Sudden Spot Blindness in Left Eye

[Chas777]

I recently experienced a sudden blind spot in my left eye. The spot appears to be an opaque gray jagged shape completely blocking all light from penetrating. It appears just off the center (macula) of the eye in the +X +Y area using the Amsler Grid. Vision around the spot is intact. My visual acuity is 20/20 in both eyes without assistance. I had no headache, sinus issue, or other health related problem. I am also seeing bright light flashes when I move my eye either to the right or to the left. I have been to both an optometrist and a retinal specialst. I had a florusciene angiogram and a tomography scan performed. No blockage or obstruction was observed to reduce or stop blood flow to the effected area. However the effected area did show up on the angiogram as a slightly discolored area. No visceral fluid or retinal tearing was found. I have had a doppler ultrasound to my carotids and everything showed clear and normal. I initially thought it was an ocular migraine but all the reasearch I have done suggests that ocular migraines should end within about 30 minutes or so. It has been 5 days now and I still has the spot blindness. Thank fully the blindness is outside my central vision. I have normal to hi-normal bloodpressure, blood work is not in yet, & I am scheduled for an echocardiogram. Can anyone shed any wisdom to what may be my issue? I value any feedback, thanks.

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear Chas777,

Without a complete eye examination, it is difficult to assess what issue you have. I would recommend that you seek the care of a neuro-ophthalmologist as well as an eyeMD to determine the cause of your ocular issues.  

Dr. Feldman

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California

[Chas777]

Hi Sandy. Thanks for the reply. I just received the results to my blood tests and it appears I may have Lyme Disease. They are performing a western blot as a second test to rule out a false positive. Can Lyme Disease be a possible cause? If so, will the standard treatment of oral antibiotics to treat the Lyme clear up the blindness?