I recently have been experiencing strange visual phonemenon that’s
best described as a circular flasher. It usually appears in the same
part of my left eye and is kind of semi-transparent and kind of
flashes and shifts colors. I went to the opthamologist to have it
checked out and he took pictures and told me the visual phonemenon was
the result of a scar in my eye. He said it might have been an old
toxicplasmosis scar or a new scar but he offered no other explanation
of how the scar could have gotten there. He said the scar didn’t seem
particularly active or inflamed and instructed me to come back in
three weeks for a check-up.
In the meantime though I am worrying- is this a typical early sign of
histoplasmosis? The doctor didn’t mention spots and I have noticed no
distortion in straight lines that seems typical of this condition.
Could an old toxicplasmosis scar have been re-activated? If so why? If
anyone has any insights on this I would appreciate it thanks!
> Could an old toxicplasmosis scar have been re-activated? If so why? If
> anyone has any insights on this I would appreciate it thanks!
You’ll find more information in search engines if you spell it
"toxoplasmosis."
If your "circular flasher" is a half-circle that stops in the middle of your
vision (C-shape) it probably isn’t toxo.
Toxo lesions form scars where the vitreous gel can attach more firmly. Then,
your vitreous can contract a little as you age, tugging at the retina and
producing the flashes you describe. It isn’t necessarily reactivated, just
because you’re seeing flashes.
Active toxo lesions are hard to misdiagnose because they usually make the
vitreous foggy with white blood cells. The fog makes the retina blurry and
your doctor would recognize that.
Toxo can reactivate, but usually it’s only if your immune system is
compromised from some other condition like immunosuppresant drugs, or
acquired immune deficiency. (Remember we don’t know for sure that yours has
reactivated.)
Toxoplasmosis and histoplasmosis are completely separate, though they can
produce similar lesions. Histo reactivates more easily, without immune
compromise.
Toxo comes from cat boxes (it’s most severe if your mother gets it while
pregnant and passes it through the placenta). Histo comes from bird
droppings, like growing up around chickens or playing in a sandbox under
roosting birds.
-MT, OD
"Eric D" <siberi…@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:33f75bc8.0411301356.3ed9a069@posting.google.com…
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>I recently have been experiencing strange visual phonemenon that’s
> best described as a circular flasher. It usually appears in the same
> part of my left eye and is kind of semi-transparent and kind of
> flashes and shifts colors. I went to the opthamologist to have it
> checked out and he took pictures and told me the visual phonemenon was
> the result of a scar in my eye. He said it might have been an old
> toxicplasmosis scar or a new scar but he offered no other explanation
> of how the scar could have gotten there. He said the scar didn’t seem
> particularly active or inflamed and instructed me to come back in
> three weeks for a check-up.
> In the meantime though I am worrying- is this a typical early sign of
> histoplasmosis? The doctor didn’t mention spots and I have noticed no
> distortion in straight lines that seems typical of this condition.
> Could an old toxicplasmosis scar have been re-activated? If so why? If
> anyone has any insights on this I would appreciate it thanks!