Evening all, this is a new one for me and I am checking if this is a MS thing.
I was at the theatre last night and for the first half every one on stage was doubled, so it’s hard to explain but it wasn’t blurred but as clear as anything with a gap in between the double image so kind of side by side but with a gap.
When the person on stage walked across and came almost in line with the person sitting in front of me i.e in vision of one eye only I could only see one image, when they walked back in view of both eyes, there were two of them again.
If I closed either eye then the double disappeared but open eye and double appeared again.
It lasted for over an hour, other than pain in one eye for a few years (told not MS related and more like inflammation in eye muscles) , I have not had problems and not had optic neuritis before.
At some points the stage was very crowded with all the doubles and very distracting
I have left a message for MS nurses but unlikely to come back until next week, so has anyone had this happen?
Yes, double vision can be a thing with ms - it’s the thing that got me scanned and diagnosed after a previous period of ‘watchful waiting’ for what that’s worth.
Your description reminded me so much of my own experience, standing in the staff loo and trying and failing to make visual sense of what the tiles behind the basins were doing.
Mind got pretty bad, but in the end it resolved completely- one of my few relapses that did.
@alison100 wow that must have been hard for you but glad it resolved for you.
I am not sure if this is a one off and as such can’t be counted, but at the same time can’t think what else could cause it. Today seems fine but as I’m getting tired (or too much doom scrolling the elections) I have very slight blurring in corner of left eye. My MS has always predominantly been in my limbs particularly my left leg and foot and not involved my eyes as far as I’m aware.
It’s always best to get vision problems checked out quickly. Not everything is MS, and some other conditions need urgent attention.
If I were you I would tell your GP who (if my experience is anything to go by) will give you a referral to your closest emergency ophthalmologic outpatients clinic. in my experience this can happen very fast – it’s one of the bits of the NHS it still just works. It is in these parts anyway.
@alison100 Oh it’s seems we have been on the same path!
Did your eye problems come after your leg? It seemed that everything I read suggested that eyes were the first symptom and others followed but now I’m wondering
Yes mine started round my body and moved down to include legs and feet, It did my left hand too at thd same time. That was all getting much better when the double vision arrived a few months later.
I get double vision sometimes when tired and particularly if guilty of too much screen time. Specifically, each eye gets double vision - not the same as the two eyes going a bit out of sync. Is that the same for others complaining of double vision?
TBH I’ve perhaps been guilty of not getting a test in case it impacts my fitness to drive. I’ve never been worried about my vision when driving, day or night so would hate for something to be found irrespective of whether it affects me absolutely or not.
@GCCK yes, I am overdue an eye test, I get what you are saying about blurred when tired or too much screen time, I quite often get this at work.
Mine yesterday though was very clear, each person was double but apart in perfect clarity.
I have to say, my biggest fear is mentioning something that could get my driving license removed so will word carefully with MS team. That having been said, if it happened again and I was driving, the car would be abandoned and I would jump in a Uber and way up future options.
Hi this has been a long standing problem for me. Can you explain is it like a blur abnormal sensory curtain or spot you can’t see directly from in poor lighting, or flashes on screens etc?
Does it go on all the time, or in poor light conditions only?
Can I ask you to go look up a chart called the Amsler Grid and look at it ASAP.
Do you notice any change here like a rounding of lines or they don’t look straight?
If you see any issue could you please report back so I can at least try to help you?
Oh last thing do you get eye pain in both of singular eye and does MS affect one side more than other or equally.
I’ve had sight issues from 2001 that were subtle for a long time until a few years ago.
If you are worried and don’t want to talk about anything can I please advise you to at least see an Opticians ASAP.
@BE74 Hi there, it was different to normal, perfect clarity double images side by side, lasted just about an hour firstly on Thursday. Yesterday happened again but for just 10 minutes, seems to be a distance issue rather than close. Tried the grid and all seemed ok when just tested.
Spoke to MS nurses and they advised for now go to opticiams and if it becomes more regular go straight to eye hospital, they didn’t seem over concerned to be honest.
I have had eye aches since first episode and my long distance sight that’s normally ok, is slightly veiled so probably optician is first port of call when I have a free weekend.
As people get older, eye complaints are quite common. I suffer with Blepharitis, which is not the same as dry-eyes. Instead, it’s the under-lubrication of the eyelids which can make the eyes sore and itchy. When it’s bad it can affect vision by making things blurry through irritation to the eye surface. So the issue is not optical as such, but superficial. Blepharitis frequently occurs in the over-50’s and is nothing to do with MS or MS-related eye complaints.
