Double vision

[lstrl]

I've been having intermittent double vision since July. It doesn't occur when I'm looking at things close up, only further away like if I'm in a big room looking across or when I'm driving. I went a couple weeks where it happened every day, then it quit for probably a month and it just recently came back with a vengeance. Right as I was going to see if I should go back to my optometrist (I got in to see her just as it was clearing up in July and she didn't find anything that related to it on my exam), it seemed like it was getting better. It hasn't completely gone away though, and then today it got really annoying for a while again.

I'm really starting to think that this is causing the almost daily headaches I've been suffering from lately. It's also limiting my driving. I try staying as close to home as possible so I'm not far away if it hits while I'm out. My neuro is aware of the problem and doesn't care, so whatever I do, I'm not contacting him for anything unless it is to write a referral to a competent neuro who actually helps their patients. Is this something that I should call my optometrist about again since it seems more consistent this time or should I just live with it and hope that it goes away again? I've always had really good vision, so having these issues really bothers me.

[MSer102]

Yes go see your optometrist. She will check how your eyes are doing and should be able to tell you if prism glasses might make it easier for your eyes to work together. Prisms can help not only when double vision is present they can also help to prevent double vision by helping the eyes work together better. I hate to think of you just trying to live with it if there's something that can help.

If your optometrist thinks that you might benefit from steroids she should be able to refer you to an ophthalmologist who might order them for you since your neurologist is such a dud.

[VikingKitty]

lstrl -

just a quick reply (gotta get to work this morning) -
I had trouble with double vision starting July 1 - my double vision only happened while looking to the right..i let it go for a few days...went to optomotrist who found nothing wrong with my eyes...she told me to go to the ER..which I didn't do (right away that is)...a week later it got so bad that I had no choice but to go to the ER as the double vision got so bad that I had it every which way that I looked...I also started to get nystagmus and basically lost motor control of my eyes..I was in the hospital for 3 days for the IV of steroids....my neuro said I had a lesion on my brainstem although it didn't show on the MRI...he said that it maybe so small that the radiologist coulnd't detect it ...if you check out my other posts it will tell you more in depth the situation I went though...I would definitely not ignore it.

[venice]

I would suggest seeing a neuro-ophthalmologist, who will likely be better able to determine what is happening, as well as know how to treat it. I have one, an outcome of the painful ON I had a few months ago, and he has been just amazing.

[lstrl]

Thanks for the advice. I did go see my optometrist today, and unfortunately there's nothing she can do at this time because it's not consistent enough (of course, I wasn't having issues at the time of my appt). She said seeing a neuro ophthalmologist would be good, but I really should see someone who treats the whole body and not just the eyes. I did go ahead and make a call to work on getting into an MS specialist who, according to their website is also a neuro ophthalmologist. I'm sure it'll take a while to get in to see him, but I know I'll be much better off than sticking with the neuro I have now. He's the director of the MS center and takes part in research studies, so I bet he is much more likely to be interested in what's going on and trying to help.

Until then, hopefully this will get better again. If it gets worse, I can go in for prisms, but I'm hoping that doesn't happen.

[Selsia]

My first MS symptom was double vision. It can be a sign of a lot of things (like Graves Disease which my grandmother had). Like VikingKitty I went to the ER and I was lucky enough that they took me seriously and checked me in right away - I did have a 6 month battle with my insurance about it though because I agreed to be treated as an in-patient instead of an out-patient. So the hospital might be an option.

One of the diagnostics I found online suggested seeing if the double vision went away when I closed one eye. It did and that indicated a nuero instead of a vision issue.

Also, is there anyway you can get someone to drive you? I felt totally unsafe to drive and I got rides and took the bus. Just be careful and good luck. Also leave your nuero if you have bad chemistry.