Horizontal double vision - computer eye strain?

Question

I was sitting at my computer today and then started having problems focusing. I noticed that my eyes started to go up and down cross eyed (room was stacked). If I looked down it wasn't as bad as well as with my peripheral vision. I have been on my computer for about 5 hours today and 5 hours last night (I'm a graphic designer...I'm almost always on my computer). Could this be a result of computer eye strain? Both monitors are LCD but at work I have fluorescent lighting. I intend to see a doctor because it's not normal for me (first time this happened) but he's not in today.

Also..no symptoms like nausea or faintness or dizziness. It was just really weird. I also had dilated pupils.

Answer 1

Um, not really. But it truly depends on how often you sit at the computer and whether or not you take breaks. You see, if you don't take breaks at least every 2 hours, then you start running the risk of eye strain. And by breaks I mean staring off in the distance for AT LEAST 8-10 minutes.

If you don't have headaches then there is an almost 70 percent chance you don't have eye strain, because a common symptom of eye strain is Headaches. Sounds more like you do really need to go to the doctor. For your own sake, so nothing bad happens.

Answer 2

Hang on, that's *vertical* double vision, if things are stacked one on the other.

That is less likely to be simple fatigue than *horizontal* diplopia, where many people has a degree of phoria ("latent squint" in very old language) which might catch them out when very tired, the normal compensating mechanisms just letting go for a while out of tiredness.

The above could still apply, and a normal examination would show it, but the other possibility is a transient loss of blood supply to an eye muscle, (if better looking down, one of the inferior recti or superior obliques) or, less likely, to the nerve centre controlling eye movement.

It is worth reporting for a general check on blood-pressure and blood quality. etc.