Can vision problems cause non-epileptic seizures

[texgirl513]

My 16 yr old son is having seizures. They do not show up on EEG, his Cat Scan & MRI are fine. We were told they were conversion disorder but after 6 months of thereapy, the Psychologist finds NOTHING that they feel is "underlying" to cause this. He has them more during school term, only 1 this past summer.  2 years in a row he had almost a seizure free summer, then the 5th week of school they start back with a vengeance. I have narrowed it down to his vision but cannot find any info of a previous case like this.  He has had these for almost 2 years.  We are desperate to find help.  he loves school and is a straight A student. He is very involved in ROTC as well. He has Ambloipia and was patched for 2 yrs.  However, his vision is still 20/80 left and 20/20 rt.  I think the strain from the eyes is causing this - explaining why he does not have them after school.  i think it builds up a stress in the brain from reading/concentrating etc.  Please help if you know of ANY case like this.

[MrsFinn428]

I had a minor brain injury that cleared up. I had 5 seizures after that and every time I was wearing monovision contact lenses. NOBODY has answers for me if this may be the reason. I haven’t been diagnosed with epilepsy but having another EEG. I am wearing glasses and haven’t had a seizure since.  MORE research is needed in this field. I’m 61 years old and the brain injury happened in 2022. Just too coincidental that I had those lenses on each time. Wish more doctors had answers!!!!!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

This doctor has some insight for you.  It would not be possible to conduct a scientific study about seizures and contact lens monovision.  Science is conducted by designing studies going forward (prospective)  using a study group (people with monovision) and a placebo group (no mono-vision). Such a study could not be conducted because of the rarity of the problem and the difficulty of find mono-vision patients.   The other way of study is retrospective.  Researchers would have to look at a large number of patients with seizures and see how many were wearing monovision vs not wearing.  That also could not be done because wearing monovision contact lens is not part of a medical history data.  Seizures without monovision contacts is going to be a monstrously large number where those with monovision is going to be extraordinarly small.  It almost certainly would show statistically not significant.  Now there is a thing in medicine called 'idiosyncratic reaction" which means a person reacts differntly to a medication, procedure, surgery, anesthesia, etc that is much different that common reactions.  If you feel that monovision might have caused your seizures then the answer is obviously don't do monovision.    The other thing is in statistics "correlation does not equal causal"    an example the 5 times you had seizures you almost assuredly had breakfast, washed your hands, got out of bed.  That does not mean they caused the seizures but you could say "everytime I had a had breakfast I had a seizure so I'm not eating breakfast anymore"    That is the best I can do.

[MrsFinn428]

Thank you. I do understand what you’re saying about the issues with the studies. I found a group of grad students at the University of Pennsylvania doing research on monovision who found some inadvertent negative side effects but of course further research is still needed.  Thanks for your quick response!!

[MrPresley]

Not seizure related, but I tried monovision with gas-perm contacts for about a year once and never liked it.

[MrsFinn428]

They’re not for everyone. I’ve worn them for almost 10 years.  They definitely take adjusting to.

[MrPresley]

I like contacts, especially the latest and greatest gas permeable hard lenses. Been using daily wear lenses since 1977 without issues. Just didn’t like or adjust well to the monovision approach the one time I tried it.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Over the many years I've been in practice I have had patients wearing mono-vision CTL that states the reduced depth perception cause falls, auto accidents, and ruined their golf game.

[MrsFinn428]

Not surprised or worth the risk. Thankful my golf game hasn’t been affected!!! I’m staying away from them now for sure. :)

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Good plan

[DoingtheResearch]

Here's a few responses for everyone.  First,  I have the same issue.  I'm a 47 year old male and developed focal seizures at the age of 13.  Severe eye blink with right arm jerk.  I also have a normal EEG. It was only an issue in the morning for about an hr an then went away for the rest of the day.  I couldn't watch TV early in the morning when I was growing up without feeling anxious or sometimes having it develop into focal seizures.  My vision was excellent and I never needed glasses, but later, when I did need glasses, I discovered I had always had an astigmatism.  Interestingly enough, as my eyes got worse, so did my seizures.  From a medical standpoint, one could argue this is due to the aging of the brain.  BUT I found though a great amount of research that there are special glasses with an FL-41 tint (rose colored) that block out blue light that keep my seizures at bay.   As I got older, the stress of having a job a family, running a household, ect.  all adds to the stress in the brain along with what the eyes are processing.  Also,  when meeting new people, giving presentations, or anyhting else that causes stress on the system,  it's possible it can cause the pupils to dilate (Fight/flight response).  Allowing more light into the eye causes more stress, more for the brain to process, more anxiety, and is possibly another contributing factor for why your son experiences more seizures during school than after in a more relaxed environment.  Also,  the amount of screen time(blue light) reaches furthest into the eye and causes the most strain which is why the FL-41 glasses help.        
The  special glasses can be bought on Amazon or Theraspecs or Axion.  I don't represent any of companies.  I buy Theraspecs and know they work for me but I assume Axion works just as well.  Do your research and make a decision. I have glasses for indoors and outdoors.
One other thing that helped me, as I have blue eyes and I found that we have the whitest inner eye is a supplement called Lutein.  I take 120mg day.  If you have blue (or green i think) eyes this means that the light getting in is reflected more and can cause havoc (brain overload) vs. having brown eyes. The dose of Lutein I take is also very high.  Start at a lower dose.  They recommend 5mg/day and work your way up if needed.  This is a new supplement found in vegetables and there are no long term studies but no adverse reactions reported to date on higher dosages.  Again,  do your research, please.
Last item- To the lady whose husband is blind in one eye:  Please consider the glasses with the FL-41 tint.  Even though your husband's vision may be impaired, I discovered that the eye's can still be light sensitive in the blind due to melanopsin receptors.  These receptors detect if it's day or night for our internal clock even though they don't process shapes or colors(help us see).  In bright light, the blind that have working melanopsin receptors, can still get terrible migraines.

