Hi everyone,
It’s been a while since I’ve posted last. I’m still pretty much feeling the same. Good days (80%) here and there, which I’ll take. My neuro is having me go to physical therapy and they told me that they think the problem is cervicogenic dizziness, even though I don’t have a whole lot of neck pain. They said they see people like me all the time and that it will take a while to heal. Hasn’t helped much yet…but we’ll see. I do not have an official MAV diagnosis.
Okay, here’s my question. What kind of vision problems, if any, have you had. When this all started (May 2008) I went to my eye doctor and he was like “Whoa…your left eye has gotton much worse…” He gave me new lenses (contacts) and sent me on my way. The next few months I was still pretty dizzy and around Sept/Oct I noticed that when I put my lenses in, I couldn’t see ANYTHING. So, I went to a new eye doctor and they couldn’t believe I was wearing the prescription I was wearing, because I truly couldn’t see. So, over the last several months (October-January) I have been to another eye doctor & neuro-opthalmologist who had differing opinions. One said “you’re being overcorrected,” one said “no, your being undercorrected”. So, I go back and forth, back and forth with probably 4-5 different lens prescriptions and the lens that they gave me last week is the lens that I started with at my first eye doctor…or very very close. What is going on with my eyes?? Aside from the dizziness, I have to be able to see. How are these related? Are they related? I have another appt. in a few weeks with a “top” neuro-opthalmologist to see what he says. I know that you all probably have better insight and information though.
Hi Colleen, at the beginning of my saga, I went to the eye dr thinking that maybe I am just having a vision related issue that was making me lightheaded all of the time. My vision actually changed for the better by .5 in one eye and worse by .50 in the other. He also had me try contacts for astigmatisms, which I have. Now I can see a bit better but it was not related to what I call my vision issues - feeling like my eyes are not working together or processing the same information at the same time. It is very hard to describe. Some days, I feel like walking around with a patch over one eye but I have actually tried that and it doesnt help me. I think part of my issue is that I am using my eyes for balance so much that maybe they are in constant fatigue…I dont know. Good luck! Ben
It was my vision that in the beginning I thought was the problem. I wen to the eye doctor and learned that I was slightly farsighted. I had Lasik done eight years ago and was very nearsighted at that time. So I went through this place where I wondered if I had complications due to lasik. I guess I will never know if that played a part in this. But as off late, my light sensitivity is so off the charts. I see a glare of any kind and it causes dizziness. It’s unbearable. I have started back on Prozac and hopefully will soon be at a place where I can begin to try other things with it.
In the meantime, I wear hats all the time and sunglasses and love dark rooms and hate sunny days. NEver thought I could ever feel like that after I’ve always been such an outdoor person.
The clarity of my vision seems to fluctuate daily. On some days I can barely focus on stuff close up while on other days it’s pretty good. After my trip to Canada and the 27 hours in a jet back home my left eye went totally weird. Super blurry for about a week and then it was clear again. It’s all migraine as far as I’m concerned. Just another wonderful thing it produces.
When my saga started, I went to the eye doc to make sure it wasn’t an eye-related problem (I was extremely light sensitive and had snowy vision). He did the normal vision test which only showed my vision has gotten a tiny bit worse (normal as you get older) and then some more indepth test which showed my eyes were fine. I told him that another doc thought it might be migraine related and he agreed noting you can have occular migraines.
So that leads us to now. I currently have light snowy vision and some light sensitivity, but not as bad as when all this started months ago. Likely due to the fact that I am on Klonopin. I don’t think my vision per say is getting worse, but rather, that the snowiness causes it to be worse. Know what I mean?
I don’t think my vision per say is getting worse, but rather, that the snowiness causes it to be worse. Know what I mean?
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I know exactly what you mean. I am fortunate and have always had great vision - 20/15 last time it was check years ago. The only thing hindering that perfect vision now is the constant visual snow and the fact that I often have to wear sunglasses indoors due to light sensitivity.
I know exactly what you mean. I am fortunate and have always had great vision - 20/15 last time it was check years ago. The only thing hindering that perfect vision now is the constant visual snow and the fact that I often have to wear sunglasses indoors due to light sensitivity.
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I totally know where you are coming from with this, but have to note that it is not a good idea to wear sunglasses inside. While it helps you feel better, your eyes will start to adjust to the glasses and you will need to wear them more. I can suggest something that can help those with sensitivity to florescent/artifical light that I use. There is a special tint called FL-41 that can be applied to any glasses. Research by the U of Utah shows that it helps those with light sensitivity for any reason. It is a pinkish tint and can be used for both inside and outside (but inside you should use a lower percentage of the tint i.e.: if you want it for sunglasses you use a higher tint.) The U of Utah actually has a center that can make glasses for you or add the tint to existing glasses. Do a google search on them. I don’t wear mine a lot, but have read about those who do (suffering from some sort of other eye problem that also causes great light sensitivity.) Also, I suggest making sure you wear sunglasses outside that are polarized and have anti-glare lens. Get a pair that have wrap sides to them to keep light from coming in there. I got some that have helped a lot.
