New poster, amblyopia, eye drifting - all in one post ! - Eye & Vision Message Board

Desaparecida · 01-16-2007, 09:34 PM

Hi folks

First post today ! I usually try my best to answer questions on forums before posting myself, but I hope you forgive me for this time

I went to the eye doctor today, first time in... long time. I left relieved, but also kinda disappointed.

I've always had poor vision in my left eye, amblyopia according to the docs. Had glasses, patches (wasn't really cooperative with that one !), doctors, more doctors - and I got sick of it. Of course, now I'm a grown up, so I decided to take care of my good eye !

The optometrist I've seen today was really nice. I told her what bothered me : my bad eye tends to drift out and I think its vision got worse.

After examination, she said my good eye was healthy. Although I do have astigmatism, my vision is almost 20/ 20 in that eye.

My bad eye though is only 20/300. I does drift out a bit. But nothing can be done, and it's not bad enough to be referred to an ophthalmologist. There is also a strong possibility that it'll drift more in the future.

I mean, it's nothing that I haven't heard before, excepted for the "drifting part" which is new to me. I'm not excessively self-conscious. But f***, I wish I had normal eyes !

So, questions :

1) I am normal to feel that way ?
2) From your own experience, do you think my eye will drift more ?
3) How do you deal with that ?

I'm really interested by your experiences !

Thank you all... and sorry in advance if my grammar isn't perfect, English isn't my first language.

KeelaC · 01-17-2007, 06:58 AM

Well, can't blame you for feeling the way you do. Wish I had normal eyes too. (I have a different problem.)

There's a couple things: eye docs would say patching in an adult is useless and they might be right, but there are a few who say it helps at any age. It would have to be intensive, which is pretty near impossible to do and carry on a normal life.

The next thing is VT or Vision Therapy. I have read, from the horses' mouths, some ophthalmologists say that there can be improvement in the case of exotropia (outward drift). Don't know how successfully it would be when the acuity in your bad eye is so low, or if that would matter. If undertaken, it would also have to be done intensively and consistently, but wouldn't interfere with daily life.

The last thing is surgery. It wouldn't improve the bad eye's vision, but would stop its drifting. That one is a consideration for down the road, if it gets worse. Strabismus surgery is common.

Hope that helps.

Desaparecida · 01-17-2007, 02:49 PM

Hi KeelaC,

Thank you so much for your input.

I know that patching would be impossible - on top of that I'm a teacher, so lessons wouldn't be that fun with me half blind !

As for vision therapy, I've never heard of it. Which kind of doctors do you see for that ?

I'm a little bit confused with who does what in term of doctors here in Canada. See, in France (where I'm from), we only have ophtalmologists (and their 6 months waiting-list...) and opticians (just sell glasses and do the fitting). We do not have optometrists.

So in order to see any kind of specialist, I need to be refered by a GP or my optometrist. I ask her about seeing an ophtalmologist yesterday, but she said he wouldn't do anything more. So I'm basically stuck.

As for surgery, I wouldn't consider it now. My eye looks ok on a daily basis, people said they barely notice it. I'm not self-conscious... yet

I guess it got me to know how low my vision was in this eye. It stopped being mesured long time ago, and I know I can't see. But when I ask the optometrist yesterday what was my vision in this eye (so 20/300), she added that I would be in really big trouble would I lose my good eye. Not a nice thing to think about...

KeelaC · 01-18-2007, 07:14 AM

Bonjour.
I'm in Canada too. First, the optometrist had no business saying an ophthalmologist wouldn't do anything. It might be true, but you're entitled to an ophth consultation, if you want one. The experts on strabismus are pediatric ophths who normally take adult patients because of the lifetime follow-up necessary with strabismus. Surely, your GP would give you a referral, if you asked.
VT is practiced by certain optometrists. Perhaps a search using "vision therapy and optometrist" would turn up something. Strabismus is probably covered as a medical expense, don't know about vision therapy. VT has a good chance of working in your case, because the drifting is intermittent and not too severe.

To protect one good eye, you should wear polycarbonate lenses.

Desaparecida · 01-18-2007, 12:00 PM

Bonjour

My optometrist pretty much discouraged me from going to see an ophtalmologist, she said the waiting-list was very long and blablabla. I don't have a GP and it's a real problem to find one who accept new patients. I've been living in Ontario for 4 yrs and the only time I needed to see a GP I had to go to a walk-in clinic.

I quite don't get the referal process - one more thing which doesn't exist in France (although we do have a complex system overthere too !).

Which province do you live in ? I've heard that OHIP covers eye exams for those who have specific conditions, but apparently I'm not covered, I had to pay last time.

As for vision therapy, I'm gonna research that as soon as I get a chance. Thanks for letting me know about his option.