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    Sudden Tunnel Vision

    Hi everyone! Anyone have any ideas on what could have happened????

    Last Thursday I was sitting at my desk at work/talking on the phone and all of a sudden I saw crescent shaped "breaks" in my vision in the upper and lower right quadrant of my vision (it's hard to explain, it was kind of like looking through broken glass in the upper and lower corners of my vision). This was at about 4:30pm. Since a similar thing happened that Sunday before and went away within 30 minutes, I thought I would just wait it out.

    Well it got worse. Within 30 minutes, the crescent shapes were gone but I realized that I had no peripheral vision on either side, with the right side being worse. It was like I had horse blinders on. Of course I freaked out and called my husband to come get me. I called my neuro's office and they basically said that it's odd that it's both eyes (for optic neuritis), it could be a migraine, but I should really go to the ER just to make sure it wasn't a stroke.

    They did a CT scan at the ER, no stroke, but the peripheral vision is still gone (about 7pm). Based on my history, they immediately start treating it as optic neuritis and started the Solumedrol drip (admitted). I also am feeling very unsteady on my feet by this time. My eyes slowly get better starting at about midnight and by the next morning, they are better enough to the point where I feel like I could drive. They did a brain and c-spine MRI and it was clear.

    I checked out of the hospital that afternoon so I only got one day of IVs. I feel like my peripheral vision may still be slightly off as things are just a touch "darker" when I don't look at them directly--but it could be that it was never really good in the first place.

    To be honest with you, I felt really silly. While I am happy that the MRIs were clear, did I imagine this whole thing? Could it just have been a painless migraine? (I did have a slight headache later that night, but I also hadn't eaten anything since lunch)

    Just some history on me: I was diagnosed in Nov 2012. My first exacerbation was actually in Jan 2012 where I had complete numbness in my left pinky and ring finger. I had one lesion in my c-spine. I got diagnosed because when they repeated the MRI 10 months later, I had one new lesion in my c-spine and the first one healed. My brain has always been clear, I do have some small spots, but they think it's from past migraines. I had what the neuro called "a touch" of optic neuritis in my left eye in late Dec 2012.

    My brain MRI was clear then too and they didn't see any issues when they dilated my eye, but I had all the classic symptoms such as pain, smudgy vision, slight color loss (oddly enough, it was blues and not reds). And to this day my eyes don't dilate normally when they do that flashlight test.

    Other than that, I have a lot of regular daily symptoms such as fatigue, tingling in my legs, and occasional electric shock feeling in my feet. Am I imagining all of this? I'm so frustrated.

    ** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **

    #2
    angel, I just can't imagine why you left the hospital after only one day of IV steroids? fed

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      #3
      Thank you so much for your response. The hospital neuro said that if my MRIs were clear it would be OK to go - but he did want me to stay the three days.

      I wasn't having a good reaction to the steroids, they had to give me insulin this time. Plus I have a husband and two school age kids and it's hard to sit in the hospital for three days when my vision is back and perhaps it was unrelated to MS (maybe a side effect of Gilenya?).

      Did I make it worse in the long run by cutting the steroids off in a day?

      (moderators - Good Point!)

      Comment


        #4
        I don't think you did any damage. It didn't sound like you had ON anyway. The physicians can tell if you have it by looking at your pupillary response between eyes. Plus, your history of symptoms does not sound like ON. Sounds more like an ocular migraine. Sometimes they take a while to go away and they also respond to steroids.

        Don't worry about it. If you needed to go, you needed to go. As long as you feel safe to drive. Otherwise call your ophthalmologist for some oral steroids.

        Take care
        Lisa
        Disabled RN with MS for 14 years
        SPMS EDSS 7.5 Wheelchair (but a racing one)
        Tysabri

        Comment


          #5
          Hi Lisa - thanks for your input.

          I am coming around to agree that there was nothing wrong with me, so I'm going to just start calling last week's incident "the $1,000 migraine." LOL Now I know better, but I had never lost vision like that before nor a painless migraine. I'm sure my reaction wasn't out of the ordinary.

