Nystagmus in my left eye

[Melby29]

Hi there,

I was diagnosed with MS about 18 months ago, after a bout of Optic Neuritis 2.5 years ago. On my first MRI, there was one lesion only, on my optic nerve, and 12 months later there was a second - but I can't remember where that was.

Today I saw the neurologist, and my latest MRI shows no new lesions. However, during the exam he picked up some twitching in my left eye when I followed his finger to the far left. I noticed it myself, as well, and I have never had that happen before. He didn't seem overly concerned.

Thanks to Dr Google, I now know that it is Nystagmus, and that this is common in MS. And from what I have read, it is caused by a lesion in one of 2 nerves (6th cranial and another one).

So - I'm curious.

Could this be a new symptom that has arisen from an older lesion? I guess since it only happened in the extreme left position, it may have been there all along and just missed last time?

If it is only a recent development, is it possible or likely that it will progress to affect my eye with less extreme movement?

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome to our little MS community,

I have diplopia (double 24/7), Nystagmus and a pale optic disc which was found years prior to my vision going double. I was told the reason 'my' vision is double is because of the Nystagmus, which for me is a rapid horizontal jerk. I see text as hieroglyphics, and at times people have extra bits on their faces (4 eyes has a totally different meaning for me lol) which is rather weird but thankfully its not all the time!

Most of the time i am unaware of the Nystagmus, its quite likely to have been undiscovered for more than a decade but as time has moved on, I have found certain things will make it more noticeable to me and others. I can on purpose make the bounce slow down by the direction i'm focusing but it also does it on its own (for periods of time) when i close my eyes lol my eyeballs bounce, soooooo annoying.

The more I play with my sight, the more drunken sailor i get :o) i tried to get a visual (lol) on what you've described you did, trying to re-create what your experiencing and from my point of view (lol) I had to give up trying to focus on my finger, didn't matter how fast or slow i tried, because its to the side its making the eyeball bounce and its a fight trying to keep any focus at all.

I honestly cant say that what you've discovered is an indication of a bigger issue, a 'second' actually doesn't seem like a long time frame to be able to re-focus again but its always a good idea to have your eyes properly assessed if Nystagmus is suspected.

Cheers........JJ  

    

[Melby29]

Hello, I'm back here again. I contacted the nurse at the neuro clinic about the nystagmus and other anomalies, and she didn't think it was of great concern.

However, last night I was playing around with my vision (as I have been doing quite often to see if there are other changes) I realised that I now also have nystagmus in the right eye. It definitely was not there 10 days ago. And when I play around with my eyes like that, I feel a little disoriented afterwards - slightly dizzy, but more like a drunk wooziness. Another discovery that I made is that if I focus on my finger right in front of my nose, then move it to arms-length as quick as I can, it takes close to a second for me to regain my focus on the finger in the distance. My eyes just can't keep up so while my arm is extending, I get double images of my finger. Oddly (or maybe not?) when I move it away at an angle - maybe about 15 degrees from straight - the problem is barely perceptible. I would probably not even notice if I wasn't trying to see it. AND now I think I have slight wobbliness when I move my eyes upwards to the extreme.

I'm going to talk to the Clinic nurse again, cos I don't like the idea of new stuff happening. Blah.

[Melby29]

Hi Kwarendorf, thank you for your response! I understand what you mean when you say it's a benign symptom. Having Optic Neuritis was annoying, but I could still pretty much carry on as per usual. It's been great to still be in perfect health after 2.5 years, so the idea that something else has happened now after so long is an unwelcome intrusion that grabbed my attention and THAT is more annoying than the actual effect on my vision.

I generally don't follow an object off to the extreme left of my vision as a part of my day-to-day life, so it's hard to say how long it's actually been there. Of course, that also means that it has very little effect. I guess only time will tell. I will be very mindful of the possibility of developing double vision. That would be quite disconcerting, I guess. To be honest, I must say that I have had temporary bouts of difficulty focussing, but only for very short periods of time and generally after sitting at my desk looking at the computer, or reading. I just put it down to getting old and taking a little bit longer to adjust my focus to long-distance. It hasn't been bothersome enough that I thought to even mention it to the neuro.

[kwarendorf]

Hi Melby - Welcome to our Merry Band.

I'm not sure there is a way to predict how your nystagmus will, or won't, progress. Mine first showed up during my last full blown relapse, in the summer of 2011. It began to show itself when I would look to either my extreme left or right. I would get double vision. It progressed to double vision 24/7 no matter where I looked. Steroids calmed it down and my vision returned to normal.

Now I have double vision for the first 2-3 minutes every day. As I become more fully awake it retreats. It's pretty much the only time I have vision problems. As far as vision related MS symptoms are concerned, I think of it as being pretty benign. At least for now :-)

Kyle