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Optic neuritis is one cause of visual snow

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timmcc	Optic neuritis is one cause of visual snow		Lead	[-]
Registered User Posts: 9 01/17/08 5:26 PM	Remove this ad Optic neuritis (when the optic nerve is inflamed) is a possible cause of visual snow. Check out the following image, from Wikipedia: (There's also a larger version of the above image.)
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IanKC		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2955 01/17/08 5:29 PM Administrator	This has been brought up before. Most people here who have had MRIs had them all come back normal. I don't recall any poster here ever being diagnosed with either MS or optic neuritis. I'd love to find out what causes the VS in those patients, but that would require a lot of research and the attention of more doctors than we have at the moment. http://www.visualsnow.com \| Lots of information on Visual Snow http://www.iancasey.com \| My blog
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pocanut		#2	[url]	[-]
Regular Visitor Posts: 652 01/17/08 5:31 PM	my optic nerve is fine i had mine scanned when my mri was done. that was one of my first checks whether or not i could see red to the same degree with both eyes. thankfully i can.. so hoping ms is not lurking in me...
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ohCRICKETS		#3	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 383 01/17/08 6:14 PM	Optic Neuritis normally resolves on its own, and I've had this for almost a year. Eins - Hier kommt die Sonne Zwei - Hier kommt die Sonne Drei - Sie ist der hellste Stern von allen Vier - Und wird nie vom Himmel fallen Fünf - Hier kommt die Sonne Sechs - Hier kommt die Sonne Sieben - Sie ist der hellste Stern von allen Acht, Neun - Hier kommt die Sonne
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SopuliSusie		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1496 01/17/08 7:04 PM Administrator	It would also be more rare to have identical symptoms in both eyes from optic neuritis. But yeah, it was the first thing they checked for me (didn't have it). Need to cheer yourself up? Watch the Kitty Cat Dance!
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ksomething		#5	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 5010 01/17/08 7:05 PM	In neurological textbooks, the visual symptoms of optic neuritis are described as visual loss, I have never read about the symptom of visual snow in this context. timmcc, thanks for the reference to the interesting image from the Wikipedia article. If the diagnosis of optic neuritis is right in this case, this patient clearly experienced visual snow, as depicted in the illustration from Carol LeBlanc. The major discriminationg feature between visual snow due to optic neuritis and visual snow due to persistent aura or HPPD is the fact that optic neuritis most often occurs as a monocular visual disturbance (as can be seen in the illustration) whereas the visual snow from persistent aura or HPPD affects the entire visual fields of both eyes. http://www.migraine-aura.org/content/e27891/e27265/e42285/e42442/e60731/index_en.html Last Edited By: ksomething 01/17/08 7:09 PM. Edited 1 time.
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MattttAshton		#6	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 4 01/18/08 8:36 AM	Thats worrying i have the grainy vision and the watered down colour ( only in Bright weather though! ) although i highly doubt i have ms! worrying all the same.
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juliedeeinthesnow		#7	[url]	[-]
Regular Visitor Posts: 397 01/18/08 10:38 AM	Matttt, I wouldn't pace over the worries about MS--I believe it really jumps out on MRI and it shows up in spinal taps and such, and the attacks of MS tend to send up big, big diagnostic flags. A person showing MS with vision loss and heat sensitivity probably knows their condition really well and is having to do all kinds of things to cope, so there's not a whole lot of doubt about what they've got. I once dated someone with MS that advanced and he had his house at 58 degrees all the time, he was so heat sensitive.
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janey		#8	[url]	[-]
Regular Visitor Posts: 1008 01/18/08 10:50 AM	I used to be anxious about this but I am cold sensitive more than anything. My husband keeps turning the fire off.....in fact my husband has more symptoms of MS than I do...and he is not bothered!!!!
