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Bilateral monocular diplopia follow-up
This is not a question, but just a note following the previous discussion among those of us who experience diplopia (or, in my case, vertical ghosting, not actual double vision) in both eyes simultaneously, that is, it doesn't go away when covering one eye or the other. (Sorry I could not just add a reply to that thread; it made me start a new one.)
Someone asked what my prescription was that prevents the ghosting from starting when I read looking down. So, today I copied my (bifocals) prescription before handing it to the optician.
Distance R: Sph -1.25 Cyl +0.75 Axis 008
Distance L: Sph -1.25 Cyl +1.0 Axis 170
Added for reading: +2.25 (L and R)
Not sure what that means, but the reading prescription works great for me!
Nancy T.
This discussion is related to Bilateral Monocular Diplopia Help!.
Someone asked what my prescription was that prevents the ghosting from starting when I read looking down. So, today I copied my (bifocals) prescription before handing it to the optician.
Distance R: Sph -1.25 Cyl +0.75 Axis 008
Distance L: Sph -1.25 Cyl +1.0 Axis 170
Added for reading: +2.25 (L and R)
Not sure what that means, but the reading prescription works great for me!
Nancy T.
This discussion is related to Bilateral Monocular Diplopia Help!.
Hi I have been fighting this battle for as long as I can remember and was only just told my cause and the utter blow of the words no cure no fix ... It's actually because I was born with my brain not wired normal it isn't picked up on in scans or tests and solely down to my explanation of symptoms and everything else being thoroughly ruled out my ghost images and everything else is also bilateral monocular and my eyes do not work as a pair or team and fight constantly with each other rather than the average eye backing off and allowing the better eye to do the job I believe it to be because I don't have a better eye I have both eyes capable of 20/20 vision but now have a patch built in lens covering my right eye to allow my left to be the dominant of the two and the drs words which hurt me but is in fact truth my right eye is my spare tyre for when my right eventually tires out ... When I had vision allowed from both eyes they jumped and was like a switch in the back of the bridge of my nose I can literally feel switch as my eyes fight to take the control ... They had tried many different options to aid my vision prisms and frosted lens but none helped me because even tho these diminished the sight in one eye my eye still noticed it as it could see it didn't care it was not full vision just that the eye could see something and continued the battle with the other until I eventually got a patch taking full sight from that right eye completely I have now been discharged from those I was referred to for help or to me I was given up on told nothing can be done and booted out door with advice to just learn to cope and manage my condition and it's symptoms ... My case is extremely rare so I don't think many will have the same as me but thought I'd put it out there because extremely rare or not it's a possibility for some xx
1 Comments
I can't provide any helpful advice
Hmm. Since the word I tried to use was bleeped out, let's say 'tilt' my head instead. Funny.
Hi folks. I have many of the same symptoms that larshy described in his original post. I have monocular diplopia in each eye that under normal light is offset horizontally and goes away when subjected to the pinhole test. At night, lights such as stoplights have as many as five images in each eye that appear in a circular pattern. I also have tinnitus, occasional dizziness and headaches, and some other related symptoms.
I'm fortunate in that the ghosting is not noticeable at close range. Therefore, since the age of 13 I've worn glasses that correct for nearsightedness, -1.75 in each eye. I'm 41 now. To my recollection I never really understood that what I was experiencing was *not* nearsightedness so I didn't discuss the details with anyone. Over the years as I wore glasses my eyes got accustomed to all the close focusing, so things at a distance just looked blurry without glasses. Also, as time went on I began to notice in photos of myself that I had ptosis (eyelid droop) in one eye. And, since I was a teenager I always seemed to **** my head to one side in pictures.
I have never had the other symptoms checked by a physician because I don't like the way allopathic medicine treats chronic illness in the US. The outcomes would likely have been limited to either taking pharmaceuticals to mask my symptoms, or being judged a hypochondriac and getting in some frustrating arguments with medical staff and insurance companies. Neither appealed to me.
At the recommendation of my dentist, an endodontist, and an oral surgeon, in December I had a tooth extracted. This tooth was first root canaled when I was 12. It had a crown on it, and underneath the crown was a large amalgam filling and the remainder of the dead tooth. After the tooth was removed, a dark lump on the part of my cheek that rested against the tooth began to blister out. Eventually the lump went away. I had had that lump since I was 13 and just thought it was a mole.
