Can someone talk me down please!? DS double vision

[Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady]

I will preface this by saying I have health anxiety so am really struggling to be rational about this.

DS 10 came out of school today saying he had double vision when looking at the white board.

He said it went away when he blinked.

He said the same thing about 4 years ago. I took him to the optition and they checked his eyes. All fine.

Over the last few years he has mentioned it once or twice but I reminded him that the optition said his eyes were fine (I know I'm a terrible mother and should have pursued it)

I can't remember him saying anything about it for over a year.

To give some details:

He says it only happens if he is looking at one thing and then quickly changes to look at something else. Goes away when he blinks.

He says he only notices it every few months (obviously noticing it more tonight because I've been doing some tests on him - I know!)

If he's just walking around normally, or talking to me he doesn't have double vision.

It only happens if he

A) has been really concentrating on something and then looks up/at something else

B) closes his eyes and then opens them (again, it goes away with 1 blink)

C) he says it's worse if he has been really concentrating on something or if he is tired.

I am trying really really hard to be rational. It's been going on for 4 years (he says if anything it's actually got better over that period) it goes away when he blinks, he has no other symptoms e.g. headaches, vomiting, fits etc

But because of the health anxiety I have been in tears thinking worst case scenario. Brain tumour.

PLEASE can someone talk me down

My child had a slight squint when they were about 10 years old. It was barely noticeable but she would get double vision sometimes with it when she was tired - when she blinked it went away. She was referred to an eye hospital and had eye exercises to do for a few months and it sorted it out -no problems since

This sounds almost identical. I'm glad your daughter is all better now. Fingers crossed it is the same for my son

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

Surely if it was a brain tumour we would have seen other symptoms/worsening of symptoms in 4 years?!

I very much doubt its a brain tumour More likely to be a sight issue

Hi there
My dd had similar. Turned out she had double vision for quite a few years and thought it was normal 😞
I noticed her eyes turning in one day and it transpired she had long sightedness, strabismus/ estropia (eyes turning in)
She had an optician eye check but they also used a ball on a stick type test to check if the eyes worked together and that is where they found that they weren’t working together and causing the double vision I believe. Not all opticians do this kind of test.
We ended up needing a behavioural optometrist to help train her eyes to work together. Does he struggle with school work? My dd did (still does but has SEN too).
Best of luck x

Classic symptoms of needing glasses. Been there done that personally and with many many children I’ve worked with!

DD had this at a similar age. Went to eye hospital who gave her a tool (ruler thing with a bit attached that you concentrate on and slide nearer to the eyes) to train her eyes out of it. Opticians said she needed glasses around the same time.

Make sure he has his test at the end of the day.

Hubby gets this and needs prisms in his glasses to correct but it gets worse when his eyes are tired and he's tired as the brain struggles to correct it more then.

So sometimes it takes a few tries to get the eye test to pick it up and he finds the end of the day is much better.

My son is 10 he couldn’t see much at all, he thought that was normal and didn’t mention it...his glasses really suit him & he’s happy he can see. His dad wears glasses so likely from that side.

Doesn't struggle with school work. Ahead of his class.

Thank you for those with similar experiences (and no brain tumours!)

That’s a really big jump you’re making to brain tumour

It’s actually quite a classic symptom of a squint, my eyes do it even now and I’m old, I was diagnosed with a compensating divergent squint in my teens with exercises and glasses with prisms in it was well controlled

Sceen time, back to school and whiteboards all add up, get him checked at the optician but please don’t worry unduly

I used to be able to "unfocus" my eyes around the ages of 8-12. Again I could blink it away easily. I have an astigmatism and am short sighted, worn glasses since age 12.

I've got double vision, I was referred to opthalmology for investigation but apparently I've alway had it and just noticed it one day, I couldn't then "un-notice" it.
I've had it 25 years now. Long-sighted and got a squint too!

Yep I have a squint that can cause double vision - DD had the same. It started when she was 9 with double vision. Opticians appointment then she was an eye hospital and opthalmology she has just been discharged 3 years laater

That’s a really big jump you’re making to brain tumour

Unfortunately, that health anxiety for you. I can be completely rational about health concerns about anyone but me and DS.

