Ophthalmologist | March 2017
So yesterday I went to an ophthalmologist, which is an eye doctor that is a step or two above optician (normal eyeglass doctors) and a step below eye surgeon. As we know (or will know when I update my Tumblr properly), I have health problems aplenty and my primary care doctor/physician (PCP) recommended my eyes get checked because I have photo sensitivity (lights are bright yo) incredibly often, I get nauseous a lot, and I see shapes/flashing lights. My past psychologists (both clinical and hospital) almost all agree that the seeing things isn't really psychosis (which is what I was told in my youth) but they don’t really know what it is either? Regardless, I go this appointment and they do the stuff with the dilate, and drops, and shine a bright light in your eye for what feels like forever. The doctor, who shall be “A” because there are more doctors, is all like:
"Your vision is perfect. Who ever prescribed you reading glasses did it for the money, you should have never gotten those. And who ever told you to get cheaters in middle school for headaches doesn't know what they are talking about. Also, your astigmatism isn't even bad enough to be called that or affect your eyesight."
She starts asking other questions and about the headaches and at some point she's like:
"Wait, do you see shapes at the same time as flashing lights? At the same time as headaches? And while nauseous?"
And like the casual I am I told her yes, as if it was no big deal. I've been trying to get eye and headache stuff checked since as early as 2006 but it’s one of those things that past doctors just brushed under the rug. Doctor A, however, goes into a mini panic attack due to my casualness and pelts questions about how long this has been going.
Of course ‘years’ was an even more worrisome and insufficient answer and I try doing math as she looks at me with a professional sort of bewilderment. I start thinking back to 2009 where I noticed vision blurring, headaches not really starting until 2012/2013 while in college, and not becoming nauseous from it untill 2014/2015. Mother and I tell her about concussions in high school and the non-treatment I got for them and Doctor A all like:
"You could have retinal damage! You could have nerve damage! It's amazing you haven't gone blind!!"
Doctor A begins to do a second test, to double check what she saw, as Doctor C walks by. Doctor A grabs her and in a pseudo whisper tells Doctor C what I've said. Both doctors look towards me in panic while Mother and I are wonder if this is what doctors who are are like. We soon find out that Doctor C. is a Neuro-Ophthalmologist and is concerned enough to check my eyes today after her current appointment. In the meantime Mother and I sit in a waiting room half wondering just how bad things have gotten.
Now remember, a primary complaint of mine is photo-sensitivity that causes nausea and headaches. Another Doctor, Doctor B, comes and grabs Mother and I from waiting room and proceeds to start yet another eye-exam. She doesn’t do the entire exam, but just the part where I have to stare directly into a light for several minutes as she looks inside. She doesn’t really say much, just shaking her head, until Doctor C, the Neuro-Ophthalmologist, comes in. Doctor C begins to do the exact same exam as Doctor B, while going back and worth with Doctor C. It’s all medical jargon and the two doctors seem to confirm on a same diagnosis and make their notes, before turning to Mother and I. The new diagnosis? Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, commonly shortened to IIH.
Now, I am not one hundred percent sure how this disorder works, but from what I gather pressure from the lumbar region gets pushed into my cranium, which in turn puts pressure on my retinal nerve (or something) which will swell. This swelling can cause headaches, nausea, sharp pain behind eyes and potentially blindness due to damage from the nerve swelling. What causes this disorder? From what I understand, nothing? They tell me its more common in women during “childbearing years”, especially if overweight or if they gain a large amount of weight quickly. Now what to do about this?
I am being prescribed a new medication (of which I don’t know because my pharmacy was out of stock) that has common side effects of tingling sensations in fingers, toes, nose, and mouth. Something like the beginning of a heart attack or a seizure (something I have to be aware of), or the feeling before my legs or back give out. This is even particularity worrisome for me as I already have tremors due to a separate medication that I take, and I fear that tingling fingers with tremors would further render me dependent on others. This new medication is also a diuretic and while Doctor C joked that it would help with weight loss, I internally cried at the idea because I'm already at constant threat of dehydration due to other medications causing dehydration, being lactose-intolerant, and now possibly diagnosed with IBS or a Dairy-allergy (we still waiting on those diagnosis). Along with this medication, I am being schedule for a MRI, a Field Vision Test, and a Spinal Tap (which Doctor C referred to as a Lumbar Puncture, as if it needed help being scarier). These will (1) confirm that things are not doing what they should be and (2) will serve as a baseline so that this could be monitored throughout my life. Good news about the spinal tap, there’s no avoiding it and common side effects from it include the inability to lay down for two-ish days, large amounts of pain day off, and worst headache/migraines ever for up to five days. Never mind, that wasn’t good news.
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