She Thought It Was Just Eye Strain — But Doctors Found Multiple Sclerosis

You find yourself squinting, rubbing your eyes, wondering why might be seeing blurry and ruling out anything but a screen overtime before you realize it is so much more than just an eye constraint.

A 29-year-old New York woman attributed sharp eye pain to excessive screen time from her digital marketing job, only to learn it was optic neuritis, an early sign of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Amanda Hahn’s 2019 diagnosis followed surprising vision changes that led her to get some medical tests done, which was later confirmed to be an autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system.

Hahn initially blamed the eye pain upon her long screen time while working and the positioning of her work laptop that restricted her to look down, hence causing the eye strain.

“At first, I blamed it on my job. I work in digital marketing at an agency, so I'm glued to a computer screen all day,” she said.

“When I am not glued to my computer screen, I am on my phone. It felt natural to assume it was just eye strain.”

She neglected her earlier subtle symptoms, such as memory lapses and occasional numbness. “I've always been the type to brush off little health things like, 'Oh, it's nothing.' So the idea that it could be something serious didn't even cross my mind,” Hahn explained.

"Things started to look quite blurry, colors seemed faded more than usual, and my eye just didn't feel right," she recalled. “I knew it wasn't just screen fatigue anymore. That's when I went to the eye doctor - and everything escalated quickly from there.”

The ophthalmologist urged Hahn to visit an emergency room for an MRI. After a long awaited time, a nurse delivered the MS diagnosis with a pamphlet, stating, “This is what your life will look like in 10 years.”

Hahn, whose mother also lives with MS, reacted with shock. “I was completely in shock.

Hahn recalled being so in disbelief that she didn't really admit to the MS diagnosis until she consulted multiple doctors to get her reports reviewed.

“Honestly, I didn't even believe her at first. My mom also has MS, so I was confused... how could this really be happening to me too?” she said in disbelief.

MS develops when the immune system attacks the myelin sheath surrounding nerve fibers in the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Optic neuritis, marked by optic nerve inflammation, causes pain with eye movement, vision loss, or color distortion.

The research paper Clinical Analysis of MS Symptoms mentioned that among 1,273 MS patients, the optic nerve played a role at disease onset in 34.7% of cases, with optic neuritis as the sole initial symptom in 16.6%. ¹

Six years after her diagnosis, Hahn manages MS with lifestyle changes. “I try to walk every day, eat fewer processed foods, and stick to a low-carb lifestyle. I also do my best not to stress over things, especially the things I can't control,” she said.

Multiple Sclerosis Risk After Optic Neuritis: Final Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial Follow-up (JAMA Neurology, 2008), mentioned that 50% of ON patients develop MS within 15 years, with MRI lesions indicating a 72% risk, and notes that ON as an initial symptom may predict a milder disease course. ²

She shared, “ I remind myself that MS is part of my life, but it doesn’t define my life.”

A MAGNIMS Position Paper and Future Perspectives mentioned that optic nerve MRI, enhances early MS diagnosis by detecting lesions, as in Hahn’s case.³

Hahn’s journey resonated, with so many followers on social media. Her posts made them “feel less alone.” She gushed, “That encouragement gives me the push to keep going.”

References:

1.Wikström, J., Poser, S., & Ritter, G. (1980). Optic neuritis as an initial symptom in multiple sclerosis. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 61(3), 178–185. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7395462/

2. Optic Neuritis Study Group. 2008. "Multiple Sclerosis Risk After Optic Neuritis: Final Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial Follow-up." Archives of Neurology 65 (6): 727–32. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18541792/

3. Sastre-Garriga, Jaume, Angela Vidal-Jordana, Ahmed T. Toosy, Christian Enzinger, Cristina Granziera, Jette Frederiksen, Olga Ciccarelli, Massimo Filippi, Xavier Montalban, Mar Tintore, Deborah Pareto, Àlex Rovira, and the MAGNIMS Study Group. 2024. "Value of Optic Nerve MRI in Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Management: A MAGNIMS Position Paper and Future Perspectives." Neurology 103 (3): e209677. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39018513/

(Rh/Eth/ARC/MSM)