Can someone help me identify this symptom?
 

6 months ago I face-planted and hit my head without my fanfare. A week after that I had my first ever panic attack.

I'm trying to put a name to or identify a symptom I've been having for months now. It's basically my inability to visually focus on a object. My eyes start to cross and my vision goes blurry.

HOWEVER....it's psychologically driven, not medically driven. It's almost like a forced-trance...where you stare off into space for 20 seconds and kinda of zone out. I know it's psychological because I simply close my eyes, shake my head and everything returns to normal. What's most scarey is that I tell myself not to do it, yet it do it anyways....I feel like a space-cadet.:rolleyes:

I don't know if it's caused by the head trauma, or the anxiety I've experienced the past few months. It just feels weird and I'd like to put a name to it so I can discuss with my doctor.

Any thoughts?

For the vision issues I'd suggest seeing a neuro-ophthalmologist. Rather than putting a name on it just describe the symptoms. Are you seeing a neurologist or physiatrist now? They would likely be able to refer you.

This could be mental fatigue. I had this too and got better with time and rest. Will return if overstimulated several days in a row or if I have like 1/2 drink of alcohol which is all I tolerate.

You described it exactly like I used to. It has died down after 6 or so months. I used to get it really bad while driving.

Yes- See a neuro-opthamologist before assuming it is psychological.

I experienced this often. In fact, family members would talk to me and tell me my eye's were doing "that weird thing" again where they weren't looking at the same place. I hated it. I hated wanting to look into my boyfriends eyes to see reassurance, to only lose focus on his face.

Vestibular Therapy and Vision Therapy helped me to retrain my eyes to work together better. Various exercises focused on retraining my eyes to focus on the same spot and how to change my focus without losing focus on the object.

However, brain power still plays a role. I'm 3 years out, have completed vision therapy, etc. But when my brain is really struggling, for example when I am stressed out and trying to do too much, my eyes will feel "off" again. Usually some rest, especially decrease in screen time do the trick.

See a neuro-opthamologist. They can provide an accurate diagnosis and provide you with ways to retrain your eyes.

Your visual problem may be convergence insufficiency caused by the concussion:

http://www.sarasotaretinainstitute.c...vision-part-1/

In addition to or instead of a neuro-ophthalmologist, you may also want to see a behavioral optometrist. They can and will test for convergence insufficiency and other problems caused by your eyes not working together properly.

You can get referrals at http://www.braininjuries.org or http://www.nora.cc

You may be able to hold your eyes correctly for some time, but the effort required to sustain it may be too much for you to do it all the time. Vision therapy could strengthen your eyes and eliminate or reduce the moments in which you slide out of focus.

I had the same thing and unfortunately still do to some extent over a year later.

My eyes felt as though they were shaking and actually they were, went to OT and vestibular therapy which helped.

My husband still tells me I stare in to space.

When I'm tired or stressed it's worse.

Hope you feel better..