Sudden blurry, dull vision with some headaches (normal ct scan)

[saidtheredhead]

I am a healthy 34 year old single mother who deals with considerable stress on a daily basis, as I have a child with two chronic illnesses. Two weeks ago, I experienced "no vision" when standing quickly. I thought that this was either related to blood pressure or low blood sugar (I am not diabetic) and thought nothing more about it. However, over the past two weeks, things have progressed to the point where I struggle to form sentences when reading and it's very fortunate that I'm a touch typist, as I can't see the letters on the keys or the cursor on the screen. Colours seem very washed out and often things are so blurry I really have to concentrate and wait up to 20 seconds to get an idea of what an image on tv is.
I went to my doctor and expressed my concerns. He ordered a CT scan, which I have just discovered was completely normal. However, yesterday I made an emergency optometrist appointment. His reaction was extremely upsetting, as he was almost certain that I would have some sinister result on my CT scan.
I have his report to my doctor here in front of me, and I will directly quote from it.
"Eye health: Discs quite swollen and congested with splinter haemorrages near discs. Looks like papilloedema changes. Macula seems normal OU. The most common cause for this is raised intracranial hypertension. I refer her back to you for investigation. Hopefully the CT scan will help to clarify the picture."
Now, my appointment was quite late in the day, and the optometrist did not dilate my pupils, so my doctor questions how accurate the statement "looks like papilloedema" is. He has just ordered tests for anaemia, Vit B deficiencies etc.
I am totally inexperienced with anything to do with eye health as up until 2 weeks ago, I have never had an issue with my eyes. I have also experienced some sharp head pains in no particular area as well as some low grade headaches. Right now, I am so relieved that I don't have a brain tumour, but I am so frightened as to what is happening to my vision! I am a voracious reader and researcher and I am really struggling with not being able to see well. Any advice or input would be immensely appreciated. I never expected anything like this to happen to me, I always had great fears that eye health issues would be brought on prematurely in my son who has type 1 diabetes..and now this happens to me. Thank you for reading, again, I am so grateful.

[saidtheredhead]

I really appreciate your reply. As it is the weekend, there is nothing further that I can do, but I will certainly see an opthalmologist as soon as possible. Thank you for your input, Dr O.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Your symptoms and findings of papilledema, and normal CT are consistent with psuedotumor cerebri (intracranial hypertension).  You can diagnosis papilledema without dilating your pupils.

You should get another eye exam with an ophthalmologist to confirm the diagnosis and also see a neurologist.

Dr. O.