Advice - Possible Optic Neuritis?
Hi everyone,
Last year in approx September I lost pretty much all of the vision in my right eye, it was like there was a big black blob/smudge covering most of my eye and the tiny bit I could see was greyed/discoloured. It went away within a day, but the opticians visited me and conducted an eye test. They didn't do anything other than a standard eye test and said they couldn't see any problems and that was that.
It happened again this February, exact same symptom and for around the same period of time and since I've had flashes of light every other day.
I hadn't bothered contacting the optician again as they said they couldn't see any problem in the first place.
I've been advised by my doctor to contact the optician again, but I'm not sure what to do. I feel as though they should have referred me for a more extensive eye examination the first time.
I have other symptoms that could be ms such as numbness in my thighs, an odd feeling as though parts of my legs are throbbing or pulsating, weakness and tremors, hand spasms, and one or two occasions I've had a feeling of a tight band crushing my ribs. I also have debilitating fatigue.
My uncle also has MS, and my mum actually was diagnosed with Optic Neuritis last year (no MS evident on MRI)
The GP is potentially referring me to a neurologist following a physical examination, but really I'm just anxious and unsure what to do. If anyone has any advice, please do let me know.
Thank you so much.
@Laurenai it’s difficult, if not impossible, for an optician to diagnose optic neuritis (ON) as only an MRI can show if the optic nerve is inflamed. In any case you’d need an ophthalmologist who’d know better how to spot the signs. Your GP is right to refer you to a neurologist though you may have to wait a good while before being seen so I’d hassle for them to get on with the referral. If you want to see an ophthalmologist for the flashes you could just take yourself to A & E. Having flashes in your vision can mean retinal detachment so they’d take it seriously (though I think the flashes probably relate to ON in your case). Obviously I’m not a doctor but I have had ON and it sounds very much as if what you’ve experienced is ON. Practically speaking however there’s not a huge amount they can do about ON, maybe steroids but they only speed up recovery - they don’t change the outcome. So what can you do in this limbo period before diagnosis which we’ve all experienced and which is very difficult? - make a diary of all your symptoms- dates, length of time, what they feel like etc. This will help the neurologist so it’s really worth doing. Add anything you think is relevant, however small. - check out Aaron Boster’s YouTube channel for lots of very informative videos about MS. - call the MS Society for a chat - they are hugely helpful and I’d really recommend doing that. I did, shortly after diagnosis, and felt so much better - and understood- after I’d chatted with someone for 40 minutes. Most of all, and I know it’s hard to do when you’re feeling anxious, try not to get stressed as stress really doesn’t help. You could check out the OMS (Overcoming MS) website for some really good lifestyle tips. I hope this helps. The uncertainty about what to do and what is happening is really hard to cope with so be kind and gentle with yourself and ask us lots of questions Good luck 🤗 keep us posted x
Phone up your local eye hospital and talk to them, they might be able to slot you in or point you to an optician they recommend (I've done both things in the past, once for optic neuritis, once for a small dark spot on vision that turned out to be a false alarm.) I initially saw a high street optician who misdiagnosed my optic neuritis as a lazy eye (in a 20 year old with no history of eye problems,) and unfortunately a lot of opticians are just as ill equipped to handle complex eye problems. There is actually a really simple thing that can lead to an easy diagnosis of optic neuritis pre-MRI. A common specific symptom of optic neuritis during the recovery from an episode is that symptoms flare up when exposed to heat. My eye did this for years, and when I went to the eye hospital just as I'd started to recover this one symptom allowed them to diagnose optic neuritis from that alone. I'm not sure if this is a universal symptom, but I know that it's very, very, common. I first noticed it when it was set off by the steam from a roast dinner. Hot showers used to cause it as well. If you notice your vision getting worse when your body temperature goes up chances are it is optic neuritis.