Exertion induced visual problem (Page 2)

That is quite the testimonial! I agree - I'm willing to deal with all the tests even to find nothing.

Carotid ultrasound - normal.

Next step - talk to a neurologist to see if a brain MRI is warranted.

Thanks for staying tuned, and giving me a sounding board while going through all these tests.

-Kirk

sdejan,

Yes, it would be nice to have a solid diagnosis, but at this point I think I would be happy with an MRI showing that there is nothing going wrong in my brain. No tumors, no weird circulatory issues, etc. That would be enough for me at this stage, so I'm guessing I'll end up getting the MRI.

And the saga continues....

ahhh, the joys of being normal. i was sitting on the couch a few minutes ago with a "spinning rainbow wheel" in my left eye and it made me think to recheck your post. glad that everything is turning out okay so far. keep the updates coming

I wish I would get spinning rainbows. All I got was blurry. 8^(

Kathy,

How very frustrating! I wish you great success in figuring it out - a year is a long time.

-Kirk

If the MRI is normal, one consideration would be exercise-induced vasospastic amaurosis fugax which is basically caused by a spasm of the blood vessel during exercise, which in turn causes decreased blood flow to the retina and the blurry/loss of vision. You could try to get a follow-up appointment with your ophtamologist and plan a high intensity run just prior to the appointment. They could compare the fundus of your eye with the first appointment which can aid in the diagnosis. That being said, the MRI is key to exlude more common and worrisome causes.
Good luck.

I didn't read everyone's responses so someone may have said this already: it could be dehydration. Even though you were hydrating throughout the ride your body could have been showing symptoms. It can be blurriness or moving "zebra stripes" in your vision, in one or both eyes. 

Seat must be to high.

Thanks for asking! I failed to update once I finally got through it all. Sorry about that.

So, to recap - the eye exam was normal, the carotid ultrasound was normal, neurological test was normal, brain MRI was normal enough (see below), so the diagnosis by exclusion was retinal migraine. No meds prescribed since it is an intermittent problem and unless it gets worse, I probably will never need any treatment.

As for the brain MRI, ocular nerves are normal, ocular centers normal. No weirdness there. BUT, when I looked at the MRI (they send you home with a CD), I could tell something was not right. To keep the story short, my left frontal lobe looked very weird and was clearly not right. There is a large white spot that occupies most of the space where my left frontal lobe should be. Seriously. It is basically gone. This all relates back to the massive head trauma I had when I was in 1979 - I was 9. Essentially, my left frontal lobe was damaged and is partially gone now. There is also some scarring on the remaining portion of that lobe as well as my left temporal lobe. The neurologist said that since the injury happened when I was a child, other parts of my brain took over for the portion that was damaged and I developed normally. He also said that if I were to sustain an injury of that magnitude now, I would severely compromised.

There you have it. Retinal migraine and a partially missing left frontal lobe.

-Kirk




Edited by KirkD 2011-09-03 11:37 PM