So apparently double vision isn't normal...

[DollyLlama]

Ok I hear how stupid this sounds when you say it out loud, but as long as I can remember I've had double vision! I've never seen it as that though, just lazy eyes that do their own thing when I'm focusing on something like reading or a screen.

I went to the opticians today as I've been suffering from visual auras that now have a migraine accompanying them. I haven't had a problem with migraines since I was a child (17 odd years ago) until Sunday and I've had 4 since, 3 with the auras. The auras with no pain have been happening for about 5 years but went through the roof about a year ago and I can have them 3-4 times a week or maybe even go weeks between.

I'm getting glasses with prism lenses and some eye exercises but I'm worried that I've had the issue so long that it can't be corrected.

Does anyone have any experience? I fully accept what a stupid situation this is but after years of regular eye tests, it's never been pointed out as abnormal or something that needs correcting and I thought it was just 'one of those things'!

just an internet random, but...

• they can do wonders with prism lenses now. So there's definite hope
• change in migraines needs a GP visit.

It sounds like you have an unstable squint - its where you can make your eyes work together, but tiredness or whatever means your eyes stop converging.
I've had one for 35 years or more, and although I had a couple of surgeries as a child I still have it. The prisms in my lenses hold it all together perfectly

Did you parents never follow this up when you were a child?

Can you go to a behavioural optometrist? Prisms can be great but equally the prescription can rapidly escalate, so there may be better options depending on your age.

@LoniceraJaponica I'm not sure I really expressed how it affected my vision properly so I don't blame them if they wasn't aware there was a problem.

I've never heard of prisms before so that's quite reassuring @CMOTDibbler . I'm waiting on the glasses and then the opticians are going to have another look in 3 months and see if those and eye exercises have helped.

@specialsubject I have an appointment with the gp on Thursday so I'll drop that into the conversation, thank you.

I have double vision (convergence insufficiency), and prisms do help a lot. What was really useful however, was vision therapy - probably similar to the eye exercises you have been given, but more intense. I got a referral to the eye hospital from my optician, but maybe your GP can help.

I had my double vision since I was 13 and it was uncorrected for a long while - like you, I didn't really notice that it wasn't normal until I couldn't read music. The double vision is still my "default", especially when I am tired, ill or drunk, but the vision therapy trained my eye muscles to work together so that I can focus.

Prisms are great. My eye issues were causing huge ingrained issues for me, to the point I often felt barely able to function - I can get facial numbing, loss of sight in one/both eyes, brain fog and inability to get words out properly. My glasses have made such an enormous difference I feel like a normal person now. I will always have to use them but I don’t care they’re brilliant

Migraine not ingrained!!

Thank you @JontyDoggle37 & @lyrebird1 that's really reassuring! I'll definitely ask the gp about it as the optician said my migraines were not caused by my eyes but worth exploring, especially as both the Diplopia and migraines have been worse lately.

Quick question for those who wear prism lenses, are they easily noticeable? Do people ask you why you have them etc? The pictures I've seen online look really obvious but as I've not seen any in person I don't know if that's the case

Mine look like flat glass, can’t tell a thing. And just look at it from a common sense view - if one of your eyes is constantly struggling to track evenly and match the other eye, and is feeding your brain jumbled pictures that it always has to resort, of course it would be able to give you migraines - think of the brain disturbance all that would equal. My migraines are 98% reduced since I got my glasses sorted.

@JontyDoggle37 I suppose that makes total sense really. Thinking of the amount of strain on my eyes could easily account for the migraines.

Well every day's a school day 😂

I also have a lazy eye that I can completely control but if I'm tired and staring into space or something I will catch myself slipping into double vision sometimes.

😯

One thing that is obvious from this thread is that it highlights just how important it is to get your eyes tested regularly - every 2 years, even if you don't wear anything to correct your eyesight.

As a glasses wearer (crap eyesight) I religiously get my eyes tested and both OH and DD do as well. I find it rather sad that people have been suffering with eye issues that could have been resolved if they had been picked up early enough.

A bit of a hijack, very interesting thread and maybe relevant to my ds (young adult).

He has recently developed a divergent squint, more like a lazy eye (one eye slides outwards sometimes).

He has not complained of headaches, but says he gets double vision occasionally and tends to close his divergent eye at times. .

We saw a hospital optician but the only thing they suggested was botox and we declined as it was too invasive and no guarantee nor a permanent fix.

Apparently he is too old for patches even tho he only developed it within a last year or so and it's not a fixed look (yet), sometimes his eyes are ok. No one mentioned any exercises or lenses even tho I asked about anything non-invasive.

Can someone tell me whether exercises or lenses worked for anyone's lazy eye??

@GlassHeart1 I've had no one offer me any help / information over the years except Specsavers. Maybe take him there and explain and see what they say.

The exercises mentioned to me were as simple as holding 1 finger up and slowly moving it closer to your face until you got double vision then starting again. 5 minutes a day for 2 months. It should strengthen the eye muscles.

Go in armed with the information of prisms too, if you don't know what something is, you can't ask if it suitable!

