I’m one of those in ‘limboland’ at the moment, awaiting a Neuro appointment. I’ve been ill for many years, and have picked up diagnoses for ME and Fibromyalgia along the way. However, things have become much worse since November, and, following an abnormal brain MRI, I finally get to see a Neurologist in September (earlier if my GP is successful in getting it brought forward).
I have many symptoms that tie in with those of MS, but wanted to ask specifically about my eye…over the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed that my eyesight in one eye keeps becoming blurred, but only in one part of the eye. This is now happening more and more, and is now accompanied with pain in and around the eye. My eye also hurts when I move it from side to side or up and down, and when I move my eyes, this eye seems to take a split second to ‘catch up’ and focus properly. I have also noticed a few ‘floaters’ in this eye, and the odd ‘flash’ of light.
I already wear glasses, prescribed about 6 years ago after my eyesight deteriorated quite rapidly and I was told my right eye (the one that is giving my problems now) was not coordinating properly with the left eye to create a sharp image. (IFrom this, I understand it means that when my eyes work together to focus on something, the two images from each eye are not meeting up correctly, thus creating only a blurred/double image.) At that time I was told that if I had not done anything about it when I did I would have ended up with permanent double vision. ((Am I right in thinking this can also be a sign of MS…am wondering if this may have been an early sign that was missed???)).
Anyway, I suppose my question to you lovely people is this…does this sound like an MS symptom, or am I just getting paranoid. I’m thinking of making an appointment for an eye test asap and mentioning it to the optician.
It could be an MS thing, yes - eye problems are not uncommon. However, like many of these things, it’s not exclusive to MS, so doesn’t mean (a) that you definitely have MS, or (b) IF you do, that it’s definitely related.
I think you’ve done a very sensible thing by booking to see the optician. Eye problems should always be investigated, even if they may be part of a wider problem - they also may not be.
Depending on what the optician says, you may have another thing to add to the file for the neuro in September (or it may help you get an appointment quicker). OR, the optician may think it’s unrelated.
Just a quick update…saw the optician this afternoon, and had a thorough examination. He says I do need a slightly stronger prescription for my glasses, but he has confirmed that the intermitten blurring/double vision is NOT optical so must be neurological. He also noticed that my right pupil is about 1mm larger than the left.
I am really happy that there is nothing wrong with my eyes, but am now even more concerned that the double vision is neuro-related. He told me to make sure I tell the Neurologist when I see him.
Has anyone else been in this position before…vision problems not caused by the eyes?? Not sure whether to be happy or worried right now! Probably a bit of both!!
Although it’s not common in the general population, in people with neurological disorders, yes, it’s very common to have vision problems “not caused by the eyes”.
You already know you have neuro problems, otherwise you wouldn’t have a neurologist, so try not to get too freaked out that you’ve found a new symptom. Just make sure you tell the neuro.
I’m fortunate to have had only very subtle sight changes with MS (though I’m not suggesting that’s definitely what you have). When working on the computer, I occasionally see letters in colour that are really B&W, for example.
But visual problems are an early symptom in about half of all cases, I think. Don’t quote me on that, as I haven’t double-checked, but I think it’s a very high proportion, anyway.
Yep I have a prism in my glasses to correct a squint but apparently now I have nystagmus with head tilt to correct the double vision I’d get otherwise. Told neuro when I saw neuro he ignored the report and said I just had anxiety!