Visual disturbances at random anyone?

[Alli78]

I've read a little about optic neuritis and was wondering besides pain, what are other symptoms that people experience with that.  I do not have any eye pain to note, but have had about 4 episodes of freakish wavy lines without vertigo.  One episode was in the neuros office while waiting for him to enter the room, I looked at the carpet and it looked like a small ocean of carpet fibers in a wave like pattern, crazy?  Another time it was at a stop light and the road had a wave like pattern in front of me.  Tiny waves, coursing through for up to a minute and then poof gone......  Any ideas or similar patterns?

Thanks again,

Alli

[Eyesnlegs]

Maybe your right - I'm not sure how subtle sympoms can be as my ON was VERY dramatic and with excruciating pain was when I moved my eyes - which is impossible to stop so it was constant.

Lets not start a tak about useless docs again as I've had my fill of them

Pat

[PastorDan]

Yes, Alli, perception is everything somemtimes.

Does it seem possible, since so many of us have seen docs, especially neuro docs, who don't belong in medicine, could that exhaustive eye exam I had have overlooked ON?  I hadn't had pain in the eye at that time; the eye pains have all come since about thins time last month.  Maybe the ophtho doc wasn't as sharp as he seemed?

[Alli78]

I guess the feeling is the problem a lot isn't it?  Maddening when you feel like you are vibrating but you can't show anyone.

[PastorDan]

Well, now, my eyelids have been twitching for the past two or three days, mostly the right side, and always the upper lid (at least I think it's always; memory's been giving me fits lately).  Oh, and just to clarify, they feel like they're twitching; no one has seen it while I'm experiencing the sensation.

[fibrotj]

that's 'spot'...not 'spont'.  Also, to clarify, my left eye is NOT swollen and eyelid does NOT droop...only 'feels' like it is.  

[fibrotj]

I've been having off-&-on blurry spells, associated with eyeball pain, for 2 years now.  Lately my left eye started out with off-&-on blurriness, associated with left-eye pain.  Then I started having an odd sensation where it felt as if it were 'swollen, with a droopy eyelid.'  Now, although the eye pain is better, the 'odd sensation' is still there, with continual blurriness in a specific spont dead-center in my left eye.  Does this sound familiar to optic neuritis??  

I just saw a new optometrist last week, and thought I might be getting glaucoma.  My tests revealed high eye pressure, massive tissue build-up in the backs of my eye, and 'notching' on the optic nerve head rim of my right eye.  I've been advised by other MS'ers to see an ophthamologist.  Any thoughts??  Thanks
~tj

[Eyesnlegs]

Thanks for stepping in I don't have any knowledge of migraine at all. I too get pain behind the eyes and in the eye socket regularly but I know mine is caused by ON as it has been dx twice and their is demylination on the optic nerve as well as a whitish lens.

I have had some thorough checks by the opthamologist who sent me on to the neuro which finally led to my dx.  When I first had the symptom it came on very fast and lasted for weeks - which was miserable as I needed very strong painkillers. Apparently steroids can help with the pain but do not impact on the long term recovery.

The vision tends to be one of my worst symptoms as the damage  is considered to be permanent now and is constantly double vision or moving images in the left eye.

Thanks again PastorDan for sharing
Pat

[PastorDan]

The symptoms Alli described strike me as classic migraine aura.  Ask your doctor about this.  Remember it's not especially rare that people experience the aura of migraine without much of the headache.

Besides that, though, I've had an area in the upper right portion of my visual field that is sometimes a bit dim, sometimes a bit bright, and sometimes a little more hazy or cloudy than the rest of my view.  The area is not well defined, but it's always up and to the right.  This has been almost constant since last October, but the ophtalmologist to whom my PCP referred me to found no explanation after what seemed to me the most thorough visual exam of my life.

Since that time, I've experienced two or three instances of severe pain behind each eye, always one at a time.  It feels like the back side of the eyeball is badly bruised.  Fortunately, this unpleasant experience has never stayed with me more than a few hours.

[Eyesnlegs]

I've had ON twice now - first time I lost my sight totally in one eye, when it returned I was left with a permanent grey area in the centre of my vision.

2nd bout I had very blurred vision but that time it left me with some very strange visual disturbances too. Sometimes its like looking through water, sometimes its wavy lines, sometimes I get flashes in the side of my vision, sometimes I get double vision. I get this most days and it can be so severe I can't drive.

It's 5 years since my last bout of ON but the visual disturbances are still there along with one eye that keeps drifting which often causes problems focusing.

The pain was probably the worst for me as even moving your eye is painful and your eyes keep moving!

I think everyones experiences are different maybe others here have had the same as you. I'm sure someone will answer much better than me - this is just my personal experience.

Best of luck with it
Pat