Double vision

[ducky9]

Good morning and happy new year. My double vision is driving me crazy, I feel so hopeless and fed up with it all. I've give up with the eye patch and just stopped leaving the house, I've not spoke to a human face to face since new years eve so I'm feeling the depression creeping back up. As conventional medicine cannot seen to help me im thinking of alternative routes. Anyone any advice or recommendations regarding acupuncture or hypnotherapy? Thankyou

[cat3]

This might be a silly question Ducky, but could you wear dark glasses with one lens darker to block vision. Or are there specs from the opticians which can have one clear lens and the other blanked ? xx

[ducky9 in reply to cat3]

Hi Cat. Yes I now own a selection of glasses and patches. One of the pairs of glasses ive frosted one eye off. This helps but it's more a vanity thing with me. My looks and image have always been very important to me so this is not sitting well with me as I can't cope with the funny looks and sniggers I feel I'm getting. The frosted lens is easier to work with than the patch as you can still use peripheral vision and still see light/colour etc. I'm just not handling it all and feel such a moany misery. It's just easier to stay indoors and walk the dog after dark. I feel really depressed isolated and hopeless to be honest as it feels like a nightmare that will never end.

[razyheath43 in reply to ducky9]

iam sure you look fine! i know its hard please try to get out a bit more,try joining a loacal headway group.

[angelite in reply to ducky9]

Hi Ducky,

It IS easier to stay indoors and walk the dog at night, with any physical/cognitive impairment but the monotony and solitude will cause depression after a while. I have had to learn to get over my embarrassment. I can't hide my problems so have learned to live with them.

There will always be those who judge us on appearance and some who can be outright abusive yet I have found the number of people who accept and go out of their way to help far outweighs the other types.

You are talking to a woman who insisted on going to the vets tonight without her stick, as part of ongoing physio, had a punch up with the door and step, weebled over to the counter and stuttered at the receptionist. Later I lost words in the examination room, staggered about after getting up from holding my dog on the floor , handed my purse to the vet after she asked me for my dog's vaccination card ( my thought had jumped ahead to the payment part ) rethought and said ' no, that's not what you asked me for, is it ? '

D'know what, they'll get used to me !

Everyone was very patient and helpful : )

What is most important to me is my ability to function and do the things I need to and like : )

Have you tried just smiling at people who are looking at you - it really disarms them and often provokes a smile back !

Could you not bling up/personalise the lens a la Ducky style ? x

[ducky9 in reply to angelite]

I tend to snarl more than smile...comes more natural lol! 😃

[steve55 in reply to ducky9]

ducky9 stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with your life. theres many a person on here and outside, would wish they had a frosted glass or a patch to worry about!!!

if its your vanity that youe worried about and need a boost , im sure theres a sight on the internet where youii find men or woman who find frosted lenses or patches sexy

[ducky9 in reply to steve55]

I take great offence at your reply Steve. You know nothing about me or My condition. It took me guts to write my posts here as my self confidence is at an all time low. I have very little support and was and still am severely stuggling. It's opinions like yours that puts me off joining things like this and whilst so far in the 6 weeks I've been a member I have chatted with some truly wonderful people on here both about my problems and theirs so I'm glad I joined. Yes I'm fully aware that many people are going through a hell of a load more than me physically and mentally both here and elsewhere in life it doesn't mean my personal struggle is any less and I'm totally offended at your pig ignorance.

[steve55 in reply to ducky9]

that how i am unfortunately. my stroke has left me with no thought process....my tongue is my mind.

id actually forgotten about the post, which again is part of my brain injury.

i will apologise for what i said, it wasnt your disability i think it was the vanity how the patch has affected your looks....even with the patch im sure theres loads of women who wished they were as attractive as you.

now lets get down to the nitty gritty......how long have you had double vision and could it have been a result of your occupation? how was it diagnosed....how long ago was it diagnosed have you had any follow up appointments and is there any other treatment available.

i assume you belong to a union...get them involved youll be able to get free legal advice.....and finally if you do have to continue wearing a patch for a while............make sure they compliment your clothes !!!!

steve

[Kirk5w7]

I've not tried acupuncture yet but been told by my GP it could be beneficial for the pressure headaches I get and also the sensitivity of my skin.

I have found reiki and reflexology beneficial in helping me back to the real world if that makes sense.

I sympathise with the visual problems, I have lost some peripheral vision but do not have double vision, that must be had to deal with. I know how my issues affect my balance.

With alternative therapies I feel you need to try yourself as they do not work for everyone.

Janet x

[ducky9]

Thanks Janet. I've got a consultation booked next week at the Chinese alternative therapy clinic. I just find it so hard to believe in this day and age nearly every medical problem can be addressed yet double vision is still some unresolvable problem for medical science. Praying for a miracle si I can try and get my life back. Best wishes and thankyou

[cat3 in reply to ducky9]

Ducky, I'm so sorry you're having such a struggle with this issue. I can empathise to some degree as I too have always been very image conscious and, since the bleed I felt my features had changed, and I wasn't happy about the changes.

It bothered me for a couple of years but then I decided to take control by making the best of what I have and, to be honest, I think it's been mostly an internalised problem anyway.

