Bouncy vision

Can obstructive sleep apnea, cause any type of vision problems ??

I've had my eyes checked 3 times in the past 3 years and scheduled for another eye exam Jan 19th,. Eye doc shared my eyes are in pefect condition. The symptom, I call my eye problem is, bouncy eyes.

My eyes are alway's constantly bouncing around, I have to close one eye to focus. So difficult to describe vision abnormality. People tell me, they have seen my right eye shift all the way to the right, while left stayed the same. I shared with eye doc, he said I had a lazy eye, but wasn't to concerned about the issue, and shared my vision was fine.

If anyone has heard of this type of vision abnormality, please share info. Doesn't have to be apnea related.

I am so tired, of trying to figure out what is causing what symptom
Thanks

I would consult a different eye doc instead of a sleep doc.

Gerryk wrote:I would consult a different eye doc instead of a sleep doc.

Sorry Gerry, I meant eye doc. Made correction, thanks.

Hi Spirit,

Is this just a recent development, or have you had vision problems for a long time? It sounds like you may be describing intermittent exotropia, which is a form of strabismus. It's probably more noticeable when you're tired. Long-time strabismus can turn into amblyopia, where the brain ignores input from the deviated eye. This is known as "lazy eye", although strabismus is sometimes (mistakenly) called that too.

You may be interested in this thread last month: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47249. Although I'm not aware of any direct link between strabismus and OSA, there is apparently an association between OSA and some other eye disorders, including primary open-angle glaucoma or normal-tension glaucoma, nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), floppy eyelid syndrome, and papilledema, according to this article: http://www.sunyopt.edu/research/res_cvcprf.shtml (bottom of page).

And here's some information on intermittent exotropia: http://www.strabismus.org/intermittent_exotropia.html. I hope that helps. You may want to discuss orthoptic exercises or other correction with your eye doctor.

Google the term, this is not something made up by your doctor.

You need a good optometrist or orthoptician for that problem -- it an eye muscle problem - personally, I see no reason at all to see it as apnea related. Eye doctors know about the health of your eye. How you use you eyes, your vision, eyebrain coordination etc. is not something they're into that much.

Exercises to coordinate eyes, given to me by a good optometrist many years ago:
First exercise
Take a piece of string a yard or so long, tie it to something more or less at you eye height.
Take a pencil or pen, stretch you arm out, and focus on the pencil tip.
If you're using both eyes, you'll see the string as an X -- converging to the pencil tip, diverging from it.
Move the tip very slowly towards your nose, making sure the X is there all the time. If you lose the X, that means your brain is ignoring the data from one eye - the "lazy" one.

Second exercise:
Cut a strip of cardboard, about half an inch wide, and 8-10 inches long.
When your reading, place the strips more or less between your nose and the text you're reading. Close one eye and the strip will hide part of the text. Close the other, and the strip will hide another part.
With both eyes open and properly coordinated, you can see read the whole line without any problems. If one part of the text is hidden, you're not using info from the eye on that side. If half the line looks higher than the other, you're not coordinating your eyes properly.

I loved doing both exercises.

O.

Thanks so much for info DreamOn, exactly what was looking for

Now, I know exactly what to share with my eye doc. Maybe he can test me, for these disorders. I need to do alittle research on the terms, seems I have Strabismus. My eyes don't work together, they bounce around trying to focus. 3 eye docs checked my eyes, and found no abnormalities.

Wonder what the treatments are, for these types of eye disorders ? If you know, please share.

Thanks for all the informative links.

I've had similar problems that I have trouble describing to eye dr's. They usually look at me like I'm nuts. Then last year a test for an unrelated condition actually showed what my eyes were doing. They thought it was ocular dysmetria. I went to an ophthalmologist and he could see exactly what was going on.

You're problem sounds like something I read about while researching my problem and also like the strabismus others have described. There are a whole bunch of things that affect the way our eyes position themselves. When you understand how complex it is for your eyes to move in unison to exact positions it's kind of amazing that they ever work right! Ophthalmologists and neurologists are the ones to see. If you can, you might even try to find a sub-specialist called a Neuro-ophthalmologist. If it's one of these sorts of conditions I think it usually doesn't effect your vision the way an optometrist is trained to watch for.

I can totally relate to why this bothers you. My problem is so annoying. And, even worse, it's unnerving because it's just weird!

Hang in there! I hope you'll update us after you've had it checked out.

