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Brain not "showing me" my peripheral vision

Eye Conditions | Last Active: Dec 8 8:32am | Replies (37)

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@88lance

Could this be lack of blood flow?

Not sure where to post this because I'm kind of just guessing at a self-diagnosis here.
I'll post my original explanation of what's going on from another thread here, and you can either read it or skip it and go to my question underneath this:
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Everyone is stumped, wanted to post and see if anyone has experienced anything like this before.
M, 33, 6'3, 155 lbs, no other health issues.

November 2021 start noticing my focal point in my vision seems to have shrunk.
Over time this continues to worsen.
I go to eye doctor and he says there is nothing wrong, change glasses. I change glasses, no affect.
Fast forward to today (July 2022), peripheral has worsened to the point that I do not even see my peripheral anymore unless I try to focus on it. There are no black spots, no missing spots, no "shady" areas, my full field of view is there, IF I focus on it and try to see it. Otherwise it is like looking through a gift wrapping tube.
It's hard to describe because it is so wierd.
The best description is as if you were daydreaming, staring off into space. You are still seeing, but you are not really "seeing" until you think about it, or something gets your attention. Then you realize you were staring. This is what my peripheral is like all the time. I have to purposely focus on it to see it. Or something shows up in my peripheral that makes me notice it. Otherwise it seems like my brain is just not showing it to me.
Some people know the feeling of standing up very fast and your vision seems to disappear for a few seconds, this is also a good description of what my peripheral looks like all the time.
My brain still notices the peripheral, and I can tell because if I am approached on the side, or a car beside me approaches in traffic, I suddenly notice it. My brain is basically seeing my full field of view, but I don't notice it unless I focus on it. As if it's not showing it to me.
It does fluctuate and gets better and worse over the coarse of days.
We have tried several eyeglass prescriptions, and several contact lens prescriptions.
An interesting observation, when I switch glasses/contacts, the fluctuations change for a few days. It may stay better or stay worse for a few more days. But other than that it continues to fluctuate, meaning that it does affect it somehow, but never fixes it.
So far, I have seen 9 ophthalmologists, 3 optometrists, 1 retinal surgeon, 2 endocrinologists, and one neuro-Opthalmologist. I have had stacks of papers of blood work, an MRI with and without contrast, several OCT scans of the eye, optic nerve, and all the stuff inside there, several prescriptions of glasses and contacts, and a thyroid ultrasound.
"We don't see anything wrong with you."

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My idea is with blood flow affecting peripheral vision. Some people, including me, have a drop in blood pressure in the head if they stand up quickly, making their vision blur out for a few seconds. It's not anything big though, no treatments or anything.
For those that skipped the long explanation, my peripheral looks like this 24/7 now.
Mine also does it even if I simply look up. Which seems kind of strange.
I also get fatigued a lot. No doctors have mentioned this, and my neuro-Opthalmologist quickly dismissed it as soon as i thought of it.
Could this have something to do with lack of blood flow to the brain? Artery in neck clogged or something, not giving the visual part of the brain enough flow to operate correctly?
If standing up quickly can cause a pressure drop, causing your vision to fade for a few seconds, then doesn't it make sense that your peripheral vision being faded 24/7 could be from a permanent pressure drop??
(Also for those who skipped, we already did MRI, about every blood test known, and OCT's for every eye exam in existence).

Anyway, just thought somebody might have experienced something like this before, or know more about blood pressure and it's affects. Thanks for reading

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Replies to "Could this be lack of blood flow? Not sure where to post this because I'm kind..."

Hi, I'm Sally 44, tested positive for an autoimmune disease. I haven't been diagnosed yet. But, I already have, optic drusen, optic atrophy, and optic neuritis. I read your whole post. I have lack of blood flow throughout my entire body. Causing me alot problems. But, my partner had a stroke in her left eye due to lack of blood flow. She was seen by a ophthalmologist, who diagnosed her with it. She would go and treatments for it. It's hard to explain the treatments, they put a solution in her eye, cover it, then put a needle (she couldn't feel a thing) and did whatever the heck they did. Lol I can't explain it. She can see much better, but she missed her last treatment. And it had to be done that day. I on the other hand haven't been treated. I'm still waiting for my doctor's to order tests. Whatever autoimmune disease I have it's definitely neurological. This autoimmune disease is causing lack of blood flow to my brain. My blood pressure drops so low I pass out. I have no energy. Always feeling fatigue but can't sleep. The list goes on and on. Even lost over half of my hair. Lack of blood flow to the scalp. I never knew that was possible! My condition is quite serious. I've been going through this for 5 months now. Just know that there's someone out here who understands what you're talking about.

Hi @88lance, I moved your recent posts to your original query so that your further investigations and member responses and history are in one place as you try to solve the seemingly unsolvable.

I'm not a doctor and certainly can't offer solutions where many specialists have not be able to. However, I wonder if this may be an issue that cognitive training might be able to help. I know that's not getting to the root of the problem, but it might help manage the condition until you get to the bottom of this.

@88lance With your theory about altered blood flow, I wanted to share with you a source that could support this if you have a condition that reverses blood flow know as "subclavian steal" and it can cause visual disturbances. This would be possible if you have a problem like thoracic outlet syndrome that compresses blood flow and it can be adversely affected by poor posture. I have thoracic outlet syndrome which is diagnosed by confirming altered blood flow to the brain and arms by the position of arms and head (turning head) with Doppler studies and the doctor listening for the pulse to diminish with changes in posture. Have your specialists considered thoracic outlet syndrome as a possibility? Many doctors miss TOS and it is poorly understood and not given much time in med schools. A neurologist or thoracic vascular surgeon would be possible specialists for this condition.

I refer to this paragraph below:

Source:
Vestibular impairment and its association to the neck and TMJ
Posted on July 22, 2018 by Kjetil Larsen

and found at this link:
https://mskneurology.com/vestibular-impairment-and-its-association-to-the-neck-and-tmj/
"Subclavian steal symptoms presents secondary to arterial insufficiency, created by a retrograde flow that “steals” blood from the brain circulation, more specifically from the basilar artery via the vertebral artery. Classically it presents with neurological symptoms from the posterior brain and cerebellum [4,6]. Decreased flow over the basilar artery gives rise to symptoms like lightheadedness, ataxia, vertigo, dizziness, confusion, headache, nystagmus, hearing loss, presyncope and syncope, visual disturbances, focal seizures, and in extremely rare cases, death [6–10]. However the vast majority of patients are asymptomatic and rarely require any intervention [3,5,11]. – Alcocer et al., 2013"

Here is some more information about TOS
https://mskneurology.com/how-truly-treat-thoracic-outlet-syndrome/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20353988
Have your doctors mentioned TOS? Have you heard of thoracic outlet syndrome before?