Can I ask whether you would normally wear spectacles on a daily basis ?

[malalatete]

Hi Ducky

I am with angelite on this, as someone who randomly staggers about in a way that makes people assume I am absolutely bladdered. You can't do much about what other people think - and for all you know they were thinking uncomplimentary thoughts about you when you were 'normal'! But what you can change is how you feel about how you are.

I am facing the loss of my left eye in the very near future, unless my surgeon Mr P can save it by some miracle. And yes, as you posted somewhere else, the range of eye patches leaves much to be desired. But I am inspired by a lady who came to my school as a girl. She was raising money for a CAT scanner in the days when these were revolutionary. She stood on stage in our school in front of 700 girls like a very chic pirate with her black eyepatch slung across her face. She did raise the cash - and a wing of our local hospital is named after her to this day. And she looked like a pirate everywhere she went till the day she died.

No-one out there is as 'normal' as they seem. And we oddities, with all our quirks and idiosyncracies, have the right to be a part of that 'normal' too. It is (like most things) a wide and rainbow-hued spectrum after all.

And if you still are not comfortable with the idea of 'normal' then accept that you are, and always have been, unique and special and precious. Accept it and revel in it. There is no-one else out there like you. Isn't that glorious and to be celebrated?!

If this all seems too hard then I should speak to your GP. You are more likely to be able to get help through counselling or similar to help you deal with how you view your self, than you are to find a complementary therapy to resolve what you have been advised is a intractable problem. CBT or NLP could help to make you feel a whole lot more comfortable in your own skin and embrace the real you rather than some 'image' you hold.

And if you do happen to find some decent blinged-up patches, give me a shout!

[ducky9 in reply to malalatete]

Thankyou...good advice Malalete. My employers have suggested I may now be able to return to work in my patch...One step at a time...going the shop in it is traumatic....standing in front of a plane load of passengers will be a LOT more daunting lol. I actually found a nice patch on ebay that I wore on new years eve...red and lacy...then someone said it looked like a pair of scanty panties..luckily I was full off fizz so I laughed it off! Cheers for the kind words 😐

[angelite in reply to ducky9]

Scanty pantie eyepatch sounds lovely : ) In a party context I would take that as a sexy compliment !

It does get easier to be more comfortable with yourself, the more you go out in public - honest !

Do try the smiling at others who look at you method. Often people are uncomfortable/ not sure how to behave around a disability. A smile can help to put them at ease and realise that you are confident and

comfortable in yourself. It helps to break the ice and let them see the person beneath : ) x

[ducky9 in reply to angelite]

Thankyou angelic. ..kind words much appreciated

[SAMBS]

Hi Ducky 9,

The first thing you need to do is make an appointment to see a Opthalmologist - they are better and more medically qualified than opticians. It's possible there is damage to your optic nerve if you have a BI.

Dark glasses won't stop double vision, yes it will cut out or down the brilliance of light. My neurosurgeon had recommended in his letter of hospital discharge that I see an Opthalmologist, because he saw from MRI, which parts of my brain were affected,damaged by the Haemorrhage. As it happens I have had 2 cataract operations which helped a bit, re the double vision, it is still there with distance objects, aeroplane lights, stars, moon, and sometimes when my eyes are tired and I'm trying to concentrate harder on what I. Looking at.

An early morning appointment is always the best time to have eyes tested, the are still in more normal relaxed mode then, so will give truer test results, especially when reading the different size letters on the wall board.

An old friend of mine in UK spent his whole working life as an Opthalmologist, not an optician, he did 7 years training total to qualify as such. The eye being his medical speciality!

Here in france, the 2 are also separated, we see the Opthalmologist for the eye examination and test plus the prescription, which we then take to the optician to choose our glasses!

Hopefully this will give you the confidence to go and have your eyes looked at properly, again?

whatever the quality of your vision. It did help me get rid of the 'fog' by having the cataracts removed!

[ducky9 in reply to SAMBS]

Yes im under an opthomologist whom my neuro surgeon sorted for me. Thanks for the advice though.

[MXman]

Hi Ducky,

I have used acupuncture for my back but not for eyes but it really helps my back. Love talking to the chap who does it for me too I think chatting to him helps more than the acupuncture does. Nick

[steve55]

ducky9 i know i didnt get off to a good start with you but im not like that all the time

sorry x

[ducky9]

No problem Steve apology accepted. Regards Lynne

[sharing-life]

Hi ducky. How are you getting along?

[sharing-life]

I have read several posts of yours and I can relate to much of what you have gone through with your eyesight.

[spideyman]

Originally I got double vision from a brain haemorrhage and I was laid in the hospital bed seeing both sides of the bed. Like a fish.

Eventually the brain brought the 2 images together but my eyes still weren’t straight.

I had surgery on my eyes and had them surgically straightened (for aesthetic reasons) and I saw double again for the rest of my life.

I just concentrate on the better image and I’m very used to it now.

3D films are a nightmare though

[Cornishwaves247]

Just reading your post and replies and wondering if you came across anything to help? I suffer with double vision and am yet to find a solution.