brief vision loss/tia??

[Sherry]

Thanks all for your responses. It helps so much to hear about other valver's situations so I don't feel so alone and weird. Gina, I think I may ask for a prescription for a small stash of Lovenox. It would make me feel a little more secure. Thanks for the idea. Maybe we'll hear from a few others on this subject.

 

[Granbonny]

Another..good thread..for those who just had valve replacement..and are hot to start driving as soon as possible. I had the brown shade to come down on my left eye..and double vision about 2 months post op. Scary..but never had another one. Now, 2 years post-op today. I have had very watery eyes..a little pus, if I rub too hard. very red. Went to eye doctor Monday morning. He said..everything looked normal..but to leave off all makeup, hairspray, ect......No allergy..I wonder now..if the coumadin is starting to have anything to do with my eyes..even tho..I'm always in range. Again..just to remind those of you..don't drive too soon after VR. Don't want to hurt someone else in a car accident. Could be a child..MINE. Bonnie

 

[Marge]

Interesting thread. I am wondering whether these visual disturbances are related to the surgery itself. or to something else (the valve.) If it's the surgery, you would think that bypass patients would get them too. Does anybody know whether they do? Or does it relate to the valve? I notice most of those who describe these "brownouts," etc., seem to be mechanical valve patients (with, I think, one exception).

If you had a repair rather than a replacement, I wonder if that makes a difference?

About driving: drove for the first time since surgery yesterday. (Six weeks from the surgery.) Happy to report: no problems. Having read mention of post-surgery vision problems at this site, I've been monitoring myself carefully ever since surgery for any visual disturbances, have had none. If I had any hint that I had visual problems that made me a risk to drive, I would not drive. (Of course, in that case, I would also have move to where I could walk or use public transportation for everyday activities -- which is not possible where I live now. )

 

[Dave]

crazy vision

crazy vision

Very interested in the reports of momentary vision problems. I had a St Judes Mitral valve fitted almost four years ago, and my recovery was text book, except that every so often I get a vision problem, Its hard to describe and it only lasts less than one minute, but it is damn scarry. Its almost as if the eyes move out of focus with each other and it gives a light headed almost dissy feeling. My medication is 3.5 Warfarin daily and Zocor for colestrol, my INR is stable at between 2.2 and 3.2. These vision problems occur probably once a month. I have minor heart muscle damage as a result of the surgery and just recently my Doctor put me on an ace inhibitor to see if it would help the muscle, I only stayed on it for three weeks because it made me light headed,always tired and it increased the frequency of vision disturbances, I wonder if anyone else has had these problems with an inhibitor.
Nice to know other people have experienced vision problems, sometimes they are so fast i wonder if i imagine them.
Cheers
Dave

 

[bvdr]

I haven't really had the kind of visual problems already mentioned but some very strange things with ocular migraines. Sometimes though, my vision is not as good as usual. I wear a contact 24/7 for reading. I do have periods though that last up to two days or so that I also need reading glasses. I will bring it up at my next eye appointment. I too have been concerned at times about micro-emboli but I don't know how one would ever know for sure.

 

[SHerrin Hutt]

Vision problems

Vision problems

Well, I glad to read that I am not the only that have this vision problems. I have this before and after surgery. I have been tested my the eye Dr. Since my surgery& strokes I've had this happen quite a bit. But most of the time my B/p was up too! I have migraines too but theses are different.

 

[ccrawford]

Sherry - The tia's are what got me started on all this. Talk to Louis next time you are in the office. What he told me was to make sure my INR is in range, keep taking my 81 mg of aspirin, and keep well hydrated. I went through a heckofa bunch of diagnostics to find the clot that was throwing mini clots. It finally took a cath with dye into the brain to find it. IN my case the tias were always on the right eye, and yes they are scary, especially when you're driving Chris

 

[Turkey Hunter]

I have them every so often.

I have not been able to get any answers either. ( I wear glasses now and didn't before, my eyes deteriorated)

Mine are more like the curtain being pulled from all outside edges toward the center. It has never made it all the way to the center. But with the number of miles I drive each year....man does it every scare me. I had it happen a few months ago while I was driving down the interstate at my normal 12 above the speed limit............. I just pulled over and listened to the radio until it went away. Then drove to good old Bob Evans Restaraunt and had some coffee and a second breakfast.

