brain tumor / eye pain

I woke up Sep. 22nd with sever left eye pain. The pain was with movement of the left eye. Because the pain didn't go away I saw my optometrist Oct.1st, He found nothing wrong with my eye/eyes (but he suggested a brain tumor). On Oct. 5th my regular Dr. was a bit baffled by my left eye pain and has ordered an MRI for Oct. 11th (again suggesting a brain tumor). I'm now experiencing slight blurry vision out of my left eye, left side numbness in my face, and slight nausea. Could this be a brain tumor, and if the symptoms are getting worse should I wait till Monday for the MRI?

[Gabs143]

Hopefully you will be okay.  When she looked in your eyes, did she say she saw Papilledema or swelling?

[ZellerGirl]

He saw nothing wrong at all.

[rumpled]

What did the MRI show?

[ZellerGirl]

I leave in an hour for my MRI. I'm not sure the MRI-tech person will say anything about what they see? I have an appointment with my regular Doctor to read the MRI results on Wednesday. So i'ts a long wait.

[rumpled]

After 24 hours, or 48 now, you can go back to the MRI place and pick up a copy of the MRI and report on MRI so you can look on it.

If you ask before you get the MRI, you can get the CD when you leave, you just have to wait a few minutes - at least at most of the places where I go. The report has to wait until the doc sees it.

[ZellerGirl]

Wow, I didn't know I could ask for a cd of it, that's pretty cool. If I ever have another MRI i'll be sure to ask for a copy.
At this point my eye/head pain is still there (just not as intense). I hope they find nothing  wrong with my MRI, but at the same time i'm so sick of this pain. I'll update after my doctors appointment tomorrow!

[ZellerGirl]

No Tumors, i have a pretty brain! My doctor gave me steroids for 21 days to see if that nocks out the pain. Time shall tell!

[rumpled]

Steroids are an anti-inflammatory. Be careful to taper off them (if the dose is high) so you don't feel it and it is not upsetting to your system.

Pretty brain... LOL.

[JennHmom0f2]

Any news lately on your condition? I'm asking because I have the same symptoms!! Mine started in late March. My Dr. kept telling me it was sinus and allergy problems & put me on antibiotics. The pain never left. Eventually, after 3 different antibiotics and no relief, I made my way to an Ear/Nose/Throat Specialist for "sinusitis", as I was diagnosed in the ER. I found out NOTHING was wrong with my sinuses. I am compleley clear. The pain comes and go, but sometimes so severe I almost panic. It's a stabbing-shooting-burning pain in my left eye. Sometimes it is behind my left eyebrow and sometimes lower beneath my left eye, like on the cheek bone. Also when it's not in any of those places it is on the left hand side of my head in the back or towards the back.  It also has an "irritated" feeling when I blink. I have an appointment on Oct. 24th at a Neurologist. I am wondering if I should be seen by an eye Dr. before this just to rule things out. Needless to say I am very nervous about this and I would love to hear your outcome!!

[rumpled]

This is an old post - so she may or may not reply...

[ZellerGirl]

Well after so many tests - MRI's, CT scans, and Eye doctors thoroughly checked my eye NOTHING was ever found. I started having sever migraines afterwards and went on migraine medication (Topamax). I never had the eye pain again. With that said... I just took myself off the Topamax because the side effects of that drug make you lose hair. So if my eye pain or the migraines come back I’ll have to go see my doctor again.

Good luck to you Jenn I hope you find out what is causing this and you get the right treatment.

[tiredbuthappy]

First off, to ZellerGirl- thank you so much for coming back and updating and responding! You don't see that often, but it is tremendously helpful.

To Jenn-
If you do choose to see an eye doctor, I would suggest a neuro-opth. Your story is familiar, although I had vision loss as well so we did it the other way around. First I saw the eye doc, then the neurologist, then had an appointment with the ENT to rule out sinus problems since the others found nothing. Before making it to the ENT, I finally got the MRI that diagnosed me. Your story is familiar because of the sinus issues as well. I used to get chronic sinus headaches. Not one since my tumor was removed, and my tumor was not in the sinuses.

It's hopefully nothing serious like ZellerGirl describes. for me, it was a tumor pressing on the optic nerve. The reason I suggest a neuro-opth is because you want to get a visual field test done. If you find an optometrist who does visual fields, then that can be a good starting point as well. Visual field deficits can often be a good indicator of bigger problems. People often don't notice they have these deficits without the test. The test is non-invasive.
I expect that they may suggest an MRI as well. That is a good idea to rule out other problems, but make sure it is with and without contrast.

[island248]

Hi am new to this website and wanted to see how to ask a doctor a question.

[rumpled]

You have to go to the expert communities - this is a patient one. Some of them may require payment. They will not diagnose - only comment on previous tests etc.

[KenHatch]

I joined the Pituitary Network. It cost $55. There was not very many people on it but after i had posted about the problems I was having. (My Dr was fired the week before my first post-op visit). One of the Doctors from there called me. He gave me some good info on what to do. He talked to me for about 20 min and would have talked longer if I had any more questions. And told me to call him back if I had any problems and he would get me an appointment with someone in there network if I needed one.

[rumpled]

The expert here is on the pituitary network. Many surgeons will read films for free - some do charge a fee.

Sorry to hear about the lousy doc - good riddance I say. I think doc shopping is good - it is our health and without it, well, really you do have nothing. I did the trust thing early on and it cost me my health.