Optic neuritis

[texasgirl150]

What does the pain feel like? I had off and on (on for a few weeks, off for a week or so and then back on) pain in my left eye for a while now.

It gets blurry on occasion but not everyday. If i blink my eye several times, it clears up. Colors look the same to me.

The is when I am moving my eye ball-looking around. Sometimes it does not matter if my eye is moving or not, it just hurts.

[texasgirl150]

Thanks bob! I appreciate all your quick answers on my posts and how well you explain things.

Hopfully when i see the neuro on 11/4 I can nicely insist on some answers. I have faith that he will figure it out. He has seen me once a month since 12/09.

[COBOB]

By the way, for those over 60, the positive test value increases to 120 mS.

[COBOB]

A light or image flashes in front of an eye.  The optical center in the back of the brain should show positive activity in 100 milli seconds (1/10th of a second.)  If the wiring is damaged, nerve conduction slows down so if the positive peak is 115 milli seconds or more, that is a positive VEP.  They test one eye at a time multiple times.

Bob

[texasgirl150]

What is a vep in laymans terms?

[jdcatt]

I had an episode of severe eye pain seven years ago but mine was more a feeling of my eyes being badly bruised. The pain was constant but got worse with any movement of my eyes in any direction. I had no other visual symptoms. If I had to have rated the pain I would have given it an 8. I've always wondered what that could have been.

I did see an ophthalmologist and went to the ER for it but was told they didn't know what it was. One of the mysteries of my life.

Just thought I'd chime in and see if bruising sounds similar as far as a descriptor goes.

[COBOB]

The best bet for Optic Neuritis is to see a Neuro-Ophthalmologist.  Most of the time (something like 60+%),  ON is retro-bulbar and can not be diagnosed by looking into the eye.  The best test for ON is a VEP of both eyes.  A Neuro-Ophthalmologist is trained to interpret these results.

Bob

[texasgirl150]

I went to an optomitrist a few weeks ago-I guess that is not sufficient?? He did not see a problem with my eyes.

I have a hard time seeing in the evening. I can see but things are not very sharp or clear. I try to avoid driving at night if possible.

The pain is above my eyelid. It feels lime the actual eyeball is injured almost. It feels swollen but it is not.

I do know....something else to add to my list I guess.

[COBOB]

The classic ON pain is kind of stabbing behind the globe and is worse with extream outward gaze.  In acute ON onset the pain last 2-3 days and is followed by decreased visual acuity, loss of contrast, brightness, desaturation of colors, altered reds and color perception.  In many cases, there is a central scotoma with alteration in the visual field.

[lovemy6monkeys]

I get that exact feeling! I had it for months, starting in the Spring and it got worse during the Summer. I went from my eyes, mostly my left, just feeling "off" and I would need to blink a few times to focus, to having a constant headache feeling behind my left eye. Sometimes the eye would feel sore. I saw my neuro (he is a neuro-ophthalmologist) for it a couple times, but he could never see anything wrong during the exam.

It kind of built up, and in August was really bothering me because it had gone on so long! My neuro did a repeat of the VER (I had the first one in the spring) and there was an increase in the delay on my left eye (from an 8 millisecond delay to a 10 millisecond delay). I heard my neuro tell the PA (he dictates the office visit record to the PA right at the end of the exam) that he thought it was ON. I did not question him (I got distracted by my youngest being fussy) and I wish I had! I know Quix has said that ON can happen even with nothing showing up on exam.

Mine is starting up, again :-( The first thing I notice is that things seem "dim". I have the urge to turn on lots of lights, but to everyone else it is fine. I don't seem to be bothered by bright lights (photophobia) so far this time. And, instead of a headache behind my left eye, I seem to have more of a swollen eye feeling. I'm not sure if that even makes sense LOL

Have you seen an ophthalmologist? Or, better yet, neuro-ophthalmologist?

I hope you feel better soon!
~Jess