          So for my historical symptoms, do you not think it was ON because my MRI was clear and they couldn't see any issues with my optic nerve with my eyes dialed? I had smudgy vision in the one eye for about 4 months after.

          Maybe what I really have is Somatoform Disease (it's been in the news a lot lately)--that would be good news. MS sucks.

          Comment


            #6
            ANGEL I'M NOT ON THIS SITE MUCH. JUST SAW YOUR POST ON SUDDEN TUNNEL VISION. WAS WONDERING IF YOUR VISION HAS IMPROVED ANY.

            I'VE HAD TUNNEL VISION NOW THAT HAS GRADUALLY WORSEN IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. A FEW MONTHS BACK HAD AN EPISODE SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU'VE DESCRIBED ,EXCEPT I HAD A TENSION HEADACHE. ALSO WENT NUMB DOWN THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY BODY TO THE TOES. MY MRI DID SHOW LESION ACTIVITY HOWEVER MILD. IN THE AREA I HAVE THE LESION BOTH MS AND MIGRAINE LESION CAN BE FOUND IN THIS LOCATION. I'VE HAD MS FOR MANY YEARS NOW SO THIS WAS NOT IN QUESTION.

            THE THING WITH MIGRAINES PAINFUL OR SILENT IS THAT THEY MAY HAVE NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS THAT COME ON QUICKLY BUT DISAPPEAR IN SAY A FEW DAYS OR AFTER A DOSE OF STEROIDS. MY SYMPTOMS HAVE ONLY GOTTEN WORSE IN A FEW MONTHS.
            I'VE BEEN LEGALLY BLIND FOR YEARS . SO ANY LOSE IN SIGHT IS SCARY.

            HEADACHES AND MS ARE NOT UNCOMMON . MRI NOT SHOWING SMALL LESIONS ARE ALSO NOT UNCOMMON.
            NOW SOMATIC OR CONVERSION DISORDER IS VERY RARE. OR I SHOULD SAY ''REAL'' CASES OF CONVERSION DISORDER ARE RARE.

            IT A DIFFICULT DIAGNOSE FOR A DOCTOR TO MAKE CORRECTLY . MORE OFTEN DOCTOR'S WILL DIAGNOSES A DIFFICULT PATIENT WITH THIS JUST TO ''DROP'' THE PATIENT BECAUSE THE DOCTOR EITHER DOESN'T HAVE THE TIME,SKILL LEVEL OR MAYBE THE PATIENT'S INSURANCE IS UNABLE FOR THEM TO DO A PROPER INVESTIGATION OF THE PATIENTS SYMPTOMS.

            UNLESS YOUR THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO IS ANXIOUS,WANTS TO BE SICK,FAKING SYMPTOMS ECT.... YA GET WERE I'M GOING. PRETTY SURE YOUR PROBABLY DON'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM . NOT THAT I'M A EXPERT . LOL

            I HAD A COUPLE DOCTOR TRY TO PIN THIS DIAGNOSES ON ME YEARS AGO WITHOUT PROOF. PLUS I HAD POSITIVE TEST IN OTHER AREAS PROVING I HAD A PHYSICAL PROBLEM.

            THE BIG THING IS YOUR VISION. IF YOU'VE HAD NO CHANGING PUSH TO SEE AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST. KEEP ON YOU PRIMARY OR NEURO TO FIND THE ANSWERS AS TO WHY THIS IS HAPPENING. SOMETIME THE ANSWERS SHOW UP LATER .

            AT ANY RATE I HOPE YOUR DOING BETTER NOW. I'M SLOWLY LOSING A GOOD AMOUNT OF MY SIGHT. WHEN EVER I READ ABOUT OTHERS HAVING THIS KIND OF PROBLEM MY HEART ACHES .

            ** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **
            dx.SPMS (baclofen,gabapenin,norco)
            started tecfidera 7/10/2013
            rituxan 11/13/2012 stopped due to side effect &it didn't help me (for RA and MS)
            copaxone started 4/2012 but stopped due to bad allergic reaction
            Matt.19;26 “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

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