optic neuritis - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

str8tekno · 03-04-2008, 09:53 AM

i have ON in both eyes. the 1st eye had no treatment, and 2nd eye had steroid treatment. both were about 4 mths away from each other. recently diagnosed with MS due to this. the 1st eye w/out the treatment has blind spots in it, but not totally blind (that is my reliable eye now). the other eye has very dim vision. this causes me to be off balance due to the difference in contrast of each. my question is this...are there any special kinds of sunglasses that may help with situations as follows>>
brightness of lights in a store (i feel blind and cannot see what i am looking for unless i am on top of something, and even with tinted glasses, it still doesn't do much, driving is a chore also, and do it very little. even typing on my pc is hard on the eyes, and i still have not been back to work yet. my eyes are not bad otherwise, so i do not wear prescription glasses. it is just the discomfort of going to places and driving due to the differences of lighting. i did hear that yellow (amber) colored glasses can help with night time driving and enhance things, but i do not know if i want to try that. when driving, i want to see the contrast turned up in other vehicles, and people crossing the street in front of me. if i can get past that part, then i know i am good to go. i hate riding with people, because i get car sick with anxiety. please help with any advice! i am desparate. thanks! al

MSNik · 03-04-2008, 10:13 AM

Hi Really cant help you with the advice on colored glasses...but I definately think you need to see an opthamologist!
Having had ON three times, my once perfect eye sight is now a disaster. I wear glasses and the prescription has changed 3 times- I wear contacts, when I can stand them...my eyes are much more sensitive then they ever were.
Just because you didnt wear glasses before, doesnt mean that having them now wont cure the difficulty you are describing..most of what you are describing can be fixed with a prescription. Also the eye doctor can tell you more about helpful hints on colors and tints..
Please see a good opthamologist and not a chain store eye doctor. You need a good exam!
Good luck.

str8tekno · 03-10-2008, 11:16 AM

first of all, MSNik, thanks for your response...
it's unfortunate, but i still have not gotten much better. my neurologist put me on 'roids a couple of mths ago, and about a mth ago i had been towho my opthalhmologist who told me to give it 6 mths (like she seems pretty positive that things will improve) after my eye exams. i'm driving myself bonkers sitting around at home...my trusted dr's cannot do anything more...it is all on what my optic nerves wanna do. i can only do so much, and has anybody heard of the "uhthoff's phenomenon"? this happens to me alot, and i'm not sure if anybody else is the same...especially getting out of the shower. who wants to take a shower that is cold all of the time, just to prevent this strange phenomenon from occuring? trying to clean my home...i have to stop and rest after every little project, because my body overheats too much, and easily (besides the stress of what is already going on...which does not help). i am going to attempt to drive today again. i have been trying at least once a week to see if things have changed at all. wishful thinking, but i am determined to get back out there and enjoy life again. i have been depressed, because this is ruining my life, and i am getting married in 8 mths, so this is really stressful trying to plan.

MSNik · 03-10-2008, 03:20 PM

Hi again. First of all, you should know that probably every single person here has Ulthoffs and doesnt know what it is....basically, it is heat sensitity and all MS patients have it....when we take hot showers, baths, or stay out in the sun or heat too long, it totally aggravates our symtoms. I have had this for almost 4 years but didnt know what it was until I was dx with MS 1.5 years ago. I used to get out of a hot shower and cry..I was disoriented, dizzy, and I couldnt see. (ON). My first true bout of ON, which was pretty bad led me to a Opthamologist who STILL didnt dx MS....however, the next month, when I woke up with pins and needles in my hand- that led me to my GP (thinking Carpal Tunnel) which led me to a CT scan (he thought pinched nerve) and Evoked Potentials (for the possiblity of carpal tunnel) and that led to an MRI, a Neuro, an MS Specialist and a diagnosis! (of MS)

2 questions for you. You mentioned you did steroids...what kind? Dose pack? IV? If you havent been on an IV of Solumedrol, you NEED to be before any more damage, or any permanent damage is done..

Second question is you are in PA...anywhere near Philly? U of Penn has the best Neuro and Neuro=opthamologists in the state....I live 45 mins from phlly and bounce between Robert Wood Johnson's MS clinic and U of Penn's for my eyes....

Your doctors can and should be treating this more aggresively.
I hope you feel better soon.
Nikki

Bearygood · 03-10-2008, 06:20 PM

Re: heat sensitivity, it is not true that everyone has it or at least experiences it the same way. I am not any more sensitive to the heat than I ever was and I know that many others do not experience that as well. That said, I DO get Uhthoff's in the eye I had ON in -- it's kind of like a pressurized feeling and I can get a little blurry. str8tekno, I don't have any advice to you re: glasses to help but I agree with Nikki that you should go see an ophthalmologist or better yet, a neuro-ophthalmologist. Also regarding your eye, recovery from ON takes patience -- it took me 9 months to get vision back and according to my last orbital MRI, I am STILL recovering!