Hi Frazzle,
Thanks so much for info. I am alway's trying to distinguish, if my symptoms are Klonopin damage or sleep apnea. All my nightmares began 33 months ago, after I stopped the use of Klonopin (benzo),. That's when all my symptoms, conditions, everything started even sleep apnea. I was sleep tested a year before Klonpin use, and had 5 events per hour, I take the med for 8 months, quit and recently tested 33 events per hour and 55 during deep REM. My sleep doc, shared pcp giving me Klonopin was giving me poison, after first sleep study.

But that's when my eye vision troubles began too. So that's the reason, I try to figure out what is sleep apnea related and what's not. And majority of the time, seems like I'm the only one suffering particular symptoms.

Once I began cpap, lots of symptoms vanished or improved. But hardly anyone confirmed they had similar symptom or could relate.

But I'll look into the info, and discuss with eye doc to see specialist.

Thank you.

Hi ozij,
My eye doc is an optomotrist. Guess, I just didn't describe the symptom to him very well. Now I have some info to work with, he will understand, treat the disorder or send me to a specialist.

But I will try the exercises. Thanks for sharing.

When I hold a straw out in front of my eyes, they shift side to side, but never straight (bouncy eyes),. It's like one eye is trying to be dominant over the other. Very strange sensation, then they double up.

Just hope I can get vision corrected.
Thanks

Spirit wrote:Thanks so much for info DreamOn, exactly what was looking for

Now, I know exactly what to share with my eye doc. Maybe he can test me, for these disorders. I need to do alittle research on the terms, seems I have Strabismus. My eyes don't work together, they bounce around trying to focus. 3 eye docs checked my eyes, and found no abnormalities.

Wonder what the treatments are, for these types of eye disorders ? If you know, please share.

Thanks for all the informative links.

I'm no doctor, so don't take my word for it! What you describe does sound like intermittent exotropia, though. This may give you some information on possible causes and treatment: http://www.eyerobics.com.au/exotropia.html. From that web page:

Exotropia may result from:

nerve problems
deformities
eye injuries
head injuries

These problems, as well as diabetes, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, brainstem aneurysms, stroke, circulation problems, and thyroid disease can cause exotropia in adults.

Those health conditions may not be the cause of your vision problem, of course, but it's good to know in case you have already been diagnosed with one of those conditions. It sounds like your strabismus (or whatever it is) isn't affecting your visual acuity (since your doctor says your vision is great), so that's good. It can't hurt to get it checked out and properly diagnosed though. One of the possible side effects of Klonopin is double vision, but I haven't seen any reference to specific eye problems.

I have had a similar problem for many years, since childhood I believe. Sometimes it does feel like my eyes are bouncing all around! I wear eyeglasses with strong prism correction when I need them for distance vision, but around the house I don't wear any eyeglasses (because I HATE wearing them!). I should probably look into the eye exercises, but haven't yet. Here's some information on the Bates Method of vision therapy: http://www.seeing.org/.

What specialist you see probably depends on the source of the problem. If you have (or suspect) any of the medical conditions above, that may guide you in the right direction. If you're interested in the orthoptic exercises, then an optometrist or orthoptician may be a good choice. Treatment may depend on how your vision is in each eye.

I'd be interested to know what you find out. I hope you find a good solution for the problem!

~ DreamOn

See a neurologist - they are the ones to assess odd symptoms such as you are describing (it's how they diagnose a lot of neurological problems - everything is connected, after all, and many neuro. problems manifest as eye phenomena).

Just found an interesting statement while doing some research tonight. May or may not apply to you but here it is.

" People with sight problems are 30-60% more likely to have impaired nighttime sleep"

I agree you should see a neurologist. They can help find our rule out more serious conditions.

I

Hi,
I visit optomotrist yesturday. We talked nearly an hour, he has sleep apnea too. He said prior to treatment, he felt tired, miserable, developed high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. He had also taken anti-anxiety med, that numb his legs. He listen to my story, how my vision problems developed after using Klononpin. He shared, absolutely the med can damage eye nerves, he also confirmed sleep apnea can cause vision problems.

Well to make a long story short. He examined my eyes and shared they were fine, but I do have one eye that does not want to work. I asked him about vision therapy, surgery etc.....

He shared neurology could confirm nerve damage to my eyes, but there is no gaurentee they can repair. He said, nerves in the vision, damaged by medication, is not reversible. He will do his best, to get my eye working again, through a stronger prescription. So now, I have one dead eye.

He shared vision therapy is voodoo optomotry It will only work, if the person getting the treatment, truly believes it will work.

So now onto stronger script glasses, hope they help force my eye to work again.

Thanks to all those whom replied.

The problem with not asking a neurologist about your eye is that a) you don't have proper medical confirmation that it's dead or something else, and b) I would never accept the word of a non-MD re the future of my sight - it could be that there are various ways to deal with it that your advisor has no knowledge of.