Neuritis nervi optici (Latin)
Symptoms
The main symptom of optic neuritis is a visual disturbance in which the decrease in visual acuity (loss of visual acuity) occurs suddenly. This deterioration in vision can occur particularly in multiple sclerosis as a result of a warming of the body, for example after strenuous physical activity, after a hot bath or a hot shower. Patients also suffer from visual field failures (scotomas), in which parts of the normal visual field can no longer be perceived and are seen, for example, as black-gray patches. Click here for the main article: Blurred vision – What is behind it?
General information
If retrobulbar neuritis exists, a feeling of pressure and pain behind the eye can also be perceived. The pain then increases with eye movement, since the optic nerve at its exit point from the eyeball into the cranial cavity is always stretched minimally and thus becomes irritated. One of the most common initial symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) is inflammation of the optic nerve of an eye.
This inflammation of the optic nerve occurs in about 20 – 30% of MS cases. In up to 80% of all patients who have ever had inflammation of the optic nerve of one eye, other symptoms of multiple sclerosis develop in the following 15 years. However, if both eyes and not only one eye are affected by the inflammation of the optic nerve, it is very unlikely that multiple sclerosis will develop in the course of the disease.
Typical early symptoms of multiple sclerosis are unspecific complaints, which are therefore difficult to classify at first and thus make early diagnosis difficult. These symptoms include general fatigue, reduced performance and easily triggered states of exhaustion. Emotional disturbances often occur relatively early on, which can manifest themselves as a disturbance in the perception of temperature, a feeling of heat or wetness on the surface of the body, as limbs that have fallen asleep, a tingling sensation (“formication”) or pinpricks.
Perception disorders such as “bandaged limbs”, “belt feeling” of constriction in the middle of the body or “armor around the chest” are typical. Often, the sensation of vibration or the sense of position (orientation in space, dizziness) is also affected in MS patients, causing slight swaying and tumbling movements even in the early stages of MS. Even rotational vertigo is possible in the more severe cases.
About one third of MS patients feel current-like jolts along the spine when bending their head. In addition, in the early stages of multiple sclerosis, a disturbance of the bladder function can occur several times an hour, which manifests itself as an obsessive urge to urinate. In the course of the disease, the dysfunction develops into a voiding disorder, which can lead to incontinence or urinary retention.
