I’d bet I’m going to get modded for this, but what the heck. Sorry in advance.
My son (9) has had vision changes in one eye this week. This alarms me.
General symptoms, excluding miscellanea:
He got sick at school on Wednesday this week, vomited in class. We got him home, and he was great by dinner, and the next day.
Today (Friday) he came home from school early complaining of headaches, apparently centered over his right eye.
Starting today, he says he can’t see well out of his right eye. He closes that eye to see anything precise (e.g. pouring water into a cup). My questioning of what he sees is inconclusive – I can’t tell if it’s focus, seeing double, or something else. He adamantly can’t see right out of that eye.
Commentary: the symptom of one eye being suddenly out of focus, and one side of his head hurting alarms me quite a bit. It sounds neurological, like a stroke victim. Yes, I’m jumping to conclusions. Please read below – yes we’ve called a doctor.
Other info:
He takes Ditropan for a urinary issue (bluntly, he wets himself inconveniently). He has taken that med, at the current dosage for 9 months. That med can cause blurry vision. He has complained about his vision sometimes, other times he says its OK. Never has this been in one eye as far as I know.
We called a hotline tonight associated with his ped urologist, and my spouse talked to a doctor. The doc told us to discontinue the Ditropan right away, and see a Opthamologist ASAP. We’re hoping we can find one tomorrow (Saturday). The doc agreed that seeing issues in one eye vs both is not an expected side effect.
My son has a had growing rash on his arm for almost three weeks, its about 3x3 inches on his right arm (which is pretty huge on a 9-year-old) . Derma-doc says its a fungus, rub this stuff on it, come back if its not better in 2 weeks, but it could also be a virus, says the doc. I’ve heard of viruses causing nuerologic issues, and in fact one of my sisters young kids got Tourettes for a while from a virus (I don’t remember the name of the mechanism, something like “pandora syndrome”, and Google is not my friend right now.) Yes, I’m reaching here, but everything seems pertinent right now.
How much should I be alarmed about sudden vision changes, in one eye?!? Am I freaking or being properly cautious? What the hell is happening to my kid??
I’m sorry not to have any answers for you. gd willing it’s just a temporary reaction to the meds he’s taking now.
Good luck tomorrow at the doctor - please let us know how he is!
-Wallet-
I found the virus link I was thinking of: PANDAS, which can be triggered by strep throat. Which is obviously not relevant to my kid’s condition, but I’m searching for anything even close to a match. Thanks for indulging me.
You’re being properly cautious. I hope it turns out to be no big deal, but IMHO any time you have significant vision changes in a short period of time, you should get it checked out. Especially with the other weird symptoms he’s noticing. Keep us updated.
Mods: per MsWhatsit, can we please keep the thread open for a bit for discovery, assuming nobody claims to be a doctor and I don’t claim to be relying on this thread for medical guidance, which I’m not? I hope to see real a doctor tomorrow, and will share here.
squeegee, IANAD but AIUI physical changes in the brain (fluid build up around the brain, tumor growth, etc.) can lead to that kind of localized vision problems. I will be surprised if your son doesn’t end up being sent for a CATscan after you see a doctor. I am not saying that’s the only possible cause, but it’s what would come to mind for a first concern.
ETA: No, I don’t think you’re over-reacting. It may be something benign, I don’t know. But if it’s not, early detection and diagnosis is always a key factor in any treatment program.
I get herpes in just my left eye. Once when I was a small child I had an attack. My vision went from about 20/60 to 20/400 in a day.
Get your son to a doctor.
There’s a difference between overreacting (“Oh my God! Dakota just ate a bug! Quick, call 911!”) and being active in your child’s medical care. I know as a mom, I’m always wondering if I’m being a bother or a neurotic whiner. So let me clear that up: You are NOT overreacting. It might be a reaction to a medication, it might be a temporary viral thing (in the eye itself or systemic) or it might be a stroke, tumor or neurological condition. Try not to dwell on the worst possibilities (yeah, right!) and take care of yourself so you can take care of him. Print out a copy of your OP, write down any other questions you have, and bring that with you to the doctor so you don’t forget to ask him anything. Bring a notebook and a pen to write down anything important he says.
