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Q: Mysterious vision problems and other symptoms in young person
asked by: Reinicken on January 12th, 2009
New User
I'm a 26 year old white male from the upper midwest USA, but I have been living in the northeast for a few years. I'm an architecture student. I've generally been described as healthy by my doctors. Here's a chronology of what's been going on. I’ve included everything in case something is relevant that I wasn’t away of.

Family history:
*Aunt on father's side with diabetes and schizophrenia
*Uncle on mother's side died at age 57 of heart attack
*Brother has slight heart arrhythmia that does not affect his activity

Age 4:
*Surgery due to weak muscle in left eye

Most of life:
*Frequent double vision - seeing two of the same thing due to the offset between the eyes
*Occasional fainting, usually from needles (getting shots or getting blood drawn); this happened a few times also from getting hit in the head. MRI and EEG at age 10 do not indicate any issues.

1994 (Age 13):
*Hands and feet become extremely swollen. Doctor gives pills that I have to take for a week or else I get a lot of spots all over me. Allergy skin-test a few weeks later comes up totally negative. Cause for outbreak never determined.

1999
*Blood in urine after working out; ultrasound indicates no issues.

Summer 2001L
*Moved to Europe for a year. Began getting symptoms such as: (1) strong awareness of heartbeat, (2) shortness of breath (3) difficulty sleeping. Doctor says this is stress. After a month calms down to a manageable level. EKG (while resting) is normal.

10/2001:
*Was unknowingly hashish by friends; began shaking like crazy and kept forgetting where I was - and thought something was seriously wrong with me. I was mostly better after a few hours.

4/2002:
*Wake up with very sore and tense neck, shoulders, and lower back. Orthopedist indicates that vertebrae in neck are straight when they should be arranged in a curve Physical therapy and acupuncture reduce problem but it is never fully solved.

8/2002 – 6/2006 (In college):
*Become sexually active, but never engage in activities of significant risk
* After jogging, often feel mild chest pains that go away soon
*In architecture school, am occasionally exposed to (1) solvents (2) fumes from laser-cutting acrylic, wood, and cardboard and (3) sawdust
*Frequently get much too little sleep due to school

8/2007 (Age 24):
*Enter graduate school for architecture.
*Get nervous because hairline is receding significantly even though no one in my family has hair loss; doctor says this is genetic. I do not treat it.
*Begin again to be occasionally exposed to (1) solvents for melting acrylic (2) fumes from laser-cutting acrylic, wood, and cardboard (3) sawdust (4) glues and (5) spraypaint
*Begin again to frequently get much too little sleep due to school demands
*Occasionally watch laser-cutter, which means I am looking at intense laser light, although it is not pointing at my eyes.

3/2008:
*Travel to Asia for the first time

4/2008:
*Sexual activity with somebody new; do not engage in any particularly risky activity.
*For one week, get a few quarter-sized white bumps on hips each day. Spots are in different location each day.

5/2008
*Notice shadowing double-vision on text on computer screen; this is different than my typical double vision because it is present in each eye individually (when I close one eye, there is still double vision). This is present in each eye. Scares me, but is gone in the morning.

6/2008:
*Wake up and notice that one eye is very blurry. Does not go away after an hour so I go see doctor. They do exams on me but can't find anything wrong other than my pupils are abnormally large. Bluriness eventually diminishes.
*Begin to notice what I call "spotiness" in my vision: general inability to see clearly - it's a little blurry but more than that, colors are not solid colors but rather seem to be constantly overlaid with see-through, moving spots/areas that are dark on light colored materials and light on dark-colored materials. I am not sure exactly how to describe this ; This is my biggest symptom that persists.
*First appointment with optometrist. Exam does not reveal any issues. Says right eye is dominant. Says I have mild astigmatism in both eyes, but that this wouldn't cause intermittent double-vision in each eye individually. Optometrist gives me optional prescription for glasses that I never get because prescription is so mild. Overall, says she sees nothing wrong with my eyes.

7-8/2008
* Problems continue as described earlier
*Blurry vision persists; monocular double vision (especially for text) comes back occasionally; often just feel really out of it: kind of lightheaded, nervous, mild difficulty speaking. Out-of-it feeling tends to come on suddenly.
*Very obvious after-images on from computer screen in dark room
*A few weeks later, feel even more out of it. Frequently get winded from brisk walking and don't seem to become un-winded as normal. Eventually feel somewhat better.
*One night, get bad diarrhea; people say I look pale and out of it.
*For a week, frequently get swollen ankles and hands and itchy spots on legs.
*Ga new sexual partner and do not engage in any particularly risky behavior.

9/2008:
*Blurriness in vision, "spottiness" continues. Out-of-it feeling frequently returns.
*Feel sensitive to light; eyes feel under pressure.
*Go see ophthalmologist; says there is nothing wrong with my eyes and passes my on to my GP
*Get MRI of brain; brain scan is normal although it shows a mild sinus problem. ThisI rules out tumors and MS?
*Blookwork done; bloodcounts normal. Thyroid normal. Cholesterol normal. Everything is normal.

