Experience with prism lenses

[ChookityPop]

I dont know if I have proprioception or not. I have dysautonomia and suspect SFN.

I am not clumsy, not bumping into walls, spilling drinks etc. I actually feel that I still have great reflexes, like if something falls out of the fridge I catch it almost everytime. Though I might sway a little bit during the Romberg sign?

I got sick in 2014 with all kinds of different weird symptoms, the usual. I had lots of trouble with my vision from blurry vision, light sensitive, exophoria and accomodative spasm. No history with eye issues prior to getting sick.

In 2016 I got prism lenses from an expert on exophoria. And it helped tremendously. I had been inside my dark apartment for 1.5 months with excruciating pain in my eyes if I watched screens for only 5 seconds, stiff neck and headache. I was mild at the time. Prism lenses pretty much fixed all those issues.

I had to stop using my prism lenses in 2019 after I relapsed. Have used them on and off since only while using screens. But not for the last 6 months. The last months I have on occasions strained my eye muscles to the point that my body shuts down and I sleep for 2-3 hours and feel terrible. I got more brainfoggy, terrible eye pain, very sore and strainy eyes to the point I couldn't use my screens or read at all.

I then figured out I would try my prism glasses to see if they would help me look at the screens. This was a week ago and I still feel more robust and haven't get that strained in my eyes that I fall asleep. Though my eyes have gotten strainy on and off since 2016.

I find this very interesting. Without prism glasses I fall asleep if I use screens, sometimes very fast too.

 

[junkcrap50]

Very interesting case study I found a while back about Prism Glasses curing a ME/CFS patient:
https://people.bath.ac.uk/ac886/PDSandMECFS.pdf

RAPID RECOVERY FROM ALL SYMPTOMS OF SEVERE ME/CFS BY TREATING PROPRIOCEPTION DYSFUNCTION SYNDROME: A CASE STUDY
ORLANDO ALVES DA SILVA
ABSTRACT.Background.Fatigue with no apparent organic cause is one of the characterising symptoms of ME/CFS, and fatigue is one of many possible symptoms of Proprioception Dysfunction Syndrome (PDS). The aim of this study was to investigate whether a patient with ME/CFS also had PDS, and to treat the patient following the non-invasive and inexpensive protocol for PDS from [13]. Methods.A patient with severe ME/CFS was diagnosed with PDS using simple biomechanical tests that investigate body and visual-spatial perception. The key elements of the treatment involve the use of glasses with ‘Active Prism’ lenses, combined with postural reprogramming. We subsequently followed four further patients with the characterising symptoms of ME/CFS through diagnosis and treatment for PDS. Results.The results show a rapid recovery of the clinical state of the primary patient during the course of the treatment as measured on the Bell Fatigue Scale, allowing him to return quickly to professional life and to re-establish his pre-disease quality of life. Of the four additional patients, one regained pre-disease levels of function, while the clinical state of the remaining three patients improved measurably.Conclusions.Research into the prevalence of PDS among ME/CFS patients should be carried out, and those ME/CFS patients with PDS should undertake the treatment that we describe (beginning with postural reprogramming, see Appendix B).

Da Silva's blog/websites:
http://www.posturmed.com/
https://www.orlandoalvesdasilva.org/

A second paper by Da Silva that is a review of his Proprioception Dysfunction Syndrome theory, where he describes the many ways he tests for it.
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.covd.org/resource/resmgr/vdr/vdr_5_2/VDR5-2_invitedarticle_Alves-.pdf

The Eyes and Proprioception
Orlando Alves da Silva, MD1, Teresa Alves da Silva, MD2
1Posturmed, Lisbon, Portugal, 2 Hospital de Cascais, Dept. of Orthopedics, Cascais, Portugal
Abstract
The proprioceptive system has an extensive influence on the maintenance of human health. When the proprioceptive system is dysfunctional, the central nervous system does not recognize the correct status of tonicity of the muscles at rest or in movement, does not integrate correctly the information that comes from sensory receptors, and has difficulty in modulating multisensorial integration, with consequences in motor behavior and cognitive functions.

This results in a wide range of proprioceptive abnormalities which are clinically related, are treated together, and are termed as Postural Deficiency Syndrome (PDS) or more recently Proprioceptive Dysfunction Syndrome.

The author has personally observed more than 40,000 patients suffering from this condition during the last 40 years and devised an active prism therapeutic protocol that is based on the knowledge that small modifications of the muscular tonus of the oculomotor muscles can change the tonus of the axial paravertebral muscles.

This paper describes PDS diagnosis and provides explanation of the updated active prism protocol aimed toward vision professionals.

 

[crepant]

In 2016 I got prism lenses from an expert on exophoria. And it helped tremendously.

Do you know the strength (in diopters) of the prisms in your glasses? I’m asking to establish whether it’s related to the research on active prisms quoted above.

 

[ChookityPop]

Do you know the strength (in diopters) of the prisms in your glasses? I’m asking to establish whether it’s related to the research on active prisms quoted above.

I cant find the strength atm. I will call the optician tomorrow and ask. Im interested in finding this out as well.