I was scared to start driving again, hell I was 2 hours late for a meeting.

Ben

 

[Granbonny]

Glasses

Glasses

I made the mistake of having my eyes checked and getting new frames and a small change in lens...3 months after VR..Big Mistake... Could never wear them..Then about a year later..another check with new frames (wanted something a little larger) Cannot wear them either. So, I have $500.00 worth of glasses I cannot wear. They make me dizzy..I wear an old pair..which are just fine. BTW..I fell asleep with my glasses on yesterday afternoon..watching T.V. and when I woke up..eyes were double vision for a few seconds. and my INR was 3.0 yesterday a.m. so not coumadin problem. So, I guess it takes a full year for your eyes to get back to normal after VR. surgery Bonnie

 

[Sherry]

Hey, All,
Hadn't been on for a few days and was surprised to see my revived thread on vision loss. Chris, I was interested in your story about the cath. Was this just after your surgery or here recently? So they really found a clot? Wow, this is scary. I've always assumed that they were emboli thrown from the valve, and that they just dissipated in the eye. I just saw Louis a few weeks ago, but it was prior to the lost vision episode. As it turns out, my INR was low the day of the visual disturbance, and my nurse gave me a Lovenox shot. Frankly, my vision overall has been blurry and weird ever since my surgery six years ago. These grey curtain episodes, though, are very distinctive. I did notice that Marty had a similar thread on visual problems and Coumadin on another forum. It sounds like all of us are plagued to some degree with this curse.

 

[ccrawford]

Sherry - I was having the grey curtain symptoms 6 months before my surgery and went through a whole barrage of diagnostic tests before they found a medium sized clot lodged in my upper carotid artery which was kicking off little clots that were temporarily causing lack of blood flow to the portion of my brain that the right eye uses. The cath with dye finally found the clot, but there was nothing they could do about it except medication. The hypothosis was that the bad aortic valve was the cause of the clot, and they are known to do this. Since surgery, I have only had a couple of tias, and they have been mild and short by comparison. Keep on top of your INR, keep well hydrated, and check with Louis re what medication you might need to minimize the risk of having these things. Anyone having these things needs to talk with their doc pronto as they might be a precursor of worse things to come and nobody wants to risk a stroke. Chris

 

[Raverlaw]

I've been watching this thread with great interest although I haven't experienced any of the curtain incidents.

I had a number of ocular migraines before the surgery, and have only had one since, which went away as soon as I took Tylenol.

However, I have noticed that my vision in general, particularly at reading distance, has deteriorated measurably since the surgery. I had my eyes checked in August, and got a new prescription for my reading glasses then, but I didn't even need to wear the glasses all the time.

Since the surgery, my vision has been just plain fuzzy or blurry at times, most often noticeable when I am trying to read or work on the computer. And since my job requires me to read a great deal (Yes, Chris, it IS fine print!) this deterioration is bothering me. Should I go have my prescription adjusted again, or is this something that will improve as my post-op time grows? I will be six weeks post-op tomorrow, and know that a lot of the effects of surgery take up to six months to disappear.

 

[Turkey Hunter]

Bill,

In your case I would give it some additional time bfore investing in new glasses.

Now my eyes deteriorated quite a bit for almost six months. Being the stubborn SOB I am.......(easy Billy....RobThatsMe.......Ross.....ect...) I did not go to the doc then. My vision did get better and than it was at the six month post op timeframe, yet never got back to where it was prior to surgery. As I stated earlier, I wear glasses for reading and using the PC now.

Ben

 

[ccrawford]

Bill - I suppose that a series of micro embolisms could cause some permanent damage, but I've never read anything about this before. When I first started having symptoms I went to both an occulist and a neurologist, both of whom found nothing. My right eye seems to be slightly less sharp than before, especially when I read a lot, but I couldn't tell you why. I agree with Ben - hold up a little on the new glasses and talk to your doc about this. Can't read the fine print huh ? Boy - talk about poetic justice. Now Chris, be a nice guy - for a change.