10/2008:
*Notice consistent see-through dark-spot in far right of left eye's field of vision.
*Go to allergist; diagnoses skin bumps as hives but can't find a source for them. Allergist has urine and stool samples done, which are normal.
*Resting EKG done, which is also normal.
*Neurologist exam reveals nothing abnormal. Neurologist thinks all of my problems are due to allergies and adrenaline (even though I have never had any allergies, have no family history of such, and don't have traditional allergy symptoms) and does not order an EEG. The allergist is skeptical of the neurologist's diagnosis.

November 2008:
*Am sick for a week. Doesn't seem like a traditional flu or a cold. No digestive problems. Not much of a cough or fever. Every night I had very significant shivering also sweat through my clothes and sheets. Had a very dry mouth for one day.

January 2009:
*Begin new semester. Spotty vision (which I described before as constant overlaying of mild, moving discoloration, kind-of like afterimages) and mild bluriness continues as before and seems to gets worse; I often feel slightly out-of-it and my vision makes it very annoying to read a book or work at a computer, although I can still do it. I have been feeling a little lightheaded frequently. I've been exercising less and frequently feel abnormally winded when I do exercise. I sleep for long enough at night although I've been waking up frequently. I've been feeling fatigued and rather lethargic most days. I've been getting occasional mild chest pains and headaches.

Any ideas what could be going on? Why do I have such significant vision symptoms but the opthamologist, neurologist, allergist, etc can't find anything wrong with me? Is the neurologist's diagnosis of it simply being allergies and adreneline feasible? I am getting very nervous - the vision is affecting how I am able to live to my life and is also impacting my optimism for the future because I am afraid it will get worse. Because of these symptoms I continue to be afraid of brain problems, heart problems, and diseases. Did I pick up some disease from vistting China or from a sexual partner? Do I have an impending neurological disorder? Did I look too long at the laser light from the laser-cutter (even though it was not pointing at my eyes)? Did I inhale too many solvents (even though it hasn't been all that many)?

Thanks!
-NB
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Replies(7)
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Mame
replied on January 13th, 2009
Supporter
I don't think it would be something to do with the laser light, since the opthamologist didn't see anything wrong there.

Doesn't present like a typical allergy would although skin prick tests are not very reliable. Maybe it's an obstruction of blood to the eye?

I think it's neurological, so if it won't trouble you financially, I would suggest a second opinion from a different neurologist.
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Erock77
replied on February 2nd, 2009
New User
Familiar Story
I don't know, but this sounds an awful lot like my own story...minus the double-vision. Nobody's been able to find anything wrong with me either, but it certainly feels like there's something wrong. I'm also in grad school, and I've been told it could just be stress...but I'm not really comfortable with that answer. I'd love to know if you find any answers.
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seeingdouble
replied on February 18th, 2009
New User
Double vision starts at age 34
I am a 34 year old female in generally good health. I started having episodes of double vision in July of 2008. I began seeing a neurologist and had an MRI and CT. Both scans showed a small fluid filled cyst in my ethmoid sinus. Otolaryngologist does not believe that the cyst is pressing on a muscle or nerve and therefore would not be causing double vision. Blood tests revealed hypothyroid disease. Began taking Synthroid in November 2008, TSH is now normal, but double vision continues to occur every two weeks or so and episodes last for about 10 minutes. Episodes occur at different times of the day. I do not have any pain when the episodes occur, but I usually feel a little out of it and my eyes feel strained a couple of days before and after. Neurologist suspects myasthenia gravis and referred me to a neuroopthalmologist for a single-fiber EMG (ouch). It's been over 1 month and an appointment has yet to be scheduled for me. Will pursue another md. Other symptoms I experience include periodic fatigue and a strong heartbeat after short periods of activity or even during rest. It's scary!

May be a long shot, but I'm going to schedule a consultation with a cardiologist and/or vascular specialist. I have a strong feeling that this is not in my head... no pun intended!!

Good luck to you all in finding the cause for your symptoms. I will post again if I get any answers.
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Reinicken
replied on February 18th, 2009
New User
re: seeing double
is your double vision monocular or binocular? i have both - binocular since age 4, which is supposedly due to a weak muscle in my left eye, and monocular since about 8 months ago, where text often has a ghost-shadow thing near it.
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seeingdouble
replied on February 20th, 2009
New User
re: seeing double
It is binocular. I see only one image if I close or cover one eye, but the room spins a little.
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zzzz
replied on March 3rd, 2009
New User
eye problem
i am 23 and few months ago suffered from breathlessness and was admitted to the hospital for the same. On admision doctors discovered i suffer from deep vein thrombosis (may be due to oral contraceptive pills which i took for about 3 months) and now all of a sudden my right eye lid has swollen and has become slightly heavy. i have no pain howevr, the doctor has told me to go visit a neurologist what could be the possible reason for this. please let me know
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Gobucks1234
replied on March 14th, 2009
New User
possiblity
It may be due to sick building syndrome but I am not sure. Also, breathing in repeated fumes is probably not good as they can damage your nervous system. Your neurologist is definitely wrong. You need to see another doctor.
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