i have been having a couple of weird eye related problems that no one seems to know anything about. i know this is going to be long but I really need advice and no one seems to know anything or have any suggestions so if you have the time I would really appreciate advice. my first problem is that i have been having double vision for things close up. like if I stare at my computer screen my eyes will go out of focus and i see double but I can always bring them back into focus and if I am moving my eyes it won't happen, just when I am staring at something. i also have been getting really bad headaches when I read. i got glasses in march of 2008 because I had been having difficulting seeing the board in school for a while. my prescription is 1.25 in my left eye and 1.75 in my right eye. I was also told that I have a slight astigmatism. i was told to wear my glasses all the time and since they made everything look so much clearer and more detailed I did wear them all the time. in high school I did notice a little of the double vision problem but it wasn't too bad and i never told anyone. i also never got headaches at all in high school or growing up. then I went away to college(starting in fall of 2008) and that's when these headches started. in late november of 2008(finals week) i started to get headaches all week. I also had more double vision problems throughout the quarter. i had some headaches winter quarter and still had double vision problems consistently. then during finals i got a headache again but not too bad of one. then my spring quarter i got more headaches and i had double vision problems still. then june of 2009 during finals week i got the worst headache i have ever had. my eyes and head were sore and i couldn't even read because it hurt too much. i felt naustious too. pain pills didn't help at all. i couldn't even study for my exams but luckily i had prepared some in advance and didn't have that hard of exams. i literally did nothing but wake up go to an exam then sleep. i went to bed at noon most days and woke up to do the appsolute minimum studying. it was one of the worst weeks of my life. i came home and went to the eye doctor and he said my prescription was fine and that it was eye strain and to take breaks and that it would be getting better. well i am still having the double vision problems consistently and it is summer. i always thought it was probably due to stress, sleep deprivation or eye strain but I am not reading very much and getting more than enough sleep so I just don't understand why this has not improved at all. i don't get headaches as much but I don't read very much in the summer, however the times that I have used my eyes a lot or more than usual I have gotten headaches. the amount i have to use my eyes the times i have been getting headaches recently are nothing compared to what i will have to do in fall when school starts again. i am so worried that i will get these headaches when school starts again. i went to my regular doctor and he is doing blood work, wants me to get an MRI and go to a neuro-optical(spelling?) specialist. he also said that i should try reading without my glasses. i am just wondering if it can be that simple. i don't need my glasses to read but since it doesn't make anything look different close up and i was told to wear them all the time and it's a hassle to keep taking them off to read I never thought anything of it. can wearing my glasses while reading really cause that severe of headaches? or am I just being optimistic? i know many other people who wear glasses for the same reason I do and don't take them off when they read. i did get them 6 months before the headaches started, however i always thought it would be more related to the extra work load and stress of college because like I said I did notice the double vision a little before I got glasses. if that is the cause of the headaches then I don't want to waste money getting an MRI, but this is all being rushed so that it can get figured out before school starts so I don't even know how to know for sure.
Last edited by collegekid3; 07-29-2009 at 07:17 AM.
I would suggest that you might try Ativan to help with the anxiety.You can get this thru your family doctor.It helped me lots,when I took one pill (Doxipen)and it
immediately brought on double vision,and the yellow pages would turn to another color.I was scared to death that one pill could do so much to me,but it did.You are being hit with a barrage of anxiety-inducements(a word?).It is normal to have
anxiety,I would think.The more that I processed this flurry of pesky problems,the worse I became.Thats why I think it prudent for you to have Ativan with you
at all times.I know a counselor in a hospital setting, who told me that she takes an Ativan every day before she comes to work.She was wonderful in a stressful
environment. I would try to attend to one problem at a time.Good luck.I know you can do it. Bill
anxiety isn't really my main problem. i am having a physical problem where my eyes go out of focus for things up close and I see double. This causes the front of my head and eyes to hurt very bad after a lot of reading which is necessary to get good grades in college. I don't really like taking medications like that. thanks anyways, but I am just trying to figure out what is happening to my eyes and why I am seeing double and if I should wear my glasses for reading or not.
If your double vision goes away when you close one eye, you might have convergence insufficiency (a slight eye muscle imbalance). You should see an ophthalmologist who specializes in strabismus. It can be corrected with prisms ground into your glasses. Vision therapy might also be helpful. Either should help with your headaches. You do need glasses for reading, but slightly different ones (with prism).
thanks, that helps a lot. I am getting an appointment at an eye institute that has a lot of specialist so hopefully that can help. when I close one eye it does go away. it seems as though my eyes just move a milimeter or less out of alignment kind of.
if that is the case, will i need a second pair of glasses for reading or will my regular glasses(for being near sighted) just have prisms in the lenses? also, do they look really different than regular glasses. i mean by that, can someone tell that they are different when you are wearing them? sorry for all the questions, just want to know what to expect.
One pair of glasses should do it. No one can tell whether glasses have prism by their appearance. For some people, strengthening the eye muscles with vision therapy solves the problem.
I agree with Jodie.
Usually the best ophthalmologist to see for strabismus is a pediatric ophth (P.O.) because they treat so much of it in kids. They also deal with strabismic adults.
Since our eyes are in diffeent places on our faces, two separate images are sent to the brain. It takes some effort (although we're not usually aware of it) for the brain to make these images converge into a single one. In some people, the brain never does this properly, in others it stops doing it at times.
i think i am supposed to get an MRI tomorrow and then when they get the results I will get a regular appointment at the eye institute and they will refer me to a specialist. i was told that the eye institute in cincinnati has someone for everything and that's where i am going.
