Hi all, thought id start a topic and listen to other peoples thoughts on what they think is wrong with me. Currently 26 years old. Around 4 years ago i got double vision when i looked right and down however went away if i closed either eye, no pain or any other problems. Went to the doctors/neuro and had a blood test, other tests like liquid in my eyes along with a MRI and all came back fine. I also seen the eye specialists (i think they was) who ruled out it was from me hitting my head, they mentioned it was because of weakness in the nerve or the muscle. It went away on its own after about 6 weeks.
It came back exactly the same last year couldnāt look right or down and again no pain or discomfort just annoying and that also went away around 6 weeks too. I didnāt go to the doctors this time.
Iāve now got it again, had it around 4 weeks at the moment however this time its when i look left and down as said previously i close either eye and my vision becomes single again. I wouldnāt say it was any worse than before however its now shifted to the left.
The two images are always vertical. It does seem to fluctuate throughout the day. In the mornings i can bring the two images together sometimes for a hour if Iāve have had a good sleep but throughout the day i cant and at night/when Iām tired it seems to get worse and i struggle to focus and my eyes do start feeling āheavy/sluggishā however not sure if this is me just over thinking things, could just be tired. My friends reckon they can see my eyes jolt around when i am trying to focus.
A bit more about me: Always seem to be stressed even when i try not to be, quite bad anxiety, on my phone basically 7 hours+ because of work, relatively healthy eater, occasionally drink couple times a month and would say Iām pretty fit and healthy.
If i think of anything else Iāll update this and answer any questions. Thanks!
The kind of double vision that occurs in MS is caused by Optic Neuritis. It is an odd type of eye problem, sometimes with blurry vision, sometimes double vision. Often just one eye affected, sometimes both. Generally recovers on its own in weeks or months. Sometimes it doesnt recover (or remit).
But, it always comes with colour distortion. Plus, it is seen by opticians/optometrists/eye specialists and on MRI.
So no, I doubt that itās optic neuritis, and/or MS. (But this is just my amateur opinion.)
However, itās your eyesight. Thatās important. You should get it checked out. Not long ago I had a bit of a strange vision thing with one eye - which I knew wasnāt optic neuritis. I mentioned it on here and several people told me, āwhat would you advise someone else?ā And āitās your eyesight, very important, see an expert and find out whatās caused it!ā
So thatās my view. Probably not MS. But get it checked.
MS can cause double vision - it has done it to me and was, in fact, the thing that secured my MS dx. It was mostly double vision but at its worst my vision really was all over the place for a few days - I felt as if someone must have slipped some LSD into my camomile tea - but it resolved completely in time. The impression was left with at the time was that it was a lesion deeper in the brain that caused it rather than an optic never problem - there was no other visual disturbance at that time that would have been typical of optic neuritis - but its a very long time ago, so I might be misremembering.
In any case, vision is vision and itās important, and getting double vision isnāt right at your age or any other and needs investigated properly. Sorry, but you need to bite the bullet and go back to the doctor.
Alison
Thank you both for your inputs. I know i need to get back to the doctors however im looking at buying my first house soon and with that on my medical history iād have little chance of getting a mortgage but yes i should put my health before anything, i also have a massive phobia of needles/blood/drs so its hard for me to pluck up the courage and book an appointment.
In reply to Alison, yes i also get like that when i look somewhere fast however my eyes do bring the picture in its like my eyes are slow at focusing.
I also forgot to add each time before the double vision come i noticed something was off with my eyes, something just didnāt seem right and my eyes felt slow. IIRC my vision stayed like that for a few days- a week before the double vision comes.
You say you are on your phone 7 hours a day. Could it just be simply eyestrain? Muscle tiredness? If the muscles of one eye tire a bit quicker than the other then it wonāt hold converence, so you will get double vision. And the eye will flick, compared with the other, as it canāt hold that position. There are simple eye exercises that can help with that.
Honestly i have no idea. you should see your optician and they will send you to eye specialist if they think there is a problem.
could be anything. for me anything wrong with eyes you should be seen. cut out the drinking you say your fit and healthy on what scale do you judge that? I am curious. Is it because you go to gym or run etc.
Phobias are not nice but i have a phobia of spiders eek lol. but soon got over that with 3 years in hongkong when a spider was the size of your hand lol.
Its just a little prick it doesnt hurt honestly it hurts far less then the pain in my left foot right now with my PPMS.
BUT really if your worried about your health and obviously Mr Google has sent you to the MS forum you must be thinking you could have MS isnt it more important to sort this out first? IMHO. Mind you it took me 16 years (boring i know lol), and i did a lot of stuff from 2000 when it started nothing stopped me even had a mortgage with my husband and we paid the mortgage off before i got too sick.
your still young so i would deal with this first it could be down to anxiety but i never leave eyes to chance as it was my eyes that were the reason why i got told i had MS.