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ksomething		#9	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 5010 01/18/08 10:56 AM	I have added a paragraph with the results from the Sofia Greene survey re. the optic neuritis/issue, which will be reassuring (see last paragraph): http://www.migraine-aura.org/content/e27891/e27265/e42285/e42442/e60731/index_en.html
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timmcc		#10	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 9 01/20/08 12:48 PM	Remove this ad so hoping ms is not lurking in me... As juliedeeinthesnow already pointed out, if you've had an MRI and a spinal tap, both with no unusual findings, then you can be pretty sure it's not MS. Optic Neuritis normally resolves on its own, and I've had this for almost a year. I don't know if that's true. But even if the actual inflammation usually goes away by itself after a while, some amount of damage tends to stick. Also, optic neuritis may come back any time (I have firsthand experience with this). It would also be more rare to have identical symptoms in both eyes from optic neuritis. Again, I don't know if that's true, but then I suppose it depends on what you mean by "more rare". Anyway, what I do know, also from my own experience, is that optic neuritis is capable of causing persistent visual snow of similar, though maybe not entirely identical, appearance on both eyes, with no loss of vision on either eye. But yeah, it was the first thing they checked for me (didn't have it). Since you can't have an MRI, I presume that diagnosis was made using visual evoked potentials alone. Once more from firsthand experience, I can tell that normal VEPs don't necessarily mean much (had several such exams, results always well within the "legal range"). I didn't learn the cause of my VS until three years after the onset when they finally gave me an MRI.
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pocanut		#11	[url]	[-]
Regular Visitor Posts: 652 01/20/08 1:40 PM	timmcc what was the finding on your mri then? i have had an mri that came back normal but not a spinal tap, so cannot be 100% sure that ms is not lurking??? i don't know if they can tell from just an MRI i think not perhaps.
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ksomething		#12	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 5010 01/20/08 2:43 PM	timmcc, is the image at the Wikipedia site on Optic neuritis from you? Could you participate in the Sofia Greene survey, as you would be the first reporting optic neuritis as a cause of persistent vs it would be important to obtain a full record of your history.
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juliedeeinthesnow		#13	[url]	[-]
Regular Visitor Posts: 397 01/20/08 7:13 PM	Pocanut, I'm not 100% certain, but I do believe that a bad MRI is required for the MS diagnosis. The damage is often really apparent and accompanies attacks that are separated in time. There are a couple of different ways that the criteria are done up, but I think it may have to show up on the MRI after attacks, then that prompts the spinal tap looking for some material that appears when nerves get stripped of their outer layer (that's a lot of the damage in MS). My MRI was abnormal, but a spinal tap was not done because the pattern of the damage did not fit the pattern of MS--it looked like the pattern of damage from migraine. Jules
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timmcc		#14	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 9 01/21/08 2:02 PM	timmcc, is the image at the Wikipedia site on Optic neuritis from you? No. My VS is actually not as bad as in that image from Wikipedia. I'll complete the survey later. i have had an mri that came back normal but not a spinal tap, so cannot be 100% sure that ms is not lurking??? i don't know if they can tell from just an MRI i think not perhaps. I think what Jules said is correct, but if you really wish to be 100% certain, you probably need to consult with an MS expert.
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pocanut		#15	[url]	[-]
Regular Visitor Posts: 652 01/21/08 4:54 PM	Thanks guys, but i'm not sure i want to go through anymore tests just yet. i hate the waiting for the results my life goes on hold. and it sounds quite painful/? what do they do?
