My stroke was mainly in my occipital lobe (with some parietal lobe involved too). One of my symptoms was lots of black vertical flashing lines as well as text on a page being off centre and down to the left. These symptoms righted themselves in a few months but after visiting ophthalmology I found out I also had double vision. So for the last 3 1/2 years I have been back & forth to ophthalmology trying different exercises & different strength prisms.
At my last appointment 2 weeks ago they finally gave me the go ahead to get my prisms built into my glasses. I have been waiting for this for a long time & was really happy to get the letter I needed to visit the opticians. If I get on ok with my glasses no more ophthalmology visits needed.
I made an appointment for the next day & off I went with my letter firmly in my grasp feeling very happy. I can’t tell you how much I hated having the prism stuck on my glasses.
The optician asked me about my stroke and how it had affected my vision. I went on to explain about my double vision but also about some recent things I had experienced. I had been getting some flashing lights in the one eye particularly at night time. I had one night, seen a perfect wall of dots & I sometimes see images of people that look very real. I also have some discomfort in my eye. Because of this the optician decided to do a visual field test. This didn’t worry me as I had passed one previously for the DVLA & one done by ophthalmology.
This one was done slightly differently as they tested each eye separately. Test complete the lady said we might need to repeat your right eye. She got the result checked and we had to repeat the right eye. So I retook the test and she took the results to the optician again to be told that I would need to come back in 2 weeks, when I collect my glasses, to repeat the test again.
I returned this week & picked up my new glasses I am slowly getting used to them & they are so much better with the prisms built in.
Sadly I failed the field test again & it seems I have an issue with the vision at the bottom of my right eye. So, just when I thought I had escaped ophthalmology I am now being referred back to them again the optician said it could be as a result of my stroke although I am not so sure as I was left side affected and this is my right eye. So now back to a waiting game for an appointment to try and find out what is going on.
How quickly we can go from being on a high to a low again. It lasted a whole 24 hours. Not one to stay low for long I shall plod along and await my appointment keeping my fingers crossed it is nothing too much wrong.
Thanks for posting this Ann. I hope you will get used to your new glasses soon
After some time following your stroke, you were able to return to work and are able to drive which is great. But this field test issue hasn’t yet been corrected, so how does this affect you in your day-to-day life?
I have flashing blue lights on the left peripheral of my left eye and I know I’m not being tailed by an undercover cop because it happens when I’m in bed.
I am starting to get used to my new glasses now I just need to be careful when I look down but that won’t take me too long to adjust to I don’t think. Having the prisms built into my lenses has made a big difference particularly as I don’t feel like I’m looking through a cloud all the time now.
My double vision is corrected by the prisms in my glasses so doesn’t cause me too many issues as long as I’m wearing my glasses. That is unless I’m really tired or fatigued and then I do tend to find it is a lot worse. My double vision tends to be in my near sight and therefore impacts my reading and close work more than anything else.
My visual field issue I believe is a new issue and I’m not sure it is stroke related so until it has been investigated I don’t really know what is causing it. On a daily basis it isn’t having a big impact on me. I wasn’t even aware that I had a blind spot until I took the visual field test which I think is because my left eye is compensating for the bit that I can’t see. There are many things that could be causing this and I’m really hoping that it is something that is easily fixable as opposed to something that is degenerative and could result in me losing my sight completely. I am not going to worry about this though until I have seen the Professionals and they and they can give me an idea of what the problem might be. I am hoping that this doesn’t mean I will lose my driving licence again. The optician said it isn’t an issue at the moment particularly as I had been cleared by the DVLA to drive. I will of course take the advice of the ophthalmology people when I see them.
My right eye doesn’t feel quite right as in I’m getting a bit of discomfort in it and I assume that this is probably related. I was just a little bit surprised by the results of the field test as that was the last thing that I was expecting to hear that day and it took the shine off me getting my glasses with the prisms in which I had been really looking forward to getting.
I have a reduced (50%) field in my right eye due to a stroke in that eye 2 years before my main stroke. The nerve grows back, and it improves a tiny bit each year.
I have managed to do a lot of healing (on my own) in my right eye this last year. This progress left the hospital specialists completely baffled, because they could not explain it.
White lights? Mine are blue, but I suspect these are electrical discharges from the brain, we get them also with our eyes shut as @pando gave us the term, phosphenes, I suspect, but cannot be one hundred percent sure.
I think so. Our eyes are a very mitochondria rich environment. Electrical and light impulses all over ; connected to brain in 20 different places. The eyes are so delicate and often knocked out of kilter after stroke. Sometimes it takes a while to even notice something’s amiss ; happened with me.
I’m unsure if mine are stroke related as it is the wrong side but stranger things have happened. The flashing lights on their own haven’t really bothered me but now i have the sight loss it bothers me a bit more. Hopefully the eye clinic can unravel the mystery for me.
I am encouraged that you are noticing improvements @pando.
