Katybug~ Your My Hero... Vision Analogy (Sorry Couldn't Find Post)

[CharmedLinz]

I'm wondering who else can identify with this symptom.

I'm sorry to start a new topic but I couldn't find the post from a few days ago.

Katybug mentioned that she and I seem to have a lot of symptoms in common.

I have always had an extremely hard time describing to anyone my vision problems, and other than my PCP saying "NO MORE DRIVING"..... duh!!!

No one can really figure out why.

Maybe I haven't been giving them the right description, but Katybug nailed it.

It is EXACTLY like wearing a pair of 3-D glasses all the time.

In bright light it's way worse and it seems the ground you walk on is moving and wavy.

For the past 2 years with my Mom driving I've been a horrible side seat driver.

My depth perception is so off that I'll blurt things out... watch out.... car swerving into our lane.... or your going to hit the curb.

Since before I had to stop working I worked........ as a driver....... I'm pretty picky.

So thank you Katybug for putting it into words....... my Mother now understands why I'm freaky.

Anyone else.......... 3D glasses feeling???

[bellgirl]

Yes, it's blurry and double vision or a haloing effect....I even had unequal pupils the other day!! I also have a binocular defect...I know all about vision problems, and running into curbs, and messing up my car. Scared me to death!! That is a very good analogy!! Bravo Katybug Contact lenses work better for correction than glasses, especially for depth perception. But sometimes when I'm at home, I just walk around blind, because my vision is bad, even with my best prescription. When I am very symptomatic, my vision is horrible...Sorry you all have this, too

[Katybug]

Linz- That's awesome that you were able to help your mom understand. I have gone through the same thing with my mom. And, I also had to tell her that I knew I was being a horrible passenger but the 3-D vision also makes my adrenaline surges pop off about every 15 seconds so I begged her to leave lots of room between us and the car in front of us so I won't be a sweaty, nauseated, dizzy mess with chest pain every time we drive somewhere. I said to her "You know what it feels like when you have to slam on your breaks and you're not sure if you're gonna stop in time and you get the adrenaline rush?" She said, "Yeah." I said, "Well, imagine having that every 15 seconds." She was much more sympathetic after that. I'm not glad you have this, but, I am glad to have someone who really understands what I am describing. I felt like maybe I was alone on this symptom. Do you have issues wearing sunglasses while you are walking? I never had issues with this until my POTS symptoms started, but, I can't even tell where my feet are now if I try to walk wearing my sunglasses.

kimbellgirl - That's the craziest part of my visual issues...I have perfect vision! Perfect! In fact, last year I went to one of the opthamalogists at the Hopkin's Wilmer Eye Institute hoping they would be able to tell me what was wrong (pre-POTS dx). He was completely convinced between my eye exam and my symptoms that I have neurologic Lyme Disease. I told him I had already done over a year of antibiotics for that and his vote was to do some more. (Funny, his collegues in Infectious Disease at Hopkins don't agree. ) Anyway, none of the docs can explain the depth perception issues to me (other than a guess that my inflammation issues affect my nerves and cause it.)

[Hope]

Yes, people hate having me in the car! It's not constant though. On days that I feel well enough to drive, I see pretty normal.

[Katybug]

Me too, Hope! I can drive just fine some days without this effect at all. It's one of my strangest symptoms.

[CharmedLinz]

Mine didn't use to be constant, but it has increased to being constant, especially in the car, which is why in Feruary I was told "NO MORE DRIVING".

I hadn't drove for about 2 years or so because I didn't feel it was safe. But now I won't even be able to renew my license.

Sad, but I know it's not safe for me to drive.

I also have perfect eye-sight. My Neuro Opthamologist has done every test she has available and the only thing that has shown up is the worst case of dry-eye she's ever seen (though I don't feel it).

The tear drop test, Schirmer I think it's called, I produced 1 drop, she was shocked.

I do also fail the field of vision put your head in the bubble and beep for the lights, I fail that.

But my vision is actually 20/20. My optic nerves are fine too.

Sunglasses do make it worse, but so does bright light, so I suffer with sunglasses.

My house is so dark my Mom can't see anything without turning on a book light.

If I do go outside, rarely these days, for a stroll around the yard, it's usually at dusk when it's not so bright.

When my Mother takes me to the store or such, I stick the glasses on and shut my eyes so I'm not in a constant adrenaline state like you said. Then when we get to our destination I just deal with the extra nausea for a few more minutes.

Thank goodness the store is only 5 minutes away.