As of this morning (Saturday), my son is no longer squinting one eye, and claims it’s okay, no problems. Also no headache. I didn’t question him too closely because I don’t want him showing a symptom because I expect it to be there. Kids will do that, if you follow me. His eye is not visibly irritated. I’m thinking its a fatigue issue: his vision gets worse when he’s tired. To me this points to double-vision, and he’s just choosing to use his dominant eye when things are doubled. I’m going to see if I can think of a sneaky way to see if both eyes are dilating the same.
We’re still trying to find an opthamologist working today. This may have to wait until Monday, unless he exhibits some other sign of negative progress, in which case we’ll start thinking about more urgent measures. OTOH, he already has an appointment with a dermatologist on Tuesday for that big arm rash, and my SO seems inclined to wait until then. I’m not sure what to think.
Hmm, thinking about this (ok, over-analyzing like an idiot) more: optical migraine occurs to me as a possibility. I get optical migraines, and will have really poor vision for 15-30 minutes in one eye because of fortification spectra; this pairs nicely with the headache my boy described. OTOH, a) I get other symptoms from the migraine, including achingness, optical sensitivity; my son didn’t seem to exhibit this kind of thing. b) he was doing the squinty thing for far longer than you’d expect from a migraine, and migraine aura is pretty distinctive, where he just described “blurry” vision. Hmmph.
Don’t wait til Thursday. I’ll be blunt, if it were my child, an unexpected and unexplained loss of vision would have had the child in the ER. I can understand that that may not be your best option, for reasons ranging from the economic to the medical* - if you can see even your GP about this Monday, or today, I’d really suggest that you do so. A dermatologist is not whom you want to check this out. I’d not even start with an ophthalmologist - I’d start with the GP, and let him/her direct you to the specialist he thinks is most appropriate.
*The things that I’d want to be being ruling out are, IIRC, best done with a CAT scan, as I said. And if your local hospital has one on premises you might be able to get into one today. But that’s far from a guaranteed conclusion - it may be that the ER would only be able to schedule you with the CAT scan with some other provider, themselves. In which case the cost of an ER visit for a situation that seems important but not urgent doesn’t seem worth it. i.e. you’d be paying a premium, but getting no better care than if you simply waited til you saw your GP.
Again, IANAD. This is just my gut reaction, and my gut has been wrong before.
You are not being overly cautious. Any sudden change in vision, especially with accompanying headaches/nausea can be a sign of something more serious.
It may be nothing, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
I have suffered from migraines for most of my life. A while back, I had a particularly nasty one. As in projectile vomiting, couldn’t stand to feel the air shuffle across my skin, thought it would be better to die kind of nasty. When I recovered, my vision had changed – noticably. I went to an eye doctor to have physical anomalies in my eye ruled out. What he told me scared the living hell out of me – an astigmatism (which is caused by the shape of your eye, right?) was gone. I’d consistently been diagnosed with an astigmatism for somewhere around 20 years, so that was really scary. I got a second eye exam from a doctor across town and was told the same thing. I called my PCP and was in his office and scheduled for an MRI that day. Turned out to be nothing. No one knows what happened, but it was really weird. Sometimes, these things can be nothing. Sometimes they’re something. Best to get the doctor to check him out, and I will hope that your kid, like I, is just kinda odd.
Keep us posted.
ETA: Everyone has different symptoms with migraines, just because yours do xyz, don’t assume your son’s wasn’t one simply because his symptoms were qpy. When I get optical migraines, it is in one eye only, and actually feels more like my sugar bottoming out than anything. My PCP and I only figured out it was optical migraines because of ruling out sugar issues. Everyone is different.
