This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I am currently enduring an Optic Neuritis attack. It led to my MS diagnosis. May 2007 I lost my sight entirely. No vision in my right eye at all. Now, 2.5 months later, I can see movement and shapes but really only in dim light. I am still relatively blind in bright sunlight. I can basically now see contrast between light and dark objects.

For those who have endured Optic Neuritis, did you recover your sight and if so, about how long did it take you recover vision?

Thanks in advance - danni

I was treated with IV steroids which likely played a role in restoring most of my vision within a week. However, my vision would cloud over if I got too warm so I had to take cool showers and not spend much time outdoors since the summers where I was living at the time would typically get up to 115°F. This heat sensitivity in my vision lasted for around a year afterwards. I would notice that colors seemed a little grayer when viewed out of the affected eye. I can't tell much of a difference anymore and it's been about 7.5 years since my bout with optic neuritis.

NHE

Thanks NHE.

I too was treated with IV steriods. I had 5 doses the week it happened, and then another 3 doses a week later. They didn't seem to help with my much vision recovery. The DRS. also had me endure 5 rounds of Plasma Apherisis. No luck there either.

It's been another month, and I can now 'see' close up blurs without having to close my good eye, but not much more.

Just wondering if any others could share their experiences, I guess I'm looking for encouragement any where I can get it at this point.

ON is really a mixed bag. I've had it for 6 years now. At rest, I'm usually 20/25 to 20/40, but any effort or heat and I go blind in my left eye. Thank God I have my right one, but it has never gone away for me. The only saving grace for my vision is that it takes effort and heat to flare it up, but it's taking less effort and less heat all the time. My eyesight usually goes blurry about mid morning and doesn't let up until I get home from work and take a nap. Steroids did nothing for my vision either. Hang in there and good luck with getting some vision back. It sounds like you are getting some back but are still extremely deficient in your one eye. For some it is the presenting symptom and it goes away quickly and they never get it again. For others it's much worse.

My wife's aunt is wheelchair bound from MS and has NEVER had ON. Her first symptoms were slurred speech and balance issues, but she has never had any vision problems. I guess this MS is like the Forrest Gump saying about a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get!

Hi,

I had Optic Neuritis for about 8 weeks in my left eye and then it finally went a way. I was treated initially for 6 days on steroids (week 2) then about 6 weeks later my vision started to improve. It wasnt back fully for about 10 weeks, but even by week 8 I was doign much better. I was told I might have lost "maybe" 5% of vision overall, but that's it.

I've heard good and bad about ON, but I can say Thank God it was only 1 eye and it went away. There is no way to describe to anyone what you can and can't see and you take your eyes 100% for granted until this happens.

Did your Dr say anything about steroids? Stay strong, hopefully you will have a good recovery like I did.

Stay strong,

Samantha

Most patients will regain "full" visual recovery with 1 year of an acute ON attack. That being said, it is possible to have damage done to the nerve hat will last. IV steroids should be used in an effort to lessen the duration of your visual deficit.

I believe what many eye doctors that do not see ON on a regular basis miss is that patients remain affected for the long term. As many have described here...heat will flare the symptoms of ON even long after the attack has passed. This is not specific to the eye, though. It is called Uthoff's sign and it is basically heat causing nerve conduction to slow, thereby affecting neurological symptoms...anything from eyesight to fatigue, balance, etc.

Unfortunately, it is been 4.5 years since my ON attack, and I never regained my sight. My vision did not improve any further beyond seeing contrast in dim light and movement. I am still entirely blind in sunlight. When I was diagnosed, I received at least 10 IV steroids treatments. I also endured 5 days of plasmapheresis.

On the brighter side, I have not had any other MS attacks since this episode.

When I was 17, I had an ON attack, and that's when I was diagnosed. The attack was only in the one eye, and I couldn't see anything directly in front of me, just indistinct blurs in my peripheries. I didn't have any steroids but I recovered most of my sight within 2 - 3 months. Now, 9 years later, there is still a slight difference in quality of vision between the affected eye and the other one, but it's only very slight and often more of a feeling - almost like there's a sheer film over my eye - than a lack of vision. My vision in that eye does blur when I'm feeling fatigued and in low light, and just looks a bit lazy when I have had alcohol. It also hurts occasionally, and I find that sometimes I see something - usually a car - but don't really register its presence, but that could just be me. After the initial attack, which was seriously frightening, I just adapted and let it get better. Adjusting to the lack of depth perception was possibly the most difficult - and, frankly, hilarious - bit, but you get used to it. It sounds like, though it may be taking a while, your eye IS recovering, and that could be a good sign.

i had ON in one eye. it took 6 months to regain my sight but i did and it happened pretty quickly. i didn't have steroids, and was told that they don't change the outcome, just the duration. Hang in there and get as much rest as you can, it really helps in overcoming a relapse.

Do you know where the lesion causing the vision problem is located???
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jackD

Jack D - I was told the lesion was on my optic nerve. It's my right eye.

I got my vision back in my left eye after 3 months of practically total loss. The lesion was further into my brain than in the front part of the optic nerve (damage could not be seen my opthomologist). (I think it was in the left frontal lobe somewhere which must have been pressing on optic nerve). My vision came back after 3 months but recently has been giving my some issues again (colours are faded and grey looking in that eye) but other than that I can see fine.