Does this sound like on to you?

[FLNatalie]

Hi all,

I am still undiagnosed, and thus is my first post here, but my question is vision-related.

My visual symptoms are what made me consider the possibility that the paresthesia I was experiencing might not be "nothing."

What I have experienced is very hard to describe, and doesn't sound like the typical description of ON. The best way I can describe it is to say I see too much light. Light from a window that should stay in the background doesn't; it actually looks like it is in front of things closer to me than they are. Florescent lighting is bad this way, too. I see long beams of light from concentrated light sources like light bulbs, day or night. My left eye is definitely worse than the right, and sometimes this difference causes a double-vision like experience for days or weeks at a time.

I have been seen by an opthalmologist, who said my eyes looked healthy, no damage to the optic nerve that she could see. She really didn't know what might be causing it, but wants me back for a visual field test.

Do any of you recognize these types of symptoms? I obviously do have other, non-visual symptoms that made my doctor suspect MS, but the thing with my eyes is driving me crazy!

I'd appreciate any comments or advice.

[Alicious]

When I have ON, I absolutely see light as more bright in that eye. I can't say that I see beams, but I do have quite a bit of glare that is similar to that. I am also developing cataracts in my mid-30s, so it could be those and not ON.

As for ON itself, it can be tricky. There are classic signs, yes, but there are also variations on that theme, and many of us have been told it's not ON only to find out later that it probably was. For example, I don't get pain. Most people do. An uninformed doctor told me it wasn't ON because of that. He was wrong. So, definitely keep digging until you get answers!

Have you tried looking at colors by covering one eye and then the other to see if they are different? With ON, reds are usually the most affected, but for me it's oranges (which wash out) and reddish purples (which look distinctly more blue) when I am having an episode. (It affects the reds, just not clear reds.) Try different lights and different objects. You may not have this at all, but if you do (or don't!) it's good info for your doctor as they try to determine what is going on.

I am glad your ophthalmologist is doing a visual field test. If you really suspect ON and you live in a metro area (or can get to one), after this next round of testing ask to be referred to a neuro-ophthalmologist. They are rare and usually only take patients on referral, but are by far the best doctors to determine optic nerve involvement in tricky cases.

I hope you can figure out what is going on, and that it turns out to be something really boring and easily fixable. Keep us posted!

[FLNatalie]

Hi Alicious,

Thanks so much for your response. I thought my problem sounded more like cataracts as well, but the optho didn't see any when she examined me.

I really don't see any color difference, except that when it's really bad, everything is more washed out with the left eye because there's so much light there. It's not a different color, just less color saturation, if that makes sense.

I've been curious what the visual field test will do. How does that help?

Thanks again.

Natalie

[Alicious]

The visual field test will basically map how well you are seeing; if there are any "holes" in your vision, it will show them. It produces a graph that shows variations in vision detected. I can't post links here, but if you google visual field test and do an image search, you'll see a whole bunch of them. Basically, the graph shown is the field of vision for one eye. Darker areas are places with less vision.

I've had it done manually and by computer, but basically it goes like this. You sit in front of a large box that has a half sphere cut out of it (it's far larger than your head). They cover one eye, and then while you look directly at the center, small spots of light are shown inside the half sphere. Every time you see one, you click a button or some such. Since you can't click for the ones you don't see, they can map where in your visual field you might have a deficit, or missing piece of vision. Or, just a place where you aren't seeing as well as would be expected.

It's a valuable, non-invasive test that gives the doctor good information about where in your vision there could be an issue, or if there isn't one specifically, it could narrow down other possibilities. If it is a spot or two, it can point to reasons that would be different than if there aren't any deficits showing, if that makes any sense. Basically, it's just a way of narrowing down what is going on.

[FLNatalie]

Thanks for your response. I was thinking it would be a waste of my time and money, but I think I'll give it a try.

I also noticed that the more affected eye has a larger pupil than the other, so I'm hoping to talk to the optho about that as well.

Thanks again.