Worried about brain... thing

[Lana]

Dear

All of a sudden my glasses ( all of them), feel like they are small. Did my head get bigger, did it swell? I recently had a comprehensive eye exam ( end of June), additional eye exam after that, a comprehensive 6 month dental/oral, and two exams by ENT doctor (within 3 months), because my left nostril is somewhat blocked ( also sudden change). Medical sites all say that especially ocular exams can indicate many serious things. Mu eye pressure is somewhat higher, but it also varies. And I am 60 ( sigh). Also, my deviated septum is little worse, but the ENT said nothing else is wrong.

None of these doctors found anything . Why are my glasses not fitting any more? Am I more aware of them, or what the hell is going on? I presume at least one of all these doctors would notice something for sure! But, I keep on being aware of all my glasses, and I almost feel like a pressure is lifted when I take them off! Could this be because I am subconsciously focusing on it? Also, slight pressure headache on and off.

Any insights please, or comfort. If you want to shake me out of this harshly - that is also welcome.

[pulisa]

None of these doctors found anything. The more you focus on your glasses not fitting the more uncomfortable they will feel..especially in hot weather.

Are you focusing on a brain tumour fear, Lana?

[Lana]

Dear Pulisa, yes I am.

But I do not know where else to go, and I would be ashamed to go to ENT again...Would it be stupid to ask one of the doctors to order MRI, when none of them thought so?

But, what are these new weird symptoms? I am so exhausted by fear and rumination...

[Lana]

Also I had full brain MRI 3 years ago due to hearing loss but that was all normal. But now all these new symptoms…

[pulisa]

"All these new symptoms" ie your glasses feeling uncomfortable?

You want to be taken seriously when you visit your doctor. Asking for an MRI now would really flag up your HA. Can you see this?

[Lana]

Oh my God Pulisa, you are right. I know...I must move away " from myself", and stop identifying myself with this horrible anxiety. I must employ reason.

Thank you - as always.

[pulisa]

I think at our age we need to have any health issues taken seriously and not written off as anxiety if we attend the GP surgery too often. It's a great incentive for me to limit my visits as i don't want to be known as a "regular".

[ErinKC]

This definitely sounds like a hypersensitivity thing - you’re thinking about it and there it is.

[Lana]

You are probably right Erin, Thank you!

[kyllikki]

Dear Lana!! I think it is possible that you are *correct* about this sensation and it is still nothing to worry about. Why do I say that?

Because I have had this sensation around the bridge of my nose, where those two little pad things rest on your face, many times before -- most often after crying my eyes out, or when I have allergies, or when I was younger and staying up all night (those were the days! )

Basically, anything that makes my face even slightly puffier makes my glasses feel like they are "weighing" on my nose. Note that a chronic sinus issue from a deviated septum will also do this!!

I've also had this sensation with the ear support portion of the frames, particularly when my hair is tied up too tight, or -- this one is gross, sorry -- if I actually haven't washed my hair in a while (which happened a lot when I had a baby and could only find time for the 'luxury' of a thorough shampoo once a week!) It would almost feel like the curvy bits of the glasses that went around my ears were irritating them, because in reality, my hair was irritating that area.

As for having a weird sensation when taking your glasses off, well -- I get that and then some! I actually have fleeting double vision and depth perception issues in some areas of my vision even with my glasses ON, then briefly lose my depth perception entirely when I take them off. But I saw a neuro-ophthalmologist last month (took me 9 months to get an appointment with him) and completed a specialized MRI of my eyeballs and optic nerves, and guess what?! It's not my eyes or my brain!!! It's my THYROID! I have normal thyroid numbers by the textbook, but my thyroid is still attacking my eye muscles, making them puffy, bulging, and dry/stinging, causing sinus issues, raising my eye pressure but not in a way that's consistent with glaucoma, giving me the double vision, making me twitch and shake (remember that?!) and... fascinatingly enough... bumping up my metabolism and anxiety!! It's very common in women. You might want to have yours checked as part of your annual physical (see what I did there?) just in case.

But otherwise, dear Lana, I really don't think you need to worry about this at ALL; I had far more worrisome symptoms and the neuro-optho pretty much ruled out a major issue within minutes!