Since having the tooth removed my vision has also begun to improve, slowly. It's good enough now that I don't wear glasses during the day anymore. Much of the time now I'm able to resolve everything down to a single image in daylight. I still need the glasses at night.
The ptosis also appears to be resolving. And I still have some headaches and dizziness, but I seem to have more energy than I did prior to having the tooth removed.
'Silver' amalgam fillings are generally 50% mercury. That mercury vaporizes at a slow rate, into the mouth, throughout the life of the filling. Any vapor that is inhaled then enters the bloodstream.
People remove mercury from their systems at wildly different rates due to their genetics, with half lives in the body ranging from 40 days to 250 days. Anyone in the upper end of that range will accumulate mercury if they have several silver fillings.
Mercury poisoning has neurological effects. Silver fillings have been banned in Scandanavian countries.
In addition, root canaled teeth can be breeding grounds for pathogenic anaerobic bacteria. Because there is no blood flow to the tooth, there is no possibility of getting oxygen to it, and thus no possibility of killing bacteria living in tiny pores inside the tooth that have not been filled with gutta percha. So, many root canaled teeth will leach pathogens into the gums and surrounding tissue for as long as those teeth are in the mouth, and are thus sources of low-level chronic infection that might not show up on an x-ray.
I don't have any other root canals. I've made the decision to get the other amalgam fillings in my mouth replaced with a resin composite. I've asked my dentist to use Silorane from 3M as it looks like the best available material to me. I've also asked for an oxygen mask while the fillings are being extracted, because inhalation of mercury vapor during amalgam filling removal is a known health issue. My dentist is dragging her feet because she's busy, she's having trouble getting Silorane, and because I'm requesting that she go through extra effort. I understand this, but I am insistent: my health is worth it. Additionally she can then use this filling material with her other patients.
Similar symptoms can of course have different causes. However, root canals and silver fillings are widespread, so I felt it worth posting here.
Best of luck to everyone.
-Charlie
I'm fortunate in that the ghosting is not noticeable at close range. Therefore, since the age of 13 I've worn glasses that correct for nearsightedness, -1.75 in each eye. I'm 41 now. To my recollection I never really understood that what I was experiencing was *not* nearsightedness so I didn't discuss the details with anyone. Over the years as I wore glasses my eyes got accustomed to all the close focusing, so things at a distance just looked blurry without glasses. Also, as time went on I began to notice in photos of myself that I had ptosis (eyelid droop) in one eye. And, since I was a teenager I always seemed to **** my head to one side in pictures.
I have never had the other symptoms checked by a physician because I don't like the way allopathic medicine treats chronic illness in the US. The outcomes would likely have been limited to either taking pharmaceuticals to mask my symptoms, or being judged a hypochondriac and getting in some frustrating arguments with medical staff and insurance companies. Neither appealed to me.
At the recommendation of my dentist, an endodontist, and an oral surgeon, in December I had a tooth extracted. This tooth was first root canaled when I was 12. It had a crown on it, and underneath the crown was a large amalgam filling and the remainder of the dead tooth. After the tooth was removed, a dark lump on the part of my cheek that rested against the tooth began to blister out. Eventually the lump went away. I had had that lump since I was 13 and just thought it was a mole.
Since having the tooth removed my vision has also begun to improve, slowly. It's good enough now that I don't wear glasses during the day anymore. Much of the time now I'm able to resolve everything down to a single image in daylight. I still need the glasses at night.
The ptosis also appears to be resolving. And I still have some headaches and dizziness, but I seem to have more energy than I did prior to having the tooth removed.
'Silver' amalgam fillings are generally 50% mercury. That mercury vaporizes at a slow rate, into the mouth, throughout the life of the filling. Any vapor that is inhaled then enters the bloodstream.
People remove mercury from their systems at wildly different rates due to their genetics, with half lives in the body ranging from 40 days to 250 days. Anyone in the upper end of that range will accumulate mercury if they have several silver fillings.
Mercury poisoning has neurological effects. Silver fillings have been banned in Scandanavian countries.
