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. **
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. **
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