My Blurry Right Eye and Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR) Experience
This image, from Wikipedia, shows what I have.
It’s been a little more than 5 weeks since my vision in my right eye went blurry.
In this post, beyond telling the story, I want to document what’s happening for future reference. So bare with me if I get a bit too detailed.
The blurriness on my right eye, as I recall, became apparent in a matter of days. Since starting working at Snaptech Marketing I’ve been staring at a screen more than usual so I thought I was just straining my eyes.
The First Optometrist: Dr. Gandham (Feb 16th, 2010)
On February 16th, a couple of days after first noticing the blurriness and it was obvious this was not normal, I went to the optometrist. I told Dr. Gandham the reason for coming in was my blurry right eye. He did the routine check, dilated my pupils and used the stereotypical equipment to look inside my eye.
“Your eyes are totally healthy”, he said. He then tested my vision and, indeed; I needed glasses. So I left the doctor’s office with my new prescription. I didn’t buy the glasses because I wanted to shop around. It was my chance to look intellectual and I wasn’t going to blow it with the first pair that crossed me.
So I took my time.
The Second Optometrist: Dr. Danielson (Feb 18th, 2010)
Two days later after Dr. Gandham I was definitely sure this was not an regular “you need glasses” case. My vision was blurry right in the middle of my sight. If I looked a few inches to the right of the screen I could see things clearly. But once I looked back, the blurriness followed.
My peripherals were working fine, it was the centre, middle, bulls-eye vision that was blurry.
At this point I decided to go back to the doctor and op-in for that retinal colour picture. It was an extra $45 so I told Dr. Ghandam to take it if necessary.
Dr. Denielson, a older and more boring looking guy, took me in and took the pictures. “Your eyes look healthy…” But when he tested my vision he said that I couldn’t see 20/40 and agreed that it wasn’t normal. So eye send me to the “eye-surgeon”.
I don’t know about you, but if an optometrist tells me I need to go to the “eye-surgeon”, my first thought is “surgery”. That’s what “surgeon” means, right?!
So I got an appointment to what I thought was take my eye out.
The Third Optometrist: Me
After that prognosis I did what most people, smart and stupid, would do: research the Internet… After reading a few posts talking about similar symptoms, I was worried I had ocular herpes.
…I’ll stop right there.
The Eye Surgeon: Dr. Boyd (Feb 22nd, 2010)
Dr. Danielson referred me to Dr. Boyd, whom he labeled as, “The Eye Surgeon”…
In preparation for what I thought was going to be eye surgery, I researched Dr. Boyd on RateMds.com. Most people had bad things to say, he was rude, impatient, impolite… To which I thought, “Great! This guy is the Dr. House of eyes!” After all, no one had complained about anything but personality. (…and I wanted to convince myself that this guy was good).
So I got to Dr. Boyd’s, he dilates pupils, looks into my eye “hmmmm… I think you have a little bit of swelling there…”.
Okay, first of all, this was a blow to my respect for the first two doctors. How can Dr. Boyd see the swelling in the first 5 seconds looking into my eye, using the same instruments as the first two?! (Perhaps he really is the Dr. House of eyes).
Dr. Boyd explains that I have “Choroidopathy”, also known as “Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR)” or just “Retinopathy”.
This condition’s causes are unknown but there’s a connection between CSR and stress or Type A personalities. I’m not Type A, that’s for sure. But maybe I was stressed.
(All this happened amidst the end of my probation period at work, a breakup, and refinancing my apartment. But I didn’t feel stressed. Perhaps I wasn’t listening to my body. Perhaps I’m not listening now, because it’s not going away yet. )
Treatment? Walk it off! Chances of recovery are excellent, according to the doctors and everyone I ask, but it can up to 2 months. I’ve already passed the one month mark, so I hope this goes away in the following days.
Today
I just came back from another optometrist who fitted me with contact lenses, Dr. Ho (Metrotown). I’ve been reluctant to buy lenses because the prescription on my right eye is uncertain. But I’ll buy a cheap pair from clearlycontacts.ca and go from there.
…a few months later, in June.
All is back to normal. They were a scary few weeks, but all is good now.
I kept the lenses thought, it turns out that my left eye is the bad one. Not a huge difference, but I do see more comfortably with glasses especially when reading or looking at the computer.
The End…
…so I thought.
Update: April 6th, 2011 (One Year Later)
Mother%@#&$!… it’s coming back - same eye. The blurriness is not as defined as last year, but is not as strong either.
I’m not sure why. They say CSR is related to stress, and I am under relatively high stress, but not nearly as most people around me.
A year ago, when it first came about, I also thought to myself, “man, I know I’m a bit stressed… ending a relationship and work pressure, but if this is stressful enough to get an eye blister, all non-millionaire parents would be blind…”
There is one suspect, though. Both times I was from being with someone to being alone, which made me crank my work out routine. Every time I do that, I start drinking protein shakes almost daily.
My suspect, the protein supplement. I’ll give you of the supplement, which hasn’t changed in the the last two years since I don’t drink it regularly.
It might be a bit far fetched, but it’s all I have now.
Second Visit: Dr. Boyd (May 31st, 2011)
I managed to go to my local walk-in clinic and get a referral for Dr. Boyd as I knew what was wrong. After a few questions, the family doctor referred me. Though I think just wanted to get rid of me.
Once in Dr. Boyd’s office he was a bit puzzled about (a) why a family doctor referred me so easily and (b) why was I there.
I’ve been using this post as a diary and I forgot an key entry, “Dr. Chui”. Boyd referred me to Chui, she was the specialist for “the back” of the eye.
So after a couple of minutes, I was making another appointment with Dr. Chui.
Dr. Lica Chui (July 13th)
I actually saw Dr. Lica Chui last week, but let’s consolidate entries here. She remembered me. But just because I didn’t cancel my appointment after getting better last year :(
Today I had an appointment with the UBC VGH Eye Care Center in Vancouver. They did a fluorescein angiogram. The nurse recognized me from last year. He said, “I remember you from last year. You passed out, right?” I guess it’s good to be memorable like that.
Anywho, after the angiogram I went straight to Dr. Chui’s. She loads the pictures on her computer and explains what’s happening and that we could laser the area since is far away from the optic nerve.
I thought she was just being hypothetical. No, she meant right now.
Laser Time
I had to decide right there if I wanted the laser. At first I said no because of the risk. But then Lica told me that the other risk is that I’ve had the CSR for 4 months now and that having water there for so long might affect my vision permanently. (And now I’m closing my eye as I type, self-conscious).
Then I said yes.
We went to a different room and she took what it looked like a contact lens attached to a small magnifying glass, put some gel on the contact lens-looking part and stuck it on my eye. She then said the good ol’ “look straight”. As I obliged I saw green flashes. like 1 every 3-5 seconds. After 10 flashes or so, it was done.
My vision is still the same. But theoretically it will go back to normal in a few weeks as the leak is sealed. Let’s see.
…this post just got super long, eh?
Dr. Lica Chui (November 10th, 2011)
The laser worked!
I went to my follow up appointment and to make sure everything was good and, well, everything was good! I was also able to get my eye images, photos, pictures (I’m not sure what would be the technical name for it). So I’ll be posting them here in the next few weeks.
Dr. Lica Chui (June 6th, 2012)
Just a follow up…
My vision has been good since the last year. The laser seemed to work as expected, and we all live happily ever after… that was “ending A’.
What actually happened? Dr. Chui looked at my eyes and there’s some fluid in there… Well, F%$#!
The “spill” it’s not near the area that affects my vision, that’s why my vision is not affected. But has to be dealt with nonetheless. I can only assume it would be a matter of time before it get to my affected area.
Now I have to go get another fluorescein angiogram - scheduled for next week - in preparation for more laser…
…*sigh*…
Dr. Lica Chui (June 27, 2012)
There you go, my eye on it’s second CSR episode. (Copyrighted)
Today I got some cool images from Dr. Chui.
She reviewed the results from the fluorescein angiogram and pointed out where the likely source of fluid is this time. It’s really far from the nerve so the recommendation here was to use the laser and control this episode before it affects my vision.
So laser once again, I did…
Bonus, today I remembered to bring my sun glasses :)
This eye thing is getting on my nerves… but I least I can make a pun out of it :)
I’ll be heading back to Dr. Chui’s in a couple of days to see the results. Hopefully everything will be find and dandy.
NOTE: Lately, every now and then I feel unusual about my eye. It’s not pain or blurry vision, it feels 1% odd, not sure how to describe it…. maybe “tender” would be a good word? I’m not sure if it’s because of I’m self-conscious about it or what. But I’ll bring this up to Dr. Chui.
It’s been great hearing from people in the comments. Thanks for posting.
Coffee Observation (July 30th)
Today I stumbled against a blog post relating a CSR story similar to mine. In the comments section there are some folks referencing the use of caffeine with CSR.
I drink 1-2 cups of coffee a day, sometimes more. Could it be?
Then I came across this other article recommending the same thing. Give up coffee? Damn, in Vancouver coffee is great. And it’s part of social life.
…thinking about quitting coffee. I don’t think I could give up dark chocolate.
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Agghh!! CSR Is Frustrating!
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Flight or Flight = Stress = No Good (Sep 5th, 2012)
Last month I put myself in a ‘fight or flight’ situation. I won’t go into too much detail but to make a long story short, I almost got into a fight. This is the first time I’m aware of my stress symptoms - trembling hands, dry mouth, fast heart beat. As the situation developed, I was very conscious about the CSR thinking “this can’t be good for the eye.” Well, surprise, surprise, it wasn’t.
Today Dr. Chui told me the situation has changed to the worse.
No Stress = Better (October 3rd, 2012)
Just a follow up, things are better. Still kicking myself for putting myself into a rough situation a while back.
Women… surely they cause 80% or all CSR out there.
Keep getting better (November 7th, 2012)
Things are getting better. Yay!
…and better! (November 28, 2012)
During the last three months I hvae been drinking carrot and beet juice once a week or so. Trying to elevate the amount of carrots I consume, etc. Nothing to the extreme though. Everything seems to be working now. I moved down town so I’m sleeping a bit more. I’m also walking to work.
All of these things seem to have translated into less stress and better situation for the eye.
Right Eye Much Better, Left Eye Now Affected (December 27th, 2012)
My left eye, really?! F#@*K!
I just came from the doctor and she spotted a leak in the left eye. My left eye has been without any problems until today. What the heck?!
I’m trying to think what have I done differently.
The one thing I can think right now is my squash playing intensity. Since everything has been going well, I have resumed my squash playing intensity. There’s one particular exercise called “court sprints”, which could be considered somewhat stressful. It’s basically running up and down the court as fast as you can.
A couple of weeks ago I was running against a player in better condition and I pushed myself for 3 mintues or so… I even got a bit dizzy. But could that be it?
Update (December 21, 2013)
This year my condition went back and forth. I got laser a couple of times in the beginning and middle of the year and now is barely noticeable. It’s still there, but barely noticeable.
My CSR is not near central vision, so my blind spot is not as bothersome. I’ve accepted, however, that my blind spot will likely not go away.
I still try to eat carrots and goji berries when stressed, but my life has been pretty normal. I’ve returned to playing squash, drinking coffee (though in less amounts), and just trying to avoid stress if at all possible - though sometimes is just unavoidable.
*Sigh* …Now On the Left Eye, Japan (November 2014)
Yep. Seems my left eye felt a bit lonely from all the attention the right eye has gotten throughout the last few years. And so I now have the strongest CSR episode on my left eye.
What a contrast of feelings. Whereas when I first got it on my right eye I was in relative panic, thinking I would lose my eyesight or suffered from ocular gonorrhoea (no joke, read the beginning of this post), this time I feel frustrated and a bit angry. I mean, COMMON! …but, it is not the time to get angry.
Factors that happened this year that could have affected my cortisol levels / induced this Central pain in the serous retinopathy’s arse.
- Moving to a new country / city
- Changing jobs
- Getting engaged and civil marriage
- Becoming a citizen of a new country
So, big changes. But things have gone relatively smooth. So I’m unsure why my eye is freaking out.
I went to a regular eye doctor, explained what I had in broken Japanese (my wife helped) and I was referred to 昭和大学病院附属東病院 (Showa University Hospital Fuzokuhigashi) a university hospital.
The doctor did the typical tests of looking a the blurry thing, burst of air… and when it came to the OCT, there was a monitor right in front of me showing the live feed from the machine! It was cool to see my eye real time but distracting as hell because I had to look forward and not to the screen where the results where being showed.
OCT from 2014 - Right Eye
As for the prescription, beyond the “relax” part which was expected the doctor recommended alternative medicine kanpo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kampo).
Hoping for this to go away quickly now :)
This is the “kampo” medicine.
Left Eye, Top Right Field of Vision, Japan (June 2016)
Last month I noticed a clear blur on my left eye, top right part field of vision. I usually check by staring into a fixed spot and wiggling my fingers around my field of vision. They typically disappear on the trouble spot - all of this while I look like a crazy person.
Thought this still comes and goes about once a year, I think it’s good to say I have a new suspect: beer.
I don’t drink much but every now and then I go out with friends or coworkers for a few beers - something I assume everyone does :) My eye acting up and the last beer outing were relatively close to each other. Could this be a trigger? I really hope not, because I do like going out for a beer every now and then.
One thing is for sure, every time I notice a spot I stop coffee, beer, check the hours I’m putting at work, make sure I’m eating relatively healthy, and also check if I’m actually doing exercise so that I can relax. These seem to be the variables that put things back into shape for my eye.
It’s July now, and things on my left eye have calmed down, I’m having a latte.
I’ll keep an eye on… my eye… next time I go for beers. But if you have had this as a trigger, please let me know.
Vision is Good, Japan (June 2017)
It’s been a year since my last post and thought it would be good to make an update.
The last year has been without incident, for the most part. At night, when I’m feeding a bottle to my daughter in the dark I can clearly notice a blurry spot that doesn’t allow me to see well in the dark. During the day, if it’s bright, I don’t notice it. When indoors and dim lighting I can find my blind spot if I look for it by fixing my sight and wiggling my finger across my field of vision until it disappears of blurs - but it’s not an issue.
So far my case is completely under control. Interestingly, I just went through the first year of my first born. That means high stress and little sleep, yet my eyes are as a good as they can be…
Hi There, CSR - Japan (April 2018)
A few weeks ago I had my annual checkout, which included a retinal image. This is the first time I am able to see the CSR at a glance on the retinal image. My vision is not bad though.
This week (4/4) I went back to Showa University Hospital Fuzokuhigashi_._ I got to check my eyesight, retinal exam and OCT (side note, the bill for the visit and exams was JPY 1,917 or about USD $15. This is covered under my issuance, but also under national insurance). I have another appointment for next Wednesday.
Meh, It’s back. Japan (March 2020)
I’ve been having a mild case since November last year. I went for my yearly checkup and the doctor, probably unfamiliar with my situation, saw a bunch scars and who knows what from previous laser treatments and gave me a look saying, “I believe your eye will self destroy in 10 seconds.” Of course he sent me to a specialist. I still need to go.
I sometimes feel I’m being too complacent.
Ten years sound like a long time until I read some of the comments here. There is one person in their 60s that has had CSR since their 20s. No time for complacency.
Stressful factors in my life now include family, work and completing Masters graduate program. This last one is eating my sleeping time, and I think that might be a contributing factor.
Let’s hope people with CSR are immune to the Coronavirus COVID-19.
Showa University Hospital (昭和大学病院東), Tokyo (March 2021)
Today I am writing this as a wait for the regular battery of eye-related test - blast of air, focus on the blurry the balloon, “tell me, where is this shaping facing, up? down? left? right?, this kind of thing.