Thanks everyone. I’m sure it is probably related to migraine as well. My blurriness doesn’t start UNTIL I put the lenses in which is strange. I’ve also noticed that the dizziness seems to pick up with either lenses or glasses. Who knows. I will see what the neuro-opthalmologist says and hopefully get it straightened out.
Thanks for the information. I will check into it. Fortunately, I haven’t found it necessary to wear the sunglasses indoors for the last two weeks. The pair I use for indoors have the least amount of tint I could find and I only wear them part of the time at work when I am having a bad day. If the light sensitivity gets bad again, I may do as you suggested.
As for outdoor sunglasses, I have a high-quality, polarized, anti-glare pair. They cost me a pretty penny, but they are worth it. 8) My neurologist told me I am to wear them anytime I go outside.
I’m not sure. I think my neurologist sent me to pt because she didn’t really know what was going on. At the beginning of all this, she told me that it might all be a virus. Throughout the next few months, she told me she really thought the headaches would just go away, which, by chance, they pretty much have. My pt says I have limited range of motion in my neck as well as a million knots on my cervical spine which she explained all goes along with signals being sent to my inner ear, which is causing the balance issues. My therapy consists of them massaging these knots out of my neck, only to have them return a week later…They have told me this could takes months to start to see progress. Cervicogenic dizziness and MAV seem like them share common symptoms, although I’ve never had neck problems before…not sure what to do about the pt.
Just went to my neurologist on Thurs. and I asked about migraines causing this, and just by the look on her face, she just wasn’t going to commit to anything. She said I definitely need to get this whole thing with my eyes figured out, so I’m going to see a neuro-opthalmologist at a completely different hospital, and she set me up with the “dizzy doctor” in her office…a neuro-otologist, next month. I asked her if I should continue with pt and she was like “you can…”. Then she gave me a RX for Cymbalta, which I am holding off on until I get a real diagnosis. I am ten months into this saga. Sorry for going so off topic.
My pt says I have limited range of motion in my neck as well as a million knots on my cervical spine which she explained all goes along with signals being sent to my inner ear, which is causing the balance issues. My therapy consists of them massaging these knots out of my neck, only to have them return a week later…They have told me this could takes months to start to see progress. Cervicogenic dizziness and MAV seem like them share common symptoms, although I’ve never had neck problems before…not sure what to do about the pt.
Hi Colleen,
Neck pain and “knots” in the muscles of the neck and shoulders are primary problems for me – and it’s all migraine. I can cause neck pain within hours if I simply eat a migraine-trigger food or expose myself to the fumes of a cleaning product. Within an hour the muscles in my neck become very sore to touch. It seems like they hurt from overuse - that’s the illusion. But migraine causes this, trust me.
Cervicogenic dizziness is very rare and requires a major physical trauma to the neck to occur.
Massage can relieve the neck tension and pain created by migraine but it’s temporarary until the next trigger sets it off again. It took me a long time to realise it, that pouring thousands of bucks into physio, chiro or massage feels good and may even promote a period of relative dormancy on the migraine front, but it is no permanent cure.
Scott nailed it! Cervogenic dizziness is VERY rare. specifically, it is usually caused by bone abutting the spinal chord, usually at C5-C6. I was a tough case, because I have buldging disks at C5-C6, but repeat MRI’s show no intereference, so migraine was the diagnosis. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to diagnose MAV, but if they are going to throw a diagnosis of CD at you like that, they at least owe you a cervical MRI for the evidence. But as Scott says, migraine causes the knots and muscle tension. It actually does it in two ways. The migraine itself does it, and anxiety caused by the migraine also causes muscle tension. So it’s a double-whammy. Good luck to you but if you want to know for your own peace of mind, get a cervical MRI and ask them to show you the spinal chord impedement. If it’s not there, it’s likely not cervogenic dizziness.
I have been going to PT for over two months and so far I really haven’t seen a big difference so it makes sense that migraine is causing my issues. I don’t have neck pain…sometimes when I have a really bad headache but on a day to day basis my neck feels fine. It’s funny b/c every time I go in for a session, they ask “…how’s your neck?”. And it’s always fine, the dizzy/spacy/out of it feeling is my problem. Sometimes the dizziness actually gets a little worse with therapy…all the more reason to probably discontinue. You want to grasp onto anything that you think will help, and I think I really bought into PT and had high hopes, but I don’t want to keep going if it’s not helping.
My eye issues seem really weird and I am going to go to the neuro-opthalmologist on the 19th to see what he says about no one being able to get my RX right for my eyes. Hopefully getting the right RX in my eyes will ease some of the spaciness. Then I just need some help getting the migraine issue straightened out.