I am 32 and have been diagnosed with Optic Nerve Head Drusen (ONHD). I was sent to a specialist who tested my peripheral vision, but it seems to be fine. I do wear glasses for near-sightedness, but see fine as long as they're on, not too bad with them off, and don't seem to have any noticeable vision issues.
The eye doctor seemed to think it was fairly benign, but honestly, I'm terrified. I work as a computer programmer, my livelihood and hobbies are based around that. My understanding is that ONHD may cause peripheral vision loss as I get older. That doesn't sound so bad; as long as I can still see something. However, after surfing through various forums on the internet, the condition seems to be viewed as mostly harmless to something contributing to severe vision loss. None of the 'facts' seem to match up.
If someone could help with some basic questions, I'd appreciate it:
1) Just how bad is peripheral vision loss? Can it get so bad that I become blind? Are there any corrective measures that can be taken, i.e. special glasses, surgery, etc.
2) At 32, this doesn't appear to have affected me yet. Is that good news in that I've gotten this far with no complications? Or is that irrelevant.
3) My understanding is that there is no treatment. Does anyone know of something in the works? Any sort of surgery to remove the drusen? I've heard that some doctors prescribe eye drops to reduce the pressure; but am not sure I would need that until I really start to lose my peripheral vision.
4) Is there anything I can do, other than get yearly examinations to monitor this? I feel powerless to the whole thing right now.
5) Any good resources on ONHD that are trustworthy and objective available? For some reason, this almost seems like an ignored condition.
Thanks for any assistance. I'm just worried sick over this. I can live with gradual peripheral vision loss. It is life. But I'm terrified of being completely blind.
Best Regards,
Seldan