Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: Karen W. on 09/01/2011 02:24:40
-
I am sitting here with sudden very very blurred vision.. my eyes feel weird droopy almost and I slept great last night. I was fine all day but now in less then an hour... I can't see anything without very blurred vision? Does anyone know what to make of such a goofy thing?
I had some little sharp pains behind my right eyebal but only a second or two then they were gone.. Now nothing but fuzziness..Everything I type seems fuzzy etc... I don't get it! ???
-
A rapid change in vision or other sensations should prompt a call to 911 (or your corresponding emergency number) and a visit to the ER rather than a post on the internet.
You've reported in a recent post multiple heart attacks, as well as taking "blood thinners".
Keep in mind that your eyes are not only connected to the brain, but are essentially an extension of the brain.
BTW... You don't wear Toric Contacts do you? The inevitably go blurry after a nap.
-
I second what CliffordK has said: you should see a doctor as soon as possible.
A possible explanation for the sudden onset blurred vision and drooping eyelids is a thing called Horner’s syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horner_syndrome) which is a neurological problem. It can be caused by many things but one of them is aortic aneurysm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horner_syndrome#Causes), which you mentioned you had.
Essentials of ophthalmology
Neil J. Friedman, Peter K. Kaiser
Elsevier Health Sciences, 2007
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m-AMO4gkTtMC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55#v=onepage&q&f=false
-
Thanks you guys I will go see the Doctor tomorrow... The blurriness is still here but some less then before nevertheless, its still here and also a funny pressure at my temples and between my eyes....Kind of feels like my head after a treatment of nitroglycerin.....
I will see about getting to the Hospital tomorrow...
-
Go now rather than later...........
-
I feel fine except for the eyes and head pressure...its way cold outside and ice on the roads.. I really need to wait until morning....
Don't ya think it can wait?
-
"Don't ya think it can wait?"
No.
Go now.
-
A rapid change in vision or other sensations should prompt a call to 911 (or your corresponding emergency number) and a visit to the ER rather than a post on the internet.
You've reported in a recent post multiple heart attacks, as well as taking "blood thinners".
Keep in mind that your eyes are not only connected to the brain, but are essentially an extension of the brain.
BTW... You don't wear Toric Contacts do you? The inevitably go blurry after a nap.
I do not wear contacts, but do have astigmatisms in both eyes have two pair of glasses one for close up reading as well as one for distance...
I also have had swollen legs and feet now for about 5 days. The lasix is not keeping the swelling down.
-
GOTO EMERGENCY RIGHT NOW!!!!
-
Karen,
It has been a day or so...
How are you?
We all wish you well.
I think it was pretty unanimous. Any major & unexplained changes in vision, loss of sensation, movement & clumsiness, etc... should prompt an immediate doctor/hospital visit. Especially with a history of cardiac issues. There are many potential issues involved, but treatments improve every year, so what you may have assumed a decade ago may not be true now.
I'm not real familiar with Horner's Syndrome as mentioned, bit it apparently can be associated with some very very serious issues.
Anyway,
I hope everything has resolved itself, and you're feeling better.
----- Cliff -----
-
Thanks Guys and I appreciate it.. I am scheduled for some more tests today... I went yesterday as I slept for a couple daysnot on purpose but it just happened.. at least the all day thing.. I was groggy again yesterday but managed to go in.. She took some blood and scheduled some tests so hopefully today later I will know more but I am better as far as my swelling in my legs and ankles have gone down although I am still having some sight issues..not constant but off and on..I will post again after todays appointment... Thank you so much for the advice and I am grateful.. Talk to you soon...
-
I am currently back in ER.
I will let you know when I know anything.
-
OK.. I just got home I left for Hospital about 8:30 to 9:00 A.M., and just got home at about 6:20 PM. I talked with my doctor today again and this time she sent me to the ER...
They say they cannot rule out a stroke or heart attack...whatever that means... cat scan was okish? Chest ex-ray looked OK...lung was no change...been poked prodded..and starved.
She is sending a report to Stanford and sending me to an ophthalmologist who specializes in diseases of the eye....then have to go back to hospital if it worsens or has pain again....or more swollen legs and chest pain...with it..
c etc..