I am here not because I feel any worse, but because when I went to my annual checkup, the took a picture of the back of the eye and, without knowing my history, I assume the doctor freaked out at the image (looks like the moon considering the laser scars) and asked me to urgently go to a specialist. So here I am.
I went back a few days later, they wanted to do another fluorescein angiogram just to make sure. So I did.
Release the fluorescein.
Reality Check 2021, The Future - Dr. Toujou (Need to find the Kanji for the name).
Later I went back for the consultations on the results. I have leak - cue me rolling my eyes and having my internal voice say “again…”. Let’s review some of the images:
Right eye, angiogram results. Not too bad, but there it is.
I searched for a retina image just to have a comparison. This one seems quite flawless - I mean, I have no idea about these things, but looks better than mine to the untrained eye.
The doctor must have felt my indifference. After all, it’s not affecting my vision…. so big woop.
She then continued to explain that even though my vision is relatively fine, I should pay attention to the conditions of the leaks. This is because the retina getting detached (by fluid) over and over will eventually increase the risk of more serious issues when older. That was a bit scary to hear.
The recommendation is to cauterize the source of the leak with lasers - maybe? She feels it is a close call and, even if the decision is to do this, I would need to go to a different hospital with a more specialized machine. The machine they have there is for when the area to be lasered is away from the optical nerve.
I decide to proceed with the laser. She writes an introduction letter for the other, bigger hospital - St. Luke’s International Hospital - 聖路加国際病院.
St. Luke’s International Hospital - 聖路加国際病院 (2021, May)
By now I’ve been two times to this hospital. The first one (April), was an initial consultation. The doctor, the youngest looking doctor I’ve had in my life (early 30’s tops), mentions I need to have….. a fluorescein angiography - tada!
I said I just had one last month but he mentioned I needed a new one. Not only the hospitals cannot share this information (what?!) but the procedure at their hospital includes something they didn’t include at the Showa University hospital.
Most of the times I go for something related to my eye I mention that I am keeping a blog and ask if I can take a picture. This time two unprecedented things happened. First, when I got hooked up I asked the nurse if it was OK to take a picture of my arm. She said yes (no one ever has said no to that), but for the first time she offered to take a picture.
Then they hook up the dye, and this time it is two dyes, I ask if I can take a picture of my arm. The other unprecedented thing happened, this nurse told me no. “Sorry, no photos a the hospital”. When I clarified that I’m just pointing at my arm, she insisted, no.
I was not going to throw the previous nurse under the bus, but I was bummed out that she didn’t let me take any more picture because the dye was red and it looked cool. It is typically clear, if I remember correctly.
So in a few weeks I will go back to hear my results and see if I need the laser. The young doctor did mention that, from consulting with other doctors, it seemed like I will likely not need laser…. let’s see.
Dr. Vanessa Wong - Ottawa - Kanata Optometry Centre (Jan 2024)
Well, it was a nice run, but it’s back. I noticed the original blurry spot a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure if it is the original, but it did remind me of the first time I had it.
I went to Kanata Optometry Centre here in Ottawa. Considering it was an “Optometry Centre” I was expecting to have a brief consultation and a referral to an “Ophthalmology Centre”. To my surprise, they were able to do the OCT (which by the way, stands for Optical Coherence Tomography - I just found that out) and… well, I guess there is not much they can say that I don’t expect.
I liked Dr. Wong. She came across as knowledgeable and approachable. Thankfully, it was the same story. I have it, a bit near the macula but not too critical. (I’ve read some comments here…).
It does look more dramatic than previous
Here’s another view showing the double whammy
Seems the left eye also wants to join the party. Let’s meditate so that doesn’t happen.
Dr. Wong said they will send the images to a specialist and they would follow up. I am looking forward to their call because there is one more image I forgot to take a photo of.
So, what the fk happened?!
Guesses, I suppose. They say there is no clear-cut reason for CSR, but stress is a factor. If I’m forced to come up with a reason, I have real strong candidate.
For the most part, 2023 was one of a hell of a stressful year - from all sides. My manager changed, my primary job role changed, family dynamics were challenging… It was tough, relatively speaking. The thing is, things got better in Q4, and this comes up now. Maybe there is a delayed reaction to the stressful action?
I’ve always been weary of stressful events, like almost getting into a fight at the start of this blog post (picture me rolling my eyes at the stupidity of it all)… but maybe it is not one stressful event but a prolonged stressful environment?
Not sure.
What now?
I take these episodes as a reminder to fine tune balance in my life. Am I not exercising? Eating properly? Sleeping enough? All of these things I’d give a low marks to my current lifestyle. So I’ll aim to improve.
Also, I take a break from coffee. I’m not sure that has any effect, but I welcome the challenge. I really like coffee.
Dr Thomas Lee - Ottawa - The Retina Center (Feb 2, 2024)
I got referred by Dr. Lee by Dr. Wong. This was the shortest interaction I’ve had with a doctor.
I came in. After a few minutes nurse dilated pupils, *snap* *snap* photos, etc. I waited, then called in to see the doctor.
Dr. Lee was in the room about 5 minutes. It was an efficient 5 minutes, but still… He reinforced the warning I had heard in Japan. Just because I can go about with my life with a little CSR it doesn’t mean it’s OK. “It’s like having a flooded basement. You have to deal with it or have consequences later.” He also gave me a new piece of information. “There has been new research in this subject and you probably have Pachychoroid “. Ahem. Say what?
Here is an article with more medical lingo, but in short pachy means “thick” and choroid means choroid.
There is new research that suggests most cases of CSR are because of Pachychoroid (having a thick choroid)”
Dr. Thomas Lee from Ottawa Retina Centre
The comment checks out. I’ve been researching the term and seems there are talks suggesting that CRS is linked to an anatomical anomaly, not stress, coffee, exercise, work, cleanliness, or the other list of reasons we have to theorize is causing this. it’s not definitive, but I hope they find clarity in what causes it and, in turn, how to fix it.
Fluoresceine Angiogram @ Ottawa Riverside Medical - March 7, 2024
When to Ottawa Riverside Hospital (or campus) for the test. Nothing out of the ordinary. Everyone in the hospital was nice. I got there early, at around 8:50am, I was out before 11:00am. It was good.
They called me saying the doctor had received the results and said I could come see him… in June! The hospital person who was calling treated it as “good news, it means nothing critical is happening”. Still, why wait more than 2 months to review the results? Even if it is nothing, you’d figure it would be better to review tests results soon after their results… I feel like these results would expire in two months.
That said, what do I know… let’s see what Dr. Lee says.
Follow up - Dr. Lee - (June 2024)
As suspected, there are leaks. Dr. Lee recommended laser - the less invasive laser that cauterizes the source of leaks - and so he did it. Not much to say here. but let me share a couple of images.
A side, note, Dr. Lee is not the talkative type. He’s professional and responds with nice tone, but no warm-up chit-chat, weather talk, or sharing about your pet - lucky if you get a “how are you?” at first or “take care” at the end.
“Schedule a follow up in 2 to 3 months” and he was gone.
Follow up - Dr. Lee - (September 2024)
It’s been three months since the laser was done. I’m sitting at the doctor updating this, about to understand the follow up. Yet, before I could write much, I was called and my pupils dilated.
And more LASER. My left eye is looking good but the right eye, apparently, needs a little bit more pew pew. And so it was done.
And just like last time, “schedule a follow up in 2 to 3 months,” and he was gone.
Update: July 2026 – Back in Japan & A New Chapter
So, fast-forwarding a bit - I moved back to Japan in 2025. It’s 2026 and I can now use AI to add to my posts with a bit less hassle!
Shortly after arriving, I went in for the standard annual health checkup. As you’d expect, during the eye exam portion, they took a photo of the back of my eyes. Unsurprisingly, it got instantly flagged considering the retina looks like the surface of the moon with all the laser scars.
They wanted to send me to a specialist, but since I had already been treated at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo during my previous stint here, I asked for a referral back to them.
Enter Dr. Suzuki. She’s a young doctor - very personable and speaks great English - though I suspect cases like mine (ours?) are not a daily thing for her. To be hones, most of the people in line are older folks - likely with older-type issues. I know, I’ll be joining them in the future. But at the moment, I felt like an outsider.
I’ve been to see her three times now, most recently yesterday (July 28th). She mentioned she’ll be away for a bit and wants to introduce me to her boss on my next visit in a month, so we’ll see what the senior specialist has to say.
The Current State of the Eye (and Aging…)
As for my actual vision: the classic CSR blurriness is still there, but very slightly… lingering right near the center of my visual field in the right eye. Because it’s not a uniform blur, it makes getting a precise prescription a bit tricky.
That said, I think I’m doing well. Look at my left eye (on the right of this image)! Like paper! I haven’t seen either of my eyes this dry in years. My right eye (the left side of the screen) still has some water - or “edema”, as I was told. It’s better than 3 months ago though. I know, some of the people reading may see this and wish they had this level of edema. I feel for you my friend.
On top of the CSR, approaching 50 is bringing its own fun optical perks. I asked Dr. Suzuki about updating my glasses prescription because I’m noticing a classic shift: reading printed text or looking at something close in my hands is actually clearer without my glasses. But for computer work and distance, the glasses definitely help.
My prescription has always been super low - I can easily work and go about my day without glasses if needed - so I’m hoping any tweaks will be minor.
We’ll see how the appointment with the head specialist goes next month!
To everyone in the comments sharing your own CSR stories: take care of yourselves, drink your tea, and don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers along the way.
Clarification: this is a blog post on my particular case. I’m happy to hear many of you are finding a sense of empathy, validation, relief or frustration by having similar accounts, but please don’t have in mind that this is not a forum. A few people have mentioned a few forums you should check out for ongoing conversations.
In my case, I few years back I interacted with this CSR Yahoo Group - some of the folks here are battling worse CSR and for longer than I have - you might want to check them out.
Verga Jose, ta fea la vaina.
Una cervecita de vez en cuando o una caminata por el parque suelen ayudar.
Un abrazo desde Alemania,
Pablo
Gracias por el comentario Pablo. Ya la cosa esta mejor, la cuestion mejora sola... pero leeentoo. Cerveza no, lo que hace falta es un gluvain aleman... como quisiera pasar de visita por alla :)
hi Jose!
Great to hear your story. I'm experiencing the same for more than a week now. Just came from an optometrist, and I'm just fortunate that she was able to immediately suspect that it's a CSR. But she referred me first to a retina specialist for an x-ray for confirmation.
Just hoping that I'll be okay the soonest possible like you are.
Tnx!
Glad my experience gave you some perspective Edward. I tried to look for some information when they told me what it was and couldn't find it.
The best thing you can do now is be patient. Hope it goes away quickly!
I just found out that I have CSR, similar like u, happened over night, my left eye blurry. I also see the black spot in the middle of my focus Point and blocking my vision. it moves. My optimist send me to retina specialist. I hope my vision comes back after for a while. My eyes dr said it's from stress too. But I don't feel stress. I'm type A though. Ur article was helpful to understand about CSR better and adapting my situation a little easier. Thanks.
i was noticed that my right eye is blurry and i did the same process as you did and doctors gave me the same results as they did to you .
for a while it went away and again , it's knocking on my door !!
i'm having calcium and l-methionine for about a month and when you said that it can be related to protein it made me interested , i'm getting crazy about this blurry vision !
anyway hope we find a way to kick it's ass for a life time .
Dude,
A few days ago mine started for the first time... They diagnosed straight away... CSR - common in pilots, type As and stress heads - like me i guess..... i'm a work-a-holic.
After the surgery did it go away???
It's all good now! I have a follow up in a couple of weeks but it all should be good... CSR is great for reconsidering your workaholic-ism. Having a blurry eye is a constant reminder that we must take it easy and, if possible, not let oteher things get to us :)
...that was my take anyway.
Thanks for writing this. I was diagnosed with CRS yesterday after a similar experience. I woke one morning last week with what I thought was an afterimage from a lightbulb or something in the top-right of my field of vision in my right eye. After a couple of hours of seeing this I realized that something was not decidedly not cool!
I was fortunate in that I started by seeking out a retinologist (fortunately I don't need a referral for my insurance) who knew right away what my problem was. I go back in six weeks to see how things are progressing.
I, too, can't identify any major point of stress or anxiety in my life. But I will say that when I posted something about this on Facebook I got 20 replies of "Wow, I'm surprised this hasn't happened to you before" or "you're the most Type A person I've ever met- no shock there". So maybe.
I have no idea what I'm going to change in my life right now, but the constant blur in my vision is a terrific reminder that I should calm down.
Thanks for posting your story
Hey Jon - Thanks for sharing. Indeed I'm not sure how we go about identifying these things. I might be in denial as well. There were a couple of things happening around that time which I knew I had under control.
...I still think that was the case... but I'll review the situation in a couple of decades and see if I see it differently in hindsight.
If it's CSR what you have, then patience seems to be the prescription. And it's also the perfect excuse to start planning vacations - one after the other.
Cheers!
God! I thought why these crazy things come to me but after reading your post i don't feel lonely now. LOL.
Exactly the same symptoms but i guess I'm lucky that my eye surgeon found that i may CSR within few minutes. Has called me for further next Monday. You said something about laser treatment god that is scary.
Thanks for the comment Saty. Yes, laser was scary and I didn't want to do it until I heard "it could become permanent"... that was scarier. Having said that, the concept is scarier than the actual procedure. I thought I was going to get anesthesia and see a light saber inserted in my eye... but no. As soon as I said yes Dr. Chui took me to the room next door, did the flashy things in about 3 minutes, and that was it...
Hopefully you won't have to see the flashes though. All the best with your eye and... let's all calm down :)
Great Story.......
The almost same is happening with me......hopefully i'll be cured....
(from Jose: I've added line breaks and some punctuation to the original comment - it was all one paragraph, no punctuation. It felt like a test in school. If something doesn't make sense please let me know.)
DEAR CSR PEOPLE, I HAVE BEEN BATTLING THESE EPISODES FOR OVER 15 YRS. STRESS IS BULLSHIT. YOU WILL FIND OUT THE PRACTICING BOZOS HAVE NO CLUE.
JOSE, YOUR PHOTO AT THE BEGINNING, I HAVE A FULL FILE OF THESE. AS YOUR GUYS GET OLDER THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO GO AWAY... I AM 52 I HAD MY LAST EPISODE AT 50. IT TOOK ME OUT TO 20/200, BILL BOARDS ALONG ROADS WERE NONEXISTENT.
LASER SURGERY SEEM TO WEAKEN THE MAGULA LINING, SO MORE EPISODES SEEM TO FOLLOW. I HAVE BEEN TO OVER 20 DR FROM BARNES RETINA IN ST LOUIS TO MAYO CLINIC. DO NOT TAKE ANY STEROID SHOTS FOR ANY THING, PERIOD. START TAKING LUTEIN 45MG DAILY, THIS HELPS WITH FREG OF THE EPISODES. KEEP RECORD OF YOUR EYE DAMAGE YOURSELF MAKE THE DR SHOW YOU THERE LOCATIONS, HOPEFULLY YOU DONT HAVE CSR EPISODES IN BOTH EYES... YOU CAN; I HAVE.
THANK GOD MY LEFT EYE IS DOMINATE HASNT EFFECTED MY CENTRAL VISION LIKE IT HAS IN MY RIGHT EYE.
ANY QUESTIONS EMAIL ME, I KNOW FIRST HAND THE WORRIES STRESS OVER CSR FIRST HAND.
Brian - Thanks for sharing, but I'm hoping is that your theory that the laser weakens the macula is just a theory and doesn't apply to me. I've had laser twice already...
Not sure how to avoid stress and like women at the same time.
