Teenage Temporary Blindness

[gramaM]

my 12 yr old granddaughter is getting 3 second bouts of temporary blindness.  2 eye doctors have said it's probably hormone caused and come back in 6 months.

should she be seen by a different kind of specialist to further diagnose this condition? what kind? what other possible things can we do for her?

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-PW]

Temporary blindness has a variety of causes
However, as I do not know the specifics of your granddaughters case, I cannot say which specific one is more likely

There are some vascular causes such as occipital lobe migraine, ischemia (lack of blood flow) to the optic nerve or retina, small blood clots to the eye circulation, or a vasculitis
Soemtimes pressure on the optic nerve can cause transient blindness, so-called, 'visual obscurations', caused by a mass behind the eye or increased pressure in the CSF or brain venous system such as idiopathic intracranial hypertension
Transient blindness due to metabolic disease is probably uncommon - an earlier age is more typical. There are also psychiatric causes such as psychogenic blindness. There are frug related and toxic causes also

These are conditions that you should discuss with your doctor to see how likely any of them are. Of course, she should have a good dilated eye exam, visual acuity and visual field testing. An electrical visual evoked potential study may reveal an optic nerve problem, or if normal in the presence of blindness suggests pschogenic blindness. An MRI can ruleout a mass lesion, and an MR venogram can evaluate the brain venous system.

IF you are in the Ohio area, Drs. Lee or Kosmorsky at teh Cleveland Clinic Neuro-ophthalmology Center could help

[nurseintonutrition]

Check on Aspartame consumption -- have your granddaughter check all labels --it's in gum, juice, yogurt, medicines,etc. in addition to diet colas. It can cause temp blindness, but it has caused permanent blindness in some people -- read "Sweetener Dearest" by H.J. Roberts, an M.D. who discovered this because of a young girl's seizures  and her mom's insistence that she thought aspartame might be involved. It's good you are looking into this!

[PDN]

I too had temporary blindness as a teenager and into my 30's. I had episodes during driving. After a certain age it disappeared. However I did develope other neurological problems in my 30's but I have never been able to link the blindness I experienced. I now have light -induced epilepsy BUT I have no idea if this linked in any way. and it DOES NOT cause me too many problems just driving can be dificult.

[deekay38]

Hi all

My Niece of two and a half yrs old complains of temporary blindness, on 3 occassions that I know of,  lasting no more than 30seconds usually less. Her mother seems to not want to take her seriously and has not been to see her GP (doctor).
Usually this occurs upon waking from a sleep during the day, Yesterday however she was walking across the kithchen when she  suddenly became distressed and complained she couldn't see. This lasted about 5-10 seconds. Being a Podiatrist I noticed that her gait changed during this time, to maintain her balance as one would if suddenly blind, which is why I don't think she is pretending or something as her mother seems to think.
What would be your advice?

Cheers Dave Smith

[Wepo]

A related discussion, Temporary blindness was started.

[SonicTaylor]

A related discussion, temporay blindness was started.