Eye movement disorders: Can they improve over time?

[saccadiceye]

Greetings,

I tried the search function and couldn't find an answer to my question. So here it goes.

I had my operation close to 7 months ago and I am still experiencing what I believe is nystagmus. I am told that my left eye is saccadic which makes simple tasks like reading difficult (and sometimes impossible). Basically my left eye jerks/darts and doesn't follow objects smoothly. I also am experiencing some balance issues and occasional vertigo.

I also strongly feel that my eye issues might explain why I am having some memory/attention issues too.

I have tried vestibular therapy for about two months now, and I think I have only improved marginally in this regard. My neurosurgeon said he expects me to make a full recovery. However, this appears to become increasingly unlikely as the months progress. I should also note he says that vestibular therapy really isn't necessary either.

Has any ones nystagmus improved over the course of their recovery. If so, what forms of therapy did you think worked the best?

Thanks

[KeepSmiling]

I am sorry you are experiencing this issue.

Just a hunch-I wonder if you might be a candidate for vision therapy? Our child had oculomotor dysfunction and it was corrected with vision therapy. There were  poor sades and pursuits, Both eyes did not work in unison. See this website: http://pavevision.org/
and this one : http://www.visiontherapy.org/.  to find a doctor in your zip code, maybe try here: http://pavevision.org/find-a-doctor/

Maybe this could help, I really don't know.

Best to you!

[KeepSmiling]

My last post should have said "there were poor saccades". Sorry for the typo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccade. Again, I am not sure whether vision therapy could help you , but it might be worthwhile to inquire about it. It really helped our kid, but there were not other issues present, as there are for you.  Best to you!

[CHD63]

Hi saccadiceye and welcome to this forum of caring, supportive friends .....

At seven months out, you are still relatively early in the recovery process so I hope you can look back to what you were like seven days out or even seven weeks out and see how much you have progressed.  Recovery can be a slow up and down progress and it is so easy to lose patience with the slowness of it.

Following my first surgery I had double vision for about two weeks and then nystagmus for many weeks after, which made reading or holding my vision onto anything very difficult.  Even today, five years and an additional surgery later, when I am very tired and/or stressed or I drink too much coffee, the nystagmus sometimes returns for a fleeting reminder I need to slow down and/or rest.

As for the vestibular therapy, walking in a safe place (such as one's hallway at home) while turning your head from side to side and from up to down is probably the best exercise that is good to do long-term or whenever you have a return of balance symptoms.

I did vestibular therapy for months and the home program was essential to my success.  Many eye exercises were valuable to learning to deal with the nystagmus.

If you would like a copy of my exercises, send me a private message and I will send them on to you.

Do not give up!!  It does get better!!!  Thoughts and prayers.

Clarice

[saccadiceye]

Thanks to both of you for replying. I think I will try to continue with my exercises. I'm actually already seeing a neuro physio who has given me several exercises. Unfortunately I haven't noticed too much improvement in the last month or two. However, I suppose it has improved since the surgery.

I'm also scheduled to see a neuro ophthalmologist at some point in the near future. Hopefully they will have reassuring things to say too. After all, my doc thinks things will improve as well.

[saccadiceye]

Well I saw the neuro-opthalmologist a week ago and they recommended that I continue with the exercises. Unfortunately, my progress has been mixed. I've noticed lots of improvement with the exercise that requires you to move your head 45' to the left and right and so forth, while focusing on an object. I can do this at about 64 beats per minute now, and 120 bpm is the goal.

 However, I've noticed only a very small improvement in the exercise that requires me to track a moving object. The object has to move at a snails pace for me to see it clearly.

Unfortunately, this condition makes reading extremely difficult. In fact I could barely garner the strength to write this entry!
Lucky for me audiobooks and good podcasts like Planet Money exist. Although sometimes it's hard to keep up as I have an attention issue too!

It is the neuro-opthalmologist's opinion that my vision can improve over time. However, it could take as many as two years.

Has anyone else experienced similar visual issues?

Thanks,

(I should note that I didn't have an acoustic neuroma, but rather had a cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma. However, I think this forum has greatly benefited me, as I share similar vestibular issues with many of you.)