Couple questions before I book an appointment with ophthalmologist.

[etardnow]

My location is Canada, bc and it would be extremely helpful if other canadians can chime in.

 

I haven't been to the eye doctor yet since the 'major' visual symptoms started though I went to one about a week before it did start, due to pressure which turned up nothing but dry eye/allergy diagnosis(Bullshit).

 

I do have some physical eye symptoms like dry eyes, unstable pupil dilation/constriction, and tiring out easily (i guess due to light sensitivity).

Also, my glowing light/ghosting images are reduced significantly if i am looking up at a light source. While looking down at a light source makes it the most intense. Anyone else?

 

For those that don't know, my symptoms started when on vacation in asia and i have yet to visit any doctors here in Canada now that I'm back.

 

I can provide them with an MRI result and bloodwork but im also thinking of maybe starting the whole thing over since its free here (i think) and Canadian doctors are more likely to be knowledgeable in drug caused problems (asking for too much?) and I can actually tell them about hppd and drug use and not get arrested. lol.

 

Anyways, my questions are:

 

Do i go to a general doctor first or just book an appointment with an ophtha.?

Should I mention HPPD from the beginning? 

my plan is to basically say, "i think i have hppd (explain basics, hope s/he doesnt laugh) and say, i guess im ok with hppd since nothing can be done about it but i wanted to make sure my eyes were medically ok" blah blah.  

 

Should i go see a psychologist/psychiatrist, explain everything and then ask him/her to workout a gameplan to do some medical checks? psychiatrists are not free here though

Can i do this with a general doctor? I've never shared ideas/talk medically with doctors before, always played dumb and just state my symptoms. Now that i think about it, i had vertigo for 6-12month after a heavy night of drinking. (maybe another predisposition/warning sign lol).

 

In my view, BC is a very recreational-drug tolerant city and im surprised there are no localized hppd acknowledgement/awareness.

 

Should i try to contact some research people like University of British Columbia? Its one of the best schools in canada and i even remember seeing a research article posted here that was related to visual snow (though i barely have that one) and such. How would i go about doing this?

 

This ones a long shot but anyone know how insurance works with BC? to my knowledge it should be all free.

[Syntheso]

Hey,

General doctor won't help much. Can you refer yourself straight to a clinic? I referred myself to a drugs clinic with a highly recommended psychiatrist. It's free for me on the NHS. He really knows his shit. I would advise you to also find a good psychiatrist working in drug-related problems.

And see a behavioural optometrist (as opposed to an optometrist) if you want to take that route. See http://hppdonline.com/index.php?/topic/2234-a-new-direction-of-treatment. Contact them first and explain the condition. Find someone with some sense and some ideas about how they could help.

See a psychologist if you are finding it difficult to, well, psychologically cope. They won't be able to alleviate the neurological symptoms but if you need to talk to someone, it will all help the healing process.