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timmcc		#16	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 9 01/22/08 8:46 PM	pocanut, they would probably begin by asking you a few questions (if you've ever had other symptoms of MS such as tingling or difficulty walking, and if anyone in your family has been diagnosed with MS). Depending on your answers they may then do some neurological exams, e.g. MEP, and a spinal tap (unlikely). But don't worry, a spinal tap doesn't take very long or hurt much, and in a worst-case scenario you'll have a headache afterwards for one or two days, according to my doctor anyway. And always keep in mind that a normal brain MRI is a very good start
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timmcc		#17	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 9 01/22/08 8:54 PM	1. Name or screen name (optional): timmcc 2. Email (optional): 3. Location (optional): NY 4. Age: 25 5. Sex: M 6. Nationality and Race (optional): White American 7. Do you have classic migraine (migraine with aura) or common migraine (migraine without aura)? When did it begin? No 8. What do you take for your classic or common migraine and does it help? N/A 9. Have you been diagnosed with persistent aura (prolonged migraine aura status)? No 10. What is your visual problem and how long does it last? VS on both eyes starting 02/2004, mainly in the peripheral visual field VS also in the central visual field since 04/2005 05/2007 VS worsened especially on the right eye 06/2007 decreased visual acuity 11. Any other problems that you think might be related? Occasional feeling of pins and needles or numbness, frequent tiredness 12. What do you take or do for your vision problem and does it help? Nothing 13. Have you found a trigger for your vision problem? Optic neuritis caused by MS 14. What tests have you had and the results? Several eye exams (all normal, 20/20) and VEPs (also all normal) between 03/2004 and 10/2006 06/2007 Eye exam (20/40 in the right eye, 20/25 in the left eye) 06/2007 VEP (reduced on the right side, normal on the left side) 06/2007 Brain MRI (several lesions, some of them active) 06/2007 Spinal tap (oligoclonal bands) 07/2007 Spine MRI (a couple inactive lesions) 08/2007 Eye exam (20/30 in the right eye, 20/20 in the left eye) 11/2007 Brain MRI (no new lesions) 15. Drug history (pre VS) No 16. Drug history (post VS - effect on VS - negative, positive, not at all) 06/2007 prednisolone (VS improved subsequently) Avonex since 08/2007 17. Do you have a positive family history for migraine? If yes, who is affected? No 18. Other information you want to provide? No family history of MS
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SopuliSusie		#18	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1496 01/22/08 9:13 PM Administrator	Hi timmcc. So with your snow, do you get the worsening with heat like what happens with MS symptoms in general? Need to cheer yourself up? Watch the Kitty Cat Dance!
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ksomething		#19	[url]	[-]
Registered User Posts: 5010 01/23/08 7:34 AM	In February 2004, the then 22-year-old American male developed visual snow mainly in the peripheral visual fields of both eyes, followed by visual snow also in the central visual fields since April 2005. Up to that date, several eye examinations and VEPs had all been normal. In May 2007, the intensity of visual snow worsened especially on the right eye, and one month later there was a sudden onset of visual loss of the right (20/40) and left eye (20/25). Except for occasional feeling of pins and needles or numbness and frequent tiredness the neurological history was unremarkable. A diagnosis of bilateral optic neuritis caused by MS was made on the grounds of the above clinical presentation and pathological results of VEPs (reduced on the right side, normal on the left side), spinal tap (oligoclonal bands) and T2-weighted cerebral MRI (several lesions, some of them active) and spinal MRI (a couple inactive lesions). Therapy with high dose methylprednisolone resulted in subsequent improvement of visual snow and visual acuity (20/30 right eye, 20/20 left eye). From August 2007 on, he got a therapy with interferone (Avonex); no new episodes of MS have occurred ever since. Is that summary about right? The loss of vision in June 2007 was sudden, right? Was it painful? Can you make an illustration of your visual snow? Do you have the MRI image, or the exact MRI result (where were the cerebral lesions)? Dosage of prednisolone? Dosage of Avonex? Can you send me a copy of the letter from your dosctor with the neurological results? Last Edited By: ksomething 01/23/08 7:41 AM. Edited 5 times.
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janey		#20	[url]	[-]
Regular Visitor Posts: 1008 01/23/08 10:05 AM	Remove this ad Julie wrote My MRI was abnormal, but a spinal tap was not done because the pattern of the damage did not fit the pattern of MS--it looked like the pattern of damage from migraine. Jules Does migraine cause a lasting damage to the brain that shows up then? Would that be the same for everyone?
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Optic neuritis is one cause of visual snow

Optic neuritis is one cause of visual snow