Question about eyes

[Sailorsong]

The recent threads about  nystagmus and trouble reading large paragraphs got me to thinking about my last eye exam about a week ago.

When the doctor was doing the tracking test (follow her finger) when she got to the extreme left all of a sudden she asked me how many fingers I saw. Well I could see 2 images. When she went to thr right side I could only see one image.

I have never been asked that during this test before. So now I am wondering if she saw some "nystagmus" or tracking problem going on when I looked to the left.

Has anyone else been asked how many images they see during that test?

Dennis

[young at heart]

DENNIS:

I CAN RELATE TO YOUR VISUAL DILEMMA; WHAT WE ARE SEEING--- THEN REVERSING THE LETTER ORDER AND / OR SENTENCE STRUCTURE HAS A VISUAL TERM.

I BELEIVE IT IS REFERRED TO AS SPATIAL VISIUALIZATION, PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THIS.

WHEN I GET THE TIME, I WILL LOOK AT MY VISUAL MEDICAL TESTS FROM MY LOW VISION CENTER. I EXPERIENCED WHAT YOU HAVE DESCRIBED DURING FOUR HOURS OF TESTING.

AT MY NEURO APPOINTMENT TODAY HE HAD ME FOLLOW HIS FINGERS,LEFT TO RIGHT, RIGHT TO LEFT, UP THEN DOWN. I HAVE DOUBLE VISION AND NYSTAGMUS.


HE STATED HE DID NOT LIKE WHAT HE SEEN IN THE LEFT EYE AND PUT ME ON ORAL PREDNISONE, HE PROCEEDED TO ASK WHEN MY NEXT APPOINTMENT AT THE LOW VISION CENTER WAS.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU GET A COPY OF THE MEDICAL RECORDS THIS WAY YOU WILL KNOW THE DRS. FINDINGS PLUS YOU HAVE THESE RECORDS; ESPECIALLY IF NEEDED IN THE FUTURE.

T-LYNN

[Sailorsong]

What really makes it bad is that I do the same thing when listening to things. In my mind I'll reverse words and even substitue word that someone is saying. I'm sure at least at times people that are talking to ne think I crazy when they sat sonmething entirely sensable and I end up with a puzzled look on my face because I heard something entirely different.

Dennis

[ack65]

Hi Dennis,

I don't think I've seen anyone post what you just described before - of course they may have and I just don't remember.  Any ways, I have a very similar problem with the words thing and reading.  It is starting to be more noticable now and I have to work much harder at covering it up at work.

The other day at my meeting I read the flip chart several times and still could not understand what it said as i was substituting words that changed the context.

I have noticed i need to rely on my hearing more than reading but lately my tinnitus is so loud that unless I am facing the person it all sounds jumbled and mumbled.

I brought this up to my neuro (no dx yet) and I am certain he now thinks I am crazy.  So it is good to know others have it too.

Care take (or take care lol), Anna

[Sailorsong]

Now it makes sense. I thought that was what you were saying before, but just not sure. :)

One of my problems is that I have a lot of trouble understanding things that I read at times.

Part of that problem is that I will reverse words in a sentence which can lead to a completely different meaning for what I read. For example Can I go Outside vs I can go outside.

Another part is that at times I will substitue words in a sentence. An example of that occured a while ago while sitting at a stop light next to a hobbie & craft store. They had a sign in the window saying they had all kinds of beads for sale but I read it as all kinds of beds for sale. I knew it was a craft store so whta I read made no sense at all to me. I had to read the sign 3 or 4 times before I got it right.

Dennis

[michelleric]

I "think" she must have seen your eyes not aligned correctly in left gaze, and that is why she asked if you had double vision at that point.

By seeing double vision then, she was correct in the fact that your eyes were not aligned.

Does that make sense?

you could always call her office and ask what she saw.

Michelle

[Sailorsong]

Ok now you have me confused.

Did "By seeing double at that point, her assessment of your eye alignment was correct" mean that see saw a problem and the double vision confirm it? Or was it that there was no problem since I did see double?

I do know that it seemed she went to the left more often than the right during the test. She also had to keep telling me to follow her finger a lot I think. I'm not sure if the difficulty folowing her finger was just me or because she had aleady put some drops in my eyes which was making it difficult to focus.

Dennis

[michelleric]

I "assume" the doc saw your eye deviate when in was looking of Left gaze. (either going up, down, in or out).  By seeing double at that point, her assessment of your eye alignment was correct.

When you looked in the Right gaze, your eyes were "probably" straight, since you had no double vision.

Do you have double vision when you look to the left usually?

Michelle

[Audrey_M]

Dennis:

The difficulty you are having with long paragraphs is a visual processing deficit. When my son was young, this was a huge problem. Too much print on the page was overwhelming. Double spaced printing was easier for him, as well as larger print. Using a guide or window to follow lines of print helped.

Here's some info from the American Academy of Neurology:

NEUROLOGY 1995;45:809-815
© 1995 American Academy of Neurology
Multiple sclerosis can cause visual processing deficits specific to texture-defined form.
D. Regan, PhD, DSc and T. Simpson, OD, PhD

Article abstract-We performed the following tests in 25 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 25 age-matched control subjects: recognition of texture-defined (TD) letters; recognition of motion-defined (MD) letters; and recognition of luminance-defined (LD) letters of 96% and 11% contrasts. Six patients with normal visual acuity were abnormal on recognizing TD letters, of whom one gave normal results on all other tests. Eleven patients were abnormal on MD letter recognition, of whom four gave normal results on all other tests. Visual acuity for letters of 11% contrast were abnormally low in seven patients, of whom two gave normal results on all other tests. We conclude that the neural mechanisms underlying recognition of TD, MD, and low-contrast LD letters in subjects with normal visual acuity are sufficiently different that they can be differentially damaged by MS. Therefore, TD, MD, and LD letter tests provide complementary information. We suggest that the detection of TD letters can be disrupted by demyelination of long-range horizontal connections between orientation-tuned neurons in the striate cortex.

Audrey

[Sailorsong]

Dan,

  It was done by my eye doctor ( optho). My Neuro also does something simular but he has me watch a light in his hand that he points at my eyes and moves side to side.

Dennis

[PastorDan]

Sorry, Dennis, but if any of my docs have ever done that, I don't remember it.  I did have one doc (Drat; like terri, I can't recall which one!) hold up the fingers in different positions to ask how many I saw.  I know my DV problem is worse at close ranges, but I'm not sure about peripherally.

Was this recent eye exam of yours done by a neuro, or an eye doc?

[tjj3761]

Hi Dennis,

I posted that thread.  I cannot remember if my neuro has ever done that--bad memory, but he has just looked into my eyes with the ophthalmoscope.

The reading large paragraphs has been a problem for me for the last 7 years.  Also when I exercise, I cannot tell if it is blurry vision, double vision or both.

I hope someone else will be able to answer your question on the forum.

Bye...
terri