Going to Arizona back in Feb was miserable because I couldn't keep my eyes shut without getting sick and high speeds on highways make the 3-D feeling a million times worse!!!

[brethor9]

I have had the same type of vision issues since getting this illness in the last year I have had to have my eye scripts changed twice

Bren

[Dizzysillyak]

I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record here but you're describing my symptoms from before I went in

the elimination diet. I suspect but of course will never prove that my symptoms were from gluten. I'll

never eat it again so that's out. It took a solid year for this to completely go away.

Theglutenfile explains all this if you're interested.

Tc .. D

[CharmedLinz]

Wish I could explain mine by Gluten. But not only have I been extensively tested for Gluten sensitivites (blood, DNA, Biopsies) that were all negative........ I've also been 99% gluten free for well over a year. As well as 99% Vegetarian.

I've also had extensive food sensitivity testing and have NO reaction to any food allergies. Would be sooooo nice if just changing what I ate made me feel better.

I'm glad it works for some, but I'm afraid short of living a sterile plastic bubble nothing food or environmentally different will change my symptoms. Some meds work a little but not completely.

I've even changed everything around me just in case. I don't eat anything out of cans or bottles that have BPA. I don't use any soaps or lotions or anything topical that has sulfites or anything I can't pronounce. I even stopped using antibacterial soap because of the bad effects that have been reported about the chemical used to make it antibacterial.

[Dizzysillyak]

Hugs .. I hear your frustration. I guess I really lucked out on this. I was still eating gf processed foods at the time

too. I wish it had helped my oi.

I've met people over the years who've had similiar reactions to mine while eating other foods. I never did. Many, if not most autistic kids react neuroligically to gluten and casein.

My neuro

problems have been from gluten. Soy causes phlegm. Dairy causes dark circles around my eyes. Hfcs

turns me into the energizer bunny in crack .. Lol .. Etc etc ..

What I'm trying to say is, maybe you just haven't found your trigger yet. Or maybe because I eliminated all common

food intolerances and as many toxins as I knew about, it gave my body the chance to heal. There's

an article on prohealth about cytokines I thought summed this idea up very well.

Fwiw .. I've also met 2 people who react to airborne gluten. Yikes ...

If you find a bubble you like, let me know. I'll get one too. Lol .. Tc .. D

[GypsySoulNicole]

I have this as well! I went to the eye dr. last year and while she was going through the frames asking which was better, I was making sounds like "whoa" and "ahhh". I explained to her that slide 1 was not as fuzzy as 2 but they are both so 3-d I could throw up! She said she'd never had someone say that.

When my symptoms are worse I drive more cautiously. I seem to think that objects like stop signs are way closer than they are. I freak everyone out gasping at objects that seem 3d and like they're coming right at me. We live in a rural area and a deer running through the headlights will mess me up for days! I cannot stand to ride with other people because I feel like I have no control over the objects coming at me!

Sunglasses make it worse, but I have found a specific style that is okay for me. Ones with a flat front. Any curved sunglasses that "wrap" like oakleys are not even an option. It seems like it is worse in certain vehicles (maybe the windshield curve) and at night.

[Katybug]

Hmmm. I've tried on lots of pairs of sunglasses but I know they all had a curve to the lens because I need the glasses to prevent light from coming in the sides too (migraines). I'll have to see if I can find a pair to try without a curved lens.

Nighttime driving has become very difficult because of the flashes of light going by from other cars' headlights. I never had this problem either until POTS.

[Serbo]

I seem to have similar issues. A couple of times now after i have been meditating for a few minutes with my eys shut i get a sudden feeling of spinning. Not every time, just the odd time. I have peripheral neuropathy, i am wondering outloud if this balance/spinning sensation could be related

[badhbt]

Glad I found this old post. I have been trying to find a way to describe my vision, and it is like wearing 3d glasses all the time.

[Angela]

i started having night driving issues way before other pots symptoms, at least 4 years ago. I couldnt see the yellow lines in the road, well, i could see them but my mind couldn't determine exactly where they were. and I hated headlites in the rearview or in front of me, thought i was going to go head on into a car all the time. I remember how curvy indiana back roads are....couldnt imagine doing that now but not so bad out here yet now peripheral from all the cars aside me these days really screw with me too. Daytime driving is bad now, especially when it is bright out which it often is here in az. on cloudy overcast days I do better.

[RubyLane]

This happens to me when I'm having a flare-up. And at night it's really awful. The light trails and blur all over the place. I don't drive during that day now but I feel like I could if I needed to, but at night? No way!