And well, I'm now collecting g my own images.
Hi guys,
I had this blur vision with my right eye since 2009. The eye specialist had me thinking that it is Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Besides asking me to take Lutien tablets, no other treatment. I thought it would go away by itself but alas, it doesn't and I have been living with this since till lately. I went to another eye specialist and he diagnosed me as having CSR instead. Now, I am considering whether to go for this laser treatment called Photodynamic Therapy. He said it is supposed to dry up the fluid beneath the retina. Any one has experienced this and had good results?
Thanks for sharing.
Don - Brian shared his experiences, I'm also sharing mine. I'll soon be posting the images of the back of my eye so you can see how the laser leaves its marks behind.
Dr. says it's good as it's a solution. Having fluid in there could permanently affect your vision.
Then there's the steroids as Brian suggests, but that's a consideration long ways for me to take.
Good luck!
My right eye went blurry coincided with a very stressful six months prior, which affected my everyday routines including driving which almost caused a few accidents because of misjudgement of distances. A quick scan in the internet could not pin point what was wrong and my wife suggested that I consult an optometrist since I needed a new pair of glasses anyway. The optometrist was so SURE that I had cataract and the options were explained to me including surgery and new glasses prescribed and paid for. Like all surgeries, it carries a certain degree of risk, my mind was filled with imaginary horrors of going blind with the .0 something degree risk surgery and that .0 something degree risk could just be me.Anyway, a week or two later, my vision got worse and I had big doubts it was cataract and a visit to two eye specialists confirmed it was csr and no surgery was needed at this stage, likely will heal itself with high probability will not regain the 20/20 vision, only very slight distortion which I am experiencing now. All cares, advices noted and taken, including TAI CHI, traditional Chinese massage,unscheduled holidays and good food. Fast forward six months after the eye doctors' visit, my stress level is more or less the same as before but recurence has not materialised....YET. Maybe it is Tai Chi, maybe it is the massage maybe the good food or the combinations of all , my eye will tell me when to take it it easy. Will keep posted.
CSR is far more dangerous the you might think. I have it since 2009 and it only gets worse. I recommend you join yahoo csr group
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/csreye/
This is the Jon from the 3/20/12 comment. Approximately 5 weeks after my initial complaint and before my 6 week return visit to the retinologist my CSR spot had significantly improved. No longer was there a bright greenish/bluish spot, but rather a just kind of washed out image in my field of view.
The doctor advised EVERYTHING else was fine and healthy (still 20/20 vision, even)- to avoid cortisone creams when possible, and to try to learn to relax. No need to come back unless things get significantly worse.
Maybe two months ago the exact same spot flared up again. This time I didn't panic and it went away naturally within two weeks.
Two days ago a much smaller spot appeared in my vision, this one in my other eye. DAMMIT! Still, I'm realizing that at least for now my best bet is just to relax. I'm trying to cut back on coffee and just roll with it. So far my experience has been that these things work themselves out with time.
Jose- you should start some kind of internet CSR support group! Your page and the comments here are continuing to help people feel less alone. My first thought after noticing the new spot in my other eye was that I needed to come out here and see how you and others were progressing. Peace and relaxation to you all.
Oh yeah- regarding coffee- I had just mentioned to my wife "Hey, I think I drank way too much coffee this morning, I'm feeling shaky all over" when I suddenly saw the new spot in my other eye. Of course, an anecdote isn't evidence, but as I sit here sipping coffee and re-reading your July 30 update I'm wondering if I shouldn't cut it out all together.
I'm not condoning the use of illegal substances, but I'm wondering if anyone has seen any evidence that marijuana, which is purported to have some beneficial effects for some eye ailments would be of any benefit to those of us experiencing this? One would think it might at least help us relax!
Jon - Thanks for sharing your story as well.
I need to update the post but I actually stopped drinking coffee, am exercising less, sleeping more, taking vitamins, and eating carrots like they were going to disappear soon.
Not that I condone it either, but the pot idea might not be bad. If anyone out there has something to say in this respect, please do.
Lastly, Dimon posted a link to a Yahoo Group here: http://goo.gl/9iWTV. Lots of people sharing experiences, pictures, advice... It kind of made me feel good about my episodes as there are people that have really bad cases.
Cheers!
I'm 34 and diagnosed with CSR 6 days ago. It was at 2pm that day and suddenly I feel something in my right eye causing blurry vision. At first, I thought it was an eye lash but I ruled that out. Evert time I blink my right eye, I see an oval shaped gray figure.
Long story short, I just want to tell Jose that I, too, often drink protein shakes because I work out quite a lot and do heavy weights. I've been doing this for 2 years,. Though the cause is still unknown and blame to stress, I want to point this workout and protein shakes correlation to CSR. Anyone else on the same boat?
Mike - though I thought the same thing, what I've come to realize is that when they say the condition is "stress" related, it's referring to both mental and/or physical stress. So if you work out 'a lot' you might want to tone it down while you recuperate.
Having said that, I switched to rice protein for breakfast shakes. I only use it once a week or so because of pure paranoia...
Thank you guyz for sharing your stories. I am experiencing csr right now as the Optemetrist said to me. He was quite confused because this usually happens to male with older age than mine. I'm 20 yrs old girl who at the early age experiencing csr said by the Dr. he then recommended me to go through laser thing but have a go first to that x-ray thingy to make sure of the treatment and for double check up..I was so depressed when I realize than this is really serious case but when i read your posts I was relieved that the laser thing is really true. I just hope it goes well with me..
Maria - Glad you got some perspective from the stories. The laser is pretty simple. Having said that, some I've read some posts of people that are against it and that they blame the recurrence to it... check out Yahoo Group for CSR and you'll find different perspectives.
Even I was diagnosed with CSR. A homeopath prescribed RUTA 200 to me and it worked and I had my full vision back. I have started doing Yoga and two days fasting every week for attaining calm temperament and the problem hasnt come back.
Dear All,
Please welcome me I just joined the CSR club.
At the beginning I noticed blurriness so I went to see one of the best eye Doctors and he said this is because of the age. I was not convinced, yesterday I went to see another one at Dubai Mall Medical Center. After taking my eye scans he confirmed that I have CSR.
Hi Jose,
Great site - finding something like this online and sharing common experiences does really help, and it is fairly difficult finding specific references to CSR versus Macular Degeneration, which is slightly different (age-related) even though it's the same end-result.
I would also like to say that what a lot of sites and articles don't mention is that there is a fair amount of mental stress resulting from this kind of thing happening - no one wants to go blind, and it's even scarier when you don't understand what is going on and what your options are, or if there is a fix.
My story goes back to 2003 when it occured in my left eye (age 33). I have managed fine all these years without treatment as I wasn't aware that something had come out (sadly for me) so I suspect that it may have been too long without treatment.
Stress? Coffee? Sure, but nothing too excessive. I suspect it might be just an unlucky roll of the dice in the end, or maybe the IT industry!
You can still easily get around and do everything you want to with only one eye affected, however it's probably inevitable that the other one will go, which occured in mid-December last year. Needless to say, this time around I was struck completely blind and knew exactly what had happened.
I went straight down to the local eye Doc (which is a very good thing to do), was given my options and I chose Avastin injections. I must make a point of saying that my Doc has been fantastic, by the way. I am aware that the alternatives are Lucentis (I'm too young as they're too expensive for me - only 41 now...) and PDT (cold laser therapy) which I'm guessing is what you've gone through.
I have had six recurrences in my right eye since then, however it's been a couple of months now since my last. The Avastin really does work if you're considering it (it takes between 4-6 weeks to almost-resolve each new break to a small flat hill shape then eventually if you're lucky you get a nice valley), however I'd always take your own doctor's advice - it's just good to know that there are options. So, 27 treatments later (yes, 27 however I'm getting both eyes done at the same time to at least try and deal with the blister in my left also, which is slowly going down) things are starting to settle down. If you're contemplating any type of treatment and you think you can't do it, just consider the consequences (ie: no central vision) and you'll be surprised what you're prepared to do, and the doctors do look after you through the process.
Please keep in mind that the recurring version (I've read) is reasonably rare, so I don't mean to worry you!
One last thing - my last OCT showed a really looking nice valley (I'm sure you all know what I mean) so I am pretty excited - best photo all year.
Good luck everyone, and wish me luck too!
I got CSR last Jan 16th. Now I have a ~5deg translucent-brownish spot in my central vision (right eye). Everything within that area gets wavy.
Stress? Maybe... The main problem is reading, which is mandatory to me: I'm a grad student. Also, driving at night is a real problem 'cause the spot is not translucent anymore (cone vision + swollen fovea = dark central spot ).
I know I just have to wait for my recovery, but my right eye feels tired easily and this really messes my life.
Remarkably, I found that patching my (sick) eye for some minutes (~15) gave me a lot of relief, and the spot got clear! (although still wavy). Thus, tonight, for the first time, I was able to watch a whole movie since I got this shit :)
Ah F**k.
CSR in left eye. Im a compositor for film and tv commercials. In my 4th week of it now. Can't see me lasting to much longer in work if it keeps up. :(
Hey Ricky - Hope it goes well. I know some people that have had to change jobs because of this. But trust me, I know that "ah F**k" feeling... well I guess we all do :/
Another sufferer here. Occurred straight after what I thought was a stomach virus that had me in pain for 3 days and nights. No sleep. Plenty of stress too not knowing what I had and when it was going to end.
Doing a bit of Internet searching on CSR and I find that there appears to be a link to helicobacter pylori infection, which can also cause the same stomach symptoms I experienced. In the interest of preventing reoccurance and healing I'm having a simple breath test to check if I have this bacteria.
Many people, I think up to 50% of the population has the bacteria but if this has been an established risk factor I reckon it''d be worth eradicating with a week of antibiotics and protein pump inhibitors.
Has anyone else here considered checking for infection?
Glad to see you continuing to update this story (although sad to hear you're still battling it, of course!). I went for several months without any recurrence, but after suffering for 8 weeks with tendonitis in my ankle I finally went to the doctor who recommended an oral steroid. I was wise and said no, but because of the severity he recommended at least some kind of steroid cream.
I'm writing you now with a new, bigger than ever spot in my right eye. Sigh. I can't say it's totally related to the cream, but it seems like a strange coincidence.
Keep well, my friend
I've had CSR for about 3 years now. It hasn't gone away. I will not get laser treatments because I don't believe this is the way to go. I know it will help me now but it could also do more damage for future episodes. Some days it is very bad to the point where I wear an eye patch and some days are better where I can keep both eyes open. I'm not a coffee drinker so I don't think that's a problem. I am a type A personality and I deal with massive stress. I'm trying to learn to not stress about everything but it's how I have been my whole life. I smoke a lot of cigarettes and maybe I should quit. I also smoke a lot of cannabis and have been smoking a lot of cannabis for over 20 years. When I smoke it seems to bother my CSR more. I eat pretty well and cook my own food from scratch with fresh organic ingredients. I'm pretty healthy but I don't exercise much. If anyone knows of any non evasive cures, please email me at snype8@yahoo.com. Thanks you!
Had my first CSR episode in my right (good) eye 3 months ago. I was really freaked out at first, but got referred to some good doctors who did all the scans and explained what it was. It went away quickly as they said it would, but the CSR just appeared again a few days ago. I expected it might come back but not this soon! It's not good but I'm trying to be more relaxed about it this time, and hopefully it'll go away. Also it happened is as I was having a relaxing holiday so I'm not sure I believe stress is a direct cause. I'm definitely a type A personality though...
Thanks Jose for starting this site, it really helps to read about similar experiences!
Good luck to you all
Thanks for the feedback Francois :)
Indeed, there are a few of us out there. You can always check out the Yahoo group, there's also people constantly exchanging ideas and conversing about it http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/csreye/
Good luck right back at ya!
Eyes are one of the most important organ in the human body and vision is one of the most wonderful gift. But often many people neglect the importance of eye care and do not pay proper attention towards eye care.:",.
Best regards
Kelly
Agreed
Optometrists are medical professionals but not physicians. After college, they spent four years in a program and got a degree in optometry. Some optometrists undergo additional clinical training after optometry school. They focus on regular vision care and prescribe eyeglasses and contacts.`-`.
Yep... I think most of us had that perspective when we were first misdiagnosed :)
I've had CSC (CSR) since 2002. I'm now 43. I had it in both eyes, in 2 or 3 different spots.
The good news: it has always gone away.
The bad news: it comes back with stress. Unlike an earlier poster (ALL CAPS GUY), I can directly link mine to periods of my life that are very stressful. I've not had any episodes for several years now, and things have been relatively calm until lately, and blammo... I've got one in my left eye for the last few weeks. It's my warning sign. My eye is also twitching quite a bit.
I've learned to live with them. I adjust my life (as best as possible) when they come, and they go away. I do tend to internalize my stress, so I need to find a way to release it.
Have patience everyone. And hope. Eventually, as we age, they do go away. The recurrence for me has definitely extended between episodes. Less often and not as long.
I also feel the same way. It comes, it goes. I have scarring, so if I look for it I'll have a blind spot.
Of course, easy for me to say because it really doesn't affect me as much as I see some other people out there.
Relax...
the treatment which worked for me
hello, thank you so much for sharing your story,because it gave me more strength to fight this disease when knowing that i was not alone.the treatment which worked for me was consisted of : injection of AVASTIN + lutein tablets everyday + making my faith to GOD stronger.at the first weeks after injection,i had no faith that it gonna work and i will never be healed again.but one day I thought that may be there is something wrong in my life (for example i have stress for every little things) and GOD wants to alert me by this eye situation, to change that wrong habit before it makes a bigger serious trouble for me.so i spent more time by talking to GOD and asking him to show me the way of changing the wrong parts of my life.GOD showed me the way,gave me peace so i became free of stress and finally i healed completely.I wish that it gonna work for any other person who has CSR.
I've been suffering with CSR for the last 3 years now. it keeps going and returning and everytime worst than the previous time. i donno why but at the beginning i linked it to a certain protein supplement (caseine) which i stopped. i also had pylori before which is one of the suspected reasons but i also got that treated.
few month back i had the same situation happening and i have to mention that i'm almost a personality A person and my working atmosphere doesn't help at all. i decided to cool down and it improved and i was seeing things back like normally till i started sleeping late and sometimes sleeping for 3-4 hours especially after my recent trip to Thailand where you can't sleep. now it's back all of a sudden while having a BBQ and i feel like i'm becoming blind and preparing myself for the worst. i heard of cold yellow laser, needle in the eye which is the most recommended treatment right now but just mentioning it bring my stress level to a peak point .. did anyone try it? i donno what to do, all i can think of right now is to forget about progress and future plans and just give up for relaxation and the chilling mode so my eye gets better hopefully and i'm willing to travel to different places for meditation and observing the nature and stay away from daily pressures like work, people and habits.
as a side note, if any one recommends a doctor, i'm also willing to travel and meet this doctor hping he/she can help :(
Thanks all,
Your brother in CSR :D
Hi to all csr sufferers, I am going through with csr for the first time. It has lasted for 5 months and im wondering if my vision will ever go back to normal. Just fed up with it. Havent worked for the last 4 months. The eye doctors have suggested that i wait for a spontaneous recovery as the leak is very near to my central vision i maybe left with a blind spotif laser is carried out. I Have been trying to relax n take things easy but its just taking ages to clear. Every now and then my affected eye aches and im wondering if anyelse has experienced this.
If anyone can reccommend any nutritional supplments or Any questions i can ask my doc at next eye appt. Please let me know.
