not really sure what to say- back to feeling like a fraud AGAIN. Neuro thought my left eye could be playing up because of retina problem- actually felt good at that prospect as it may be something fixable for a change, but after 1.1/2 hrs of tests yesterday my eyes are perfect apparently even the right one that I cant see out of-the only thing that he can see is that there is something wrong in my right eye on the optic nerve that is damaged,
I was commenting on colours that i could see and he said they werent actually there. Really nice person that did the tests, but at the end he said- youve had the best and most thorough tests available, ill send this back to Neuro but there is nothing wrong with my eye.
Please bear in mind it took them 9 months after i had ON to diagnosis it and 13 yrs to diagnose my MS. Im not flaming going anymore, wasted a day and a whole stash of energy, and the only thing im sure of is that it is doing exactly the same as my right eye did for 4 yrs before it finally went.
fed up with being made to feel like an idiot, i shouldnt have gone back to the Drs it just starts a ball rolling that ends up with me feeling like im some attention seeking moron.
Well, I suppose, strictly speaking, damage to the optic nerve ISN’T something wrong with your eye! The nerve is part of the central nervous system, not the eye. Thus, although damage to it will certainly impair vision, it’s technically NOT a problem with your eye.
So I think what he’s told you is the literal truth, but he obviously hasn’t explained it very well, if you’ve come away feeling a fraud.
He did find something wrong; he observed the optic nerve was damaged! That would more than explain why you have visual problems. But the eyes themselves are undamaged. It’s the processing that goes on behind that’s compromised.
It’s a subtle distinction, but important, because if the eyes aren’t causing the problem, it won’t be fixable by prescribing glasses. The glasses won’t help what is going on inside your head!
The eyes are a whole lot more complex than most people imagine. When light hits the back of the retina it activates the relevant cells (“rods and cones”). These feed neural impulses forward to another layer of cells which in turn feed forward to a third layer. The process forms a neural net, which then connects to the optic nerve - and only then does a neural impulse pass through to the brain. Even that is complex, as the optic nerve divides, with the right side of each eye feeding the left side of the brain.
So the eye, and the optic nerve, have to be treated as two separate entities for diagnostic purposes. If you want to get an idea of just how complex the eye is, read the Wikipedia article on Glaucoma, and particularly the section on diagnosis.
If you have strange visual effects, they are a symptom, not the actual problem. It’s a bit like “dropped foot”. Nothing wrong with the foot, only with the nervous system that activates certain muscles. (That’s why FES works for a lot of people).
Thanks Tina, Geoff,Anita i understand what you mean, sorry didnt explain my self very well, the problem he found was in my right eye which i already have ON in, and after 3 years can only see shapes, movement and washed out colour, it took them til 9 months after i got ON in that eye to say yes it was ON,
so no problems nerve wise or other in my left eye even though its doing exactly the same as my right one did, im not really sure what i expected them to say- maybe just a bit of reasurance that im not going nuts i suppose and that they are on my side.
I agree with the others the problem may not be the eye, but the message from the brain to the eye, maybe thats your problem, i know mine is, i have all sorts of visual trouble, but when i had my eyes tested they were fine,i was baffled like you are,but then things were explained to me and i now know the damage to my CNS is to blame and not the eyes,its very frustrating though because you know you are having problems and if you cant see properly of course you think its your eyes that have the problem complcated business this MS isnt it ?
