Contact lens? Or brain?

[jensequitur]

Just curious - I've been having double and blurred vision in my left eye.  I wear soft contacts, and probably have some form of astigmatism.  I have less problem with that eye when I wear my glasses.  I think it's unusual to have double vision in only one eye, so I'm wondering if this is just a problem with the contact.

[jensequitur]

Monoocular diplopia can be caused by a lesion in the visual cortex... it more commonly causes polyopsia (sp?) which is when you get really strong afterimages of objects in your field of vision.  I've been having this problem ever since 2007, so I guess it's a form of progression...

[Nancy T]

"Weirder yet, the tinnitus in my left ear gets louder when I look down. "

Weird indeed. There is something called "gaze-evoked tinnitus." I used to very frequently get a "burst" of static in my bad ear when moving my eyes (plus a little "whump" feeling in my head), sideways or sometimes up. That's brain-related.

[jensequitur]

Well, I changed the contact last night, and I still get a doubling in my left eye.  Weirder yet, the tinnitus in my left ear gets louder when I look down.  So I'm thinking it's neurological.  I just had my eyes checked in December for my new prescription, and the opthamologist didn't see anything wrong.

[saveone]

Question, If you change the contact to a new one do you still experience the double vision?

If you do then it is not a contact issue.The vision in that eye may have deteriorated. See your eye doctor first, then the neuro if the eye doc can;t find anything.

I wear soft contacts and sometimes changing the lens helps when I hae blurred vision.  My double vision is caused b;y cataracts according to the ophthalmologist.  She said they were just beginning to form and would probably be years before they bothered me with the exception of some double vision.  This usually occurs when I an watching tv or the computer screen or a lamp.  The lamp has a halo.

Let us know if you figure it out.
terry

[Eyesnlegs]

I'm not sure my ophthalmologist told me that double vision in one eye was more likely to be neurological and the neuro told me it was more likely to be n eye issue!

So take your pick - either way you need to get to the bottom of it mine turned out to be neurological and is exacerbated by my reading glasses which magnify the issue.

Good luck
Pat
x

[jensequitur]

So you guys think it's a possibility that it's neurological?  I hate to go to the doctor for every little thing...

[Eyesnlegs]

Just to say listen to ess and get it checked out. I have had quite severe ON twice but last year when I had more eye problems my GP decided to send me back to the opthamologist to check that nothing new was happening to my eyes.

I have ghosting too but as things move towards me they split so that it becomes double vision. The eye hospital decided that I had convergence disorder as the left eye keeps drifting outwards (that is the eye that I had ON so bad in that I lost my sight) but they could not find anything else and decided that my problems were due to 'messages to the brain'. I also had a VEP which was abnormal bprderline, whatever that means.

I was dx with mild MS last December but after questioning the neuro he decided that the mild was because he didn't think it was affecting my life much!! he is now helping me pursue a more definite dx.

So I would give the same advice - keep chasing to find out what is causing the problems as my double vision can occur in one eye and also when I use both.

Good Luck
Pat

[goofysmom1]

I too have astigmatism (my soft contacts are to correct that as well as poor distance vision) - I would say that if you are having issues with double vision or blurry vision with either your contacts or glasses that you see your eye doctor.

When I had an episode of blurred vision in my left eye in February, I called my eye doctor and he asked me if it felt like my contact was wonky (he didn't use that word)  :) and when I said it was definitely NOT my contact lens - he wanted to see me to do an exam.

Just to be safe, I think you should at least call your eye doctor to see if they think you need an exam to check things out.

Take care,
Chrisy

[Nancy T]

Monocular double vision is supposed to be due to a problem with the eye itself--I think cataracts, cornea problems, etc.

I have ghosting--not true double vision--in BOTH eyes separately, which stumped my ophthalmologist. I do have some astigmatism, but the doc says not enough to cause ghosting, and anyway the ghosting only occurs under certain specific circumstances: when I'm fatigued or when I've been reading while looking down.

Check with your ophthalmologist. Good luck getting it resolved.

Nancy

[essdipity]

I wish I could help, Jen, but I'm fortunate never to have had double vision.

Did want to comment, though, that based on some wacky things I've done lately, my brain could be mistaken for a contact lens very easily.  :o)

ess