Seeking advice on a health issue....

[Dawg52]

For our medical members here.

Last night after having dinner with friends I came home and stretched out on my sofa and nodded off. I'm good at that. Only out for 15 minutes or so but when I woke up my vision was blurred. Changed the channel on the tv and same thing. My immediate thought was mini stroke but no numbness anywhere. I stood up and felt a little woozy but not close to falling down. Also felt a flush over my face and my pull over shirt got a little sweaty over the chest. Also got a tad nauseated. I figure I had an anxiety attack that contributed to some of the symptoms as the blurred vision scared me. I took an aspirin as a precaution. Oh yes....I took my BP and it was normal.

I thought about getting a friend to take me to ER but it was late and I started feeling normal too. Ten years or so ago I had a case of vertigo but never had vision problems. Just a spinning bed sensation. I'm wondering if this episode could be related to vertigo? No spinning bed however this time. Last summer(2017) I had an EKG done as I had some fatigued issues. That came out fine and the doc chalked it up to a bug of some kind. Took antibiotics and got my energy back shortly thereafter. I'm feeling pretty good today but not quite 100%.

Just looking for some thoughts. I have an appointment with the doc tomorrow. Time for annual blood work and a flu shot anyway.

 

[TwoByFour]

Weird stuff happens to me all the time. I write most of it off to aging. Or maybe the odd bug. Most of it self corrects in 24 hours and I forget it. If it last longer than a week I go to the drop in clinic. My wife has intermittent A-fib and even that self corrects and the ER cannot do anything much about. What you are describing does not sound like an emergency. Good luck!

 

[NW-Bound]

More and more people reporting old age related problems!

Hopefully, they are intermittent problems, and stay so for a while.

See my signature line below.

 

[Amethyst]

Dry eyes can cause blurry vision. Next time, try drinking a lot of water and using Blink or some other kind of artificial tears. If it doesn't get better, you may want to see an eye dr. (ophthalmologist - they are medical doctors).

 

[Rianne]

About 8 years ago, I was at work and my vision not only got blurry but a flash of bright lights and spinning dots. I immediately thought retina detachment. I announced what I was experiencing to fellow workers, thinking they'd drive me to ER. Two of them said, you're going to get a migraine in about an hour, very common symptoms. They were right. And everything turned out fine. Had a bad headache, that's all.

Fast forward 4 years. Sitting and having dinner with a friend and half of everything in vision went black, for several seconds. It was so strange. I made an appointment with an Ophthalmologist. Tested everything, she said I was fine.

I'm not a health professional, but weird pain comes and goes. I have no idea when it becomes serious. Often times, ER docs don't know either.

 

[eytonxav]

Maybe dry eyes, slept in funny position, ate something to cause a spike in blood sugar, etc.

When you say you do not quite feel 100% today, in what way?

 

[ShokWaveRider]

This happens to me all the time, not so much blurred vision, usually after bending down, but not straightening fast, just normally or after sitting for some time and getting up. I take a baby aspirin every day. I do not have chest pains so I figure it is old age. Sometimes it also happens after I have been doing some activity in the heat (Last time I was trimming some palm trees). I did pass out once after giving blood too. I try to make sure I am well hydrated, I think that is the real cause. I think as I get older I am more sensitive to de-hydration.

 

[HI Bill]

Seek professional medical advice. Immediately, if you haven't. I had branch retinal vein occlusion in my eye (blood clot) that caused vision problems. I would worry about an aneurism, but I'm not a doctor. Any headaches?

 

[mhk7]

I would have my carotid arteries checked if my vision started acting up especially "half of everything in vision went black"...

 

[kaneohe]

Not quite what you describe but perhaps related? https://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/ocular-migraine.htm

In my case, I couldn't see the top of the screen......like something shading part of vision.......was afraid of retinal detachment ......but after 20-30 min. ,it went away. Went to doc anyway......ocular migraine suspected, no problems found; a transient problem, cause not known, continue w/ life.

 

[Dawg52]

About 8 years ago, I was at work and my vision not only got blurry but a flash of bright lights and spinning dots. I immediately thought retina detachment.

I had flashing lights several years ago too. Eye doc basically said part of aging and that I had no problems. Don't think my problem yesterday was due to bad dry eyes but they do get dry sometimes. I could have been a little dehydrated so have been drinking more water today. As far as headaches go, just a minor sinus type.

Feel close to normal now. Even set up a new tv that arrived today. Perhaps it was just one of those things geezers experience. But will see the doc tomorrow for my annual physical and will discuss the event.

 

[Bamaman]

My wife is a Medical Technologist with 20 years experience. I ran your symptoms past her, and she said you might have had a small heart attack. But of course she is not a doctor.

I just hope the physician you are going to is very good at what they do. They are not all created equal.

 

[38Chevy454]

A

Fast forward 4 years. Sitting and having dinner with a friend and half of everything in vision went black, for several seconds. It was so strange. I made an appointment with an Ophthalmologist. Tested everything, she said I was fine.

