Blindness & Visual Impairment Support Group

Hi! I would think that the symptoms you're describing could be something as simple as a need for new glasses or something more involved. I know it's scary to have visual difficulties. I'm sure you would feel much better if you saw your optometrist and had a very thorough exam and assessment. He/she could then refer you to a specialist and/or conduct further tests to narrow down the issue. I hope you have some answers soon. Please do keep us posted.

i recently had my eyes check for glasses and my prescription hadn't changed. at first i thought this might be me using the computer or watching too much tv but this happened even after i spent a whole day off the computer and watched only one show. some of the things i read online about this have me very concerned. i would expect my eyes to be strained and fuzzy if i had been online for a long time. but this is sudden and without a reason i can determine.

i am going to go to an ophthalmologist, with my insurance i don't need a referral to see a specialists. i just got online and have only been online for about 15 minutes and my eyes hurt like i have been on for 16 hours straight. i also just rested my eyes in a long nap of 4 hours so they should be really great but they aren't.

thank you for your concern and advice. it helps knowing that someone understands how scary this is.

It sounds like your symptoms can mean something else.

I have a negative attitude towards eye chains. I would suggest only going to a regular eye doctor. The eye chains are good for getting glasses but not diagnosis of eye problems.

i wasn't looking for a diagnoses from the group but support as Daily Strength is a place to give and receive support and comfort. i don't want to be scared and feel alone in this at the same time. i do plan to go to an eye doctor, i am not messing around either i will go to an ophthalmologist who has more expertise in such matters than a regular eye doctor.

Once you get over the shock, its really not that bad. I see double all the time, and everything looks like a foggy day, but like the doctor told me, there is nothing they can do about it.

I just choose to have a positive attitude about it, and concentrate on what I CAN do, not what I can't. The problem I always have with eye doctors, is they add to the problem of making people cling to the sighted world.

When the doctor told me I would eventually loose my sight, instead of deciding to be scared, I just decided to make it a point to decide NOT to cling to the sighted world. I watch people who fight every single day for the sight they have left, clinging to the idea if they can have 1 mour hour of sight left they'll put any risk asside just to have that 1 more minute of sight, and I just think thats so stupid to act like that.

There is nothing wrong with being blind.. The main thing, is all of us are advocates for blind people, so instead of clinging to the sighted world, we should be advocating for blind rights in this country, instead of adding to the problem by thinking we are helpless. If we think we are helpless, then how are we supposed to convince the sighted world we are not?

If every blind person had the attitude that they were helpless, then we wouldn't have a stevie wonder, or blind actors, or blind photographers, or the blind guy on American Idle.

what gets me, are the people who attempt to improve their appearance to impress a sighted person. I'm like, your blind, why do you care what you look like? or what anyone else looks like? or what someone else thinks of your appearance? sure arrogant sighted people care, but why go out of your way to impress them? I don't care if its a husband, or a wife, whoever can't like you for who you are, despite what you look like, then that person isn't worth knowing in my book. *shrugs*

its like when my X left me for another guy because I'm blind, who cares? I wasn't going to cling to the sighted world for her, or anyone else. whoever doesn't like me for who I am, isn't worth my time in knowing :)

i have so many other physical problems that i absolutely NEED my sight because i have no one who can help me and my only moral support is on here, since i don't know how to get aids to support me if i went totally blind and don't have money for aids that insurance probably wouldn't cover, THEREFORE I AM GOING TO CLING TO THE SIGHTED WORLD AS LONG AS I CAN! sorry if that offends you or anyone else but like i said my body is a train wreck and i have to have my eyes to drive to get to the docs to get the care i need just to survive i have no one else who can get me there, have to see someone for my back 2 times a week.

There are ways to get to the doctors office, and to work, without having to depend on others to drive you there.

Most every town in the US has a dial-a-ride type place that will take you to doctors appointments, or anyplace else you need to go, usually for just a couple dollars.

Now I prefer to take the bus, vs paying $2-3 a way for those places, because the bus is free for me, and $2-3 per way adds up to quite a bit after awhile, but still no more then the price of gas+insurance. With the price of gas and insurance and everything else, I'm kinda glad I don't drive anymore to tell you the truth.

THere are sighted people who can't drive, so never use that as an excuse. I'm not offended, but you have to understand driving is a privilege, not a necessity, there are always other ways to get around.

trust me ok, I am in the same boat as you. I have crohns disease on top of being disabled, and am in and out of hospitals frequently. plus I am single, live alone, and have no friends or family to get me places either.

So I do what I have to do, to get where I need to go, rather it be walking, taking a bus, taking a dial a ride type bus, there are always options, and when your faced with challenges, you always find a way to deal with them.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you ever need support, but don't expect me to feel sorry for you, because I face those same challenges being near totally blind, and I get where I need to go just fine. Most blind people in this town get mad at me when they hear I walked down highway 37 to get groceries, but like I tell them, blind people still have to eat, we still have to get medical care, so I do what I have to do, even if its not safe. Sometimes ya just have to have to courage to just do it to survive.

i am familiar with Crohn's disease, two of my friends have it. you are not familiar with all i have to deal with but walking isn't an option for me neither is taking a bus or dial a ride to the one doctor i need to see 2X a week just to be able to not be totally bedridden because he is in another city than the one i live in and it takes me 45 min to an hour to get there. i have tried other doctors who are closer to me in his field but they are not helpful and actually make me worse. i never asked you for your pity. understanding and pity are two different things and you definitely don't understand. driving isn't a privilege but is a necessity for me to get the constant care i need just to survive. you talk down to me as tho me trying to survive and being scared that i might lose the only thing, (MY SIGHT) enables me to keep surviving is a bad thing, you have your issues but please don't put them off on me. i don't wear my disabilities as a badge and say mean things to ppl who don't have the same disability as you have. please don't make any more comments on my post, you aren't helping only hurting me!

grammy, you are my friend and I do know what you are going through and how important your sight is for you to be able to get the help you need. And I do know how very scared you are that you might be losing your sight.

It is rather cruel that someone on here should write you a private message saying they would not feel sorry for you as though you had asked anyone for pity or ever would. And that same someone would tell you that driving is a privilege when they know nothing of your circumstances.

I know you came here for understanding and encouragement not to be talked down to. You are a dear person and don't deserve to be treated that way. I hope your putting that person on ignore is enough to keep them from being so mean to you. What they said to you was uncalled for and I just had to go on record saying so!