Donāt let the mortgage thing bother you. MS doesnāt usually stop people getting mortgages or life cover, although you might need to shop around. Itās critical illness insurance you would be stuffed on. And as far as that goes, youāre probably stuffed already on account of your earlier trouble, all of which you would have to declare on the proposal form and would be discoverable in your medical records when the insurance company checks, which they will. In other words, not relevant right now.
Alison
Again thank you all, Iām not sure how you quote messages and respond that way otherwise I would, The annoying part is I know needles donāt hurt but itās just the thought drives me crazy but if I have a needle every day for 3 years should I get over it? Haha.
An update: I braved ringing the GP and booked an appointment (even though it was over the phone appointment due to corona!) They said for me go to the optician first to rule out anything and go there tomorrow for a face-face appointment. Optician said my ON looks good and healthy along with rest of my eye, my right eye is suppressed (whatever that means) I did a few tests and there was 4 red lines on one test but I could only see 2 and Iāve now got a slight turn, they stated my left eye muscle/s are weak causing the double vision.
i am glad you went to GP good i hope you feel better.
to quote. Highlight the area you want to quote ok (it turns grey then above you with see āQUOTEā. click on the word and you get a new message with the quote included.
could you have Strabismus caused through the weak eye muscles which is causing the the double vision.
i am not being clever i did what everyone else does googled MY RIGHT EYE IS SUPRESSED lol.
who needs doctors lol.
Anyway i am proud of you for going i know you ere scared. I am not being patronising, sorry i have grandsons older then you lol.
my grandson of 21 has needle phobia so i bribed him when he had to have bloods taken lol. He went and did it, now has a brand new shiny bike he wanted He was getting it anyway for his birthday but he didnt know that.
Ahhh thatās how you do it! Iāve always wondering how this is done on forums, Iām assuming itās the same on the majority of forums anywayā¦
So the optician said thatās what I have when I look to my left however I never had this when I was younger and the last two episodes my right eye was the problem/when I looked right and now itās my left eye/when I look left.
Still waiting to see the specialist so no update but Iād like to keep this post updated for other people who are in a similar position to me.
Iāve had double vision around 10 weeks now and itās still the same, maybe a bit better, maybe. Seems to fluctuate I think I have good days and bad days.
I read up on suppression on my right eye and it sounds like when I previously had the double vision in my right eyes/weak muscle that my brain has learnt to block the imagine from the right eye so I didnāt have the double vision so the problem is possibly still there and now my left eye is deterioratingā¦ certainly making me very worried.
Hi all, no update but after advise. Still waiting to see specialist and I chased them to find out the waiting list is 14 months+ before theyāll see me.
I canāt really afford private, I can afford the consultation but thatās it so no point with that.
My only options are go back to the doctors saying this is urgent and maybe theyāll bump me up the list or wait it out? It isnāt getting worse however Iāve had it 4 months now with no improvements. What would you do?
Our county hospital has an emergency Ophthalmology clinic that runs at least weekly and to which your GP can refer you to be seen very quickly. I have been sent there a couple of times. Itās worth checking whether there is something similar where you are. Itās not like rocking up to A&E - you do need a GP referral - but itās a very good arrangement.
Hello JJones, your vision issues seem similar to mine. Onset of double vision over a couple of days back in September 2019, eye wobbling/vibrating when looking to left side, eyes felt slow and sluggish. Luckily my medical intervention was super quick here in North Wales, visit to the doctors first, then referred to optician who in turn referred me immediately to A&E where I was met by an eye doctor - all on same day. To make a long story short, neurologist diagnosed me with MS based upon McDonald Criteria, suspecting brain stem lesion(s) which was not detected by my MRI. However, I also had some enhancing and non-enhancing lesions in my brain scan, which she thought were not responsible for the double vision, but said there would be damage in my brain stem and lesions there can be small and hard to detect on the MRI. My double vision symptoms sound similar to yours, and improved about 80% over a two month period following a 5 day course of strong steroids. My eye consultant said that my attack had caused internuclear opthalmoplegia, and today, 2 years after my event I still have some double vision when I look to my left. When I totally relax my eyes into a day dream type state, my left eye noticeably drifts out and upward resulting in double vision. My brain has learned to adapt, but I do suffer with motion sickness type nausea when walking and my eyes get tired easily. My attack occurred at a very stressful time in my life also. I hope sharing my experience proves useful, since there seems to be a lot of similarities between our two cases.
He was getting it anyway for his birthday but he didnt know that. 