Its reassuring to read about others who are in the same boat as myself
Great info all... Have had csr 2 weeks getting worse in left eye now traveling to my central vision so retina specialist said we need to stop this fast to prevent scarring and vision loss so he prescribed 60 mg of prednisone??!! So confused as ive been reading looks like oral steroids cause csr?? Has anyone been given steroids for this any info would help im 33 and i know stress is bad but this is really stressing me out scared of losing my vision and not seeing my 2 yr old grow up... Sorry for the ranting just very worried... Thanks for any insight
Hi. Try not tp worry the doc will be well aware what medication hes giving you. You wont go blind ive had csr in my central vision. Havent lost vision has just got impaired. Im due to see a different doc to see what they can advise me or if pdt may help. Will keep you posted.
Hey Jon, Thanks for sharing your story, I got diagnosed also of CSR by my eye doctor last 13 feb 2014, got referred to a retina specialist, still need to make an appointment, no idea if Im gettin a surgery or just wait for it to resolve. My right eye is the one affected, Im type A personality, male, 48 years old, have a very stressfull job, i am a registered nurse, i used hydrocortisone cream for a long time and received a couple of steroids shots on both foot for my plantar fasciitis a couple of years ago, I use cpap machine for my sleep apnea . I got all the conditions that will have a CSR. Ill post what will happen to my check up and treatment.
Jose and others-
I want to thank you for sharing your stories. I was just diagnosed with CSR today, Tuesday. I woke up last Sunday with my vision not quite right. My eyes wouldn't quite focus on anything together. It was something like if you rub your eyes hard (from allergies) when they itch, and it takes just a second for them to come back to a central focal point - it was a similar sensation, but it wouldn't go away. After a bit I noticed that the problem was in my left eye.
If I only looked through my left eye, I saw a round, greyish/red fuzzy circle that resembled a full moon with craters. It was only in my central vision and everything else around it was completely fine, but just the slightest bit darker. The circular shape was opaque (not see-thru), but I found that with different lighting environments, the color of the fuzzy circle changed. For example, if I was in a dark room and looked at a brightly lit fish tank across the room, the circle was a dark red color. It looked exactly like a blood-red full moon. This is what frightened me to get it checked out very quickly. I thought there was blood somewhere behind my eye.
Two days later after first noticing the problem and getting it checked and confirmed CSR, it seems to have gotten just slightly better already. From the pictures, it looked like there was quite a bit of fluid between the layers, but it was a thin layer of fluid. I don't know if this matters on the recovery? From the other stories, it seems that this is very soon to notice a difference. I may just be relieved that it is not something even worse.
Here is what I think caused my CSR- I'm self employed and our busy season for our products is just getting underway. I've been working nearly around the clock about three nights a week (less than 4 hours of sleep), and at least 10 hour days everyday, for the past two months. Needless to say, the stress levels are very high to get our products to where they need to be on time. I'm continually working against the clock. I had acute bronchitis about a month ago, and still have a nagging cough, which sometimes is pretty bad and causes a lot of pressure in my head to where it hurts enough to make me wince. The day before I awoke with CSR, I had moved a friend all morning and afternoon with a lot of heavy lifting, and then went straight into work until 3:30am Sunday morning. I awoke at 9:30am and rushed off to get groceries for a dinner party we were hosting. That is when I noticed that there was something wrong.
The whole combination of stress, lack of sleep, fatigue and being ill, really added up.
This is my ticket to slow down and relax. I'm just surprised that CSR hasn't happened to me sooner.
I was relieved to have found this site and it made me feel as though I wasn't alone in what I was experiencing.
I was first diagnosed with CSR immediately following the development of a greyish-brown spot in the central vision area of my left eye. I was at a work meeting when it happened and I thought I was having a retinal detachment. I went straight to my local eye doc who correctly diagnosed me with CSR and referred me to a retina specialist.
Well, now I am 9 months into this ordeal and I have had 4 OCTs, 1 fluoroscein angiography, and a waxing an waning course with no treatment except observation.
I had marked improvement from month 3-6 and then it became worse again. My last OCT showed re-accumulation. I did not need the OCT to tell me that because I saw it getting worse again. I read most of the posts above and have had all the same thoughts...stress, Type A, caffeine, exercise and so on.
I have tried Yoga and cutting out caffeine (very hard) and trying deep breathing exercises. It is hard to change your nature. Unless I quit my job, relationship and everything else and then live chanting all day on a mountaintop I do not know how to appreciably alter my environment enough to impact my nature. And is it really my stress level that is causing this?
The one thing that I did that may have contributed to the development of my CSR that I haven't read above is that I used MINOXIDIL for the 3 weeks immediately preceding the development of my CSR. I am not bald but my hair is thinning so I thought I would try and prevent further loss. Of course I stopped the drug right away though my eye did not improve.
Like some of you, I have a job that requires heavy computer use and reading. I sometimes patch my sick eye when I have to do a lot of reading or computer work. I also use my 32 inch flatscreen as a secondary/extension monitor on my computer and it helps a great deal. Needless to say, this has not been fun. I feel somewhat better having read some of your stories too.
Like all of you, I too have been dealing with CSR - since January 2012. The optometrist and then the opthomologist (sp) completely misdiagnosed me. I didn't get my first treatment until about 8 months after I noticed the grayish orb in my central vision. I was given an Avastin injection. Yes the thought of a needle to the eye is not a pleasant one but when you are desperate and your vision is at stake you will do just about anything. The shot cleared up the CSR in a few days. I was fine for about a year and then it returned in the same spot. I was given another shot and it cleared up again. But this time it reoccurred after about 6 months. I received another Avastin injection and it went away again but this time for only a little over a month. The Dr. then tried a new drug, Eyelia. It contains Avastin and several other components that are supposed to keep the drug active in the eye for a longer period of time. This did not work at all. 2 weeks later, she gave me another regular Avastin injection and this did not work at all either. She said that I have become immune to its healing effects. She still wants to try the other one that starts with an "L". Someone mentioned it in one of these posts. She is hesitant to do the photodynamic because of the central location of my CSR spot. It can cause scarring and a permanent blind spot. I'm glad I found this blog and the yahoo support group. I am going to follow some of the suggestions I've read about to see if it helps. For those of you fearing the eye injections, it's not bad at all. They numb the eye so you really don't feel anything and it does work in many cases. I just wish it had continued to work for me.
Yeah, sounds like it's more common than I thought. Mine started in my right eye 5 weeks ago and the retina doc confirmed it. Gave me spironolactone to try and will evaluate in 6 weeks. My dad has wet macular degeneration and gets the shots but he's 90. I feared this was what was happening to me but the doc says it's CSR. Not sure what the difference is though...sounds like the same thing to me. Today I have pain in that eye which is disconcerting.
Hey my dad has the same Problum except my dad's isn't going away. My dad's under a lot of stress. To the ppl out there don't stress it will come back
Thank you for providing the link to the CSR Yahoo group.
thank you for this blog, i am currently going to this condition. doctor diagnosed my left eye with CSR on 24-Mar-2015, doctor advise me to do follow-up checkup for 1 month to see if the blister goes off or lessen, else they will do laser. after reading this, and googling, i need to cut down or stop on coffee(argghh), i take 2-3 cups a day.
i recall i was on a lot of stress around Feb2015, then i had skin rashes that doctor give me some inflammation medicine, then by Mar2015 i noticed the blurry vision on my left eye. pray for the best. hoping it will go off for good.
Glad that it helped. Hopefully yours will be a one time thing. I haven't updated this but I actually had it again on my right eye. A few months ago in my left eye... But the panic from the first time is gone. It's a matter of accepting our bodies are a bit weak in that area and, whenever needed, we just need to calm down a bit more than the rest. At least that's how I look at it :)
Thanks for starting this Blog. I have had CSR since 2012 in both eyes. I went through basically the identical scenario that Jose has in this blog! The right eye got a lot worse last year. So the retina specialist recommended a PDT procedure with laser treatment. We did that in August 2014. Left eye results were good, but right eye was no better. I went overseas for 6 months and in March my right eye was very poor in central vision. They are now recommending the Pulse Laser treatment, which I think is the same as the one Jose has had.
A question for the readers: This week on the golf course, I borrowed a friends Range Finder (basically a binocular with distance markers). Would you believe, I could see perfectly through the Range Finder with my right eye! Has anyone had such an experience? If so, do you know why this is so? I'm going to ask my retina specialist next week when I go for the laser.
Jose,
I have almost the same story as you. I have been living with csr off and on now for about a 1 1/2. I have not had any laser surgerys but am on a cortasoil blocking medication that has seemed to help. I feel like I'm coming towards the end of my 4th flair up. During my third flair up is when it stared effecting my other eye. I'm in a somewhat stressful position knowing this doesn't help things my reg. proscribed me with an anxiety pill I take when I start to feel stressed. This has help tremendously. Although I only take maybe 1 pill every other week it's comforting to know its there if I need it. You have no idea how much this blogs has calmed my concerns of CSR.
Thank you
Nate
I tryed zinc supplements (for the first time in my life) to boost my immune response when I was having some flu symptoms while traveling winter 2014 in Norway, and my CSR condition improved significantly. Just for the record, It's been four months since I got diagnosed, when I took the zinc supplement and it hadn't had improved at that point) I can't be sure if it was exactly the zinc that made my fluid buildup decrease almost to zero, but it turned out that zinc is an important part of the retinal tissue (http://www.macularsociety.org/nutrition/Nutrients/zinc ). I was amazed that there is no general practice of prescribing zinc supplement for CSR. Another observation of mine is that any pressure on the affected eye is bad. So I try not to sleep on my stomach, and never on my affected eye side. I also try to keep my eyes relaxed.. I suspect that any tension in the supporting eye muscles, can provoke the condition. That is why I believe, regular deep breathing can be very beneficial for reducing the pressure in the eyes.
I was supposed to have cataract surgery 3 days ago (March 15, 2015). Put it off due to broken tooth caused by an appliance my dentist had made. It's costing me over $7,000 to get the tooth extracted, bone graft, implant, crown, and retainer to wear with a fake front tooth until I can get the crown. I saw a periodondist for the surgery and I dread confronting my dentist who made the appliance about this.
My husband wanted me to get driving glasses as my vision is so bad, esp. at night. Yesterday we decided to go to a regular optometrist even thou I'd just had a thorough exam in preparation for my cataract surgery. My husband went with me to the appointment to make sure I got the right glasses. The doctor said my cataracts aren't that bad and he wouldn't use my surgeon (whew, glad I put the surgery off), but even thou my cataracts are bad, my eyes are very bad and that I couldn't pass a driving test. I have CSR in one eye, scarring on the left and something else I which I can't remember. He said he wouldn't prescribe glasses until I see a retina specialist and while I waited they called and made the appointment for me.
He asked me if I'm under a lot of stress and I shouldn't be as I'm retired, but this dental problem has been a nightmare. I do drink 2 cuts of coffee a day and have a Type A personality.
I am thankful I didn't have the cataract surgery if I didn't need it and wonder why the eye surgeon didn't catch the CSR during the workup for the surgery. I used this surgeon for my Lasik surgery back in 2000. The cornea came off my left eye during the night and when I went in for my follow-up exam I had emergency surgery to sew it back on. Excruciating. I really had liked my surgeon.
Thanks for this blog. I definitely will go to the support site and check it out.
Same story as most, shots not working. I have ADHD and medications are stimulants. Also interesting that ive had stomach problems... hybector pylori??
I went in for my first eye for cataract surgery and had no vision problems. The day after surgery I noticed a greyish circle in my central vision and my vision was blurry but put it down to the surgery. After 5 days I realised this was not normal. Dr thought it may have been Cystic Mastoid Odema but as it turns out I then had an OCT which showed a very large lesion Central Serous Retinopathy....I am a 43 year old female. Can't believe this has happened. Has this happened to anyone else after surgery? I had absolutely no other signs. It's been 5 months now and no improvement. I am fit and healthy. Have been on no medication. As it is in the centre I cannot be treated with lazer. Worried about having the injections into the eye but told if I don't within the next month I could end up with permanent damage. Luckily for me I do not use my eyes together anyway so am able to just use my left eye to see. My right eye I cannot read with at all. I am also now stuck with one eye (the one with the CSR) which has had lense replacement but that I can't see properly out of and my other eye that I am too worried to have lens replacement on.. So I have two different eyes all together... I had waited for this lense replacement surgery for a long time and I just wish so much that my doctor had done the OCT scan before surgery as I don't believe I would be in this position. :(
Help
I have left eye CSR in 2005
Now it had returned in 2015
After 10 long years
I could not remember how severed it was during 10 years ago.
I am worried it will not recover and heard from forums that it may turn permanent and now it had already been a month. My review is only another 4 weeks and I am worried the delay will become something like you left a droplet on on car windscreen
Help
I have csr it'd been about 4 years I had the phot laser done it made it worse now I have leakage in areas so the put me on cancer treatment injections for macula degeneration it never got better ,worst decision ever to have it laser DON'T let them laser yout eye worst thing that happened to me
Hello everyone!
I was diagnosed with a different eye disease(but the tests show what shows for your disease) so I am thinking that I was Missed diagnosed. One thing that I experience with this is terrible dizziness! Does anyone else have this symptom?
Hi,
I had CSR in my right eye in 2007, it is still there after couple of treatments.
I have blur vision in my right eye till now. Only my left was supporting my vision.
Now my left is getting fluid, i can still see clearly. I work in computers.
My doctor is recommanding pulse laser now.
What is the best procedure/treament to cure CSR?.
Please recommand top doctors in USA for this treatment.
Is this blog still active? I have CSR in my right eye. Based in Sydney, Australia. If you would like to contact me for mutual support, please email me: nowsame@hotmail.com.
Ram.....i.was.recommended "NOT" to do laser treatment. Look carefully into it. Was told that it can be risky and "not help" after all
I hav csr on my eye on jan 2016 and been given avastin injection. I have improved my vision but hav some spot seems while seeing. But now i hv doubt on right eye also with blurr sight. But my both eyes are 6/6 but left eye hav less brightness...pl tell if some treatment are there. Liquor intake is also avoided ?pl tell
I had it a few years ago, but it's gone--I mean, you can see a bubble on the eye when I go every six months for a check-up, but nothing actively impairing my vision.
I also was recently diagnosed with celiac disease (after my son received a diagnosis).
I think there's a connection between CSR and autoimmune diseases like celiac. I would push the docs about this--I don't think they've done enough research on the link, frankly, but some research is there. I would encourage not only getting off caffeine but also getting off gluten (think about that beer, btw). Just a suggestion. I also had Raynaud's start around the same time the CSR started. I think gluten free has helped a lot, no symptoms since being very strictly gluten free.
I too have bilateral CSR. I am 52 type A female and had epidural steroid injections for back pain. Steroid use of any kind , including cortisone creams are contraindicated for this disease as well as SSRIs. My awesome retina specialist has been trying Eyelea in one Eye. My right which already has perm damage to my central vision. Bc of where the fluid is laser is not recommended :(. The Eyelea seems to help curtail the fluid. I am kind of a Guinea pig but I'll do it for the greater good -my sight. And anyone else having this incurable disease. This disease is horrible and unpredictable. It's certain that the fluid on the left will eventually go central and we don't know if It will be 10 years or 2 months. Scary thought that I can lose my ability to see. . But we will continue this treatment until we think it's not doing anything , for now it seems like it's working bc I have not had any fluid in my right eye on over 6 months since staring injections. I have had 4 total and we are now letting it go a week out each time to see how long I can go without one. I pray you all have resolution to this. I have type 2 recurrent severe. DR Gupta refers to me as his medical mystery bc his colleagues don't believe my case until they see my records. Haha. My great something in life. Go figure. Haha. Please feel free to contact me and we can compare notes. We need to find a cure. There is no treatment for this. It's a very rare but debilitating disease. We need to speak up and get this recognized.
