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New symptom with eyes not focussing in peripheral vision

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
#1

Please can someone offer some advice with my eye sight?

I was diagnosed in Nov 2014 following an MRI after problems with my left leg then my left arm.

I was given steroids in Dec and they brought back the feeling in my arm but I thought I had some side effects from the steroids - dizziness and difficulty focussing my eyes and bladder problems.

Last week the eye problem started again and now I have worked out that they were not side effects from the steroids at all in December and they were even more MS symptoms!!! Doh!

Feel really stupid and I am scared that my eye sight is affected by the MS as I thought it was the steroids. I am a freelance graphic/web designer and having a left leg and arm that didn’t work was manageable but losing my eye sight is horrific.

So the problem started when I awoke last Friday and I could not focus my eyes together in my peripheral vision. When I looked ahead it was OK or looking with one eye only was ok in my peripheral vision. So my actual eyesight is OK and it is the focus on the edges that does not work.

I have had tinnitus since April and my neurologist said I have lesions located where my hearing would be affected - great! Is that the same location as for the eyes?

The area in the centre that is focussed is changing and reducing so I am hoping someone can advise me on what the likely outcome will be and whether there is any treatment for this?

Thank you

#2

Hi Jmaz, the vision problems you have may be optic neuritis. I have had 3 episodes of this, the first in 2010 in my right eye, the second last year in my left eye and the third this year in the right eye again. The first two times my vision was affected for about a month. This time it has improved a bit but not 100% (4 months later).

It is worse when I get hot. ON can often cause pain in the eye. I understand that steroids are often prescribed for this, although I have not had any. ON was the first indication that I may have MS, and the usual tests followed until I was dx in May this year.

Maybe you should visit your doctor or MS nurse? I am of course only speaking from my own experience and am no doctor!

Good Luck

#3

You need to get a quick referral to eye clinic to get them checked out I have had optic neuritis they didn’t refer me soon enough and the steroids didn’t completely return vision to normal so I still have dodgy vision on the peripherals however

Prisms in the specs offers a cure but not to often g

#4

Thanks for your messages and advice Angel 10 and hillbilly

I went to see our A&E eye clinic on sat and they said eyesight is fine so couldn’t help me. They said come back on Monday and see someone who would check focus and could refer me to a neurologist. But I didn’t go because I made an appointment with my Ms nurse so will be quicker because she can speak directly to the neurologist.

Today I am relieved that it is pretty much the same and hasn’t got worse and I have an appointment tomorrow morning with my MS nurse.

When it happened in dec it went back to normal after a few weeks but it was not as severe as this time.

I can see well in each eye but the two images don’t fit together so I have double vision. Is this Optical Neuritis then or something else please?

thanks

Jane