Haemorrhage in my eye + somewhat swollen optic nerve

[Au101]

Hi,

So, just before Christmas, I was sitting at this very computer when I experienced a kind of spot in my vision. You know when you look at a bright light, and then afterwards you have that sort of spot in your eye? Well it reminded me a lot of that. Just out of nowhere, and it took a while to go down. That obviously made me a bit worried, and then the next day I was reading and there was kind of a coloured patch that I could see on the left page as I was trying to read the right one. I got a bit concerned and then after that I kept seeing little spots and flashes and all that stuff, which I have seen before to tell you the truth, but never the rest of it, just the little spots and flashes every now and again, as I go about my day.

So in the end I decided to go to the opticians about it and well he said I've got a small haemorrhage and my optic nerve may be a bit swollen as well. There were other things, I mean, he was talking about how my eye was basically a bit unusual with this value and that value and whatever, but he said there's a lot of variation in what's 'normal' and maybe that's 'normal' for me. So basically, he concluded that there were no immediate alarm bells, but the haemorrhage, at my age (24), he couldn't explain. Basically, it doesn't make sense and what he's worried about is not necessarily the haemorrhage, which is a small thing in itself, but what might have caused it. So he's sent me to a GP, but that's not until Monday.

And, well, I'm quite scared to tell you the truth and I wondered if anyone had any words of comfort?

Some of you probably know the feeling. You read all these articles in the news, like, I went to the opticians and she found a brain tumour the size of a tangerine or whatever. And, well, I'm worried. He mentioned that maybe, after testing blood pressure and stuff, the doctor might want to do an MRI or a CT scan to get a look at the optic nerve.

He also asked me if I get thirsty a lot (yes, very), and about nausea. I have been feeling nauseous in the mornings sometimes in recent months, but tummy cramps is more common that actual nausea. I lead a pretty unhealthy lifestyle and I don't sleep very well. I've had IBS in the past, so I was actually worrying a little bit about the occasional nausea before today, but I thought it was probably just what happens when you go to bed about 04:00 one night, get up about 11:00 then next day, and then end up getting up about 15:00 the day after that ....

[Fishmanpa]

I'll just send you positive thoughts as I've not heard of anything like this. The eye doctor is doing the right thing by having you follow up with your GP and as with most cases, if he felt you were in a serious situation, he would have referred you immediately to the hospital. Just stay as chill as you can and see your doc Monday. Let us know how you make out.

Regardless, at 24, this should serve as a wake up call to improve your lifestyle.

Positive thoughts

[swajj]

When you say the optician do you mean optometrist or ophthalmologist? The first one prescribes glasses the second is an actual doctor.

[ww1399]

My eye doctor informed me that my left optic nerve is larger than my right. No big deal, I was probably born like that.

[Au101]

When you say the optician do you mean optometrist or ophthalmologist? The first one prescribes glasses the second is an actual doctor.

Well, he does do eye tests and glasses and stuff, but I gather he is also a doctor, but specialising in the eyes. I'm not, I have to say, too clued up on his credentials, or the different types of eye doctor, and obviously he's sending me to my GP because it's a bit out of his scope, but I was talking to receptionist whilst I had my eye drops in and she was trying to reassure me by saying that he's a doctor, very knowledgeable, and if there's a problem, he's definitely the man to get to the bottom of it, so yeah, I don't think he's just: can you read out these letters.

[swajj]

If he is a doctor he will be called Dr (insert name) lol

Ophthalmologists don't usually prescribe glasses.

[worriermama]

Hi there! My mom had an eye bleed several years ago. Hers was discovered by the optometrist as well. When they saw it they kind of freaked out, sent her to the "real" eye doctor (ophthalmologist). Bottom line, she is fine and so is her vision. She does have glaucoma (not severe) but she already knew that and her pressure is often normal when she gets checked. Sometimes these things happen with no real obvious cause, or a minor, non-threatening one!

Let us know how the appointment goes but I really think you'll be just fine. I myself have had all kinds of mystery spots and splotches in my peripheral vision for almost ten years now. Doctors diagnosed idiopathic optic migraine. I don't even think that's a correct diagnosis, but who knows. The point is I thought I was going to blind for a long time and now I've just accepted that I see weird stuff in my peripheral vision and it's totally inconsequential. Had my retinas photographed and everything. Bodies are weird. Best of luck to you!

[Wilburis]

Hi

If he thought it was serious, you would have been sent straight up to the hospital.

Good luck xx

[Au101]

Well it, it didn't really go as well as I'd hoped, I collected a letter from my optician on my way do the doctor's, but the optician had apparently already phoned the surgery and he recommended an urgent referral to a neurologist for a brain scan, which my GP rubber stamped.

She said to me, you know, you can't not have the scan, because if there's something there, things will get very bad very quickly and we will need to act fast if, well, you know, in my words not hers, if there is something there (which there might not be) and if I want a good chance of coming out of this alright, I can't sit on my hands, so we need to have a look and we need to set my mind to rest, or begin treatment. But she also said, you know, it's very unlikely, she seemed to be taking the angle of, like, this may be serious, so it's important to find out, but it's very rare, it's probably nothing, we just need to get the neurologist involved and confirm that.

But equally, she didn't have a good alternative explanation. It could just be an anomaly, it could all be nothing, but what I don't have right now is a diagnosis of something - something mild and minor and not worth worrying about. It's either just one of those things, bodies are weird, everyone's different, or - or it's all a bit scary, really.

Having said all of that, doctors can be trigger happy, people go in for scans and tests and this and that all the time because something's a bit wrong here, or there's something funny there and it's nothing more often than not. But it's hard not to feel like all roads are leading to Rome.

She did tell me I probably didn't need to worry and she didn't seem to think I needed to be as scared as I was. But equally (maybe she was just feeling sorry for me), she didn't look too happy and she certainly agreed with the optician than an urgent referral to the neurologist was needed, which is pretty terrifying.

She was able to reassure me that, if there is something, we've probably caught it early, but there again, that's not quite as reassuring as, 'there's probably nothing there' ...

[Wilburis]

sorry to hear this.

How long will yo have to wait for the scan?

x