Reply To: Miller Fisher – Double Vision worsening!

The Fresnel did not work for me either. It was designed to retrain the eye, but there was no improvement whatsoever after many months. My optometrist even made me an “occluder,” a contact lens, clear, with a black dot the size of my pupil, to wear in place of the pesky eye patch. This I wore for nearly a year.

I made an honest schoolboy attempt at Vision Therapy. I understood the concept, and I can’t say it was harmful, but the nerve (6th cranial nerve, as I recall) was so damaged, it simply would not cooperate. However, I do remember some GBS folks who did have success with VT, so I gave it my best shot, but to no avail.

This is when my neuro-opth suggested I consider strabisimus surgery. The procedure was out patient, readjusting various muscles behind the eye to straighten my eyes out and return my single vision. I was desperate by this time, and went for it, and was glad I did. He said it may take a follow up or two to get it just right, but mine was fine after the first round. That’s not to say it was perfect, but I could now see in stereo, and had depth back into my visual field, which was wonderful. After a few weeks, my brain adjusted to the new-normal, and I’ve had no problems since, and that was 15 years ago. Only when my eyes are weak, or I’ve had more than one glass of wine at dinner, do my eyes begin blurring. Otherwise, all is amazingly clear.

I do remember wrestling with this decision, right up to the surgery date. That week, however, I’d received a phone call from a Navy Admiral in W. Virginia who had the exact same predicament with his Miller Fisher double vision, and had successful surgery to correct. His story tipped me over the line, and I was all in for the procedure. For me, it was the right thing, and I am thankful to this day.

Hope this helps.