I have had the same, lose all vision in one of my eyes, it just goes black. Look in mirror with good eye and the other looks to be fine, just no vision. Lasted about a minute or two, then as vision started to come back it was like reversal of the loss of vision. Optometrist said it was an opthamolic migraine.

 

[audreyh1]

An EKG will show if your heart had a recent bad event. Apparently the heart muscle has some memory.

Our PCP did a quick check on DH with a small portable one after he reported a intense irregular heartbeat episode. Said she could see there hadn’t been anything serious.

DH has had occasional pre-beat in the past - not dangerous, just feel weird. Avoiding caffeine seems to keep it away.

 

[MRG]

I've never had my eyes do that but anxiety and panic can do some pretty bizarre things.

Good luck in getting to the cause.

 

[easysurfer]

What did you have for dinner? I'm serious.

There been times in the past I had meals that had way too much sodium and that gave me bouts of vertigo that lasted for days. Now I'm very aware of not having too much sodium and drink plenty of water every day.

 

[simple girl]

Glad you are seeing the doctor. Blurred vision can be due to a problem with the eyes or in the brain. If you did not have a spinning sensation the chance that this is benign vertigo goes down.

Do get checked for a possible TIA. Best wishes!

 

[Dawg52]

An EKG will show if your heart had a recent bad event. Apparently the heart muscle has some memory.

Our PCP did a quick check on DH with a small portable one after he reported a intense irregular heartbeat episode. Said she could see there hadn’t been anything serious.

DH has had occasional pre-beat in the past - not dangerous, just feel weird. Avoiding caffeine seems to keep it away.

I feel sure he will run an EKG. If not, I'm going to suggest it. Caffeine has caused my heart to race over the years. I'm going to get back on decafe products.

What did you have for dinner? I'm serious.

There been times in the past I had meals that had way too much sodium and that gave me bouts of vertigo that lasted for days. Now I'm very aware of not having too much sodium and drink plenty of water every day.

Had a burger and beer. Not the healthiest dinner but don't do this everyday.

Glad you are seeing the doctor. Blurred vision can be due to a problem with the eyes or in the brain. If you did not have a spinning sensation the chance that this is benign vertigo goes down.

Do get checked for a possible TIA. Best wishes!

TIA was my original thought. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Rianne]

My wife is a Medical Technologist with 20 years experience. I ran your symptoms past her, and she said you might have had a small heart attack. But of course she is not a doctor.

I just hope the physician you are going to is very good at what they do. They are not all created equal.

Maybe if a doc or RE doc is in this forum, I don't know if this is true but I've thought it for a long time.
We all have small heart attacks or strokes throughout our life (small). But the benefit is that creates more pathways or blood vessels to and from your heart and brain, provided not a big event, that's totally different. In a sense that's good.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Rianne, from what I have read that would be bad news because even small ones cause damage.

 

[O2Bfree]

I had an ocular migraine once, of the scintillating scotoma type. It was accompanied by slight dizziness, sweating, mild nausea, and some fatigue afterwards. That was several years ago, and I haven't had anything like it since. I have had my eyes checked several times since then, and they're fine. Just one of those things I guess.

 

[Marita40]

I had a sudden glaucoma incident that caused vision loss, nausea, and headache 8 years ago. Came out the blue, and I had never had it before. I didn't know what it was. I have been on eye drops since that time and regularly get pressure checked.

 

[Dawg52]

Doc ran a lot of blood work and did an EKG. The EKG came out ok so didn't see a need to do a stress test at this time. But if enzyme markers come back out of whack will then have me do one. He wasn't ready to chalk my problem up to vertigo but said it was possible. He is also setting up an appointment for me to see a neurologist which will probably lead to an MRI. Wants to eliminate a TIA as a possibility. Overall he is thinking I'm ok but that the blurriness justifies a further look see.

Guess my $10k ins deductible is finally going to bite me in the rump. Ha.

 

[jim584672]

I had an ocular migraine once, of the scintillating scotoma type. It was accompanied by slight dizziness, sweating, mild nausea, and some fatigue afterwards. That was several years ago, and I haven't had anything like it since. I have had my eyes checked several times since then, and they're fine. Just one of those things I guess.

I had one of those, very scary, I though I was stroking out.

 

[simple girl]

Doc ran a lot of blood work and did an EKG. The EKG came out ok so didn't see a need to do a stress test at this time. But if enzyme markers come back out of whack will then have me do one. He wasn't ready to chalk my problem up to vertigo but said it was possible. He is also setting up an appointment for me to see a neurologist which will probably lead to an MRI. Wants to eliminate a TIA as a possibility. Overall he is thinking I'm ok but that the blurriness justifies a further look see.

Guess my $10k ins deductible is finally going to bite me in the rump. Ha.

Glad you are pursuing full diagnosis despite the $10K deductible...it hurts for sure hitting that! Aw well, we do what we gotta do. I thought for sure I wasn't going to hit my deductible again this year...nope...gotta have another surgery. Argh!