Anyone out there with symptoms that don’t seem typical for Birdshot?
How many people are affected in just one eye? Many consultants believe that Birdshot is bilateral (i.e. it affects BOTH eyes) and would not diagnose Birdshot if it affects just one eye – do we think this is true? If it is not Birdshot, then what is it?
How many people have pain in their eyes? Birdshot is thought to be painless. I know that I have very painful eyes, particular if I move them (shooting pain deep in the eye), and I know of at least two others who say the same. Anyone else?
How many people have been diagnosed with Birdshot but do not test positive for HLA A29? Again, some consultants would refuse to diagnose Birdshot if there is no HLA A29 positive test. What do we think?
How many people have strange visual symptoms which baffle their consultants? For example, I seem to have images left on my retina for a long time. I will put my keys down, and then I see my keys on a range of other surfaces as I look around, making it very difficult for me to find my keys again! I also have illusions – I will be walking down the street, and I will see a very large cow walking towards me – impossible, I know. What I think is happening is that there is a large shadow, and my brain tries to make sense of this by accessing its filing cabinet to find something of that shape and size, and interprets it as a cow!
How many people have found that their brain seems to have slowed down when trying to see? For example, I will look at my emails, and although I can ’see’ them, I cannot actually read them – the mass of information in a long list just does not compute in my brain – its seems like gobbledegook – although if I look at individual words, I can make them out – I just can’t make sense of the totality of it.
Any other strange symptoms people have? Or things that seem atypical of Birdshot?
We are trying to understand the complexities of Birdshot, so it would be really good to hear all your stories. That way, we may be able to understand whether people have been possibly misdiagnosed, or whether Birdshot presents quite differently in different individuals, or whether there are a range of other problems that masquerade as Birdshot.
As always, we want to thank you for your interest in Birdshot and this website – we have had a huge influx of new members recently and each new member brings more knowledge and understanding of Birdshot. Thank you all, and we would be grateful for your feed-back on atypical (or typical) signs of Birdshot.
Rea