The nystagmus is what presents but it doesn't, in and of itself, relate the cause, rather like saying diplopia doesn't tell you the 'whys'. It can be congenital, the result of injury, toxicity, etc.
When I presented with it, it was in conjunction with my presenting sign: unilateral internuclear opthalmoplegia. In other words, a lesion on my brain stem affected my ability to effect conjugate gaze. Their adduction was not synced. In other words, my party trick for a little while was two eyes looking utterly different directions. My right eye was "stuck" and the energy put into trying to make it move cause the left eye to "flicker" as it moved too much. Voila. Nystagmus and diplopia.
Acquired Nystagmus is a big arrow pointing towards neurological as a potential causation but alone it doesn't really tell you much more than that, added to other neurological signs, test results etc makes it more specific to causation.
The most common visual signs/sx's associated with MS are ON, Nystagmus, diplopia (in that order) there are others but those are the top 3 off the top of my head.
I'd actually had intermittent periods of blurred vision for years and nothing ever showed up in the general eye tests. My first OCT was unilaterally abnormal (pale disc) but visual just slightly off in that eye so didn't warrant glasses and since eye pressure was normal that was it until anything changed. Nystagmus and diplopia was more obvious with my big of 09 but my vision had been becoming more of a problem for about 3 years prior.
After 09 my vision has stayed double though more overlapping than clearly double, i basically see a different alphabet now.... H = #, V = W, lol numbers are often hit and miss working them out. The double does separate into more obvious double, which is when people have extra facial features eg eyes on their forehead etc. My eyeball wobbling is often noticeable to others now but it didn't use to be, peripheral gaze makes my eyeball really jerks about, drives me nuts trying to fall asleep sometimes, fatigue and heat seems to make it all worse.
Funny but the other night, it was late and i couldn't get to sleep so i was just laying there and looking at the flat screen on the bedroom wall. For the life of me I couldn't work out what the two little bouncing red lights were, puzzled over what they were for awhile before the penny dropped lol
I've got a few good research articles on visual issues if you like them, just let me know :D
Cheers.............JJ
Hi Kelly -
Nystagmus does effect what you see but it is not a "vision" problem :-) Nystagmus is caused by problems with the muscles that control your eye movement, rather than problems with your eyes themselves. The nerve pathways that transmit info from your brain to these muscles are interrupted by lesions. The messages they transmit get corrupted and your eyes move erratically.
It is pretty common among PWMS. Nystagmus is a daily part of my morning. For the first few minutes every time I wake, either first thing or from a nap, I see double. Once I've been up for a bit it clears.
Kyle
I've had optic neuritis 3 times. And they say that I have pale discs. I was just glancing/resting my eyes looking at the blinds in another doctor's office and was wondering why the blinds were moving & then looked at the sides, and the sides of the window were moving as well. Turns out they weren't. It was my eyes playing tricks on me - I guess the nystagmus.
It sounds like Nystagmus if the image was giggling or moving about. I should point out that diplopia (double) and Nystagmus are actually 2 separate eye movement disorders.
"Sometimes nystagmus can accompany INO, but it can also be due to any type of MS attack in the vestibular or inner ear part of the brainstem, or to the cerebellum, which is our coordination center. The nystagmus may be visible when the person is looking straight ahead, but sometimes is only present when the person is looking off to the side, up, or down. If the nystagmus is very mild, it may only be perceptible while using an ophthalmoscope."
http://www.msfocus.org/article-details.aspx?articleID=808
"Gaze evoked nystagmus, a jerk nystagmus present only on eccentric gaze but not in the primary position, is commonly seen and has limited localising value. Bilateral horizontal and vertical gaze evoked nystagmus commonly occurs with structural brainstem and cerebellar lesions, diffuse metabolic disorder, and drug intoxication."
http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/75/suppl_4/iv24.full
I actually like this article....
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1214270-overview - because it basically covers all the visual sx's of MS but doesn't boggle your mind with too many mind boggling details.
Cheers.......JJ
As far as I understand it, optic neuritis and nystagmus in MS are unrelated to each other. Optic neuritis caused by inflammation/lesions of the optic nerve, nystagmus caused by inflammation/lesions of the cranial nerves that innervate the muscles controlling eye movement, as explained above.
The way you described the blinds 'moving' sounds exactly like the effect that nystagmus can have on your visual perception.
btw, immisceo, I had exactly the problem you had. ugh. Hope it never returns.
Thanks guys. All so very helpful. :-)
Oscillopsia
Checkk that out too.
Beside your eye moving thiss condition sees things move of your vision as oppose to eye actually moving.
I hope it goes awway for you.ake care Amo