Optical Elusion

That’s rough Stuart. I hope your condition is controlled. 

It’s highlighted one of the reasons why I should attend eyesight examinations regularly.

I've been 6 times in the last 10 months.

Seems I have CSR, which is highly correlated with stress, wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), possibly some dry AMD.

The wet AMD require injections onto your eye. It is not nice.

The eye exams require dilating your pupils which stings. Then they scan and take pictures of you retina. It is blinding and I can't see for 30 seconds or so.

They then use the slit lamp with a prism. I ask them to turn it down, but it is still blinding. I can't see after that either for 30 seconds or so.

When the inject my eye I see the fluid and air bubbles. I then get a white out and it aches a lot. The last visit I told them it was a problem and the stress I guess is spiking my eye pressure way too high, 2.5 times higher, which presses the optic nerve, like with glaucoma. So for future ones I will have something (beta blocker) to lower eye pressure first.

When I come out, it is always a sunny day and I can barely see. You can't drive so I have to walk around and get the bus. It is not easy.

Anyway, the first time I dissociated, the second I cried, the the next two were a lot of aching for 3-4 days. The last one where the pressure was stabilised removed the ache.

So I know well how horrible the damn light in your eye is. I hate it. There is no way round it. You can ask them to turn down the brightness a bit, but it does not make that much difference.

The eye puff things are more gentle than they used to be. It is the anticipation that makes it hard. If they do it quickly it is not too bad. If your eyes are not dry it is easier too.

Ooooooooh!    (LOL)

hmmm... not sure if they had family in the same line!...I would put that statement in the "did I just say that out loud" category of my own experience! hehe

Phased said:

the importance of developing a trusting relationship over time with,say, a GP or optometrist for that matter is so important

I agree with you Phased. It’s good that you and other autistic professionals can be in a position to highlight these things. 

My GP is nice and we have a good relationship, but he isn’t always available. Healthcare is disjointed here and patients with chronic conditions don’t get consistent care. I’ve been seeing the same dentist and optometrist for many years so that’s helpful. 

Phased said:

"trust me I'm a doctor".  Hehe, although I seem to remember a snake in Disney's version of the jungle book saying a similar sort of thing...

Uff! Years ago, my old GP at the time was the spitting image of a doctor in England who made news headlines because he murdered rich old people to get their money. He even had the same mannerisms and the beard! 

That's something I suspect that perhaps might not be taught enough to healthcare professionals.about people.   For this reason the importance of developing a trusting relationship over time with,say, a GP or optometrist for that matter is so important.  Before days of widely and highly publicised cases of medical malpractice it was commonly said "trust me I'm a doctor".  Hehe, although I seem to remember a snake in Disney's version of the jungle book saying a similar sort of thing...

Haha! My preference is to disclose as little as possible to health professionals. It’s irrational, yet I can’t get round the feeling that my body and/or mental state is being invaded and it makes me feel peculiar in an unpleasant way. I think there’s an element of fear of being judged too. 

Jolly good :-)  Your response interests - I've spent a lot of time in health care myself and despite that I also am wary of being open when having a health consultation.  Weird isn't it!  Thing is they're all bound by confidentiality and heck we're going there to potentially be helped.  Maybe we can't get over the idea that even professionals will judge us?  Social convention is a funny old thing hey!

lol I don’t think I can avoid looking at my own blood vessels reflection as everywhere I looked I saw them  ironic thing was when I was little going the opticians never bothered me but I can’t say if I remember doing that thing with the light and seeing the blood vessels thingy. I was told to think of a road map and now I’m scared of road maps lol! I have also seen a SpongeBob episode recently and normally in the uk this particular scene would be edited out but not on paramount and well im even more squeamish with eyes now! 

Thank you for the information Phased . I’ll mention it when I’m back next week, although I usually try to hide the issue. 

Suggest that you might ask your optometrist about this ArchaeC 

A quick AI search suggests this could be a reflex response to the stress of that sort of examination and also possibly a symptom of an "underlying condition".

As you understandably don't mention any particular condition you have I am most inclined to suggest that you talk to the specialist as well as the good people here :-)

Thanks for introducing me to a topic I had never heard of before!

Best wishes :-)

Since my opticians upgraded their air puff pressure test machine a few years ago, the puff has been less intense.

I’m at an age where it is extremely important to attend eye examination appointments regularly, so I won’t procrastinate when the time comes next year. 

I was going to say next time you go, don’t look! LOL  Seriously though, I don’t know how you would get round that one.

I was ok with the eye tests at first but I haven’t been 11 years because the last time I went I nearly fainted. I kept seeing all my blood vessel reflections which made me faint. I thought I was going to be ill in the opticians but I wasn’t ill until later that night at home. I’m defo taking after my dad with the squeamish stuff 

Yes, I always have to take painkillers with me in case I get a headache.

They do this test that puffs air into your eyeball to check for pressure behind the eye, I tell myself it's coming and to stay still, but I don't, my reactions are to fast and too strong, I manage to mess it up and it takes several goes in each eye to get a reading and even then sometimes they can't do it.