ON Again!

[Ginosmommy]

So in the last couple months I have had a lot of blurry vision but considering the weather I attributed it to being over heated (it did get worse when I was hotter) but then about a month ago I started to notice that reds were becoming discolored. I always seem to discribe it as a filter over your eye like a charcoal filter or even like smoke - colors just aren't as vibrant and considering this is my left and I had ON in my right last time it is very hard to tell because colors never seemed to be right in the eye either!

So I tried contacting my ophtamologist yesterday to find out she has left Kaiser, big suprise, evertime I find a keeper they leave but I did get an e-mail back saying it sounds like ON and I need to be seen. They called and wanted me to come in yesterday but I couldn't just leave work so I made an appointment for today. Suprised they want to see me so soon but they did say if it happed again go to the ER, not paying the $100.00 Co-pay for that though!

Do you think they are going to make me get another MRI (I have to get my 6 month follow up MRI in like 2 weeks)? Do you think they will put me on Solu or just put me on some prednisone this time? I am having some major eye pain when I am moving my eye which is why I finally contacted them - the rest of the stuff doesn't really bother me (blurry vision and color loss) but the pain feels like my eyeball is going to fall out of my head! By the end of the day throw that in with an ice pick to the side of the head and I am done!

I was trying to put it off until my hearing test and ENT appointment next week but I didn't have an option they said I had to be seen today. Wish me luck! At least this is the first REAL problem besides hearing loss, bladder problems, as well as the other stuff "Down under" that has happened since my diagnosis. Would it be considered a relapse? Ah the joys of MS!

MeLissa

[steph74]

Sorry to hear that the ON has returned.  I hope they rx solumedrol and that helps your sx resolve sooner.

Stephanie

[Quixotic1]

Please do not let them give you oral steroids (prednisone or methyprednisolone).  the Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial an 18 year study into the treatment and outcome of ON showed that no treatment or steroids had no effect on the long term outcome of vision.  However, use of steroids helped the acute symptoms resolve faster.  The bad news is that the use of oral steroids appeared to be associated with more relapses of ON than did the use of IV steroids.  

Upshot - oral steroids are not recommended to treat ON, either the first bout or recurrences.

I'm sorry you are going through this again.  And the dulling of color is a good indicator that ON has reappeared.

quix

[Zacksmomi]

Well it does sound like the putting off till your ENT appt is out of the question.  I wish I could answer what tests they will run.  If the ON is visible right there in the office I don't see why they would run an MRI.
They may bump up the date of your scheduled MRI just to check on things.
I am guessing that it sounds like a relapse, but after almost 2 years with this crazy disease, I am the last person to know what a relapse is and what it is not.  So all I can do is wish for you to have a smooth appt full of answers.

Oh and from what I have learned, they do not treat MS symptoms with prednisone.  Solumedrol is like a super sized system shock of steroids and is the only thing I know of that is used to (hopefully) slow down an MS attack.

Hope that helps a bit
D