Double Vision

Marco

Marco

Grrrrrrr!
Messages
2,386
Location
Near Cognac, France
During the time I've had ME/CFS I've had constant sore, gritty eyes, night glare problems and stabbing pain behind the eyes (mini migraines as I think of them). But until recently my eyesight has always been excellent and tested at 100%.

Since the last downward sprial that put me out of work though, my near eyesight has deteriorated badly to the extent that I now need reading glasses. This shouldn't be at all unusual as I'm now pushing 50.

But. I'd assumed the problem was the usual blurring of vision due to age, but working at close quarters on something I discovered that I was actually seeing two perfectly clear images.

A little googling suggests this is a common symptom with ME/CFS although relatively new for me and I'm only aware of it close up.

Does anyone have the same problem and had their eyes tested (I haven't been tested in about 7 years)?
 
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aprilk1869

Senior Member
Messages
294
Location
Scotland, UK
This is a major symptom of B12 deficiency. My mum was officially diagnosed years ago with MS and the reason she was taken into hospital was because she had double vision, a headache and nausea. However B12 deficiency can mimic MS and I believe that it was really a B12 deficiency she's had all along. I suggest you go on either Freddd or Rich's protocol.
 
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Valentijn

Senior Member
Messages
15,786
Marco said:
Does anyone have the same problem and had their eyes tested (I haven't been tested in about 7 years)?
Click to expand...

I have bad eyesight and go in every two years for testing, and usually new lenses. My eyesight hadn't really deteriorated when I went in last year, but my focal point (or something like that) had shifted dramatically from 2 years prior.
 
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Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
6,026
Location
Alberta
I was going to post a new thread to ask whether double vision is common with ME/CFS, but PR showed this thread, so I'll post here instead.

I seem to have developed double vision (with no head injuries or other such causes). I didn't notice it during daylight, but when I drove in the dark for the first time in half a year or so, I found that light sources in the dark (signs, headlights, road markings) were split apart. Very disorienting.

It's not my glasses, since the effect occurs even without glasses. Last night I tried closing my eyes for a bit, then looking at Venus (bright point source), and found that I initially had one image, which gradually split and widened, so I guess it's either weak muscles or the control of those muscles.

I guess I'll try convergence exercises first. It doesn't sound like an optometrist is going to be much help: too many possible causes, and no training in ME/CFS issues.
 
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Centime Tara

Senior Member
Messages
177
I too have begun to have double vision. Each eye is OK by itself, but together it feels like an extreme inability to focus. This has happened four or five times, each time lasting for about ten minutes. It’s really scary. I’ve read everything I can find on this forum, with no answers except for the possibility of a B-12 deficiency. I’ve seen two eye doctors—no help. Neurologist—no help. Nothing shows up on CT-scans. If anyone has any experience with this, I’d love to hear from you.
 
BrightCandle

BrightCandle

Senior Member
Messages
1,209
I had this for a while, I did vestibular training although that was how I got my first big crash so I can't recommend it as its extremely mentally taxing to do. It went away as my condition improved and changed, seems correlated with headaches/dizziness in me.
 
Pyrrhus

Pyrrhus

Senior Member
Messages
4,172
Location
U.S., Earth
From another discussion:

Wishful said:
I developed double-vision maybe 15 years into my ME. I'm pretty sure that it'd due to altered neural function. I recently noticed that while I have strong double-vision with my long-distance glasses and with no glasses (the moon is two big fuzzy blobs), it's much less with my reading glasses. There's also a point around twilight when the double-vision is less, so I think it's how the neurons process the visual signals and use that to adjust the eye positioning muscles, and/or how the eye muscles feed back to process images (proprioception). I think it's also stronger when there's a major difference in brightness, such as a bright object against a dark background or a dark object against a bright background.

I've been wondering whether screen time (short focus) is part of the problem, but I haven't come up with a good way to test that without giving up screen time. Screen time with one eye covered didn't show any quick improvements.
Click to expand...
 
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