optic neuritis

[Hannah Brintnall]

I was diagnosed with this dreaded thing approximately 6 weeks ago. I was given IV infusion 3 days in a row, then put on a 2 week course of Oral steroids. The neuro swears it helped, however I'm having my own doubts of the effectiveness. For those that have experienced optic neuritis how long before pain and vision came back?

[Cat Mom]

First time, in right eye, took approx 5 months for vision to come back but I had lost all sight quickly, literally overnight. No MS present at that time (2003).

2005 it hit left eye, lost all sight as previously with the right. It lead to dx MS. Unfortunately, due to repeated attacks, as well as Rebif not working for me, I never regained sight in left eye. The pupil is non-responsive to light, it sees only light and shadows.

Since then, I've had it in the right eye a few times but didn't lose total sight, just peripheral and "dimness" but amazingly enough, when not "under attack", that eye has better than 20/20 vision (don't ask me how it can, my Neuro-Opth just says, "The human body is an amazing thing.").

I'm 48 and have never needed glasses but due to ON, it's not what I see that's the issue, it's where I see it (or the colour, shape, etc.). Like living with a permanent optical illusion.

I hope others will post more positive replies and that your ON is on the way to recovery. You didn't say if you have MS or not so I hope I didn't scare you. The steroids are the best treatment for it as they reduce inflammation of the optic nerve. Please let us know how you're doing.

Jen

[Hannah Brintnall]

Jen,

Thank you for your reply. Currently i am in limbo. This all started with ON about 6 weeks ago my neuro opthalmologist assured me the prednisone was to speed up the process, however, 6 weeks in, nothing is different. Vision is off, pain is still present, and I'm left with some nasty side effects from the steroid. It's not so much the blurryness that bothers me. My depth preception is off. So everything looks like I'm looking at a 3D picture. It sounds much cooler than it is

I'm sorry to hear you've lost complete vision in the left eye. Makes me feel like i shouldn't be complaining about 6 weeks of disturbed vision. I can still see. Thanks again for your reply

Hannah

[MSer102]

I've had ON a few times and I was surprised to read that some people get their vision back in 2 or 3 weeks and even read something written by an ophthalmologist that he expects people to get their vision back in only 1 week! I never recovered that fast! My neuro-ophthalmologist told me that some people start to get better in 2 or 3 weeks but most take longer. He said that it's more common to take at least 6 weeks and often it takes 3 to 6 months for vision to return. For me it took maybe 6 to 12 weeks. I know that 6 weeks already seems like an eternity. But compared to 6 months it hasn't been that much time.

Sometimes the steroids help vision to return sooner. But since there's no way to know how long it would have taken without them it's hard to know if they really helped or by how much. And the big clinical trial showed that the steroids didn't make any difference in how much vision a person got back only in how fast they got it back.

My doctor told me that most people who have ON get most of their vision back. Some people don't get it all back and some people get 100% recovery like it never happened.

For you 6 weeks might be too soon to try to guess how much vision you'll be back. But know that it can up to 6 months or sometimes even longer depending on how much damage was done and how fast your body heals. So try not to get discouraged. It might just take some more time.

[Strhuntrss]

Recovery time from ON

Hi Hannah,

Welcome to MSWorld. Sorry to hear that you were dx with Optic Neuritis.

Three years ago I was dx with ON. The Neuro-Opthamologist I saw at the time did not give me IV steriods to clear up the ON.

He had the "lets wait and see" if it goes away on its own treatment.

My husband and I trusted him as he was the best in city. Fast forward to three months later. Eye never got better and hubby thought it was time for a second opinion.

The second opinion opthamologist stated that I should have been given IV steriods right away to get the swelling down. That he knew of the first dr and was surprised of his treatment.

He said that it is the first line of treatment he performs with ON. Swelling causes damage and you want to get it down as quickly as possible. He gave me oral steriods.

It took over 6 months to get that swelling down. He felt I had a relapse since the original attack.

Mine caused me to have some deficeit in my vision. Reds and greens are pale and I have periphrial vision loss in the right eye. If I look at the white line on the side of the road while driving, it is hit and miss. So is my reading of printed words.

Rainy days are tough for me too as my vision is like looking through a screen door. Clarity is somewhat compromised as well as my depth perception.

My left eye is still seeing 20/20 vision, though I now have a floater in that eye as well. That is how mine started with the right eye. Right eye is 20/100

I went from floaters that I thought were normal to within two days my vision was severely compromised.

