Vision after TBI, ABI, Stroke etc explained.

Have been trying to understand the visual aspect following a head injury and how it affects memory, concentration, hearing etc.

I'm getting really fed up with living in a permanent state of visual chaos, like a permanent LSD trip.

No doctor, neurologist etc so far can explain what is happening except to say 'you have extreme light sensitivity, you have a mental health issue, etc, you know the score.

Have come across a lecture by Doctor William V Padula and he describes exactly many of my symptoms and their greater effect on neurological issues.

youtu.be/cYZUqMxI8AI(Not working as expected?)

Keep fighting folks

[Gnelsen02]

I completely understand I have a TBI and we went to A neurologist and she has no clue what’s going on and I’ve had to have glasses after the fact

[Elenor3]

Hi,

I'm not sure how long it is since your injury. I had very unusual visual and auditory experiences after my accident. Nowhere near to what you describe but very odd to cope with nonetheless. I also had a couple of hallucinations which happened due to extreme sleep deprivation as I was in a state of heightened anxiety and couldn't get to sleep over a long period. Have you asked to see a neuropsychologist? They may not be able to offer any treatment but they might be able to help with strategies for coping with it? Good luck and thank you fir the you tube link. x

[Hidden in reply to Elenor3]

Hi thanks for your reply, I'm almost 2 years in and have recently started getting assessed at a brain injury unit.

[DJ-NeuroGirl]

It took finding a vision specialist trained in post TBI issues to look for the VISION (not sight) problems and provide LIVE CHANGING THERAPY! Look for video or book The Ghost in My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get It Back - the point is the visual retraining that he did... I did that and it has helped so much - life changing. Good luck! I feel your pain! (P.S. start with dark glasses and a hat if light is an issue!).

[Hidden in reply to DJ-NeuroGirl]

Hi DJ, have you gone for behavioural optometry

[sealiphone]

I have a frontal lobe injury with attention measured as abnormal.

The visual effects I can experience, visual distortion a person may have a head that looks like a balloon, inability to make out objects when walking, problems judging distance and the speed of moving objects, the effects can become so extreme it feels like I'm becoming disengaged from the outside world.

The Neurologist was surprised by my symptoms and I think more or less in the dark, I suspect this area has much to be discovered.

My own reading led me to information about how attention in the frontal lobe is a fundamental aspect of vision.

[Hidden in reply to sealiphone]

Hi I seem to have broken down visual problems into several categories and it may be worth investigating yourself. Frontal lobe may have a direct impact on your eyes affecting your sight, then there are the optic nerves to consider, after that the visual processing area of the brain. Then spacial and balance problems that seem visual and other factors such as physical pressure and tension on the head which could relate to muscular skeletal issues. Do you also have strange dream like instances with colours and lucid fantastical imagery? When you sleep and dream usually you are not conscious, this apparently is governed by the frontal lobes and causes body paralysis and unconsciousness while your unconscious mind repairs and sorts out information etc and stimulates neural regeneration via plasticity.

Anyway its worth considering getting assessed by a behavioural optometrist with brain injury experience. The biggest cause of fatigue is sensory overload and your vision is the biggest, by far, player in this. I had astonishing results in relation to fatigue and visual effects after getting my prescription tinted lenses. Honestly the difference was life changing and I have been on the road to recovery ever since. Optometry is still not recognised by the medical establishment yet, the evidence is overwhelming that it works. In one of my other posts I put a link for a lecture by Dr William Padula.

Let me know if you want anymore info.

Good luck, if you want to get better you got to chase for the answers yourself and don't rely on the health service, they ain't got the money or the will to go further than basic script.

[sealiphone]

My difficulty appears to be well beyond the the visual cortex but how might I access such a specialist service?

I also have problems with making sense of sounds in some settings, again the frontal lobe and attention are closely linked with auditory and visual processing.

Some research has shown the same areas of the brain being adversely effected by ME. In fact I worked with someone who'd been in remission and then her ME came back with a vengeance and she once said it feels like I'm going blind it sounded weird at the time but it makes sense now.

I don't have any issues around dreaming.

[Hidden in reply to sealiphone]

Phone the main RNIB help phone number, it's on their web page, ask for a list of behavioural optometrists, they will direct you to where you can find it, make sure when you speak to the optometrist that they have brain injury awareness. Get back to me if you have any issues

[Hidden in reply to sealiphone]

Hi you may want to follow the progress of Nackapac, think that's the name, he has just posted about his appointment with a behavioural optometrist