Should I be stressing out? Have had headaches for 3 months or so, hence eye test to check the prescription. Cranial hypertension was mentioned, googling it has not helped with worrying....he mentioneda spinal tap.....dropped in the letter to gp surgery so waiting on a call or letter.
Anyone had this and it turned out to be a bit of a false alarm and a lot of worry for nothing?
Don't stress as you've made the first steps to getting it sorted, and hopefully you're in good hands. Excess fluid can put pressure on the optic nerve, sometimes leading to patches of vision being lost, not so often an overall blurring so far as I know, though it's not really my area. Did you do a fields test (looking for little flashing lights) and did it show missing patches of vision?
Good luck
Didn't see results of field test but he said it was okay. He did say he expects it will be fine and if he'd been really worried I'd be leaving in an ambulance. Googling has worried me lots
He did say he expects it will be fine and if he'd been really worried I'd be leaving in an ambulance.
this.
Blurred optic nerves? Do you mean your vision is blurred? Have you had attacks of visual disturbance (floating, sparkles, tunnel vision)? You mention cranial hypertension. Was elevated pressure in your eyes mentioned? Any history of glaucoma or diabetes in the family? Any comment on the health of optic nerves?
Dear DT78,
Ophthalmologist here. Sounds like optician concerned you have swollen optic nerves which can indicate raised pressure in the head.
First thing is don't panic but you should be seen by an ophthalmologist ASAP I.e today if not done so already. They will have a look and decide if they agree or whether you are simply one of the many people whose nerves look swollen just because of the way you are or whether they are genuinely swollen. If they are concerned they will arrange a scan, most likely a CT in the first instance and then if that is OK potentially a lumbar puncture as that will measure pressure directly.
We see many of these referrals every day (particularly since the case of the optician Honey Rose) and very rarely anything nasty.
PM me if you want any further advice.
Kind regards,
Miles
*bookmarks Miles for future reference*
Don't worry OP, as said above this is how the system works, probably nothing to worry about but getting it checked means if there is a probablem it's caught early & can be dealt with.
Google is not alwsys your friend if you want to avoid anxiety (don't google that either!)
wish we could get that level of service here... local Hospital emergency eye service triaged one of my patients with significant distortion on Amsler as "see in a week". I told them to get on a train to Moorfields 🙁
Thanks for the comments. Yes he talked about pressure in the skull and showed me a normal picture of an optic nerve vs mine which was blurry. Sight tested okay with a very minor shift in prescription. He didn't refer me direct as I had to drop the letter into the GP. The receptionist was as useful as a chocolate teapot. I will be calling an hasselling them today with what should be happening next. Do eye units accept people just turning up with referrals from opticians? (would be Southampton general if that helps)
Google is not alwsys your friend if you want to avoid anxiety
+1
I had an optic nerve issue a few years ago. My obsessive use of google had me convinced I was about to end up in a wheelchair.
Step away from the search engine.
+2 on staying away from google.
if you do end up having to have something done then still don't panic. I had a tumour removed last year that was getting near that nerve and the whole thing scared the hell out of me. eyesight is better than before now and no lasting effects. amazing what they can do (and that was Southampton)
I would be taking the Ophthalmologist advice.
but you should be seen by an ophthalmologist ASAP
In reality that means turning up at a good A&E department, giving your symptoms (without saying you have been referred to your GP).
I would be going today too.
Well I chased my GP this morning, was asked to call back this afternoon, chased again and was told it is with the GP to dictate a referral and I would hear from the GP in due course. Complete refusal to give any timescales as to when this referral would happen or when I would hear anything, no commitment to this being done today. Would not comment on whether I should go to A&E. Even threatened a formal complaint as to no progress or timescales 24hrs after a 'urgent' referral has been handed still no commitment.
Is this usual behaviour?
I don't want to head down to A&E sit there for 5+ hours only to be told I should go to my GP to be referred....
Who can I talk to help with this?
Miles - I've dropped you a pm.
I got referred from Boots opticians. They sent me up to the hospital from the eye exam.
I was told at a sight test to get something checked out, I cannot remember exactly but something like scratches or marks on the retina.
Anyway, I am insured so went to an eye surgeon who said all was ok. I am not in UK though, no idea if you can just walk into a private eye doctors in UK but in Spain if you can pay you can.
[b]DT78[/b]
Respecting my more knowledgable colleague's opinion... but...
If the optometrist/optician thought you should be seen [b]immediately [/b] or in the next 24 hours, they [i]should [/i]have sent you direct to the on-call ophthalmologist which they absolutely can do. By not doing so, they have set the pace... There are some opticians who seem to be pretty lazy about sorting things out themselves though.
Your GP will add no value in looking at your eye, but they might wish to get an urgent CT scan of your head which is what you may need... But in most optician initiated eye referraals we are a pointless step.
If you have a headache or nausea or any other symptoms which is worse first thing in the morning, or when you are lying down or cough and sneeze, I'd be seeing your GP urgently face to face.
Even if the GP has referred you immediately you may find that your local eye department triages this differently from the expert above.
Personally I would turn up at A&E it's the quickest way to get seen by the correct people.
Yes I know there are correct referral paths etc but A&E is the best way to get an answer on not wasting resource as you will be using those same resources at a later date.
Go in the day time when there is likely to be ophthalmology cover
+1 for this scenario - which could have been avoided by the optician... 🙁
On the advice of Miles phoned the eye unit direct and have an appointment booked in for tomorrow afternoon.
Lady I spoke to was very helpful
Let's hope a 48 HR delay makes no difference and it is all a bit of fuss over nothing
Curious what the outcome of this was. Hopefully nothing too bad.
I spent a few hours up at the hospital. the medical staff are really good once you can get past the system and the admins who couldn't give a shit.
Various pretty uncomfortable tests show in within normal ranges (well one peak on the graph outside but the chap said that was fine). Optic nerve ok in his opinion. Tapping around on my forehead is very painful so sent me up to ENT to get checked out. More tests, camera up the nose (not comfortable) shows nothing, which is interesting as current GP prescription is for sinusitus. Tension headaches mentioned as potential cause plus stop taking painkillers everyday (I've had continuous headaches for 4 months).
So several things ruled out, slightly less worried it isn't something like a brain tumour (chap at work died from one a month or so ago, my age, 2 young kids freaked me out)
Still have a massive headache, crap nights sleep and sore eyes this morning though....