Aa
Optic neuritis
Hi
I am not diagnosed as of yet. I do know that I have a chiari malformation 1. About 7-8 days ago I started noticing some visual changes in my left eye. I do notice intermittent pain/ pressure to my left eye and forehead. The best way I can describe the visual changes are as an occular migraine- everything looks really bright, some blurriness, flashing lights, and the black letters on the bright white screen of my phone look a little dull- however these symptoms come and go over the day, they are not constant. I do notice that the symptoms come on with activity, bright lights/colors, heat. I did have a sinus infection 2 weeks ago and continue with the sinus pressure. I saw my eye doctor who completed a dilated eye exam and said all was normal. Has anyone else had these symptoms with optic neuritis? These symptoms are very concerning to me- didn't feel the eye doctor took me very serious.
I am not diagnosed as of yet. I do know that I have a chiari malformation 1. About 7-8 days ago I started noticing some visual changes in my left eye. I do notice intermittent pain/ pressure to my left eye and forehead. The best way I can describe the visual changes are as an occular migraine- everything looks really bright, some blurriness, flashing lights, and the black letters on the bright white screen of my phone look a little dull- however these symptoms come and go over the day, they are not constant. I do notice that the symptoms come on with activity, bright lights/colors, heat. I did have a sinus infection 2 weeks ago and continue with the sinus pressure. I saw my eye doctor who completed a dilated eye exam and said all was normal. Has anyone else had these symptoms with optic neuritis? These symptoms are very concerning to me- didn't feel the eye doctor took me very serious.
ON caused total blindness in my left eye for a while, but it started out as losing the red spectrum. Literally everything that was red looked censored out. The visual information just wasn't there. Then over a few days, my vision went patchy. I described it as like my vision had the mange. Then, after about a week, sight was gone all together. I could detect a dark grey versus total black if a light was shone directly into that eye, but there was zero visual information.
After about two weeks of this, my sight slowly came back in basically the reverse order of how I lost it. However, this process took much longer - about two months. I still showed delayed pupil response about a year later, but now my eyes are essentially the same.
My experience is on the more extreme end. Many people experience the 'mange-y vision' portion and then improve. But I would not describe my experience or the more typical manifestations as being similar to what you describe. Inflammation of the optic nerve usually equates to a reduction in the colour spectrum that's perceived. Things seem less saturated, no more. And parts of the field of vision go missing.
After about two weeks of this, my sight slowly came back in basically the reverse order of how I lost it. However, this process took much longer - about two months. I still showed delayed pupil response about a year later, but now my eyes are essentially the same.
My experience is on the more extreme end. Many people experience the 'mange-y vision' portion and then improve. But I would not describe my experience or the more typical manifestations as being similar to what you describe. Inflammation of the optic nerve usually equates to a reduction in the colour spectrum that's perceived. Things seem less saturated, no more. And parts of the field of vision go missing.
Hey, agreeing with JJ here. My ON made things look duller in affected eye, as if light had been removed, and the pain was constant. Still when it gets hot, I will see fall colors in one eye and in the other, affected eye, none, as if it were a different season in that eye. Maybe your pressure is from your recent sinus issue. An eye exam doesn't always reveal a problem even with eye dilation but if your doc does visual fields something should show up if it's ON.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome,
Optic Neuritis (ON) is typically described quite differently to what you have described, with ON there generally is often a sudden and total loss of vision in one eye, or a large grey patch blurring out the image in one eye, pain and decreased vision caused by demyelinating inflammation of the nerve.
ON will more often than not leave a permanent residual field deficit in their vision, colour perception changes (eg red is duller in the effected eye), often sensitivity to bright light and contrast issues etc.
Heat exposure known as Uhthoff's, is a fairly common issue for people with MS but it's also an issue for people who are only diagnosed with Optic Neuritis (ON). With Uhthoff phenomenon, the existing damage to the optic nerve is effected by the rise in external or internal temperatures and it temporarily exacerbates their visual issues.
To be honest, to me it actually does sound more like a migraine with visual disturbances (migraine with aura), than what i'd expect if it had been ON. Ocular migraines can be very scary stuff and if your eye doctor (?) didn't actually find any evidence of optic nerve damage or visual abnormalities at all, it's more likely the health of your eyes is not what's causing your visual disturbances.
I would consider the timing of your sinus infection as being probably too coincidental to be unrelated, this and the residual sinus pressure (headache?) would probably be best to get checked out by your family doctor for diagnosis and any possible treatment......
Cheers.........JJ
Optic Neuritis (ON) is typically described quite differently to what you have described, with ON there generally is often a sudden and total loss of vision in one eye, or a large grey patch blurring out the image in one eye, pain and decreased vision caused by demyelinating inflammation of the nerve.
ON will more often than not leave a permanent residual field deficit in their vision, colour perception changes (eg red is duller in the effected eye), often sensitivity to bright light and contrast issues etc.
Heat exposure known as Uhthoff's, is a fairly common issue for people with MS but it's also an issue for people who are only diagnosed with Optic Neuritis (ON). With Uhthoff phenomenon, the existing damage to the optic nerve is effected by the rise in external or internal temperatures and it temporarily exacerbates their visual issues.
To be honest, to me it actually does sound more like a migraine with visual disturbances (migraine with aura), than what i'd expect if it had been ON. Ocular migraines can be very scary stuff and if your eye doctor (?) didn't actually find any evidence of optic nerve damage or visual abnormalities at all, it's more likely the health of your eyes is not what's causing your visual disturbances.
I would consider the timing of your sinus infection as being probably too coincidental to be unrelated, this and the residual sinus pressure (headache?) would probably be best to get checked out by your family doctor for diagnosis and any possible treatment......
Cheers.........JJ
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community
Top Neurology Answerers
Australia
ON
Queensland, Australia
Queen Creek, AZ
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease
