ssep test

[nursejenn1012]

I recently had an ssep test, awaitng results, and having the visual and hearing done this week.  my question-

1- optic neuritis pain-can that be like an eye strain headache type pain?? I get this frequently, my main vision problem is with digital things, like clocks, they present in double, my eyes dont focus on those despite a new prescription in glasses. my overall sight in my right eye is worsening. At night, one eye, usually my right, but can be either, chooses not to adjust to the dark, and when i turn off the light I can see out of one eye, but not the other.

2- does anyone know what the number 1.08 means for myelin in the lower extremity on an ssep??

Thanks :)

[nursejenn1012]

Thank you so much for the response.  I have not been diagnosed with ms, have negative mri's, but fit many symptoms.  I do have bad periph. vision, always in darker situations vs lighter, but sometimes during light too, usually lasts about a week or so.  I also have a sesitivity to light, alot of times when i look out a window during the day i will get a sharp pain in my eye, the pain does not last.  Def have had the flashes of light.  Usually when i get these "eye strain" headaches, they usually come in a row, like for about a week or two, then calm down for a bit, then they come back, never get just one here or there, i cant remember off the top of my head if they get worse with movement, i know it feels like pressure in my eyes, like i want to rip my eye out.......

[Quixotic1]

Hi, there!

People often mistake the visual difficulties of optic neuritis with the visual difficulties of being able to maintain normal stereoscopic vision -

1) The optic nerve is responsible for bringing the image that lands on the retina back to the brain.  Problems with the optic nerve show up as:

    Shadows, or loss of some of the visual field
    flashes of light
    Color desaturation
    Pain of the eyeball, especially with movement of the eye.  This pain is usually felt in the eyeball or just around it.
    Sensitivity to light
    Poor or absent night vision
    
The muscles that coordinate movement of the eye so that both eyes see the same object and can smoothly follow movement have nothing to do with the optic nerve.  This is caused by other cranial nerves (three of the # 3, #4, and #6) that govern moving the eyes around, moving them smoothly together, focusing using the pupil's ability to dilate and narrow.  Problems with the ability to move the eyes correctly show up as:

    Double vision
    Inability to accomodate to clearly see objects that are getting close to the face
    jerking eye movements
    tracking moving objects clearly
    visual trails
    some cases of vibrating vision
    Inability to move one or both eyes in a certain direction

We often get these two things mixed up thinking that things like double vision have to do with optic neuritis.  Also, you can have problems with the optic nerve (Cranial Nerve II) and movement problems (Cranial Nerves III, IV, and VI) at the same time.

Yes, I would think that the pain of optic neuritis could be felt as an "eye-strain" type headache, but with pain in the eyes with movment as a prominent part.

Optic neuritis can also occur without any symptoms at all.  That is the basis for use of OCT to monitor the progression of documented MS disease (instead of MRIs).


I really don't know anything about the value you gave from the SSEP.

Quix