In addition, root canaled teeth can be breeding grounds for pathogenic anaerobic bacteria. Because there is no blood flow to the tooth, there is no possibility of getting oxygen to it, and thus no possibility of killing bacteria living in tiny pores inside the tooth that have not been filled with gutta percha. So, many root canaled teeth will leach pathogens into the gums and surrounding tissue for as long as those teeth are in the mouth, and are thus sources of low-level chronic infection that might not show up on an x-ray.
I don't have any other root canals. I've made the decision to get the other amalgam fillings in my mouth replaced with a resin composite. I've asked my dentist to use Silorane from 3M as it looks like the best available material to me. I've also asked for an oxygen mask while the fillings are being extracted, because inhalation of mercury vapor during amalgam filling removal is a known health issue. My dentist is dragging her feet because she's busy, she's having trouble getting Silorane, and because I'm requesting that she go through extra effort. I understand this, but I am insistent: my health is worth it. Additionally she can then use this filling material with her other patients.
Similar symptoms can of course have different causes. However, root canals and silver fillings are widespread, so I felt it worth posting here.
Best of luck to everyone.
-Charlie
Not that I know of. I sure didn't. My problem remains the same; if anything it's getting slowly worse.
I am not Larshy, but I had signed up for notifications to replies to this thread and just saw your post.
I have no new information at all. I continue to have the ghosting when reading or otherwise moving my eyes back and forth (especially when reading fast, such as when skimming) unless I am wearing my strong reading glasses.
For at least a couple of years now, I also get the ghosting even WITHOUT reading if I am very tired (i.e., sleep-deprived).
I still have no diagnosis for all the odd neurological symptoms, including dizziness, that I've had for 12-plus years. They finally tried a spinal tap (to conclusively rule out MS) but they could not get any spinal fluid out even under fluoroscopy (x-ray guidance). Neurologist has given up on diagnosing me and so have I. He did not even ask about the ghosting, and I haven't seen the ophthalmologist for a long time (my appt. a few months ago ended up being with a resident who rushed out of the room after spending literally about one minute looking in my eyes). So, it will all remain a mystery.
I did have German measles as a child but I doubt that's related, as my problems did not start until well into adulthood. Don't have dry eye (nothing significant, anyway) nor neck problems.
I think there are MANY things that doctors simply can't explain. For a long time I kept expecting, and later merely hoping, that some "aha!" moment would occur and an explanation could be given. Now I have given up!
But my eyes are OK for reading as long as I wear my glasses. I am very thankful for that.
Good luck to you!
Nancy
I have no new information at all. I continue to have the ghosting when reading or otherwise moving my eyes back and forth (especially when reading fast, such as when skimming) unless I am wearing my strong reading glasses.
For at least a couple of years now, I also get the ghosting even WITHOUT reading if I am very tired (i.e., sleep-deprived).
I still have no diagnosis for all the odd neurological symptoms, including dizziness, that I've had for 12-plus years. They finally tried a spinal tap (to conclusively rule out MS) but they could not get any spinal fluid out even under fluoroscopy (x-ray guidance). Neurologist has given up on diagnosing me and so have I. He did not even ask about the ghosting, and I haven't seen the ophthalmologist for a long time (my appt. a few months ago ended up being with a resident who rushed out of the room after spending literally about one minute looking in my eyes). So, it will all remain a mystery.
I did have German measles as a child but I doubt that's related, as my problems did not start until well into adulthood. Don't have dry eye (nothing significant, anyway) nor neck problems.
I think there are MANY things that doctors simply can't explain. For a long time I kept expecting, and later merely hoping, that some "aha!" moment would occur and an explanation could be given. Now I have given up!
But my eyes are OK for reading as long as I wear my glasses. I am very thankful for that.
Good luck to you!
Nancy
I've just found your posts from 2008 and I have exactly your symptoms, down to the tinnitus, black spots, and "ghosting" separately in each eye. I am wondering if any of the correspondents have found out anything since then. I'd also like to match up a few medical history leads, such as, do others experiencing these problems have German measles in their history, or neck problems? What about dry eye, and Restasis? Or is anyone else currently finding these posts and find them to be a match?
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