Hi Collegekid3, so sorry to hear about your eye problems. I totally know what you mean about the headaches. Mine was so bad when I was in college and my eyes used to hurt so much that I just wanted to take them out and rest them some where.
You gave your prescription number but you didn't indicate whether it's plus sign or minus sign (farsighted or nearsighted respectively). Either way, your eyes will work differently through them. When you had your eyes examined, did the doctor ever do a cycloplegic exam on you? For people complain of headaches and eye problems, cycloplegia is very important to make sure the prescription found is not "contaminated" by factors such as focusing issues. And not all doctors are created equal. You need one who specializes in Binocular Vision ie Pediatric Optometrist/Ophthalmologists. Most General Ophthalmologists don't believe in Vision Therapy. Your diplopia (double vision) is likely due to a convergence issue, the question is is it convergence insufficiency or excess. You are in the Cincinnati area? You should look into getting a consult at The Ohio State University College of Optometry and ask for Binocular Vision Department, but that is in Columbus. What needs to be look at is 1) Is the prescription appropriate for what you need to see far, and what you need to read (cycloplegic refraction is a must!). 2) An Binocular Efficiency Evaluation should be carried out and the exact diagnosis given. 3) The prognosis: what can be done and how long will it take to achieve those goals.
I can tell you that with this type of muscle problems, vision therapy is the best way to go vs. prisms. Prisms are like a crutch, without it, you can't do much (there are also phenomenon where you can 'eat up' the prism power), and VT is like the actual exercise to strengthen your muscles. The older you get, your problem will become worse, so by training them and strengthening them now, you will be much better off in the long run.
I hope I am not confusing you in anyway. I don't think MRI is really necessary. Usually an eye exam is the first step to determine your problem and a dilated exam will make sure there are no tumors right behind the eyes causing diplopia. When all fails, MRI will be recommended to rule out other issues. But sounds like you have simply an eye muscle problem. Best of luck tomorrow!
Last edited by earthworm88; 07-31-2009 at 08:35 AM.
Hello. Ok, that's good enough info. If you say you are nearsighted, that means it's minus signs, which also means you should read your books perfectly fine with the glasses. If that's the first time you have worn glasses, I wouldn't recommend wearing them for reading (well, you don't need them anyways). These minus lenses will make you focus (over accommodating) even more when you see things upclose. You should have clear field of vision for more than 50 cms from your naked eyes, so I would say that if you are in your room/library and doing studying/reading, you really don't need the glasses. It's a little different of course in a classroom situation where you would constantly shift your gaze from distance to near and vise versa which make removing the glasses an impossibly annoying feat.
Unfortunately the eyes are really complex organs. There are no simple answers or solutions and everyone is different, so it usually isn't fair to compare between individuals.
I understand that you said you already had a bit of the headache and diplopia before getting the glasses, right? Would you say that these glasses are making these symptoms worse?
Last edited by earthworm88; 07-31-2009 at 11:03 PM.
What your primary doc suggested is seeing a neuro-ophthalmologist...a neurologist who then takes a 2 year fellowship in ophthalmologist. They are considered the detective docs and there are only about 300 in the whole US so you are lucky to be seeing one. Took me 3 months to get in to see mine. They are truly amazing docs who seem to love a mystery and solving it. If you ever watch the show Mystery Diagnosis, many of the docs are neuro-ophths.
Good luck and I hope they solve the problem quickly. Mine is chronic so I'll be seeing him for a long time but I hope you find a cure ASAP!
The fact that you had already started to experience headaches and binocular vision problem prior to wearing the glasses, the glasses may have just worsen these issues for you. Once the problem menifests, it is very unlikely to make it all go away even if you get rid of the "culprit" and definitely not within the 5-6 days. Your complaints are actually quite common and the prognosis is good assuming there is no neurological problems.
If you are seeing the neuro-ophthalmologist first, good luck with that. It is always good to rule out any neurological disorders to be on the safe side. If that is negative, then you would be better off seeing a binocular vision specialist.
Best of luck. I know how frustrating and discouraging it can be as I had gone through similar symptoms myself. Hang in there! Cheers!
thanks for the replies. i never really thought of the glasses before. my eye doctor had told me to wear my glasses all the time and it didn't make anything look different when i read so I didn't think anything of it.
Collegekid...you didn't say if the eye doc you saw was an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. An optometrist doesn't have the equipment to check for all sorts of eye problems. All they do is a general exam and then check your vision.
But obviously your primary saw something and I suspect knows something that he/she isn't sharing with you just yet. Otherwise, he/she would have sent you to an ophthalmologist for further testing but instead, has sent you directly for an MRI(brain?) and then onto a neuro-ophth. So don't worry about whether you have the right glasses or not or whether you are wearing them too long or whether you're adjusting to them or any of that stuff. Your primary thinks the source is in your brain, not your eyes. That's why you see an neuro-ophthalmologist....when the problem is in the brain, not the eyes.
So I hope I haven't offended anyone here who has given advice about your glasses but I was where you are just last summer. After a lot of testing it turned out I have wavy vision due to my optic nerves not having sufficient blood flow due to inflammation of the blood vessels in my brain due to rheumatoid arthritis. Treating the RA more aggressively treated the vision. It appears my RA actually started in my brain before it ever made a single joint hurt. A rare but not unheard of presentation.
So I'll be anxiously waiting to hear what they find and praying it is a minor and fixable problem. Mine was. And don't sweat the glasses.