Women… surely they cause 80% or all CSR out there.
You nailed it, right there!
I'm a woman with recurrent sevre cscr (at least 2-3 bouts per year for the last 3 years)... So I can fairly much say that, no... Women are not the cause of 80% of cscr occurrences.
Stress may be a factor, though I have completed cortisol tests with no real outstanding features.
SLE, G6PD deficiency, Sjorgens, sickle cell anemia, etc may be more likely.
As I am now slowly going blind as a result of CSCR, I am currently in the process of undergoing tests for the above.
And Dave... I too am diagnosed Adhd prescribed dexamphetamine... I have asked whether it could be an issue... My ophthalmologist doesn't think so, but I have a sneaky suspicion it does. Gut feeling
Hi folks, there is dedicated community forums on yahoo website with tonnes of information about this condition.
https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/csreye
I am so glad you have info here.before hand letting u know i have the central csr n is blocking my view sorry for misspellings.This has been hell 4 me i went to one of the best hospitals in NY. And wastold if i used steroids and i said no cause i dont use.i find interesting im a female n in my own research doctor failed to inform me high levels or cortisol hormone causes it.I have malabsorption of nutrients cause by low stomach acid low iron and low b 12 im supplementing but my body us not absorbing enough.Besides that i have develop ringing in left ear faint n have imbalance .i research the coffee situation and i find it makes it worse the csr n the ringing in ear i am going to continue the supplements wholefoods yoga may change the hospital i go to and get second opinion.May even go to natural remedy approach i pray for all of you to find a solution also certain types of workouts may affect like pushups and lifting weitghs sending love n healing
I sympathise with your situation. I had was diagnosed with a relatively mild case of CSR in my left eye in January 2016 although it was directly in my line of sight and so had maximum impact. It regressed but came back again worse in March and again less so in July my latest checkup today says all there is no longer any fluid present but it has left me with a bit of distortion but not enough to affect reading etc. However, there is no guarantee that it won't return.
I went to my regular optician when I first noticed symptoms - I already had a floater in my left eye so I thought it might be another one but my optician was not sure so she sent me to the local NHS Hospital Eye Clinic where the diagnosed CSR the same day. I have been for repeated checkups this year and now I am on 6 monthly checkups just in case it comes back.
And the cause; I had a very bad reaction to Simvastatin 20mg within a week I was getting a tight chest then followed by heart palpitations, high blood pressure and abdominal pain over the next few weeks. Shortly after I finished taking it I started getting wild mood swings and felt stressed and aggressive presumably my Cortisol levels were high because I then developed CSR.
Note, CSR is not listed as a known side effect of Simvastatin in case any lawyers are reading!
I researched CSR and discovered a that a small uncontrolled trial suggested that a small dose of Ibuprofen/Nurofen could reduce the CSR but after taking a couple a day for a week or so it soon became apparent it became worse [side effect of Ibuprofen is odema which is essentially same as CSR - should have read the leaflet!]
Note, IbuprofenNurofen is not a recognised treatment for CSR consult your doctor
So I tried Paracetamol [Tylanol] since I already use it for a bad neck. This did seem to work and when I had a cold and took the maximum dose and it regressed quicker. It may have a direct effect reducing inflammation of the leaking blood vessels in the eye and/or it may effect Cortisol levels?
Note, Paracetamol [Tylanol] is not a recognised treatment for CSR and never take more than the recommended dose consult your doctor
These are my personal experiences and observations of CSR over the last year hopefully it was a one off but there is no guarantee that it won't return
This blog seems to be dead. For all you seeking support and info about this condition, join this group : https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/csreye/info
thanks all of you. i have csr both eye but my dr say there r no treatment ,so what can i do? the problem is since 2012 i am from bangladesh ..please refaer a good doctor name and address and dr should be in bangladesh or india or singapur who cure my eye problem ,thanks my name is amzad 37(male)? wher is the best tretment micro pulse laser tretment ??
Hi, having csr for almost 3 mnths nw, sometimes better sometimes not. Dizziness and easily get confuse. I think stress is the main factor.
Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR)
My conclusion after 20 years of experience with CSR:
CSR is mostly a stress condition. One stressful event or overall stress will cause it, Also high cortisone levels. The more you focus on it, the worse it will get. It may be associated with high cortisone and possibly Cushing syndrome, insomnia, stress and hypertension.
My Action plan:
1. Avoid Stress. Try stress reduction-meditation, etc.. Get enough sleep.
2. Avoid excess salt (sodium), Crackers, sodas, pizza, etc. (salt has stimulating qualities and can worsen insomnia, hypertension, edema, etc.). It seems to make my CSR worse.
3. Avoid all stimulants, caffeine, tobacco, herbal stimulants, albuterol, Etc
4. Some Studies have shown taking vitamins and supplements may make CSR worse or have no effect. Avoid most of them. Most herbs and vitamins seem to make my eves worse.
5. Avoid all forms of Cortisone.
6. Exercise, walk, swim, get a hobby that does not require eye strain or videos.
7. Avoid excess computer, smart phone, TV, Video usage.
8. Do Bates eye exercises (Bates Method). See YouTube for instructions. Do sunning with eyes closed, palming and swings.
9. Work Reflexology eye points around the toes, see chart below.
10. Monitor your blood pressures and stress level.
11. Work Eye acupressure points, see chart below and Google.
12. Eat spinach and some form of blueberries 3 times a week to avoid macular degeneration.
13. Find yourself a good Retina specialist.
Work Reflexology eye and ear points or any sore points around the toes:
Bates method (eye exercises), see YouTube.com for a demonstration:
1. Long Swings 5 to 10 minutes 2 to 3x per day.
2. Palming 5 to 10 minutes 2 to 3x per day.
3. Sunning with eyes shut only.
Most vitamin, herbs and supplements seem to make my eye worse, Q10, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Etc..
Potassium (Potassium chloride) in small doses (99MG) or less is the only one that seemed to help me reduce the distortion/fluid buildup. It costs about $5 for a bottle of 100 tablets. Always take potassium with food to avoid an upset stomach. Warning Potassium chloride is extremely toxic in large doses. Check with your doctor before using. Other forms of potassium may or may not work. The Potassium seems to reduce my distortion and fluid buildup however it may or may not result in a seal of the leak or a complete resolution.
Google “eye acupressure” for more details. Work acupressure points around eyes:
The above instructions have shortened my CSR duration by weeks or months.
The more you focus on CSR, the worse it will get and the longer it will take to resolve.
Disclaimer:
I am not a doctor. I do not treat, diagnose or prescribe. If you have any illness, please refer to a medical doctor for advice. The above text is for information use only. I have no conflict of interest.
Anonymous
For the last two years I have been battling with CSR in my left eye...eerily similar to your occurrences. I changed specialists this year. The new guy however actually specialised in these things (I learnt not all ophthalmologists who say they can treat retinal issues are actually specialists in the area, beware). Anyways, after consulting with me for over an hour, noting details surrounding each time I had a leak, noting any other ailments I may have had, he came to the conclusion that steroids were the issue. I have had asthma since I was 5. The use of steroids over time to treat my asthma contributed to the CSR. Lifestyle changes are also required (stress, diet etc) so that your body does not over produce cortisol.
Hi, I have CSR in my left eye, not sure what caused it but I went to 4 different doctors to finally get into the correct diagnosis (CSR). My first episode was in 2008 or 2009 when my dad had cancer, I was depressed and stressed so I guess this is what triggered my problem. I saw a black spot in the middle of my left eye, I couldn't even see the hour in my watch. The problem went away in about 2 months, but not completely, the black spot disappeared but I still have a mild distorted vision that I learn to live with... I have a second episode 3 years later and went to the doctor again, and he found the origin of the problem = Cortisone. This medicine increase the eye blood pressure and creates a leak if you have CSR. I did not know this, but before my second episode I had an allergy in my body and a dermatologist gave me a shot of cortisone. And again, the problem went away in 4 or 6 weeks.. I still have a distorted vision on my left eye, but every time I have to go to any doctor , I tell them Im allergic to cortisone.. I have a new appointment this Monday to check my eyes caused I have constant headaches and I guess I need glasses but not sure if they can eliminate the distorted vision completely.
I have csr is my left eye. Found it about a month ago. Self diagnosed via internet. then went to dr who claims all looks fine but maybe just maybe i see a csr. did an oct and of course it was there. It was getting better over the past few weeks and yesterday it seems to have returns along with blurring and the gray halo in the center of vision. This sucks. No steroids, possible stress, but nothing different than always, high blood pressure meds are new in the past 3 months. I drink a few drinks in the evening. 1-2 cups of coffee daily.
cutting coffee down. might cut down alcohol.
Really worried about this. any suggesstions? thanks
Hello, I want to say to all those who are caught with this problem, that I managed to make the edema leave with naproxen (quebec) or aleve (usa).
For a year and a half I had 10 appearances, a few times in both eyes at the same time and not a lot of improvement and my ophtamo told me that I should live with but 6 months ago I started with Aspirin 81mg / day and my condition improved from week to week but with naproxen (500 mg, 2 / day, one at 12 pm) 3 or 4 days and everything disappears.
Caution naproxen may irritate the stomach, think about taking a protector (pentoprazole kind).
I was first diagnosed in summer of 2016, they did the laser by November 2016. This did not work. By December 2016 I was given an injection of lucentis. This worked. However I was still dealing with a considerable amount of blurred vision. I would like to mention I am already 75% blind in my right eye, the CSR is in my left. Of which not only has CSR but a partially torn retina. I went back repeatedly to discuss the lingering blurriness and light sensitivity with no good insight. I went to a second doctor who told me my continued blurriness was a result of the laser surgery initially used. My CSR was in my central vision, so when used it leaves scarring. This will NEVER heal. I am about to go back today because now I literally cannot see unless I where my reading glasses 24/7. In addition my prescription tends to change from nearsighted to farsighted and reverse. Both doctors I have seen said I am only the 2nd woman they have seen with CSR.
@josh, what high blood pressure medication was given to you? I developed my CSR two weeks after i took amloidopine.
on July 2nd this year I have seen the brown spot, the road was looking with bumps
tall buildings were curved at a portion
visited the alopathy doc, she confirmed CSR in my right eye
but i never trust the alopathic way, so my 85 year young homeopath gave me drops CINERARIA (without alcohol), within 2 weeks, the brown spot COMPLETELY vanished, but i became short sighted in my right eye, text on monitor also seems to be blurred, which means my eye sight in right eye is impacted, but yes ,the dark brown/yellow spot is removed completely
unsure if it will come back
Hi all
Just wanted to say hello. I've been reading the conversation this morning
I'm a 49 year old female first diagnosed 16 years ago. I've had a lot of small episodes in both eyes along the way but never had any hospital treatment, only observation. However I'm in the midst of a bad attack, probably worse than my original at the moment and am having an Avastin injection next week . I'm not really convinced on the science around this as it seems to target new blood vessel growth which doesn't seem to be a factor in CSR?
In terms of tackling the overall cause, I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen an endocrinologist about CSR
I am wondering if there's a link with menopause and my recent bad attack because I believe low oestrogen is associated with raised cortisol although the numbers of women in that age-group with CSR might be a very small test group!
I'd welcome your thoughts
Sass
Hi, I wondering does anyone with csr have lupus ???
Just wondering if there a connection ???
I'm 38 female
In 2007 i was diagnosed with central serous retinopathy. I had this for 4 years and it didnt change in that time. I was at "glamoureyes" to have a gloucoma test and they took a photo and now it has gone with not even a scar. this was 2 years ago.
The lady their said this is unheard of that it is healed after 4 years of being there. She also said that if i hadnt told her that i once had retinopathy,she could not tell by the photo...and i wanted to contact you to share with you what got rid of it.
Methylcobalamin or B12 injections. A friend of mine in the USA had Diabetic neuropathy, which i also have. He cured most of it, with B12 injections. I was hoping for the same. The CSR being healed was a happy "side effect"!. . BUT it has to be the Methyated B12..not any other. AND it has to be injected because its very hard to get B12 absorbed any other way. I have all the data about how many injections etc because i kept a record.
It took 6 months for it to disapear...but i noticed something was happening after 8 weeks with "focus". But the intensity of "color" in my vision changed within 2 weeks.
I was hoping we might get a group of with the same condition and do the worlds 1st trial. Its such a relief for me to have my right eye back to where it was...and Im sure there would be plenty of people with this condition willing to do the trial. .i know that feeling myself to have my eye back. There has never been reported anyone having side effects from B12.
Hi,
I had my CSR FOR THE last 13 year on and off in my right eyes. I recently try THC/ CBD SMALL DOES 15 mg 2 times a day ( cookies or chocolate kind ) and works for me .
Anxiety attack / SLEEP APINA /cardiovascular exercise cause my CSR .
I was just diagnosed with CSR on my right eye last week, only have had it for a couple weeks now. Just a heads up. I haven't had any caffeine in over 6 years and I am the complete opposite of a type A personality.. so not sure what is going on with me.
Take it as an excuse to improve something in your life :)
is this link still available to those who have been through this? ive had csr since June. it got better after a few months but then it it went to shit again in november. i have to drive at night to work n back only twice a week but the oncoming headlights and reflections in my left eye make it struggle more. a 15 minute drive home at night is a small version of hell. the lanes are blurry and its like i driving drunk, when i blink while driving at night, the daytime left eye dark circle is a strobe light of dark n bright light. the cars n lights in 1 eye are dark and blurred and 50 ft away while the cars in my good eye are normal distance, normal brightness but i get dizzy and lanes are blurred. what have yall been told or what do you all feel about nighttime driving?
Be careful.
I remember test driving a car during my first or second episode just as it was getting dark and it was scary. I didn't know what was going on but I had to take more than one leap of faith coming out alleys, turning on busy roads... The only person that told me not to drive at night during an episode was myself.
Good luck
Hey, just wanted to say that I like your blog and tell you about my story.
So in 2014, I was working as a lawyer. My firm gave me too many cases and my help was not always up to par. As a result, I was super stressed. One Saturday, after a particularly stressful week, I noticed that the vision in my right eye had gone particularly blurry. I immediately went to the emergency room. They could not find out what was wrong, so they referred me to an eye doctor. She could not tell what was wrong so she referred me to a retina specialist where I was diagnosed with CSR.
I really wanted to quit my job, but my dad encouraged me to soldier on. In retrospect, I should have quit, but I got laid off anyways in about 3 months because my firm was not getting enough cases.
After that, I made it a point to try to reduce my stress levels.
Flash forward to March of 2018. I had an ongoing issue with a neighbor who would leave her dog barking on the balcony. I started getting really annoyed so I confronted her about it and she said, "well, dogs bark." At this point I was furious and wanted to murder her. I recognized this feeling as the same feeling that I had when I was stressed out from work. This was in conjuction to being really homesick as I am living far away from my friends and family and I was not very happy. Later that night, I noticed that I had a difference in the vision of my right eye. I immediately called my optometerist and scheduled an appointment with her. I had seen her about two months previous and had an OCT scan just to see where my eye was. At the time everything was fine. However, when I went to the doctor this time, she could clearly see that the central retinopathy has returned. It is frustrating because now, I might not be able to go on the vacation I had scheduled. I am setting up an appointment with her tomorrow for a follow up.
What is really frustrating is that this condition has started to make me really risk averse to being stressed out. How will I ever achieve anything if I can't deal with some stress? I feel like the Incredible Hulk. I have to control my anger but if I do not, I don't turn into a green monster with superpowers. No, I just end up losing some of my vision and who knows if will be as good.
Thank you for sharing.
"How will I ever achieve anything if I can’t deal with some stress?"
