Autoimmune disorder affecting vision
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I've been experiencing visual problems like blurring, spots, dimming, and like non existing areas in visual field. This has happened a few times within the past ten years. It comes in episodes, and last for several months then I go into almost complete remission. I've been dealing with this episode for nines months now, and it's worse then ever. I've have a very extensive eye exam and neurological work up and no explanation. My doctor did discover iron deficiency anemia with no explanation. Also slightly elevated c reactive protein and esr levels. From what I understand this does indicate autoimmune disease. Does anybody have any experience with this? I'm really lost and scared.
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pmorgan7 tyler04178
Posted
Tyler, Re elevated ESR & CRP (inflammation markers) Ask your Opthamologist to look into retroperitoneal fibrosclerosis. You might also see a rheumatologist and/or ask for abdominal & pelvic scan (MRI to minimize radiation exposure) w/contrast looking for Retroperitoneal Fibrosis around the aorta.
above as discussed in
Bilateral recurrent orbital inflammation associated
with retroperitoneal fibrosclerosis &
Orbital involvement in multifocal fibrosclerosis Maria Kyhn
Idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis presenting with recurrent bilateral uveitis
Babazaga tyler04178
Posted
How elevated is the ESR and C-reactive protein? Can I assume GCA has been considered and ruled out? The other possibility might be migraines. To the best of my knowledge, I never had migraines until recently---after coming off 18 months of Prednisone for GCA . A migraine can manifest itself in forms other than the best known terrible one requiring a dark room and hours and hours of misery. They can be far more subtle and caused by various foods and chemicals---food additives like MSG, sulphites, nitrates, nitrites et al as well as stress. And they do have the vision "holes"---seeing part of something and sparkles.
Hope you figure it out. Vision problems can be frightening and nothing to put off.
Good luck.