I can add to the original post that I have not fallen asleep after starting using my prism glasses again when watching screens. And I feel better in terms of energy. I actually have substantial positive effect from prisms. Very interesting.

 

[ChookityPop]

Do you know the strength (in diopters) of the prisms in your glasses? I’m asking to establish whether it’s related to the research on active prisms quoted above.

These are my strengths.
Right eye. OD: +0,25/-1,00DCA5 4 INN ( 0)
Left eye. OS: +0,50/-1,25DCA176 4 INN (180)


Right: + 0.25 (cylinder -1)
cylinder lays in axis 5.
4 prism bases in.


Left: + 0.50
(Cylinder -1.25)
Cylinder lays in axis 176.
4 prism bases in.

I havent looked at the study yet because of my eyes really. Do mine match the strenghts in the study?

 

[ChookityPop]

Very interesting case study I found a while back about Prism Glasses curing a ME/CFS patient:
https://people.bath.ac.uk/ac886/PDSandMECFS.pdf

Da Silva's blog/websites:
http://www.posturmed.com/
https://www.orlandoalvesdasilva.org/

A second paper by Da Silva that is a review of his Proprioception Dysfunction Syndrome theory, where he describes the many ways he tests for it.
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.covd.org/resource/resmgr/vdr/vdr_5_2/VDR5-2_invitedarticle_Alves-.pdf

Thanks for sharing this! This is super interesting.

I first started using prisms in 2016 where I was mild but still unable to work. I started working two years later which I dedicate a great deal to the prism glasses.

All was fine until I got acutely ill in february 2019 with lots of burning pains in my body. I have now tested positive for TS-HDS autoantibodies, autoimmune small fiber neuropathy. Wonder if SFN plays a role in this.

I have a strong feeling I have had SFN a while before I eventually started experiencing pain and got a lot worse. I actually think Ive had it for the 7 years I have been ill.

I have had lots of weird eye symptoms since the start. Accomodative spasm, dry eyes, light sensitivity, burning pain in the muscles behind the eyes, strained eyes, I have problems tracking with my eyes at times and when I had that last visit to find my prism strengths they said it looked like I had high blood pressure because of how my blood vessels in my eyes looked. I also had big pupils that started two years before I got sick. I remember people asking me if I had done coke and bouncers told me that I couldn't made it any more obvious because I apparently had giant pupils.

 

[crepant]

Your prism prescription isn't quite what Dr Alves da Silva is using. The angle of your prisms (at 5 and 176 degrees) is different, and the strength of 4 dioptres in both lenses isn't a pairing that he uses. The case study notes on p3, near the foot of the page, that 90% of patients have prisms at 125 and 55 degrees, using between 2 and 3 dioptres. I forget exactly the options for the remaining 10%, but while some of those options include at least one horizontal prism (angle 0 or 180), in those cases I think the strengths of the prisms differ, e.g. 0 and 3 dioptres. Sorry I can't be more precise.

 

[junkcrap50]

I first started using prisms in 2016 where I was mild but still unable to work. I started working two years later which I dedicate a great deal to the prism glasses.

Wow. That's remarkable. Lucky your doctor knew about prism glasses.

I also had big pupils that started two years before I got sick.

Dialiated pupiles are not unheard of in ME/CFS. I've had them and attributed them to sympathetic dominance (autonomic imbalance) or a medication side effect. But I've been exploring SFN so perhaps that could cause it too.

All was fine until I got acutely ill in february 2019 with lots of burning pains in my body. I have now tested positive for TS-HDS autoantibodies, autoimmune small fiber neuropathy. Wonder if SFN plays a role in this.

I have a strong feeling I have had SFN a while before I eventually started experiencing pain and got a lot worse. I actually think Ive had it for the 7 years I have been ill

Quite possibly it could play a role in this. SFN, if it affects the autonomic nervesm can give a wide and varied presentation. It all depends on which/where autonomic small fibers are affected. If your autonomic small fiber nerves in your eyes are affected, I don't see why it couldn't be the source or contribute to your problems. I would do some research with eyes/occular + SFN.

Just remembered this new research: SFN findings in the eyes of fibro patients. https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2...uropathy-found-in-fibromyalgia-patients-eyes/

In fact, the cornea has 300-600 times more pain receptors than the skin and 20-40 more pain receptors than the oh so sensitive dental pulp. It has the densest array of small nerve fibers in the entire body.

They can test / look for SFN in the cornea non-invasively.

 

[Pyrrhus]

Dialiated pupiles are not unheard of in ME/CFS. I've had them and attributed them to sympathetic dominance (autonomic imbalance) or a medication side effect.

A range of ocular dysautonomia has been reported in ME:
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...upils-constricting-dilating-back-forth.82520/

Just remembered this new research: SFN findings in the eyes of fibro patients. https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2...uropathy-found-in-fibromyalgia-patients-eyes/

Related discussion:

Fibromyalgia Is Correlated with Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thinning (Garcia-Martin et al. 2016)
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...-of-fibromyalgia-patients.61667/#post-2321474