I had the same thought but came to realize that "some" is the key concept. And for me it has been a reminder not to overdo it. Most of the time is not worth it.
The last year was the most stressful year in memory and so far it has been manageable. I visited the doctor just to be safe and though my vision is not affected, the CSR is back away from my field of vision. I'm not sure how I will feel letting the level of stress go for so long, but CSR is always in the back of my mind for this kind of thing.
I feel we should just think twice about accepting a CEO position or becoming the leader of a country :)
I was diagnosed with CSR about 4 or 5 years ago and without any treatment it did mostly go away in about 4 months. However is has come back every summer. Why summer time I don't know. Fall 2017 was the first time it did not go away and since it is linked to cortisol levels I decided to see what I could do to support my adrenals. I tried this product: https://www.drbenkim.com/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=89 and have had really good success. It did not go away completely but my seeing doesn't feel affected. Only when I look with my CSR eye can I tell my vision is off and a bit darker.
Hello everyone,
Similar story to the rest of you. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I developed CSCR on May 25, 2018. Came on suddenly, I had moved some boxes around in my garage then came in to wash up and realized my left eye had gone blurry. I immediately went to the ER, 4 hours later nothing significant was found. I was able to get into an ophthalmologist the next day who diagnosed me with wet macular degeneration, which is not what you want to hear at age 42. Four stressful days later I got in with a retina specialist that set me straight about having CSCR. I was initially thankful and relieved that it wasn't wet AMD, but the last month has been up and down. After two weeks I thought I noticed slight improvement in visual acuity, but still had yellowish gray scotoma in the center of my vision with blurriness and low contrast. Today, almost 5 weeks since onset I unfortunately can't say it is any better than when it started. I follow-up with the retina specialist in 5 days. She had said that she may prescribe a diuretic (probably Eplerenone) if there isn't any sign of improvement. I'm not looking forward to that.
I've read several similar signs from all of you that may have precipitated my onset of CSCR:
- Was a 1-2 cup a day coffee drinker
- Was dealing with marginal high blood pressure for previous few months before onset
- Stress? Yes, we all have stress, what is new.
- I had adopted a new high intensity interval training workout a few weeks prior to onset, but had lapsed for a couple of weeks just prior to symptoms
- Started drinking protein shakes a couple times per week just prior to onset (never used protein supplements before)
- Saw a movie the morning of onset with a sugary caffeine soda and large bucket of salty popcorn (did that push it over the edge?)
- I also had been experiencing muscle twitches all over my body for about 6 months prior to onset of symptoms. Sign of stress/anxiety?
- I had been on Fenofibrate 54mg daily for high triglycerides for about 10 months, but was taken off about a month prior to onset of CSCR symptoms.
What I've changed over the last 30 days:
- Practicing yoga twice per week
- Taking eye vitamin supplements daily, lutein 25mg and zeaxanthin 5mg, cut back to one fish oil pill 300mg, and started taking Rhodiola and Schazandra for stress
- My diet now mainly consists of fresh leafy green veggies, fresh fruit, and lean proteins
- Cut out almost all sugar, most salt, empty carbs, and dairy
- Significantly cut back on caffeine consumption
- Trying to meditate and deep breath before bedtime, as well as get more restful sleep
Like I said, I think I improved slightly after the first couple weeks, but now I feel like I've regressed a bit. I work in front of a computer all day, commute 20 miles to work each day, support a wife with a chronic illness, and we are raising a 5 year old. So the timing couldn't be worse!
Thanks again to all of you for sharing your stories. It does help to know there are others out there.
Yeah, it's frustrating when you address the suspects and just when you think it's working, BAM! At least it's forcing us to live a healthier life :)
What were the changes you noticed in between first noticing CsR ( Feb 2010) and it went away ( June 2010) ?
One detail I remember in particular is going for a test drive while searching for a new car. The sun had just set, it was dark and it became obvious that my vision was not right. Things were blurry and I was scared to exit the parking lot to the busy street. I actually took a leap of faith and was thankful I didn't hit anyone. At the moment I got prescription glasses and contacts to correct my vision. As months went by I always tested my vision at night and noticed it was getting better. I also tested my vision by staring at a fixed point in a semi-dark room and wiggling my finger in the affected area, it would disappear from my field of vision. That also got better - though never perfect. I still have that.
Thanks for writing this blog, it makes me feel better knowing that others understand how upsetting this condition is. I have had problems for over 10 years starting with my right eye ( at least 6 occurrences) followed by my left eye. My right eye has distorted vision but my left eye seems to compensate for it. Now my left eye is on its second episode and I;m scared that it will end up like the other. I have had PDT on my right eye twice and once on my left eye. I went almost two years without a recurrence until recently I got it in my left eye again so I am quite depressed about this. I don't have elevated cortisol levels (according to tests) and I don't consider myself a type A personality. I would love to know the cause. I can't think of anything unusual happening that preceeded my episodes. I have noticed that spring time seems to be when it is most likely to occur. Maybe allergy related? I don't think PDT is a long term solution as I think that it damaged my vision after the 2nd treatment. They need proper clinical studies to find out what causes this.
Agreed. I think it's easy to get complacent after a few years. I hope someone stumbles on the cause and solution for this.
Hi Jose, i am having a central serous chorioretinopathy and I work in IT. I found very difficult to work with this condition not making constant mistakes. I was wondering if you kept working during all the process or if you got any sick leave.
I kept working, but I got prescription glasses that corrected my CSR. The first time I got glasses I didn't know that I had CSR, but it helped. As it went away, the prescription got too strong for me. Just yesterday I new glasses and the optometrist noticed that I had a prescription that was too strong for me. So I'm changing all my glasses.
I am having a CSR in my right eye as well for past 4 years. I did not go for a laser treatment as I am too scared of making it even worse. It started with a polo ring kind of thing and gradually it started to affect the entire central vision of my eye.
I tried researching online for solution but could not find a definite answer as to what could be causing it. I am in IT-Software so stress could definitely be a part of it. But then which job does not has stress or physical activity related to it.
In CSR the vision does gets better but then the CSR episodes keeps on repeating and does becomes really depressing. I thought about it a lot and it did not made sense that vision gets better and then another episode withing a month. If it is getting better then definitely body is trying to correct it and we are doing something which is making it bad again.
So I started to stop using or eating certain things to see if my eating habits or using certain things could have been the reason of CSR. I even left drinking alcohol to see if that helps but it came back as always. I started to make note of what i had on each day to understand what I ate just before I again got an episode.
Its been 4 months now.. the longest period since I have not encountered the CSR and my vision is only getting better. I have stopped eating chocolate and any of its products like cakes or hot chocolates or chocolate shakes. If my vision keeps getting better and if the CSR does not comes back then yes chocolate would be a main culprit in my case.
Mind you chocolates have been my favorite and to stop all of its products is one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made :) So fingers crossed and hopefully I have found solution to my problem which may have help other people as well looking for answers.
I hope your methods work. Just be ready to believe they're working for a while only to have an episode come back while only thinking about chocolate... I hope it doesn't happen... I'm just sayin', others here are relating this type of story.
Good luck!
Thank you for taking the time to explain your condition. I have been suffering from Central Serous Retinopathy since 2013. It was started as a response to chronic stress and anxiety disorders. The doctor told me that the condition would be temporary back then but I had to go to specialists multiple times. Recently it has become much worse and has turned into a secondary condition which I am extremely concerned about. What have you done about floaters? Did they go away in your experience?
I 've had CSR in my right eye since 2000. The
distortion in my vision finally got bad enough in
2001 that I opted for treatment.
My optometrist noticed a raised area in the back
of my eye and referred me to an eye surgery group.
I had a fluorescein angiogram done and the results
pinpointed the condition more or less dead center in
the eye. The recommendation was against typical laser
treatment, which I would have rejected anyway.
I had a second angiogram 6 months later.
No improvement, and no recommendation for any
further treatment. Case closed, live with it.
Fortunately, the left eye has been spared so far,
and the brain manages to compensate.
When I use the right eye only, the image is very
distorted. People's faces appear monstrous, straight
lines waiver, increasingly color perception is fading,
and night vision is beyond poor. Reading with
this eye requires strong magnification and intense
lighting.
I was a commercial driver and was forced to memorize
the eye chart to keep my certifications.
My impression based on my experiences and available
data :
This is an uncommon disorder and there is no urgency
to pour a lot of time and money into a cure - not a good
situation for those who have both eyes afflicted.
This is really the most depressing thing I’ve read in my battle with CSR. Are there people that have it once and never again? My blind spot is right above the optic nerve and center of my vision. I’m going crazy right now. MD today said my fluid is almost gone but no change in vision. I’m not sure what to do.
@COB - Feeling a bit desperate seems to happen to most of us, at least for a few moments. Hopefully it will eventually ease up and you'll be back to normal life in no time. When it comes back you'll likely retrace your steps for what worked during the first time, and battle it again. Check out the Yahoo! Group linked at the bottom, there are people there with severe episodes that will likely make you feel you don't have it as bad. It will also help you get some advice. Good luck!
Out of curiosity, how quickly did your symptoms improve? Did it take a full 3-4 months to see improvement or did it start to improve a few weeks in and fully resolve 3-4 months later? Do you still have CSR episodes that impact your vision? I just got my first episode and feel totally helpless.
Hi Jose,
Thank you for your post. Same as you I'm also work in IT area and work alot on PC. I was also drinking beer (more than you;)) and 2 months ago I've diagnosed CSR. Last year was very stressed for me. After 2 months of abstinence, less stress and work everything is almost OK with my eye (the blister was quite big). From the beginning till now I'm using Nevanac eye drops. Now about a beer. Maybe the liver disease couses CSR in some cases (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3608037/)?
Good Luck from Poland Guys!
Hello, My husband has been dealing with CSR in his right eye (dominant eye) since June 2018. He is now on his second episode, first encounter was parafoveal (or above his macula not completely affecting his central vision), however now his second episode is taking over ALL of the center portion of his retina.
I work in ophthalmology and have been doing alot of reading, I appreciate your blog as it definitely calms the anxiety of him being the only person dealing with this strange affliction.
I have only encountered one other case like this while working at my office for the past 2 years.
We are considering an oral medication called...spironolactone...a diuretic typically prescribed for hypertension, however in the british ophthalmology journal it has been used to treat recurrent cases of CSR..the idea is to reduce the amount of fluid in the system, in an effort to decrease the fluid in the back of the eye.
50mg per day for 30-60 days barring any side effects.
I was curious to find out whether or not anyone else has tried or heard of this oral therapy for CSR?!
Thanks again for sharing your story!
Has anyone experienced dizziness with csr?
Thank you for your blog. The last time I came to this site was 4 years ago and I book marked it at the time. Happened to be cleaning out my bookmarks today (12-6-18), decided to visit the link and I see that you continue to keep this blog updated. Thank you very much.
It has been 4 years of CSR in my right eye. I can pinpoint the start of my CSR to a specific work incident four years ago. CSR has not gone away. No treatment, it's probably scarred at this point and I am resigned to my fate. That said, reading through the comments, perhaps I could cut down on chocolate, coffee and perhaps pile on the carrot and beet juice, and see if something changes. I quit the job I had been working for the last 20 years because of the stress. Maybe the change will help.
Regardless, thank you again Jose for keeping folk posted on your situation. Not sure what you expected your writing would lead to, but I can confirm that you are helping others perhaps more than you ever expected.
I had CSR in my right eye on 05/21/2018. I was working in night shifts since 16yrs for an IT company. I stay alone and I too have sleep disorders and I drink vodka alternative days (min 360ml). Dr prescribed me Bcomplex tab & 0.25mg stressnil tab for sleeping purpose. it was cured in a span of 3 months but left some minor color disorders. I left the medication and leading normal since sept, Again on 12/25/2018 a small globe formed in my right eye. I have started taking the same medication and left alcohol and smoking. Let me wait for a month and hope vision will be back. Started doing exercise, yoga and meditation. I really got scared of laser treatment. Thank you all for sharing your experience.
Hey guys
I’m 38 male
Glad there are more of me out there :)
I have had CSR for 2 years now
I’m Canadian but live in Thailand for the cold season
I noticed the same blurry symptoms
I have since had 3 lazor eye surgeries
On my eye
The first didn’t work
The second did, I was so happy I could see agian
After two months after a night of drinking in Thailand I woke and it was back like it never left
When I got home to Canada I had another lazor but didn’t do any good
The doc gave my these new drops that just came to Canada to dry the leak
Didn’t work.
Last resort I when to the hospital and got cold lazor therapy with a injection to close the leaking veins
The injection costed me 2 grand canadian
I couldn’t leave the house for 4 days after the surgery because sunlight to my skin could cause burns
The internet has very little on the presedure
Has anybody had this done?
with success ?
If so pls reply or email me goonknox@gmail.com
It’s been 4 weeks with no visible improvement
The doc said it would take 8 weeks to see any
With a 95 percent success rate
I hope this works:)
I have read up on this and people who take grape seed abstract and vit D have seen improvement
Also I heard meca balances your hormone levels for people with high steroid levels
Hope some of this helped
Bless all of you with this pain in the ass disease
TDaniel.
I have dealt with CSR for 3 1/2 years now. The first episode was extremely bad with 3 large leaks and one directly in front of my center of vision. Took about 6 months to return to about 90%. Never returned to normal. Have had 4 more leaks since then but not as bad as the first. Retina specialist put me on spiranolactone to help with blood pressure and that really helped out. Nervous about the surgery as well.
Thank you Jose for bringing up this blog
Got my CSR way back in 2014 I have small blind spot in the middle left eye, consulted optometrist and went to different lab exam they found out there's a small dark spot at the back of my eye, Dr. does't recommend me laser treatment cause it will not guarantee it will resolve it. By the way I also work in IT. and she said the major culprit is STRESS! Really? My job is not really that stressful on my part, but I realize its not only my job that can cause STRESS
As per my Dr. advised she said laser is an option but not recommended, or just live with it and take a rest or ignore it, then after a month or so ignoring it I have a clear vision again
Not until last year August 2018 it went back again same spot but just a blurry vision, consulted new Dr. but I did not tell I have CSR before she checked my eyesight both are 20/20 she said your eyes are normal. Then I said I have a CSR before that the time she says that's why! But i told her its only blurry and there's no blind spot then she said my brain already knew whats going to happen and trying to adjust in advance. Huh! then she recommend me Navanac and pair of reading glass to lessen the blurriness
After few weeks it went back to normal, and now January 2019 I started to have a shadowy vision again although pair of reading glass helps.
Reading previous comments I decided to summarized my observation so pin point the cause hopefully you do the same
- CSR Episode -
1st Episode = 2014 / more than 3 months
2nd Episode = 2018 / 3 weeks
3rd Episode = 2019 / 2 weeks now - present
- Diet -
Coffee = Yes 1 to 2 cups /day
Beer = No intake for last 13 years
Cigarette = Yes 10-15 sticks
Chocolates = not that much that will cause it
- Exercise-
Random biking
- Work -
5/10 intensity (not stressful enough to be a cause)
- Medicine -
Drop of Nevanac (doesn't do anything at'll hope fully my brain will be fooled)
Pair of reading glass
Ignore it!
I have the same problem. I have performed a laser treatment, but it keeps recurring. Last year I went to a doctor who did not have so much experience. She recommended me Nevanac Eyedrops. And surprise, after the treatment, the condition got worse. Now the spot is much larger and I am afraid I might lose my central vision. Also, I noticed that it is not related only to stress (actually, I do not thing it has to do with stress in all cases, cause I did not have any problems when it first occurred). Instead, sometimes it occurs when the eye is exposed to bright light. So be careful with the computer and sunlight; use sunglasses. I think the doctors should study this condition properly and find out what causes it.
