be deciding I wasn't working anymore. We'll see what happens. I figure if I vomit during the session that means I can't do it. If not, we'll see how bad it gets. My symptoms tend to be milder than most, but CONSTANT.

I am cutting down hours starting in January. I already committed to that.

So that's the longwinded answer! I am working, but I do nothing all day other than an hour or two. Hard to quit a job like that! Its going to be a shame if I can't handle that much :(

A quicker answer to your second question is that no, I'm not getting better on the path I've chosen. But its a path I continue to choose aggressively everyday and its changing constantly. I think my original path may have been correct but was blocked by my prior visual problems. In fact I think I may have compensated for vision problems with my vestibular system all my life! No wonder my vision can't help to repair or compensate for my vestibular system!

Take care,
Joni


Joni, have you been able to work with this? I had to quit working 14 months ago. Are you getting better with the therapy path you have chosen?