@ONSufferer 

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ONSufferer

Optic Neuritis

Good afternoon Brand new to this site and not really au fait with chat groups - not generally something I get involved with, so please bear with me! Also potentially feeling a bit of a fraud because I have not actually been diagnosed with MS at present, although I have been warned that the optic neuritis I am suffering in my right eye could be the first sign of it and it does seem to me that it is hard to read of ON without it being linked directly to MS. So the problem is that the ON came on last Feb/March and I went almost completely blind in the eye following a couple of weeks of pain. I am now nearly ten months on and whilst the vision in my right eye is undoubtedly very much better than at the start (like I can actually see things again) it is still very blurred with colours washed out - a familiar pattern it seems. So the question is what hope have I got of ever getting back to where I was before this happened? Unfortunately my left eye is a 'lazy eye' and not great so with the right eye like this I am quite hampered. Also does anyone else, like me, live in fear of the other eye going too? If my left eye was as bad as my right is now, there is no way I could drive or pursue many of the things I love, such as boating, I just wouldn't be able to see well enough. And knowing how this eye just upped and happened one day for no apparent reason I now live my life waiting for the other one to go and my life to change for ever. Can anyone offer any words of comfort or encouragement?? Best, Allan.
@Stumbler

Hi @onsufferer and welcome. You don't need a diagnosis of MS to join us. A lot of our members started off here without a diagnosis, so you'll be in good company. Optic Neuritis can be the first symptom of MS, but nothing in the world of MS is ever that black and white. I can understand your concerns about visual problems and the potential impact on the quality of life. However, you can't now live your life worrying about something that may never happen. Did you have any treatment for the Optic Neuritis, e.g. Steroids? And, are you presently under a Neurologist? It would be good to have a bit more information about where you are at the moment.

@ONSufferer

Hi Stumbler, thanks for replying to me. When this started I went to our local eye hospital but after three visits they could not tell me what was wrong, so I took myself off to an ophthalmologist privately who diagnosed the ON. He was reluctant to prescribe steroids as he said it speeds up the recovery but does not actually improve your prognosis, and because of the side effects he did not recommend it. He also said that with the best will in the world there was no treatment for the condition so we just shook hands and here I am. Never really thought to go back to the NHS after he said that.