Double Sigh--Weird New Vision Issue?

[ophelialit]

Hi, all...

I'm having one of those fed-up-stabby-faced-super-cranly-out-of-patience kind of days....er....weeks....uhhhh....months? On top of a host of other things going on health-wise (minor surgery to correct some issues caused by IBS, stress out the wazoo, etc.), I've developed a charming new visual symptom that I hope someone else has expereienced or at least has heard of....basically, the vision in my right eye is....foggy...I actually tried to clean off my glasses a few times because everything looked so smeared.

It's especially bad when looking at windows (the dark/light contrast seems tricky), but it's not painful. It's better when I'm outside and worse after a hot shower...which is Uthoff's Sign, apparently...which brings me to my next fear....I'm TERRIFIED that this is Optic Neuritis and a harbinger of MS. I've had an MRI, but many, many years ago, and I do have weird things from time to time like the rest of us (ghosting vision being a big one), but I've never had this fogginess that has persisted on-off for 2+ weeks now....I suppose I need to schedule an appt. with my ophthalmologist, and I know he's going to reccomend an MRI, and then I'll be off with a neurologist, and I swear I just can't handle it right now! I spent ALL last summer chasing the MCAS diagnosis and thought I finally had a handle on everything....and now this? Too much! I surrender! I'm crawling in a hole with my friends Ben and Jerry.

Sighhhhhhhh....anyone out there feelin' my pain, yo?

[Canadiangirl73]

I had that no later than yesterday in my left eye. I describe it as having make-up removal cream in my eye. My vision is blurry/foggy. It never lasts long though ( I think at the most one week and on and off) and it never is in the same eye. Have you looked at your pupils when this happens to see if they're the same size? If one is more dilated than the other, it could explain this annoying symptom. I empathize... As far as MS goes, I was told in 1997 that my optical nerve was as pale as a ghost. Have been having MRIs for different reasons since (last one in July 2012) and still no evidence of MS. Yepee! I understand your wanting a MRI to rule that out, but IMHO, it is probably good ol' dysautonomia. I'm trying to bounce back from the flu so I'm right there with you and Ben and Jerry. Take care.

[ophelialit]

Canadiangirl,

Thanks SO MUCH for the response--it's funny that you made the make-up removal cream comment because as I was attempting to explain this to my husband, I said that it looks like I've got suntan lotion in my eye. Which, of course, prompted him to ask if it burned like suntan lotion....and I said "No, it just LOOKS like it...smeary." As you probably know, it's really hard to explain wonky symptoms to folks who have the audacity to be perfectly healthy all the time!

And I checked out my pupils....they seem to be equal and reactive, but, then again, what do I know? I've got smeary vision!

I've also been having some wicked TMJ/facial/head/ear pain on that side of my head the past several weeks, so perhaps that's a factor, too...I just can't understand why the vision would get worse with hot water/exertion, but I'm seriously heat intolerant, sooooooooo....who knows.....

Hope you recover quickly from the flu....the whole world is a creepy germ-fest right now!

[Katybug]

I am having other new disconcerting eye issues that I was telling Dr M about just this morning. I always wonder if one day I am going to hear I have MS too...it's my own personal elephant in the room in my head. As for Ben and Jerry, they aren't allowed in the house any more cause Depakote, steroids, and beta blockers made me too fat. But I sure wouldn't mind partying with them lately.

[ophelialit]

Tell me about it, Katybug! I've not been able to exercise properly since November due to this IBS issue-thingy, so I've been sitting around the house amusing myself by eating Twizzler Nibs and mint Oreos...not to mention Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners...sheesh! I keep telling myself that I'm going to start up my new exercise program the minute my surgeon releases me....soooooo, maybe 4 more weeks? I'm trying to be bikini ready by summer, but I'll be lucky if I'm trenchcoat ready by September!

[Guest Alex]

Hi ladies,

my 2 cents (I might be off here but heck I want Ben and Jerry now!)

I've only had some similar 'make-up remover in my eyes' (thanks Canadiangirl) issue while on a higher dose of Mestinon. It was symmetrical though and used to last for minutes to hours a day (it was all dose related though).

Any meds you are on that might be responsible for this?

Ophelia, not giving advice here, but an MRI might be appropriate if this persists for you.

Keep us posted.

Blessings,

Alex

[ophelialit]

Thanks for the input--Ben & Jerry's all around (I prefer Phish Food or Cherry Garcia, but I'm not that picky!)!

And, oddly, I'm on no meds of any kind....like so many of us, I don't tolerate chemicals well, and though I've been prescribed a ton of meds in the past, I've never found anything that worked well enough to justify the side effects. Sooooo, nope, it's not that...I know I probably need to do the MRI, but I'm trying to rationalize that it would be statistically unlilely to have POTS, MVP, MCAS with a side of MS, right? Right? I don't know...I was an English major, so stats weren't ever my thing....

[ophelialit]

You know what? Maybe I lied a bit! It just ocurred to me that I've been taking quite a few Imodium lately to deal with the aforementioned unpleasant IBS issues...and this symptom (now that I think about it) started around the same time...I don't really consider Imodium a "drug," but it actually is! I wonder if loperamide comes with this kind of wacky side effect? I'm going to look into it! Here I go!

[lfreem02]

Blurred vision in my left was one of my initial symptoms a year ago. It took me a couple of months to finally see that my left pupil was dilated really big, while my right eye was normal. I even moved to another mirror with more lighting, and there was no change. The only thing the eye doctor found was that I have extremely dry eyes that she couldn't stop talking about. The blurred vision stopped suddenly, and I have read and have been told that pupil issues, and dry eyes can be related to dysautonomia. I have other vision issues that I think are directly related to the dysautonomia. Just recently after a month long cold, and two ruptured eardrums, I started experiencing what was like having hairspray in my left eye. My vision gets foggy, and I have to use a lot of eye drops. There is a neuro-opthamologist at the vision center I go to at Emory, so I need to make an appointment and make sure something serious isn't going on.

Good Luck!!!

[kitt]

I've had intermittent episodes of blurred vision for about a year. Think it's on the symptom list for hyper pots?

Can't read the computer screen or watch television when it happens.

As I say, mine comes and goes.

Hope yours does too! Goes I mean...and stays gone.