The thought of Botox makes me feel quite ill

I have double vision at all distances beyond about 8 inches. I’ve had ever increasing prisms in my specs for years and am almost at our CCG’s threshold for surgery now. I’m a bit short- sighted too, but well within the normal range and would like surgery so that I woukd have the option of contact lenses.

Double vision is awful, I can’t walk across a room and my consultant has said I must never attempt to walk downstairs without my specs as to do so risks a fall. I have a whole wardrobe of specs for all my various activities, including sports. It’s the bane of my life, not least because of the expense involved in re-glazing my frames with every deterioration in prescription.

I used to have migraines with aura, but only get those at altitude these days as I wear my specs all the time, apart from in bed. I don’t do exercises as there’s no point - too far gone.

I find people are surprisingly unsympathetic to what is a very difficult condition to live with.

On the point of whether the prisms are noticeable in the frames, it really depends on the style and, to some degree, the quality of the lenses. I have one pair of rimless specs with titanium sides and nosepiece, which look nice despite the big chunk of lens. I’ve just had some new prescription sunnies, which I bespoked and which look fab but cost an arm and a leg. My short distance specs are on latest collection thick frames which are trendy and can absorb the thickness of the prism, but again, very pricey. I tend to think of it in terms of cost per wear and I’ve had the rimless ones for 10 years.

Bear in mind that the depth of the prism will impact on the size of the frame you can choose. You will have to stick to smaller rather than larger frames as otherwise you will get blur around the outer area. Your optometrist will advise. My is lovely - when I was choosing new frames a couple of weeks ago he would just give a little shake of his head or raised eyebrow when I strayed towards the trendy big styles I really wanted .

Oh, and don’t go to SpecSavers . You need to build a long term relationship with an independent optician who will care for your eyes properly.

My daughter had this when little and it was corrected with glasses. It returned aged 16. She was referred to consultant at local hospital. He then sent het to eye hospital where she had surgery. She now has perfect sight and no more double vision. It's changed her life. Ask your gp for a referral. It was jusy a day case and she had perfect vision from day 1. Its not something you have to live with

I should add the optician was reluctant to write to the gp as they felt it was not that bad and could be controlled with prisms. When we saw the consultant he said she was one of the worst cases he had seen in a long time. Really worth getting some expert advice as its not something you have to live with

That's all really helpful @AlbertaSimmons thank you!

Ok noted about the independent opticians.... I'll take these ones from Specsavers and move over after that in 3 months when they need checking.

Only after this thread and some thinking did I realise that is we double all the time, not just when I'm tired / reading etc. It's just something I'm so used to, I just don't notice as it's not as pronounced as when I'm tired etc.

@fatbottomgirl67 I have a GP appointment on Thursday so I think I'll do that, I know mine is quite bad as the optician called his colleague in to look at it who was shocked and then they called their supervisor in to look too. I suppose I'm more worried about later in life than right now, like I don't want to have them permanently stuck outwards rather than having some control

I had double vision for close work throughout primary school, worse when tired, and was quite accustomed to reading off the "stronger" image. My writing was pretty poor and didn't tend to stay on the one line very well, unsurprisingly.

My mother took me for eye checks on a number of occasions when I told her about seeing double, they'd test my eyes separately and say I could see perfectly so there was no problem.

When I was 12, my younger sister had some sight issues and was referred to an orthoptist. My mother took me along and the orthoptist was horrified at how bad my lack of convergence was. Eye exercises helped a lot.

Nowadays I do need to redo the exercises every now and again to strengthen things, but it is generally not a problem.

Hope things work out for you; I tell my story mainly to say I understand how these things can get missed! What is normal for you isn't something you will seek out attention for!

My dd hadn't realised it was so bad till she had the surgery. She would not have been allowed to drive with her eyes as they were. She was offered botox which would paralyse the muscle for up to 4 months but it would only have been a temporary fix. Get specialist advice.

@Dolly at this stage it’s not a matter for your GP. Your optician writes the letter to the GP and the GP refers you to secondary care. It’s helpful if your optician is aware of, or can find out, what the threshold for surgery is, otherwise you could all be wasting your time. In my case, we went through the process and it was inly when I was in front of the consultant and she said she didn’t know why I was there as I didn’t meet the threshold that I even knew that might be an issue. Thresholds vary from CCG to CCG, so you really do need to know where you stand. I’m close to the threshold as it happens and will likely reach it over the next couple of years at the current rate of deterioration. You could choose to have a private consultation of course and the outcome may be different, but the process for that is the same. Go back to your optician and have a conversation about your wider options. Bear in mind that they take cosmetic factors into account - an inward turning squint is more cosmetically acceptable than outward, so they are even more reluctant to operate for fear of going too far the other way. You are dealing with fractions of a millimetre and there’s no margin for error.

Hi@Dolly & all, thank you for raising this issue, I am beggining to think that u just can't stop at the first hurdle, will keep asking and have also found some exercises online, the pencil I understand, but don't get the one with a string, one thing at a time I guess.