It has been three years now and I have had three more attacks of ON. They give me IV steriods each time and it helps.

I don't blame the dr as it was what we thought at the time a good decision. Last August, after extensive testing, I was dx with RRMS.

I pray Hannah that you find relief and complete healing of your ON. Take care and let us know how you are doing?

[tspaulding]

[QUOTE=MSer102;1415704]I've had ON a few times and I was surprised to read that some people get their vision back in 2 or 3 weeks and even read something written by an ophthalmologist that he expects people to get their vision back in only 1 week!



I was dx w/ ON in 1995 , my left eye was moving slower than the right eye. I was given oral pred and eye was better in 2 days. I was glad because I was a senior in college. I was also dx w/ RRMS after I had an MRI showing 4 lesions.

[ladybug162]

I had it in my left eye this past February and had the 3 day IV infusions followed by the 2 weeks of Prednisone. It took almost 2 months before I finally began to notice any improvement and I just recently began to restore my vision fully.

My doc says everyone is different and it can take a long time for some. Don't give up hope though!!

[goblue]

I had on in my left eye approx 1 1/2 years ago. Couldn't see very far in front of me and couldn't see floors along with pain. I decided with my doctor not to take anything and it completely cured on its own in about 3-4 weeks. It has not come back since and I have not started anything YET.

[newbie but goodie]

I had 100% vision loss and severe pain in my right eye due to ON. It took 6 months after steroid treatment to really say i could see out of that eye again and up to 1 year to get about 90% of my vision back. Almost 2 years later it's still blurrier than the other eye and reds are a tad less pronounced but it's almost 20/20 again.

I do wish you good luck with this and hopefully it is just a matter of waiting it out.

[ebonezps]

Optical neuritis

First time it happened to me 1983 the only way to treat it back then was cortisone shots in the eyes was not very pleasant. Three shots in the left two in the right. Never got sight back in left eye. It took a long time but it took to long to diagnose it since I only had the MG back the and they were not looking for neuritis. The last two times they did the IV it only took a few weeks to get my right eye back. The most important thing is to start treatment early and not wait

[Lianne]

I had optic neuritis in my right eye in 1984. I wasn't given any treatment and it cleared up on its own in about 3 weeks. Although colors weren't as bright for a while, eventually my vision returned to normal. Although I've had other MS symptoms since then, I've never had another episode of optic neuritis and I'm very thankful for that.

[noetod]

O N Symptoms

Hi Everyone!

I am not sure my eye pain is from my ms or not. I am hoping some of you can tell me a little bit your optic neuritis, like the type of pain, does it radiate to other parts of your face, time of day it tends to be at its worst, what irritates it, runny eye or nose, do you have eye pressure, all that great stuff. My neurologist has dx me with it, but I seem to have more than just pain and it is getting worse. I also seem to get tingling or the feeling of wet cold on the left side of my head along with left eye pain. Kinda feels like when you use vics vapor rub. Gotta[/COLOR] laugh sometimes! Hope to hear from some of you!

Thanks
noetod

[onlyairfare]

Optic neuritis was my very first MS symptom many years ago. It started with pain when I moved my eyes to look to one side, but my vision was OK. I went to my ophthalmologist and he thought I had ON despite normal vision, so he referred me to the neuro-ophthalmologist who confirmed the diagnosis. The pain went away on its own after 2- 3 weeks. My family doctor did other lab testing to see if I had any other ailment that could cause ON; those tests were normal/negative.

A few months later, I experienced the same kind of pain with eye movement, but in my other eye. Then I noticed there was a dark area in part of my visual field. Back to the eye doctor who confirmed the field loss, and thus a second episode of optic neuritis in a different location. I was then diagnosed with MS, since I had lesions separated in time and space with no other explanation. No MRI (wasn't invented back then), no spinal tap. That episode also went away on its own in a few weeks, with no treatment.

I have also had episodes where my vision in one eye got blurry, like 20/200, and I thought maybe I had put my contact lenses in the wrong way. Not - that was also ON.

I never had other facial symptoms, funny feelings or runny nose/eyes. After a few years of ON episodes, they went away and I haven't had ON in about 15 years. My vision is correctable to 20/20 with glasses, and I don't have any color loss or other permanent damage.

I've been lucky and I hope you are too. Get better soon!

[noetod]

Hi onlyairfare

Thank you for your reply, it was very informative and interesting to hear your history with ON. Glad to hear you have not had problems with ON for 15 years, hope it continues for you!

I need to ask my dr. more about what she thinks about it!

Have a great day

noetod