Sounds like a convergence issue possibly. You need to ask for special test for checking convergence. I discovered I had problems converging my eyes and, though my symptoms weren't exactly like your son's, there are some similarities and I gather that if you have problems converging you can get double vision. My brain was compensating for this by 'blocking out' what I see from one of my eyes.

He may have to go to an eye department at a clinic or hospital rather than opticians, don't be alarmed about this. I have a very bad squint and when DS was about 5 it was recommended he went for tests to check his eyes in case he had a squint even though his eyes seemed normal, they do different tests to an optician and have different expertise. DS was ok, he's just shortsighted now like his DF

Thank you everyone. No one has come on to say "yep! Brain tumour!" So that's a big plus.

I'm very annoyed with myself for doing the "tests" with him this evening.

I have done everything possible to keep my health anxiety from effecting him for 10 years.

He never sees me cry (about health) He never knows that I can't sleep at night. To him I am his normal mum.

Health anxiety is a funny thing. Covid pandemic I've been fine! He was low risk so despite me being CV I have been ok. Even my mum's commented that she can't believe how well I've handled covid (and as much as I love her she is my harshest critic)

My nephew had a brain tumor (is fine now it was 15 years ago :).

He completely lost the sight in one eye and could not see certain colors. It was a very pronounced eye Problem and was found by an optician who dispatched them immediately to A and E.

I am telling you this to reassure you. Please don’t be scared.

Your son‘s issues sound like he may need glasses (but I am not a doctor or nurse) and hopefully the optician will reassure you tomorrow.

@SussexCharm2000 I'm so sorry about your nephew. I am so glad he recovered and is fine now. Thank you for sharing.

Even in the midst of a health anxiety freak out there is a rational part of my brain that's says cancer would get progressively worse over 4 years (less than!)

Don't panic but get it checked. My DD is uber sensitive to screens and gets double vision and other neurological symptoms if she uses screens a lot (lockdown school is a shocker). When it started she spent a week in pediatrics being tested for the most terrifying list of things I still wake up in a cold sweat about. Everything, including eye tests came back normal but 12 m later we almost have a diagnosis of Irlen Syndrome and visual snow. She has started using blue light filtering glasses (just from Amazon) and they help with the eye strain a lot. The problem is that to diagnose these things they first had to rule out the scary stuff. I'd push to see opthalmology ASAP.

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

Surely if it was a brain tumour we would have seen other symptoms/worsening of symptoms in 4 years?!

I think you should look at what’s most likely rather than zooming to the worst possible conclusion. We’ve had years of dealing with my sons eyes and have had so many scary sounding tests - it’s frightening and I really sympathise. It’s most likely he needs a prescription and to lay off the screens.

I went recently because of some odd lightning flashes in both eyes and got told that the condition normally appears when you’re 60 (I’m 48 and not impressed) spent a fortune on new glasses and got told to stay away from screens as we’ve all had too much of it this year.

I think you should look at what’s most likely rather than zooming to the worst possible conclusion.

Again, that's health anxiety. It's not being "a bit worried" or "being paranoid" it's a medical condition which I have tried my best to overcome (medication, CBT, Hypnotherapy)

For someone like me the worst case scenario is all we can think about. Talking it through, for me, is the only thing that helps. It allows me to organise my mind in a rational manner. I am feeling much better having read people's comments.

I have this and for me its an astigmatism. I have been a glasses wearer since primary school. Its worse when I'm having to strain my eyes to concentrate (like a classroom situation) or driving especially at night. My husband has a really bad astigmatism in both eyes but he his eyesight is much better than mine, he is barely short sighted and barely any family history of short sight.

This might sound odd but I have an astigmatism that causes occasional double vision. It usually disappears after a few blinks and is usually when I’m concentrating on a screen: white board, school iPads etc would all count.

I wear glasses for another eye problem I have and there’s something on my lease to help the astigmatism so your son might need glasses.

Astigmatism is a mishape in the iris and is not serious at all.

Hopefully that’s reassuring

I had convergence problems as a child and this would happen to me, had to keep blinking to refocus. I was given eye exercises and it sorted it out although it does come back when I'm tired. I'm sure he's fine, there's plenty of causes that are easily fixable and not at all serious.

@RedBlackCandle and @DayBath Thank you both. That exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to hear