Sorry for the long message.  I hope this helps some of you find some relief as I've been at the research for a while and our bodies all cope with the world differently.  My seizure "triggers" seem to be similar to migraine "triggers" and it's frustrating when doctors tell you they never seen anything like it before.  I understand!

OH- Last Last Item-  All of you may want to do some research on the Trigeminal Nerve and the three branches that control the face.  It's what I'm currently researching as it seems to tie into migraines, seizures, eye pain/sensitivity etc.  There are anti-seizure medications you can talk to your Dr. about trying, or there are nerve simulators, or even surgery options.  All should do there research so they can have better conversations with their Dr.  as some "seizures" are not actually brain seizures.  Best to you all!!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[JohnHaganMD]

No never.  I hope he would be under the care of a neurologist and if necessary a psychiatrist not a psychologist. That is a very unusual situation and diagnosis in a 16 year old.  May be time for second opinions or a trip to a world famous tertiary care center like Baylor.

[Tlo_348]

Have you had any other diagnosis with this. My husband is completely blind in one eye and we have been through the MRI's EEG and neurology tests and still no diagnosis. We are pretty sure that he's having seizures and he feels them coming on. Just frustrating and would be nice if they would put him on something but they won't until they establish the problem. We have sort of self diagnosed him and believe it has to be related to his eye. He had a bad injury to the eye and many surgeries.

[DrAnushaNair]

I am an alternative medicine physician practicing in malaysia and your postulation is right .
I have been treating patients with epilepsy by treating the strain caused by their vision using electro-accupunctrue and vitamins and i have had tremendous results in controlling and reversing their seizures .

Dr Gangadaran

[tboy949]

I am having similar attacks 2, bt are triggered by fast sounds and music. Similar to say flashing lights.

I am partially blind in my left eye and I have been to 2 different neurologists, and had 2 EEGs. Some epileptiform activity was shown on one EEG recording bt apparently it was not a seizure??? neither neurologists helped and neither knew what was wrong. V unhappy.

I haven't worn glasses since I was a kid, and I will be buying glasses again this week, hopefully to some prevail. Its great to see that im not alone. If either of you still visit this page, it wud be nice to speak to someone about n share personal experiences of it...

[SeizureGirl]

This is so strange. I have seizures as well and have had them for the last 4 years. I have had them longer but just thought I was going insane losing time. Anyway, My hearing is starting to go. I went to an ENT and discovered that I have nerve damage that has caused me to hear only at 55% in both ears what ever that means. Well, now my eyes hurt and I have poor depth perception. I get migraines daily. I have been every seizure medication there is just about and no good results but tons of bad side effects. Anyway, My eyes are ultra sensitive to light. I had an eye exam I dont remember the details of the results but I got glasses since and when I wear the glasses from morning to night....NO SEIZURES. but when I take them off during the day..they come back..BTW-- My seizures have been documented through EEG. So no psychological disorder here. Other than the fact I lost my freedom to go and do what I want when I want. But anyway...what can my eye glasses be doing that is preventing my seizure? I have no insurance and we have spent every bit of savings at the neuros and I cant afford to go back to him anymore. So I was hoping someon could shed some light on this.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Seizures can be difficult to control. That's why sometimes surgery is necessary. Find a neurologist that specializes in seizure control.
JCH MD

[texgirl513]

The problem is that all of his treating pysicians don't have an answer either.  1/2 say it is some underlying medical issue they cannot figure out - and the other half say it is physcological.  The psychologist does not think it is psychological either.  So where does that leave us? he is again out of school for 5 weeks becasue he was having up to 6 seizures per day.  The cardiac nurse on staff at the school who has witnessed all of them says she does not believe at all that this is conversion disorder, neither does our Pediatrician.  But they also have NO suggestions.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

There is no scientic evidence to support your theory and it seems his treating  physicians feel the same. I myself do not think it at all likely either.

JCH MD