 

[Sherry]

Hey, Chris,
Thanks for sharing your story about your vision loss episodes. I'll have to admit, I'm a little bugged by the whole thing. Both you and Ross shared that you had them prior to your surgeries, indicating a bad valve throwing clots. That certainly makes sense, but I wonder why on earth a good valve (my episodes started after my surgery, not before) would throw clots and whether or not that's normal. I noticed that some of the others mentioned them after surgery too, but I'm just plain perplexed, not to mention a little scared. Hmmmm...

 

[Lulabelle1]

Hi.
I have been plagued by vision disturbances for many years. I do have ocular mirgranes ( wiggling lightening rods)...but The most common of my episodes start with numb lower lip, lower front teeth, side of face, and as it increases in numbness & area involved, the vision crosses (i see 4 to 6 of everything). If I cover one eye, I can see fine...uncover it, and it's doubled again. These episodes last about a minute ...the longest was about three minutes. I commonly had these before surgery (4+ CABG, and Mitral valve replacement with St Judes mechanical) After surgery , this stopped for a long while, but in the last few months I have had a couple again. The feeling in the eyes is indescribable..like they are being drawn inward. It's a horrible feeling. I always blamed it on a bad head injury, from a direct full force horse kick to the temple ( skull fracture, cheek bone broken). Apparently it may have been the heart problems trying to get my attention. No one could ever dx what the cause was. ...and as usual, wouldn't happen in the Dr.'s presence. I ignored it for years. Then last year, when I got up one morning for work, my vision in my left eye was gone...I mean gone...I about freaked and tried to concentrate on the bathroom light across the room...and it started to come back, but was very dim & yellowed. Like a cloudy yellow film was in front of my eye. After a couple hrs...it was better , but not totally gone. I RAN to opthomoligist who checked me out. I was afraid of a detatched retna or something. He saw nothing but listened to my neck arteries & said I needed to go to cardio, as he heard a bruie. Well being fed up with all the heart crap & surgeries, & tests...I put it off. When I finally did go to sceduled cardio appmnt, he said he'd have scoped the mechanical valve, via the esophagus (??)...as I probably had a clot let loose ( yes I take coumadin) He gave me the devil for not going to ER...and added daily asprin along with the coumadin. The bruie was checked out...but was only slight. He really had no answers as to why the eye episodes either....but since the asprin addition...I 've had no more lost sight upon waking. The other vision disturbances continue.
I thought it was just me, being "weird me"....but now I don't feel so lonely with all your stories...it must be heart related.
Lulabelle1

 

[Gisele]

Dave

Dave

I seem to have exactly what you described, only it turns into double vision. My first episode took place in the hospital when I had my mechanical valve implanted in 1982. This continued up until a few years ago. My cardio doc said he didn't think it was TIA's as the clot wouldn't always be affecting the exact same spot in the brain to cause this occurrence each time.

A few weeks ago I had three episodes of double vision. When it happens the room feels like it is spinning. (my last surgery was in Nov 03). I never did find out what caused it but there have been threads on this board discussing this common episode with valvers and it doesn't seem like anyone has ever gotten a definite answer from their physicians.

 

[ccrawford]

Sherry - Your new valve is a lot better hydrodynamically (smooth flowing) than your natural replaced valve was, but it still probably is not as smooth flowing as a normal human valve. This disturbed blood flow is beleived to be the source of the blood clots. Thus, you will find a few folks, including me, who have had some vision problems post surgery, but more likely you will find most of the problems with people who have not yet had surgery. Chris

 

[ccrawford]

Gisele - In my case, the primary clot was lodged in the upper carotid and was allowing blow flow past it, but was kicking off small clots which indeed did produce the exact same symptom each time in the right eye. Hate to argue with a doc who is a lot better trained than I in these matters, but even my post surgery grey curtains occurred in the same right eye in the same method, only shorter than those pre-surgery. Go figure.

 

[Raverlaw]

Lulubelle,

the symptoms you describe sound like a TIA to me. You should go to the ER the next time you experience something like that.