Ouch...that does not sound fun. I'm sorry you are struggling.

My daughter saw two different neuro opthamologists, both of whom told her to wait a year and see what happened. You might benefit from visiting a vision therapist or an optomitrist. Opthamologists and optomitrists have very different views (pardon the pun) on treating optic nerve trauma. Might help...might not...but it's worth investigating.

My daughter also had stabbing pain in her left eye if she looked too far one way or another. She had nystagmus (eye jumping), convergence insufficiency (tracking), etc. She couldn't tolerate flashes on TV, reading, busy places like stores or churches, etc. She saw shadows where there were none, saw stationary objects move, etc. It sucks..I'm sorry you're going through this.

That is really interesting that you tighten up to feel more stable when you have vertigo. What a vicious darn circle.