Some new symptoms... maybe!

[jensequitur]

I keep having this problem where all the available light in the room seems to darken - it was as if a dark glass was put over my eyes.  However, bright lights still come through just fine.  Everthing seems to go into this dark and swimmy mode for a moment, and then returns to normal.

I also get a flickering in my vision when I close my eyes - it's like the usual wash of color, except it's really fast, and flickers on and off.  This, along with the fluttering light at the corners of my vision, and the bright dot in my right eye, makes me think I've got some damage to the optic nerve that hasn't healed.  Anybody here have demyelination of their optic nerve?

I've also noticed a weird problem with my left ear.  I've talked about sound being excruciatingly painful in my left ear at times.  I also get a problem with volume - the volume will drop in my left ear and then return to normal.  Sometimes I get tinnitus too.  This isn't a new problem, but it seems to be getting worse.  Does this sound like normal hearing loss?

[jensequitur]

Yeah, that nystagmus gets me too - it was one of the first symptoms that made me think something was wrong!  Now it's hard for me to focus on the back of the Hamburger Helper box!  I have to ask my honey what the box says.  If I look too hard, my eyes will start jerking around.  

[biowham]

Jen, my eyes jitter around like crazy when I'm trying to focus on something. I did a lot of needlepointing over the holidays, and about every 10 seconds, my eyes would just involuntarily jitter back and forth. It was really irritating. I figure it's because I'm getting older (?), although a recent eye exam has me still at 20-20 vision. I figure focusing is getting harder.

Obviously, I've never had optic nerve damage, so I can't speak to that.

Bio

[jensequitur]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that when I'm working, sometimes my eyes just decide to unfocus.  Like they're focused on infinity, as if I was in deep thought - but it'll happen when I'm working on the computer and focused on the screen.

[jensequitur]

When I first heard about the color check with optic neuritis, I began checking my eyes on a regular basis.  I had first noticed it about six months before my diagnosis in 2007.  (Yes, I'm diagnosed with RRMS.)  It seems like about half the time I have a color difference between eyes.  Usually it's in the morning, or late at night, but sometimes during the day it shows up.

Engineer, what you describe sounds familiar.  The scene in front of me seems to wash out to whatever color is darkest, while the bright lights in the room remain the same (table lamps, etc.)  However, I don't think I'm going through a flare right now - I seem to be in remission, blessedly.

[Engineer75]

Hello,
I hope you are fine,
As I told you before, I had an optic neuritis.   mine never flickered but at the beginning of symptoms it was like someone moves some flash lights slowly over stuffs and while flash light were over things It looked liked that it was dissolving in its background color and while flash light moved away from the object I could see the contrast. visual acuity of affected eye was 5/10 at the beginning. Thank god mines are not so bad now and it has healed to a great extent(90% or more). now my visual acuity of affected eye is 9/10. I hope it returns to 10/10 again. I hope yours heal soon too.
When yours started? Is it new or is it worsening of old symptoms?
are you Dx with MS?
If it is a new episode of optic neuritis, then I think you have to see your neurologist soon, he probably will order a MRI to determine extent of damage to optic nerve. He may also put you onto pulse corton(high doses of corticosteroide given by IV infusion during 3-5 days) . I decided  not to take pulse cortons and mine improved more than 90% during 2 months but I do not recommend anything because my situation could be very different from you.
A simple test that you can do is to determine whether those symptoms are sensitive to heat or not, You can test it while you take a shower. Telling this to your doctor helps him better determine the problem. Mine is sensitive to heat and worsens to 7/10 or worse during a hot shower.I have been told to check the difference of red color with affected and unaffected eye.

Take care,
Engineer