Was this optic neuritis?

Here is My Question:
Hello! I’m a 39 year old female. In September I began having a whooshing sound in my left ear. Met with an ENT who diagnosed me with Pulsatile Tinnitus and had an ultrasound on my ear and neck. Everything was normal. They did an MRI and found my ear to be fine, but found a lesion on another part of my brain. Told me to schedule an appointment with a neurologist, which I did. Appointment was scheduled 3 months out.

Then the week before Christmas, I woke up to my left eye unable to open due to pain. It hurt when I moved my eye. No redness, no swelling. Extremely light sensitive and blurry. Got in to see an eye doctor. Everything looked fine other than my vision was lower than it was. Diagnosed me with optical neuritis.

Did the test to check my peripheral vision, and that came back significantly decreased in my left eye. Told me to meet with a neurologist, which I already had scheduled. A few days later, my eye was seeing large blue/green spots. Persisted for about a day.

Randomly get headaches behind my left eye down through my neck.

My neurology appointment is set for the end of this month.

Does this sound like it could be or lead to MS? What steps would be taken next to find out?
Thank you so much for your time!!

Answer:
It sounds like you experienced optic neuritis. The colored (blue/green) spots are called phosphenes and are common with optic neuritis. This is from irritation of the optic nerve and retina by the inflammation.

Pulsatile tinnitus is common and rarely caused by vascular malformations or narrowing of the carotid artery. This is probably the reason they did the MRI before you experienced the visual problems

I hope your vision improves soon. The neurologist or neuro-ophthalmologists will help you discover what caused your optic neuritis. There are many causes other than Multiple sclerosis.

Revere P (Rip) Kinkel, MDProfessor of Clinical Neurosciences
Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program
Clinical Neurosciences Director
University of California San Diego
#multiplesclerosis #MS #opticneuritis