Monocular Vertical Diplopia

[Mog the Dog]

I have been experiencing monocular vertical diplopia most mornings for the past couple of years. By this I mean that I can close each eye separately and still experience the diplopia in the one opened eye. The two images are stacked on each other with about 50% shared space and the lower image is “ghosted”. Some days are worse than others and I notice it most when looking at street signs and traffic lights when driving during the day. I have never noticed it at night. The ophthalmologist could not find any eye-related abnormalities, so he wanted me to see a neurologist. I had already had an MRI done for an unrelated condition a couple of years ago, and it was normal, so I did not see the point in wasting my time with another doctor who would most likely just shrug her shoulders and send me on my way after billing me a bunch of money.

I have EDS hypermobility type, and now that I am in my fifties, I am wondering if this unusual vertical diplopia is due to sagging puffy eyelids putting abnormal pressure on the tops of my eyeballs. I can create an exaggerated form of the symptom by gently pressing the top of my eye above the eyelid. If this is the case, why is it worse in the morning and cleared up at night? Maybe fluid retention while lying down for a long time? I don’t know.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, can you shed a bit of light on what you think might be causing the problem?

[Mog the Dog]

I answered my own question regarding the saggy eyelids. That would create binocular diplopia, not monocular diplopia, right? So, what causes bilateral monocular vertical diplopia that’s worse in the morning and goes away by the end of the day?

[Barbara]

Hey MtD, as far as I’m aware, monocular diplopia (double vision which occurs when just one eye is open) is more likely to be a brain issue. I have it intermittently.

[Author]

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