@GCCK are you trying to say I’m getting old to be fair yes in early 50’s and do get dry eye that I treat daily.
It’s hard to explain why this was different, it was so perfect side by side images with a slight gap, so imagine looking at someone in the room with you and it was like them having a twin next to them. I don’t think I ever understood the true meaning of double vision before and always presumed to to be an image blurring into each other.
I am happy that the MS nurse didn’t seem over concerned, also said not to rule out silent migraines but to get it checked out, first instance with opticians.
Double vision was my first MS symptom. It lasted 4 months (this was 23 years ago and there was no real help I found at the time). I had a blood test and it turned out that I had a severe vitamin B12 deficiency. When I recovered - this left me with balance problems which I’ve never lost, but I could still walk. Now you can get B12 injections easily. This would have sorted my problem out there and then but my doctor did not want to know and it wasn’t easy to change to another GP practice. My dad had MS and also had double vision as a young man but they did give him a B12 injection which sorted it out - he wasn’t diagnosed straight away and didn’t get full blown MS until many years later. (I guess I was unlucky - my neurologist had no empathy for his patients and it turns out, wasn’t generally liked. Since then things have changed - you can get quite strong dissolvable B12 tablets that go under the tongue - (called Vitamin B12 Cyanocobalamin). MS is in our family - my dad, his brother, a cousin in Canada and me. Later on, after another episode like this - I took loads of B12 - again it took ages to come back from that - I just could not take enough B12 in.
After a few more years, I started waking up in the mornings with double vision again - it was not B12 deficiency this time. I worked out that that taking liquid iron a couple of times a day for approx a week knocked it on the head. I probably had one or two instances of this but within 30 seconds of swallowing some liquid iron - the double vision completely disappeared. Ever since I’ve kept a bottle in the fridge just in case - Its a well known brand found at health food shops - name starts with ‘F’. Sorry for going on for a bit but if I don’t share the info it will probably die with me!
@Whirlygirl57 You really did go through the mill with that situation, glad you managed to sort it eventually.
I was tested a while ago for deficiency and everything was ok to be fair, so don’t think my issue stemmed from that.
Luckily, I have only had the 2 episodes and nothing since Sunday so fingers crossed it is over. I have booked Opticions for the weekend though, for a thorough check.
Sounds like a lot of you started off with vision issues. I hope you all manage to get some improvement
My first issue in late 2023 was Homonymous Hemianopia (I think that’s spelled correctly) which was a loss of left side peripheral vision in both eyes, caused a large lesion on my Right Occipital lobe. It’s a strange, unpleasant way to see the world but, I’m sort of learning to live with it. I have face blindness (which is really weird at times ) and, I’m classed as partially sighted. I’ve never had double vision or ON but, my right eye can hurt sometimes. I’m told that I’m stuck with this now. It’s what started my journey to being diagnosed with RRMS. there was some other crappy bits along the way but, it could have been worse
Hi Jon, I had never heard of that before, it must be quite strange to have facial blindness and not nice to hear you are stuck with it! You are very brave and optimistic with what you have going on.
Like you, never had Optic Neuritis etc. but had left sided eye pain for years, alongside high pressure in eyes and fail the adult peripheral test (pass the childs one strangely). Last year the opticions decided to send me on a standard referral for a double check, I watched that standard referral on my NHS app get passed from hospital to hospital until I got called to go to emergency eye hospital a&e. Apparently no one wants responsibility when you have MS!
My eyes were ok (as I suspect they would be this time) but the consultant suggested since I already have 2 “weird” autoimmunes, I most likely have another waiting to be uncovered that effects eye muscles but not the eye.
Yes, it is a really weird one - I think the proper name for it is Prosopagnosia. I seem to have good days and bad days with it. Sometimes it’s just like my brain won’t pick out and identify facial features - people can look like shop manaquins to me. My lesions and demyelination are mostly on the Occipital and Parietal lobes. I’m also epileptic now so, I wonder if it’s caused by a combination of the things going on
When it first happened, my missus face looked like just a beige oval on the front of her head. I try to pass it off now by telling people that I’m just having a bad eye day when it happens so that no one worries. I can cope with it usually by recognising people from other cues like voice, body shape, them being where I expect them to be, their hair. It does make conversation with strangers a bit more tricky now but, that’s just how it is now so, I just crack on as best as I can
it’s seems we have been on the same path!
) and, I’m classed as partially sighted. I’ve never had double vision or ON but, my right eye can hurt sometimes. I’m told that I’m stuck with this now. It’s what started my journey to being diagnosed with RRMS. there was some other crappy bits along the way but, it could have been worse 
x