Double Vision

[joko]

ive got double vision - because of gabapentin & shingles

it moves a lot so special lenses are not really helping

but, im wondering if its best not to wear corrective lenses unless necessary in order to - maybe - help my eyes learn to refocus properly again?
surely corrective specs just make it 'lazy'

i asked about special exercises & they seemed to think it was pointless at this stage until they do all the tests, but i've been ill with other issues so still havent had the tests etc.

they said they didnt want to waste my time on exercises just yet,
but im quite happy to do them - ive been ill so have a lot of freetime to do them.

the temp specs they gave me only correct it sometimes, so i hardly bother with them.

also does anyone know any good places to find guides to excercises?

any ideas?

thanks :)

[barry1010]

I have prisms in my glasses which force my eyes to move properly, they certainly do not encourage muscle laziness in my opinion.
Of course my double vision is caused by different problems to yours so maybe special glasses could make your muscles lazy.
As a child I had to use a pencil to exercise my eyes. A finger would work just as well. Look at your finger as you very slowly bring it to your nose. Try and see only one. Repeat until your eyes hurt, several times a day.
I did it for years but I'm not sure it helped

[Buenchico]

If gabapentin is causing you problems, have you asked your GP about switching to an alternative drug, such as pregabalin?

[joko]

barry, prisms correct what you see, theyre doing the work for you, they dont have any effect on what your eyes do, your eyes are doing the same as always.
thanks tho, ill try the pencil thing

Buen, i stopped the gaba & pregablin years ago, the effect stayed behind unfortunately

[jennyjoan]

well I had double vision last year for about 6 or 8 weeks - never had it before so was quite stupid about it.

I was given a prism to wear inside my glasses but it annoyed me and I took it off and just put a paper hanky over one eye so went about like Long John Silver - just needed the parrot and the stick. Got by for some weeks until a lady who was working in a bakery (who did work in a lens laboratory) told me to start wearing the prism again as I was damaging my eye.

My double vision came from high blood pressure. An awful thing to take.

[joko]

thanks, it wouldnt be so bad if i wore glassed normally, but i only wear them for driving, and theyre a fairly low prescription, so i dont wear them day to day, i dont want to have to start wearing them round the house too as theyre distance ones.

they gave me a pair of plain glass to try out first before i buy a pair, but i just hate them.

my eyes 'swim', as in the double-ness is all over the place constantly moving, no set amount, so i cant focus properly even when trying, i cant stop them moving apart again, which also makes me think its more of a muscle thing than not.
the clinic also said the issue was with one eye, not both, so i need to 'teach' that one to keep up with the other again


id rather spend the time trying to strengthen my eyes again - since it was caused by meds rater than some existing issue, im hoping it can be reversed eventually.