I am very relieved, but still don't know what to think about the unsure, to no, diagnosis at all thing....??? What does, "Can't rule out or say that you didn't have another heart attack or another stroke!" mean?
I asked and they just repeated it again...LOL So what am I supposed to make of that???
-
Good to see you back posting again. Its terrible when you get home and seem to know less than when you left for hospital. I have found most doctors will be happy to elaborate or explain by phone or message later ie "Doc you said X, Y and Z... I have thought about X and I still don't understand could you explain one more time please?"
-
The treatment 2 or 3 days after an event may be different than the treatment during an event.
Some of the anti-stroke medications require administration within an hour or so after the onset of the event (which is difficult even if you arrive at the hospital in a timely fashion).
Unfortunately the treatment would still depend on the cause... so an aneurysm or an intracranial hemorrhage would be treated differently than an arteriole occlusion.
The X-Ray Techs won't know a lot, and certainly won't be allowed to divulge their opinions, and the radiologist may not be hanging around the CT and MRI machines. Plus, the doctor may be somewhat quiet with a preliminary diagnosis if they are asking for an outside consult.
However, they wouldn't have let you go if they thought there was an immediate life or death situation either.
50?
Why are your legs swelling?
For how long? Years?
Kidney Problems? Dialysis?
How far away is the nearest teaching hospital? Stanford?
Can you just go directly there the next time?
Although, truthfully, you can get very good treatment and personal care in non-teaching hospitals.
Give it a couple of days, then follow up with your doctor.
-
The treatment 2 or 3 days after an event may be different than the treatment during an event.
Some of the anti-stroke medications require administration within an hour or so after the onset of the event (which is difficult even if you arrive at the hospital in a timely fashion).
Unfortunately the treatment would still depend on the cause... so an aneurysm or an intracranial hemorrhage would be treated differently than an arteriole occlusion.
The X-Ray Techs won't know a lot, and certainly won't be allowed to divulge their opinions, and the radiologist may not be hanging around the CT and MRI machines. Plus, the doctor may be somewhat quiet with a preliminary diagnosis if they are asking for an outside consult.
However, they wouldn't have let you go if they thought there was an immediate life or death situation either.
50?
Why are your legs swelling?
For how long? Years?
Kidney Problems? Dialysis?
How far away is the nearest teaching hospital? Stanford?
Can you just go directly there the next time?
Although, truthfully, you can get very good treatment and personal care in non-teaching hospitals.
Give it a couple of days, then follow up with your doctor.
Thanks.. for all your help...
Yes I am 50.
Been told its congestive heart failure then told kidneys failure and they seem to bounce me around in limbo as if they can't decide what exactly is going on in my body...except that it seems to be failing... I have a few Auto immune diseases that factor in, and have so many medical problems right now that it makes me quite literally dizzy!
The swelling was off and on since about 43 years old..has progressively gotten worse..
I have a chronically bad kidney.. which they tell me is failing but have no dialysis as of yet.. It has been feeling stable for a while which I hope is good.. Medication was causing some problems and I still keep having off and on kidney trouble according to labs..
Standford is 6 hrs away from me driving, but they are the closest, and they would fly me out in Emergency, but what I have been told, was that if my ascending aneurysm blows that I would bleed out in about 3 minutes.. now what I have read is not much better odds so unless I am in the hospital when it happens the likely hood is that I am gone..at least thats my take on it, Takes approximately ten minutes flying fast in a car to get to a crappy Hospital and 30 to get to one with a decent Cardiac wing and surgeons.. so either way I am not sure what the odds of making it to town will be.. does not seem good so I am opting for and hoping they repair before she blows, but they sure do make you wait a long time while you are miserable and in pain before they fix it...or them in my case..Then there is the other factors, I have to have all my valves replaced also.. they are planing to use flexon fabric to shore the whole aorta up with.. he said replace it, but then he explained that they would basically cover the whole thing inside and out with this.. and place it back into my chest attached to new valves in the heart.. They will also be making a left ventricle repair of some kind.. but Those are only if's, because my health has not been good and my immune system was shot .. but we have been working on strengthening all that.. 7 and 1/2 months of antibiotics then off for the last few months and now getting ready for another round of them again as the bacterias have come back...or at least so I am told..also been pumped full of vitamin D for several months and now on a daily maintenance dosage.. instead of large weekly doses..
