Report from my first neuro opthamologist visit today

Good morning friends,
I am on of the un-DX'ers on this forum, and you all have been very supportive and given me encouragement and persistence at times when I didn't think I had any left in me. Thank you  : )

My eye doctor recently referred me to a neuro opthamologist due to concerns that my eye pain and blurred vision was similar to MS symptoms. I saw the neuro-opth today, and he did a number of vision tests. His summary:  My eyes are health and fine (yay!) and my blurred vision and eye pain is caused by DRY EYES.

Ya.  I disagree with that.

He had lots of "patients choice" awards hanging around his office, and he was pleasant. But it felt offensive that he suggested I was **reading about MS and coming up with symptoms to match it**.  I am mad.

Why would anyone invent symptoms? I am a reader and an athlete. Due to these symptoms of blurred vision (after physical activity) and leg weakness, my whole lifestyle has changed. I can no longer exercise vigorously, or even moderately. There are days when my career is impacted and I can't read at night due to vision. I would NEVER choose to make this stuff up.

Ok, back to the definitives.  What do I KNOW to be true, medically?
- EMG results were abnormal
- neuropsychological exam showed major deficits in memory and word finding
- full neurology exam showed problems in the pin-***** test (diffuse sensation) and foot tapping.

What do I KNOW to be true, personally?
- Physical exertion, even light, causes blurred vision and cognitive processing issues.
- My legs are quite weak, walking is good for only short distances (I was a weightlifter before this).
- When I rest I feel much, much better.

Thanks for listening, and supporting. Friends can certainly make all the difference in the world.  

[Kurt25]

A year ago, I had right eye pain, an pressure sensation behind the eye, with some pain when trying to move eye from primary gaze and some blurry vision.
The eye drs (I saw 4, including an opthamologist) did all kind if test, they said the eye looks fine and that this is due to dryness and gave me 1 steroid based droplet to relieve the pain and 1 droplet to lubricate the eye. In 1 month, the eye started feeling better.
Fast forward, a year later I started having  pins and needles, muscle twitches, numbness, which may be related to MS, MRI was inconclusive, but now I think that my eye issues might have been due to my first MS flare ?

[restorativepose]

Yeah, if it would have been limited to eye "weirdness" alone I might have agreed to the doc's dx. But similar to you, I had a huge flare up of tingling, "buzzing" legs and feet, and arm weakness in March. That's why I suspect something other than dry eye.

[Kurt25]

In my case, it was only the eye. But now I got more symptoms.
Did you get an MRI?

[restorativepose]

No... check out my previous posts on 'no MRI'.  The neuro opth today said that based on the health of my eyes, he didn't think an MRI was warranted.

I'm beginning to think these MRI things exist in a vortex?

[SarahL2491]

it is true about the dry eyes.....
humor him, get some eye drops and see if that part goes away
then you have "ammunition" to defend your case for an MRI

[JaneK1975]

...also, to the extent possible, quantify your symptoms. Doctors are much more likely to "believe" symptoms that can be quantified. For example, "Two months ago, I ran three miles in one day, but today I can only walk a quarter mile before I have to rest" is much easier for a doctor to take into account than "My legs feel weak". Provide dates and quantifiable evidence as much as you can.

We will all be wishing you well to get the help you need.

- Jane

[supermum_ms]

Good morning,

I think your going to find that MS is probably not going to end up being your dx, the rational behind that thought, is simply that with MS the EMG is usually 'normal' so with your EMG results, i suggest you have a look at medical conditions that usually have abnormal EMG'S.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003929.htm

The above link has a basic explanation but at the bottom it list about 20 dx connected to abnormal EMG's.

Dry eye are associated with most of what you describe so dont dismiss it totally out of hand, even pwMS also get this problem sometimes, follow the dr's advice and see if it helps at all, you never know till you have a go lol ;-)

Cheers............JJ

[Lulu54]

After I was dx'd with MS, I was having right eye pain and stabbing headaches.  I really thought it was ON or some type of relapse.  The eye doctor did extensive tests, and was about to order a new MRI when her nurse spoke up and suggested dry eye.  They tested my eyes and declared I had the dryest eyes they had ever seen - virutally no moisture.

The restasin drops worked pretty fast in relieving the eye pain and the stabbing headaches stopped.  

The point that needs to be made is we can have MS and still have other problems.  I'm in agreement that you can try the drops and see if it relieves part of your problem.

Good luck with this next phase - L  

[Karen99]

What the heck. Agree to use the eye drops and then ask which diagnostic tests will be done to determine the possible causes of your other symptoms.

Have they tested for Sjogrens?