My Story: Dealing with Doctors, Optic Neuritis, and the Effects of High Dose Steroids

It was March 8, 2010 when I knew there was a problem…  I was starting to lose the peripheral vision in my right eye.  Crap…  So NOT what I wanted to be dealing with again.  I knew that I was starting to have a flare of Optic Neuritis, because ten years earlier I had the same problem with my LEFT Eye.

Ten years ago the protocol for Optic Neuritis was 250 mg of steroids by IV every 6 hours for 3 days, then oral prednisone starting at 200mg and tapering to 0mg within 30 days.

I ran this therapy and it worked like a charm to restore my vision, BUT in the process I gained a ton of weight (went from a size 6 to a size 16-18), was super-puffy and bloated with a serious prednisone “moon face� (along with the added side effects of no sleep and psychotic emotional behavior.)

I was told the first time this happened that Optic Neuritis is usually a sign that you have Lupus or M.S. but based on my MRI results, neither of these diagnoses  were given to me.  Instead I was told that it was “stress� related.  Keep my stress level under control and you’ll probably never have another episode.  OK-GREAT!

Then within a year, I had a second episode.