You can search for congestive heart failure thread of mine, in the search box and find out more of the medical issues there. Look here in this physiology and medicine section...
-
Ok I know more now for a week or so. I went to Standford on the 20th. They did full workups and found some more bad things happening,, He said I am in Diastolic heart failure.. seems the rest thats supposed to be happening in the heart on the diastolic beat is not fully resting and thus is not allowing the blood to refill to be pumped back through... I am a bit confused about weather it is blood that should be built up and sent the the left ventricle or from the ventricle to aorta.. don't understand the order but that is it called diastolic heart failure. He says when my heart rate goes above 60 it is unable to function properly and between that and the faulty left ventricle and aorta.they are all involved in the process. I would like to know more about it.. The doctor is working on lowering blood pressure but it has basically stopped my exercise almost all together.. My resting heart rate is usually around 54 when it gets 60 I am beining to get uncomfortable and as it moves up serious problems start happening,,, He is trying med changes if the heart continues to try to stop then he will put me on a continual nitroglicerin regime to keep the arteries open and flowing.. He said the heart and aorta have become stiff from having to work so hard so the pumping action has all but stopped he described it as the muscle becoming hardened from over pumping or something like that.. The blood flow is terrible and the regurgitation is worse in bicuspid valve and aorta valve but all valves are leaky.. some not bad but some really not good.. any ways I have tests tomorrow then will see if I have to go back to Standford again this month or just wait for April 21st appointment.. I will let you all know...
-
Hi Karen
sorry to hear about this and that you are feeling poorly. It sounds like you have cardiac hypertrophy with fibrosis.
Essentially, a chronically leaky valve causes a bit of failure, which makes the muscle work harder to overcome the problem. The enlargement of the muscle is, in the long-term, associated with deposition of fibrous tissue, which makes the muscle tissue much stiffer. Hypertrophied muscle also has a much higher oxygen and hence blood flow demand, which can cause chest pain even with normal coronary arteries because the vessels just can't carry enough blood to keep the muscle supplied.
The deposition of fibrous tissue makes it much harder for the the heart to fill itself during the diastolic phase, which is the time between beats when the heart relaxes. Filling happens by blood flowing into the ventricle, which is largely passive but with a little bit of help from the atrium contracting.
In your case, it sounds as though the muscle has become so heavy and stiff that filling takes correspondingly longer because it's hard to expand a stiff ventricle; you might also have some valve stenosis (narrowing) - is that the case? Consequently, if your heart rate increases, there's too little time for the ventricle to fill adequately to pump enough blood out into the aorta.
Paradoxically, the body's response to this supply failure is to attempt to increase heart rate, which, in your case, can make the problem worse. Therefore, keeping the heart rate down should help to prevent you decompensating, hopefully.
What's the reason for the valve disease, if you don't mind me asking?
Chris
-
Hi Chris,
Thank you for a more extensive explanation that helps me understand better! I really appreciate it.
I did not see your post until this morning...He said I have bicuspid valve disease, as well as Aortic valve stenosis..Mitral valve stenosis. topped with regurgitation happening in all 4 of those valves. I have been diagnosed with of course High blood pressure, Aortic aneurysms, and connective tissue disease. I also have systemic Sclerederma, Hashimotos disease,small thyroid goiter, hernia, GERD, Ulcers, Arthritis both osteo, and Rheumatoid..I am also losing my ability to walk as well as the use of my left arm with the right one taking a slower progression...
I am wondering if you might have some suggestions about how to keep my heart rate down? This morning blood pressure was 160/100 with a 57 pulse and that was still in bed before I rose. rising the rate soared to 70 on the pulse rate just trying to get around the house??? I need to take more weight off but am really struggling to do so! I cannot seem to keep the heart rate down and under wraps...without lying in bed all day and then it is still not great!
-
Well I had another talk with my med. docs at Standford and it seems if my heart continues as it is doing that we will have to further discuss a pacemaker in April...we will see.
I will let you know more when I hear some more.. still no results from my last tests..
I had another test two weeks ago a special Igenics test for Lyme disease...I do not know the results yet or how long it takes to get a response back from the lab they had to fed ex the test to.