Purple blotches in vision

[Jataganac]

For two years I've had what I can describe as purple blotches in my vision starting from the periphery. They look like an afterglow from a camera flash that goes off in your face. When I blink, they show up quite clearly for a split second. I can also see them more clearly in the dark. They are always in the same place. They don't move, but they have grown bigger since initially seen two years ago. Initially, they manifested in the left eye only, but now they affect both of my eyes, with a particularly big one in my right eye, affecting a quarter of my vision.

I have been diagnosed with increased intraocular pressure managed by eye drops (Alphagan P and Ganfort). They seem to have started around the time I began taking Ganfort but I cannot say for sure. Prior to Ganfort, I was on Xalacom for a number of years.

I have been to a retina specialist who found nothing abormal with my retina. I had an ERG done as well as an OCT which were clear. I worry that these blotches will continue growing in size and that I will go blind. Does anyone else have a similar condition?

[CEELOCO]

Hey back in 2007 I had a severe eye infection and it caused this bluish purple splotch in the center of my eye. He had me come in he did a test and said it was fine. Then a year later he said I was borderline glaucomic and gave me some drops. A couple weeks later he took me off and said we would manage by checking with pressure tests. Since then I have so many. What to do a diabetic asking

[JohnHaganMD]

You are being followed as a glaucoma suspect. Is your eye doctor a MD ophthalmologist? I would suggest you find a Eye MD ophthalmologist that specializes in glaucoma and go in for a complete exam and determine if it is a problem. You may not need to many visits and tests. The eye infection would not be a cause of pressure in eye.

[CEELOCO]

Thank you yes sir he is Dr Smith from Hardwick eye center? Should I get a different Eye Doctor

[JohnHaganMD]

You might get at least a second opinion from another glaucoma specialist.

[CEELOCO]

Thanks you sir I will go to another thanks for your help

[JohnHaganMD]

If you have time and inclination post what you find out. It is helpful for others especially if cause found.

[JohnHaganMD]

The most likely explanation would be peripheral vision damage from glaucoma. Your glaucoma must be reasonably severe as you are taking 2 different drops with 3 different medicines in them.  Discuss with your glaucoma ophthalmologist. Ask her/him to show you your visual field test and see if you have arcuate scotomas that might be what you are seeing.

[Jataganac]

Hi John, many thanks for answering.

My visual field tests are perfect. I have no noted optic nerve damage from the glaucoma, with stable visual field results over the last ten years. My pressures are in high teens on my drops. The blotches in my vision are not opaque -- I can see through them.

[JohnHaganMD]

Visual field defects in glaucoma you can see through most of them. They are like hearing loss. you don't have to be totally deaf to have hearing loss and you don't have to have a total blindness in a scotoma for it to be present and not see as well as undamaged areas. I'm assuming your visual fields are tested on a modern instrument live a Humphrey VF machine and not older Goldman or tangent screen.

Since you've seen a retina specialist and hopefully your glaucoma physician is an Eye MD ophthalmologist (not an optometrist) you have two options: 1 continue with your glaucoma Eye MD and see if anything new develops or your symptoms change  2. Seek out a highly regarded neuro-ophthalmologist for a 3rd opinion.

[Jataganac]

Hi John Thank you for the follow up comment. I may seek out a consultation with a neuro-opthalmologist. Yes, it was a HFVA field everytime, and most were the more sensitive option with the blue light. I see an ophthalmologist, who is a glaucoma specialist here in Australia and he is not concerned about my symptoms and neither is my retinal specialist. I have also had regular scans of the back of the optic nerve which have not shown any differences over the last ten years. It's hard for me  to know who to turn to because my doctors are not conerned with my symptoms. But I know something must be causing them. Could syneresis cause my symptoms? They didn't identify this, however. I see these blothes when I close my eyes and look towards the light. I also see them if I apply gentle pressure to the eye.

[JohnHaganMD]

No syneresis just means vitreous gel turns into liquid gel as a normal aging change. I would not be concerned either if nothing changes given the tests you've had.

[Jataganac]

Unfortunately, it's hard not to be concerned when every time I blink I see these blotches. It's hard to ignore them, not to mention that they have increased in size since two years ago.