Aa
Temporary loss of vision both eyes
I am a man of 35 in generally very good health and taking no medications (occasionally anithistamine for allergies).
Yesterday I had a disturbance affecting vision in both eyes that lasted for about 20 minutes. It started as a loss of vision just to the left of my visual field (the affected region just ceased to exist in my visual field), then encompassed the whole left side, and, briefly, before returning to normal, encompassed a large fraction of my peripheral vision (I had perhaps 30% vision remaining with the periphery either absent or blurred (I think the left side was absent, the right side more blurred - hard to say exactly as I was panicking a lot at that point). This occurred just before lunch and cleared up quickly after my SO insisted that I eat something (maybe this was just coincidence, I don't know).
I had no other symptoms (no numbness, speech problems, anything that may automatically suggest a stroke).
I did have an almost identical experience about 2-3 years ago, though with less pronounced loss of vision. I also vaguely remember something similar happening once or twice in my teens, though only affecting the region to the left of center of my vision.
I saw a generalist a few hours afterwards, who has told me to rest, ordered a blood test, and get various scans done (if I understood well, these will be scans of my blood vessels around my brain/neck). His first guess is that it is related to high cholesterol (I have not been checked for this before, so we will see from the blood test). I've been trying to read up on it using various internet sources, and, since my vision loss was in both eyes, I'm not really sure why he is focusing on cholesterol - maybe he thinks I could have had a small fat globule embolism?
The loss of vision was not associated with sharp zig-zag lines or flashing lights. Does that mean that it is unlikely to have been a migraine? If not a migraine, is it likely to have been a temporary blockage in an artery serving my brain's visual center?
I'm very frightened right now, and I'd like to know if I'm at high risk of a stroke or of losing my vision? I will have the blood results soon, but the scans won't be for at least 3 weeks, and I have a foreign conference to attend before that. Should I go? Should I seek an emergency appointment with an opthalmologist? The generalist told me there was no terrible urgency, otherwise he would send me to the hospital immediately, but I'm not entirely reassured by that.
Yesterday I had a disturbance affecting vision in both eyes that lasted for about 20 minutes. It started as a loss of vision just to the left of my visual field (the affected region just ceased to exist in my visual field), then encompassed the whole left side, and, briefly, before returning to normal, encompassed a large fraction of my peripheral vision (I had perhaps 30% vision remaining with the periphery either absent or blurred (I think the left side was absent, the right side more blurred - hard to say exactly as I was panicking a lot at that point). This occurred just before lunch and cleared up quickly after my SO insisted that I eat something (maybe this was just coincidence, I don't know).
I had no other symptoms (no numbness, speech problems, anything that may automatically suggest a stroke).
I did have an almost identical experience about 2-3 years ago, though with less pronounced loss of vision. I also vaguely remember something similar happening once or twice in my teens, though only affecting the region to the left of center of my vision.
I saw a generalist a few hours afterwards, who has told me to rest, ordered a blood test, and get various scans done (if I understood well, these will be scans of my blood vessels around my brain/neck). His first guess is that it is related to high cholesterol (I have not been checked for this before, so we will see from the blood test). I've been trying to read up on it using various internet sources, and, since my vision loss was in both eyes, I'm not really sure why he is focusing on cholesterol - maybe he thinks I could have had a small fat globule embolism?
The loss of vision was not associated with sharp zig-zag lines or flashing lights. Does that mean that it is unlikely to have been a migraine? If not a migraine, is it likely to have been a temporary blockage in an artery serving my brain's visual center?
I'm very frightened right now, and I'd like to know if I'm at high risk of a stroke or of losing my vision? I will have the blood results soon, but the scans won't be for at least 3 weeks, and I have a foreign conference to attend before that. Should I go? Should I seek an emergency appointment with an opthalmologist? The generalist told me there was no terrible urgency, otherwise he would send me to the hospital immediately, but I'm not entirely reassured by that.
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By far due to your young age and good general health (which includes not smoking) the most likely cause is eye migraines which have loss of some visual field (scotomas) and may or may not have headaches.
A small number can be TIAs due to disease of eye, brain, heart or blood vessels. Screening for this at the onset is appropriate. Having an episode like this several years ago make eye migraine far more likely.
I would see an ophthalmologist soon. Live a healthy lifestyle, don't smoke, watch your weight, have a good diet, exercise frequently and the risk of a stroke is no higher than normal
JCH MD