Well, I talked to my son’s pediatrician just now. The doctor asked me about the Ditropan, why my boy was taking it, what kind of specialist had prescribed it. He asked if the problem was persisting, which I admitted that so far today it wasn’t, and he told me nicely that he thought we should just hold tight, keep a close eye on my boy, and don’t worry too much unless the symptoms reappear today, and to please call back if there is any change. He agreed with discontinuing the Ditropan right away. And that was about it.
OK, so I feel better for now, and will keep an eye on my boy (like I wasn’t already). OTOH, I did the classic patient mistake: offered up a solution to the problem on a platter (Ditropan), so the doctor agreed that was probably the problem. Who wouldn’t?
So I’ve got one doctor from last night (urologist) who tells me to see a doctor ASAP. I’ve got my boy’s pediatrician who tells me not to worry but keep an eye on things. However,doctor#2 had one piece of info that he doc#1 didn’t: the problem did not persist today, which I admit reassures me as well. I guess I’ll watch for further developments today, and panic (or not) as events require.
My SO still wants to have my son’s vision checked since he’s complained about the blurriness before, although never in one eye. That sounds like a good idea in any case.
Migraines in children present differently and are differently described by the patient than in adults. The usual criteria for diagnosing adult migraine do not apply to many childhood migraines.
Having his eyes checked will do no harm. But I would also suggest you keep an eye on his stomach. One of the more common migraine forerunner syndromes in children and adolescents is what they call an abdominal migraine.
Migraine diagnosis is often tricky and in kids it’s even harder. But it was my own first thought, and if you have migraines (real ones I mean, not just periodic headaches) then his chance of having them jumps quite a bit.
Wow, that’s really interesting, thank you. My boy did vomit a couple of days earlier (see OP), but the time gap of 48 hours between that and the vision/headache seems to argue against those two things being connected. OTOH, some of the stuff I’m googling says it can last 72 hours. And IANAD, so who knows.
Yeah, I do get ‘real’ migraines very occasionally, but I only get aura followed by postdrome, no actual headache. I also didn’t start getting migraines until my late 30’s/early 40’s. I do understand that migraines are inheritable (my father gets migraines much like my own).
If it’s “just” migraines, that actually comforts me somewhat, if it’s intermittent (2-3 times a year) like my own. My migraines are annoying but very manageable (as long as I don’t need to drive or anything for an hour).
You’re definitely not overreacting. A sudden change in any body part located in the head is cause for alertness and medical attention, especially coupled with the rash.
OK, my son’s pediatrician just called (sorry for being confusing; the doctor I talked to post #14 was a physician who worked in the same office as my son’s pediatrician, and I was using shorthand when describing him above. Apologies), and my spouse talked to her.
Anyway, this doctor wants to see him on Monday. She asked my wife about symptoms, how he is now, was he feverish or vomiting (he was both on Wednesday, neither on Friday). She told us that if he runs a fever and has nausea, to go to emergency right away, otherwise don’t panic, keep an eye on him, and she’ll check him out in the office on Monday.
It is possible to have fungal, viral, or bacterial infections of just one eye. In particular, fungal infections can be quite persistent. Since he already has some sort of infection there is the possibility that it has spread.
GET YOUR CHILD TO AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST! That’s an MD who is an eye specialist. Do not wait, do not delay, get him in MONDAY, Tuesday at the latest.
I am not saying the following is what is going on, it is merely an example of why you should not hesitate or look for false reassurance. I have a friend who had a sudden loss of vision in one eye, blurry vision, headaches, etc. - she turned out to have a serious eye infection but because she got to a doc early it was successfully treated and she now has near-normal sight in that eye. If she had delayed… the normal outcome would have been a total loss of vision in that eye, with possibly the other being affected as well.
There are other reasons he could be having vision problems - migraine, stroke (unlikely in a young child), glaucoma, and Og knows what else. The problem is, docs who aren’t eye specialists might be inclined to look for problems in their own domains. That’s why you need to get him to an eye specialist. He’s having an eye problem, right? Take him to a guy who knows eyes. Don’t take a chance with his vision.