Seeing Double

April 15, 2007 10:02 AM

Double vision, in both eyes. Is it just a side effect of weird astigmatism, or something more serious?

This is monocular diplopia, not the two-eyed kind. And it does happen when I'm pretty tired (although that's most of the time, thanks, college!). I happens around reading distance and I'll see the words I'm reading lighter and overlaid about 3/4 of a line down. And so far I think it has happened in both eyes. I went to the eye doctor, and he seemed puzzled by it, and gave me one of those "if it doesn't bother you, ignore it" talks. But is there anything I should be worried about? Eye strain? Something else?

posted by tmcw to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

You need a new doctor, as that was kind of a dumb response.

My suggestion: Go find a new doctor who specializes in keratoconus (sometimes called KC).

When I was 31, something similar to what you describe happened to me, and that was the diagnosis.

If you read about it, you will hear a lot of bad stuff about hard contacts, but they have soft contacts for it now (they are still rather new).

Either way, do not blow off double-vision, no matter what you have been told.
posted by 4ster at 10:39 AM on April 15, 2007

I've had the same thing for years. I've been to several different optometrists and an ophthalmologist about it, and they've all attributed it to eye strain. My optometrist gave me a mild prescription for "reducing eye strain", and it seems to make it somewhat better (even when I'm not wearing my glasses). Taking breaks while reading or using the computer helps too.

Why not get a second opinion from an ophthalmologist? There are a lot of possible causes for double vision, and it can sometimes indicate a greater problem. This seems to be a good starting point.
posted by qz at 12:09 PM on April 15, 2007

I had a similar problem, and my opthamologist determined that my eyes were slightly out of alignment, and that I had a muscle problem as well. As a result, I now have prisms in my eyeglass prescription, and it has solved the problem.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:26 PM on April 15, 2007

I only have that later in the day, after too much computing. Opthamologist says it's from having dry eyes. My eyes tend to drift cross-eyed late in the day when I'm tired, so I have four images to pick from by the afternoon commute.
Some of the things that can cause this seem to be serious, so I wouldn't settle for, "If it's not bothering you, don't worry." You might want to show that to someone else. While you wait, though, you could try some kind of artificial tears and see if it goes away. It would be another piece of data you could report when you got there.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:15 PM on April 15, 2007

Get a second opinion. My mom was having trouble with her left eye, and the eye doctor initially told her that it wasn't a concern. She ended up with an ischemic C-RVO(basically a stroke inside the eyeball) and is blind in that eye. If she had been diagnosed sooner she might still have her vision.

A similar thing happened with my Dad. He was experiencing some blurred vision. He went to a different doctor. Again, he was told it was nothing to worry about. When he finally found a competent doctor, he was told that he has corneal dystrophy and will eventually need a corneal transplant.

When it comes to your eyes, don't take chances. Definitely get a second opinion.
posted by Ostara at 5:43 PM on April 15, 2007

...from both of those nice doctors.
posted by flabdablet at 12:43 AM on April 16, 2007