Has anyone expirenced strain to your eyes and requiring glasses? Is it common? Pretty sure I’m having another attack. Going to see the doctor next week for some imaging
Hi, I'm suffering CSR in both eyes for about six years now. I came across your blog a few years ago and it's great but also not very encouraging to read all these comments here.
In my case the first episode was the worst, had laser treatment for that. Now it's on and off like every 1,5 year, but never as bad as the first time (luckily). I am also on Spironolactone for about 3 years now, but that doesn't prevent the disease from coming back.
I am also a passionate cyclist and my last three occurrences happened right after an extensive workout - extremely high heart rates for a long time (2 hours or more). The last occurrence (last week) I was also drinking protein shakes on a regular base (but I don't think it is related).
I am gonna lay down on my extensive workouts and see if that prevents the CSR from coming back, but first need to get rid of the current spot.
Keeping you posted.
Greetings from Belgium.
I have been diagnosed with CSR to weeks ago, and have had it for around 10 months now. At first I thought it was a pesky eye floater from too much eyestrain and computer work, but one day it was suddenly worse and when doing an ambler grid the lines were all wonky in that spot so I made and appointment...turns out it's in both eyes, mainly the right eye. The doctor did not recommend treatment as he said the lasers can cause permanent scarring, and the medicines can cause glaucoma.
I have been doing a lot of wondering about the cause, the doctor told me he thinks it's my hormones shifting, but I also read that studies have definitively linked CSR to h pylori so it's definitely got more than one possible trigger .. I've started taking manuca honey every day, also lutein and taurine.
Whatever is going on with my eyes it's also made me super sensitive to light, and I see after images too easily. once in while also visual snow. I get migraines triggered by bright light and also ocular migraines once in a while that make the world look like a disco ball.
I feel for all of you posting here, it's so frustrating and more than a little unsettling.
as a sidebar I've worn contacts for over 20 years and always have a lot of intensive computer work.
Good luck everyone!
Hi. I am a 30-year-old male. I have had the condition for about 5 months now in my right eye.
I have shown it to the doctor and I am now just ignoring it. It has gotten better and worse, and better and worse repeatedly. I am soldiering on though. I have started meditating every morning.
I know it will get better with time. I am keeping the faith. Thank you for this blog. This is very reassuring.
I have had csr since 2009. Ophthalmologist always said eyes were good just needed glasses. In 2014 saw a Dr that found it ; it was to late my vision continued to get worse. Have had 4 avastin shots because when the leak goes away it comes back .They say I have bad luck. Lost most of my vision and at the end of my rope .He says next step is laser
Just got diagnosed today. Sudden onset of blurry vision in right eye. Didn't realize laser might not work. I drink very little. I do like to lift weights and kayak. Has a doctor actually told any of you to avoid strenuous exercise?
Hi, I had CSR one year ago, and it came back this January. Now I had something called Navilas Laser, which should be a subthreshold yellow wavelink, which in theory should not cause damage to the eye.
So far it went a bit worse and then a bit better. I have a check up soon, let's see.
good luck!
Hello everyone,
See my story for your own conclusion
1. In june 2018 first time noticed blurrines in right eye
2. 16.06.18 visit in hospital - diagnosis - changes in central point of vision - therapy Diuramid pills
3. 22.06.18 visit in local ophthalmologist. Clear diagnosis. It is CSR. Huge blister in OCT examination. Therapy - Diuramid pills and wait 1 month.
4. 30.07.18 visit in local ophthalmologist. Huge happines, blister almost gone. But as I recognized later "almost" can be most significant. Therapy - no pills, just wait for self healing
5. 25.09.18 visit in local opht. Small blister still present. Vision is still blurred. Doctor send me to another one equipped with MicroPulseLaser.
6. 07.11.18 first visit in clinic with MPL. In OCT examination we found out that my retina is wavy and small blister is still present. Therapy - laser after fluorescein angiography.
7. 08.11.18 angio day. Two small leackage in angio examination found.
8. 16.11.18 visit in clinic. Therapy - focal laser two shoots and MPL on whole retina.
9. 28.12.18 visit in clinic. It is getting better. Very small blister. Vision still blurred. Again MPL on whole retina. And bad news... fotocells in part of my retina are dead due to long detachement from feeding layer because of blister. My retina will never work for 100% and have to live with blurred wiev of the world.
10. 29.01.19 visit in clinic. Blister is gone but blurred world will never go away.
My conclusion: when doctors say that CSR is selfhealing, don't belive them. Some of them say that after more than 3monts blister is still present it is too late to save retina. MPL or/and focal laser should be done immeditely after blister is found. As you can see on my case it is true.
Is there anyone with damaged retina by CSR who can share his experience after years? I wonder if it's getting worse as time pass or remains as it is?
Good luck
AMR
Hello Bruce,
Yes, two doctors told me to avoid strenous excersise. But in reference to some opinions that caffeine is also forbidden doctors say that there is no influence on CSR.
AMR
Thanks for your insight (no pun intended). I have had mine for a year, came, reduced, came back, now reducing again. I go back in to get the dye and look for leaks. If I still have issue he wants to cold laser, but he doesn't want to, as he feels its almost as bad as the CSCR. I cut back on coffee, and seemed to help, then I quit coffee, and feels a bit better. I drink alcohol regular enough. I do have high stress load (maybe I'm a type A person?). I'm seeing a therapist for coping and stress, and do regular exercise. Wish me luck.
And thanks for the link to the Yahoo group! will check it out.
Thanks for this blog it’s a reassurance to see someone struggling with the same problem. In my case I had a sudden and somewhat aggressive sinus attack took sinus meds as one does and low and behold woke up the next morning with blurred vision. Went to see optometrist who referred me to the ophthalmologist who picked up the csr in my right eye although slight laser isn’t recommended due to the placement being my central vision. I suspect onset due to the cortisone in the sinus meds when I had the initial sinus attack although every dr seems really vague as to what the cause is. Initially thyroid was a suspect but that came out clear and then the csr was picked up. It’s really somewhat disturbing to see so many with recurring episodes and guess I may be in this for the long haul at least until drs can figure out a treatment that actually resolves. I’ve also done some reading on cold laser therapy have you tried or had this treatment at any stage as yet and if so what was the outcome?
Hi thanks for Your blog/account.
Has anyone ever blown their nose too hard prior to onset ?
I’m 60 yo now and have lived with CSR since my late 20’s. At first I was panicked but soon settled and accepted that from time to time my vision would be affected for a few months by blurry “flashbulb” spots occurring in both eyes. It does even to be related to stress and lack of sleep, to confirm what others have said.
Fast forward 30 years... Recently I’ve had my most intrusive CSR episode, right eye only, but for the first time very near the center of my vision. It significantly affects by ability to read small letters, causing a pronounced double vision often requiring me to cover my right eye and let my left do the work.
At first my Ophthalmologist was concerned that I had developed Macular Degeneration, a scary prospect. After testing and observation it was determined that it was just another episode of CSR. So now I wait, and in a few months it will be gone, as all the previous episodes have gone.
So why does this occur? I believe after 30 years of dealing with this that there are multiple factors. Stress definitely plays a role, but sleep also plays an important one as well as, yes, beer (or alcohol) consumption. Exercise can counter it. I realize that these are not new revelations but my hope is that my 30 years of experience with this might underscore the importance of controlling these factors.
Good luck to us all!
Hello and thank you for your blog and all the commenters. I am 49 and have CSR in both eyes and it has non stop since 2012. It comes and goes in new locations regularly. It’s to the point where the specialist asks me where the leaks are and how big they are. By blinking I can see them. Dark spots with a white ring around them. I have had laser, injections and oral medications. The injections have been successful in making the leaks go away but they still return. I did have a stressful Law Enforcement job. I tried leaving the field and going to a desk job but the computer screens make me nauseous due to all the waves I see. Low light is horrible and I get bad eye fatigue. I try to research how to stop this and unfortunately it seems that for some of us it just won’t go away. The good is that for most it does stop and they remain CSR free. I have been forced to retire and the condition qualified me for Social Security Disability Income. Not exactly how I thought my retired life would be but I can say that it could be worse. I see distance fairly well. I still can see close as long as I don’t focus on one thing for long. It’s frustrating but I’m glad to have what vision I have. I wish I could give some great wisdom or answers but like most I’m still looking for some myself. These blogs at least make me not feel alone and also confirm that all Over the wOrld doctors are doing the same treatments. Be strong and enjoy life to the fullest.
All too familiar. Thanks for your post and to all the others commenting.
Hi
I have recently found this to be my issue and this has really made me feel better! One thing I am worried about I haven’t seen my consultant yet I am waiting for an appointment but due to go on holiday do you think it’s safe to fly?
Hello Jose. This is the first time I am having csr, it has only been a week and I am going crazy and feeling panic...Thanks to your blog I see I am not the only one. I wonder if there are any eye exercises that could help? Hope you will feel better soon.
I am not sure yet but due to coronavirus spread I wasn't wearing my glasses for the last three months. Then after wearing them for a few days last week and watching only some TV and after a day of a little stress in life, all of a sudden it returned but almost went away in a couple of days, not completely but it is almost gone. Well I stopped wearing my glasses immediately.
I had my first episode about 15 months ago which got really big and caused some really bad distortions in my vision. It was fairly large, like a circle with a diameter of 5-7 centimeters in a distance of 30 centimeters away! But it all got better in about five months.
After mending my vision got better except that objects were about 70 to 80 percent smaller with my right eye than the left eye, the technical term for this is micropsia.
Then, after 4 months I had a much milder episode and it got better in 3-4 months and the micropsia was way less perceivable. About 90 to 95 percent depending on the size of the objects.
I was happy and since most doctors and sources say it takes one year to heal I was happy until last week that some guy gave me some stress and also wearing glasses. I don't know which one was the cause.
In summary, I wear my computer glasses when I work with computers and I no longer wear my nearsightedness glasses (thanks to COVID-19).
I have also increased my omega-3, lutein, and zeaxanthin intake in my daily diet. Lutein and zeaxanthin are relatively polar carotenoid pigments found at high levels in parsley, spinach, kale, egg yolk, and lutein-fortified foods. I eat a crustless quiche containing some of the above vegetables and one egg almost every day.
Actually I had stopped having my daily quiche just 3-4 days before the last short-living episode and immediately started it again when it had returned. It might have been the reason for the return of my CSR, who knows.
My blood test always showed a marginal low platelet count. So I thought maybe my daily vitamin K intake is low. So I looked at the amount of vitamin K in my daily diet. It was shamefully low. So I added some leafy greens to make up for that.
My second episode returned when due to pressure at home for being selfish and being so fussy about my diet I stopped having my invented quiche as well.
I have been diagnosed with csr.Was wondering does anyone feel any pain in the eye that has been diagnosed with csr.
Hi I just found this and I have been suffering for the last 3 years on my right eye if any of you reading this and know how to help or whom to contact please email me Directly
Broo2000@gmail.com.
My first episode happen during my last trimester of the pregnancy last year. It got better after 2 weeks time.
Second episode happen 1 month after I gave birth (just 2 months after first episod), it was worse. I was depressed and I found your page during that time. I was clueless what caused tht. But most article said pregnancy is a high risk factor, hormone changed and probably breastfeeding as well. The episod last for 3 months then I only manage to get back to work.
3rd episode, it happen again now! This round I'm pretty sure after I drank the latte ( 2 shots) and I couldn't sleep that night. I'm not a caffeine person, I don't drink, except that day just to try my friend's new barista skill!
I feel headache looking at the pc all the time but It's my job. Pretty hard for me to drive at night and raining time too. I dont want to do the laser treatment, just hope it'll get better soon this round!
Its indeed really stressful.i am struggling with this condition from last two years
Nothing is working it goes and comes back really feel frustrated and it's straining my healthy eye .but now when I read the comment here I felt I'm not alone so many are affected, I just pray for all of us may the almighty give us all our healthy vision back
Its indeed really stressful.i am struggling with this condition from last two years
Nothing is working it goes and comes back really feel frustrated and it's straining my healthy eye .but now when I read the comment here I felt I'm not alone so many are affected, I just pray for all of us may the almighty give us all our healthy vision back
Hi Jose: I really appreciate your story. I noticed the "spot" late April 2020. From May till now I have been seeing my eye Doctor who has done several scans to see if the density improves (it too is my right eye). I am Type A and know I get stressed. My eye Doctor had me go on NSAIDs and sent me to a retina guy. I stopped the NSAID until I went to the retina guy who has now placed me on Alphagan which is usually for Glaucoma and Eye pressure. He said there i no downside and I will take 3 drops a day for 6 weeks and then go back to him I am going to be 66, so the 20-50 age rule does not apply only the "happens mostly in men" does. Just having this causes stress. I also had last October 2019 and also Jan-Feb 2020 3 steroid injections. One in my hip and 2 in my left foot. I am now convinced those coupled with stress (stress produces cortisol in your body). Also diabetes runs in my family but my A1C was 5.8 which is .2 above the normal range of <5.6. This really has me worried. he said PDT (Photo Dynamic Laser: Cold Laser could cause a possible permanent spot where the laser is directed. Well I will now join the group your mention so maybe I can read other's stories and hopefully find some hope as this had gotten me totally bent out of shape. Thanks again and I am sure I will write again when I see the retina guy on October 6th 2020
Hi Jose,
Thanks for the blog on CSR. It is really informative. I was diagnosed with CSR a couple of days back after seeing blurry for last 5-6 days with my right eye. Btw, I had a fall and got 5 stiches over my right brow 2 weeks back, but my eye was not hurt. I had no issues with vision till last 5 days. Doc said it is just a coincidence that i got CSR now and has nothing to do with the injury. He seems to think it is stress related. I did have a lot of stress past month due to my father's illness as well as my injury. He has asked me to come back in 4 weeks and offered no medication and/or treatment at this point. As i read more about this condition, i came across a study in 2010 where a low-dose aspirin helped improve CSR rapidly. Has anyone here tried the low-dose aspirin? Has it helped?
Any information will be helpful.
thanks
Piyush
Sorry for my English, I live in Greece in a country full of stress and daily pressure, I suffered central serous in 2016 and left after 3 months with my vision being perfect, came again in 2018 and lasted 6 months, left me on the right eye a little micropsia and I see a little darker, I came again a few days ago and I am very disappointed, I have no appetite to talk to my wife or play with my little daughter as I always did, the doctor told me to give acetazolamide and nepafenaki but they would not do such a good job he told me, I am thinking of doing pdt but the cost is 1000 € but I have no other solution, I am afraid that if I leave it will leave me with a problem like in 2018. I read a lot about ibrufen, aspirin , I will make my stomach soup.
Thank you for all this! I've had CSR diagnosed for almost a year now and have laser planned in about 3 weeks. It's exhausting to read books so hoping this helps, though its been so long (thanks Covid) that I'm worried about permanent damage.
I'm a 68 year old grandma, retired, not a ton of stress, not type A ...but do love my coffee.
Has anybody had achiness in their affected eye? This is the eye I get migraine pain with so it's hard to know what's going on..
Anyway..thanks again for all the info.
good evening, I have csr, I know that there is blurred vision but I also have something strange, when I am under daylight when I look at alternating images on my PC or mobile or even and I come close with a light bulb in the house then the evil eye begins sees strobe light either with closed or with open eyes, this does not happen in a dark room or in low light, what can happen? I experience it from the moment I wake up until it is night,I would sometimes describe it as a bright popcorn, maybe even as a bright windmill.
Hello All,
i was struggling with my first CSR three months ago, it was quite big and it affected maccula. On last OCT from one month ago there was no fluid at all, however my vision is still far away from what it was before CSR episode. Vision is distorted (straight lines appear like bended) and objects seen with the "sick" eye are about 20% smaller. Can You tell me if it will be any better?
Thanks in advance for all information.
Best Regards,
Łukasz
I’m not alone in this struggle, which makes me feel alright.
I’m not to sure when I received my first encounter with csr, as I was a symptomatic. I found out after I had an eye exam. The opthamologist had told me that the scar may have been there for years but here is an amsler graph and check your eyes weekly, three days later..... my ancient scar opened up!
I was very stressed at the time, I fear health issues and my wife had abandoned the marriage so... I’m thinking that could of done it! I did notice that every time I had an episode there was an instance where I had a bright light in my eye, when your opth checks for liquid in your eye it’s very bright, also using your phone at night, alcohol is also a no no, I’ve had reoccurrences the day after drinking twice.
I was a bodybuilder for five years and was lifting heavy weight, never once did anything happen. I believe that this disease starts off with stress, and then takes a hold, I got my first episode in June and have had 3 since.
Jose I read this every time I get a new episode. Usually I heal within 2-3weeks. I woke up yesterday dec 13 2020, and my old bloody friend was starring me right in the face again! Prior to this I stopped drinking alcohol, caffeine, even stopped dating for a bit, started meditation, I was diagnosed with h pylori and took the meds to get rid of it about two and a half weeks ago, apparently h pylori can stay in your blood for a year... I’d suggest everyone get tested if you have csr.
This disease really messes with your head, when you are seeing through the eyes of Mickey Mouse and his dream land it’s rough! When the liquid subsides and things return to normal you ask yourself... when will this shit return!!?
No one in my family has issues like this, I’m the lucky one, I found it reassuring when I stumbled upon this blog, it ain’t easy having this disease with no one to understand what your world now looks like. It is sometimes rough to get through this crap, but one day at time I guess.
I think the ophthalmologists will tell you anything to get you out of the office as soon as they can, although this disease is irritating and can do damage, it’s by far not the worst retinal disease. There is a bionic eye that is being developed that looks promising, also retinal patches, and other technologies that are on the horizon. We have got thousands of scientists trying to engineer a replacement retina, in fact there are scientists out there that are by passing the eye entirely and using tech from glasses straight to the visual cortex. My point is help is on the way, and we are not in the dark, it’s the 4th most common retinal disease and affects 1 in 10 000, we won the fkn! Lottery boys!
Thanks for the post and thanks for the comments, it’s a bit better knowing that it’s not just me with this; I was diagnosed with it 3 months ago (during the UK summer Covid lockdown) after I noticed distortion on my computer screen and people’s faces on TV, I was given the Amsler chart which shows the curved lines in my centre of vision. It’s coming up to 6 months and I still have it. Some days it seems worse, some days not so much. But it’s worrying at times.
It’s mainly in my right eye, but in my left a bit too the opposite way (although I’m wondering if that’s my brain compensating.) I had to get in touch with my doctor about it as I was worried about it all and was referred by my doctor to see an Ophthalmologist - but I think I’m on a waiting list, I had a letter a month ago and nothing back since.
I also work in IT, and I also eat a fair bit of chocolate and have a coffee every morning (just the instant stuff), so I’m going to stop both of those and go back to carrots and vegetables again as I’ve heard bright coloured foods may help with the eye (I’ve no idea really, just trying anything.) My sleeping’s not been great and I stay up way too late into the early hours.
My eyes generally feel like they’re straining, I wear glasses too and I think it’s affected my prescription which makes me strain even more. Night time and bright lights affect me the most; I have trouble making out words on TV with bright coloured graphics.
I do wonder if it’s related to hypertension, lack of sleep, poor diet and straining my eyes at computer screens. I did wonder whether my sleeping position may have caused it and if I’m putting strain on my head or something.
I’ve had alopecia areata on and off for the past 5 or 6 years, occasional bald patches, which makes me wonder if it’s related - constant low level stress of the job I work in or maybe an auto immune response. I’ve also been on a gout medicine allopurinol for the past year as I had a few gout flare ups over a year ago in my right achilles and I have a bony bit sticking out, I don’t know if any of that is related or it’s just something else going wrong with me, I’m in my early 40’s.
Thanks again for making this page and thank you for the comments which I’ve read through and has helped me a bit.
Just found this article..
I'm 55..12 years ago, 2009..blurry right eye..eye doc confirmed fluid under macula. He offered injection but I waited and it went away after a while but vision issue was still there.
Fast forward to 2015, vision had been slowly improving all the years.. bang..worse than ever. Back to doc who informs I have secondary neovasculation (bleeding) in eye.and informs I need injections of lucentis. So I start eye injections.. initially successful.but then no so..doc tries steroid injection with no success. U continue with I jrctiond every 7 weeks.
2017 diagnosed with Conns syndrome..condition of Adrenal glands releasing too much aldosterone hormone. Removed adrenal gland.. eye condition stabilises but still need injections..
Carry on injection every 7 weeks..just get used to it.
5 weeks ago..bang.. left eye (my good eye) reading is difficult.. get glasses which are a life saver.
Back to doc, fluid under left macula..dead centre.
currently seeing do drops work or ill be getting regular injections in both eyes... :(
Adrenal issues are very much linked to cscr and if any of you have high blood pressure and cscr this should be checked out as may cure you..
I've 3 weeks to sort this or get double jabs...
Thanks for sharing. I'm 42 now and have been warned to monitor this when older. Good to have some perspective from someone a few years ahead :)
Hi All,
I'm glad I found this site so I can learn about what other people have experienced from being diagnosed with CSR. I was diagnosed on the 15th March 2021 and have been off work since 22nd March. Working in IT, means that I have been spending a lot of time in front of a screen and lockdown has meant I do more the usual 9-5.
When I first noticed something strange about my vision, I meediately called the optician to get an emergency OCT appointment. They could not confirm what condition I had, and referred me to a specialist and suspected it was CSR. I had an angiogram in the same week, and the following week w/c 22nd, it was CSR.
I have been under immense stress at work, and this has been noted in the consultant's letter to my employers. Of course, now my employers are being extra nice to me and making sure that I am recovering.
I have been taking strong caffeine weight-loss supplements since November 2020 and this may have contributed together with the stress to CSR in my left eye.
I have my days when I think I am getting better, and I use the Amsler chart provided by the opticians to gauge if it is getting better. I have another scan in a week's time to check if any of the fluid has dissipated.
I will keep you all posted on my progress.
Hi everybody,
I come from France, I have CSR since I am 24 years old, I'm now 35.
Effectively after a high period of stress in my life, I triggered the dissease.
I dont know after many episods where the problem come from.... But I have maybe find a solution to solve the problem when it happen. It works on me.
During the first quarantine, I had a CSR on my eyes, normally the leak stayed between 2-3 month before it disappear spontaneously, but during the quarantine, I did not have to go to work earlier and come back late, I did sleep 3 days more than 10 hours. After that 1 week late my leak was totally gone.
Each episode affect your eyes of course, but it can help to solve the problem faster and to help to see better.
So my conclusion is : I dont know how it happen but I know how maybe to solve it : SLEEPING ! it can be a track....
SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH
This is something I protect every time I get an episode. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. No down-side to it. Also, you can use the "I have a medical condition" to sleep more in case of emergency. :)
Hey Jose.
I'm a 35 year old male living in South Korea.
Been following your blog ever since I was diagnosed with CSR last spring.
Woke up one morning and the vision in my left eye was distorted and blurry.
Thought that it would go away after a shower but it didn't.
Visited a local clinic and they said that I needed to go to a bigger specialized hospital.
Went to St. Mary's Hospital and was diagnosed with CSR, had similar fluid build up in the retina like the pictures you've posted in the past.
Was prescribed Vessel Due F? And my vision got better after a couple of weeks.
I work in music production and we have some crazy deadlines. Lot of stress. The distortion came back and did the fluorescein angiogram to take a closer look at the eye.
Doctor recommended a shot of Avastin. Was super scared to get a shot in the eye ball. But it was very quick and not that painful. Vision improved and after a few weeks, noticed a lot of the fluid buildup was gone.
After a few months, the distortion came back and I got another shot of Avastin. Vision improved but not back to 100%.
During my last check up, there was no fluid build up but my vision is still not 100%. I guess it's something I have to live with. The doctor said that I should come back if my vision worsens.
I'm glad that the fluid has drained but bummed out at the same time that my vision is still not 100%. I would say it's about 80-85%.
I've been reading your blogs and the updates and the other comments as well. Just wanted to share my experience!
Thanks for sharing. I'm not sure what Avastin is, but I haven't gotten any needles on my eyes... thankfully. My vision is OK during the day, but I can still identify blind spots when it is dark.
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m 27 and had CSR first appear earlier this year. It went away nearly as quickly as it came with no obvious cause. Perhaps an intense workout triggered it. I hope you have luck with controlling it.
Good luck! The first time I got it was scary since it came quickly. I thought I was in need of glasses... I had contacts for a few months before being diagnosed.
A very interesting article you have written, I have CSR in my left eye and may lose my job over it. ( train driver)
Was picked up at a periodical medical then found by a scan at the opticians. Luckily I have a mate who works in a hospital so got seen to pretty quickly and had the laser treatment. Success as in the fluid has gone but vision is still not up to standard for my job. Been 3 months since the laser and have been told it can take 6 months to settle.
Agh... I feel for those who mention their jobs are at risk because of this. It may go away (mine has been at bay for years now). That said, it is something to keep monitoring for life, especially when we get older.
Found your blog researching CSR. I'm 44, type-A perfectionist, etc and got diagnosed with a mild case in one eye late Nov '21. It came on with weird flashes and light sensitivity. Then I got a "bubble" in my vision with glare issues, and acuity degraded from 20/15 to 20/20. Went to my childhood ophthalmologist who prescribed one Prolensa drop every 12 hours, which helped immediately.
Now I'm 2 months in and about 90% better. It started as an ebb & flow journey, as I was getting 9-10 days of improvement then 1 day of degradation. The past 3 weeks have been all slow improvement with no steps backward, and 3 weeks ago happens to be when I started 3x/day of 3mg melatonin after doing some research. This helped on the first day. I have recently tapered the Prolensa off to one drop every 36 hours.
Since it is slowly improving I'm taking a "wait & see" approach. I haven't read many promising things about lasers, and since this case is mild I'm just going to ride it out. When I feel this is 100% gone I'll stop the Prolensa (I have plenty of refills left), taper off the melatonin and go in for a final follow-up. This weird disorder is scary at first but more annoying than anything.
Thanks for reading.
Hi, I am an iridologist in France, I am actually doing a study about CSR . If evryone wants to be part of this study to try to find out the link between health and CSR. This study is free, let you all have a chance to maybe find the reason of this illness.
Please contact me to : rk.manniger@gmail.com
Hi I am a french pratician in France, I can study for free your case of CSR. I'm actually doing a research about this pathology and we can participate for free at this study.
do not hesitate to contact me
How has the csr been for you now?
Good timing. I just logged in to update it :)
Hello,
Thank you for making this blog, it' make me feel better to know I'm not suffering alone.
I'm 33 years old and have been suffering with CSR for 10 years now.
The damage to my right eye is so great I can know longer focus with this eye.
About 4 years ago I starting getting serious cases of CSR in my left eye (my good eye) teffiying!
My most recent episode has just made a 1 year anniversary, it has got better and worse and better and worse over the year.
I finally felt hopeful the episode was over then bammm on the date of the anniversary the blur came back.
I had a Laser treatment on my left eye 4 months ago in November and felt like this affect my long distance vision, Which is now making the blurred vision even more challenging for me.
Have you ever experienced this from your laser treatments? My consultant was adament that this was not the case but I'm in disbelief.
After all he doesn't know what is like to the through the eye of a patient with CSR.
Any information would be greatly appreciate. Thank you
I think I've been lucky in that I haven't had it affect my central vision that much... either that or I've gotten used to it. I haven't had a problem in terms of long distance vision, and even thought I can't think how it could happen, I'm not a doctor.
How about getting a second opinion?
Jose,
Thank you for creating this blog brother! I'm on month 3 of my journey and things are looking much clearer. Sleep, healthy eating low in sodium and no stimulants seem to help. My CSR was 'm steroid induced. I'm hoping that if I stay away from them, I should be in the same zone. At the current moment, I do see a ring and a white cloud at low level with some pain and sensitive to lighting. I'm at about 90% but do tend to get disoriented when I walk or drive. Wishing you the best brother.
Guille
Guille - Sorry to hear about your experience. I guess we can (a) forget about any dreams of becoming fighter jet pilots, and (b) have a built-in "take it easy" reminder in our eyes. I wish you well!
I actually found your blog back in 2014 when I searched the web after being diagnosed first time with CSCR. My unfortunate rendezvous with this disease happened in 2012 in Canada when I developed some symptoms in my right eye after intense period of stress and anxiety caused by a health scare. Went to an optometrist but it never got diagnosed. In 2014 i got central vision blocked on left eye after work stress and optometrist took the picture of eye and was able to diagnose it. I was referred to ophthalmologist who confirmed both eyes had leakage with left eye in centre and right eye on the left side. At that time it looked like there was no standard treatment. Fast forward to 2025, there were multiple leakage episodes but they all resolved but right eye had persistence fluid conditions and was leaking both sides of eye and caused permanent scarring. I was reluctant on laser and each episode cause cumulative damage. Left eye there is some central damage but right eye I see everything at least 30 percent smaller with wavy areas on both sides of central vision. With both eyes open my brain compensates though I need very strong prescription for my eye glasses.
These are few observations and suggestions I would like to share based on my experience
1. Just observing recurring Cscr episodes itself resolve is also damaging to retina and permanent vision loss happens
2. In my case left eye leakages always happened only by stress, right eye trigger is unknown and quite persistent. But the very first time right eye was caused by stress as well. So stress is the main factor. I think once weakness is there, other conditions can trigger it.
3 I think prolensa drops do help in faster resolution
4. Lack of sleep can also cause it.
5. I started taking Bp medication 3 years ago, initially it was high dose which gave me side effects and made me sleep a lot. I saw persistent red eyes blob disappear immediately. Though they were back later but my medication dose is low now.
My goal is to not to make things any worse. On recent visit I asked ophthalmologist about PdT treatment but he says in my case it will make it worse and damage done can’t be repaired. I may go for a second opinion. To avoid any stressful episode , I now got lorezapam prescribed that I only take when something stressful happens.
After taking these precautions the episode intensity and frequency has decreased.
I would like to know from others if they used PDT and if it helped in long run or not ?
Hi Shaz - Thanks for sharing your story. Sorry to hear you went through some big waves there, but glad to hear things are... not getting any worse? Hopefully they are getting better.
It may be a too much of a long shot to ask for feedback here. But there are some good forums out there. I stopped researching as my condition settled, but I know there are a few out there.
I've also had recurrent CSR for several years now, and am considering getting laser treatment. Just curious, in your experience, were you able to see any blind spots / changes in your vision where the laser was applied? My ophthalmologist says I won't be able to notice it, but I'd really like to hear from folks who have first hand experience before proceeding. Thank you!
(BTW, the form on your contact page doesn't seem to be working, the wheel just spins forever)
Well thank you for creating this. Found out that Im in the same boat, since two eye doctors already tell me that my left eye is perfectly healthy. Been trough some more serious stress lately, which triggered it. During nighttime its definitely worse. I got my self conscious back as I understand that it will go away eventually and see it as a reminder of my body to tell me to slow down. Yoga helps me tbh. My eye hasn’t recovered yet since 1 month. But looking forward to it. Really cant hassle around meeting doctors every week. Will keep you posted ✌️