Non arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy

Hello @craigweis and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am sure this diagnosis has been a bit scary so I am glad you've reached out to this community for support.

You will notice that I have moved your post into an existing discussion on this same topic, which you can find here:
- Non arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/non-arteritic-ischemic-optic-neuropathy/

I'd like to tag fellow NAION members @pedie @godislove @weezy1939 @bgoren @swwo98 @Erinmfs as I'm sure they will want to welcome you as well.

What was your vision prior to diagnosis?

Hi Amanda, thanks for your response. My vision was pretty good, 20/30. I just needed glasses for the last 15 years for reading and work. I have never had issues with my eyes, so yes this has been a bit frightening. Is there really no treatment for this?

I was diagnosed in 2010 and attacked again in 2022. I now have no central vision in my left eye from 2010 and no peripheral in my right eye from 2022 attack.

I was diagnosed in 2010 and lost my central vision in my left eye. Was attacked again 12 years later and lost my peripheral vision in my right eye. Thanking God that I didn't loose my central vision in my right eye.

GOOD NEWS! There really are people working to cure NAION! Here is a summary that just came out this weekend:
Life Biosciences Claims Visual Restoration in Primates
The specific disease treated was non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
Life Biosciences, a biotechnology company advancing innovative cellular rejuvenation technologies to reverse diseases of aging and injury and ultimately restore health for patients, today announced preclinical data in nonhuman primates (NHP) for its novel gene therapy candidate which uses a partial epigenetic reprogramming approach to restore visual function.
This approach has been shown to reverse aging, improve vision, and extend lifespan in mice, but whether epigenetic reprogramming would work in primates was not known. Today, researchers at Life Bio and academic researchers, including Dr. Bruce Ksander and Dr. David Sinclair, reported that Life Bio’s therapy significantly restored visual function in an NHP model of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a disorder similar to a stroke of the eye that is characterized by painless yet sudden loss of vision. The data, presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2023 conference in New Orleans, LA, represents an important step forward toward enabling human clinical trials to potentially treat a variety of ophthalmic disorders and other diseases of aging.
https://www.lifespan.io/news/life-biosciences-claims-visual-restoration-in-primates/

My story is similar to some others here. I developed NAION in my left eye last November of 2023. Within a week, the vision in my left eye reduced to what is still is today, blurry with much reduced peripheral vision. Otherwise, I'm 77 and healthy. The only medication I take is a statin for cholesterol. I was diagnosed by a neuro ophthalmologist as having "disc at risk". I'm looking into finding an acupuncturist in the Chicagoland area who can treat this. I'll let you know if there is any change in this condition.

@willhuntyoga You (and others) are invited to join our group of 185 NAION-affected people from around the world. Just go to our website, NAION@groups.io to sign up. My wife was hit with this 5 years ago and we quickly found that most doctors know nothing about it. Our group is happy to answer any questions from each other.

68 yrs old. Left eye no central vision due to NAION diagnosed 4 weeks ago. I am scared. How do you get beyond the fear?

Yes, this is very scary. Support groups, like us of course, help. I have an audio book machine and I listen to books. It breaks up the day. Talk on the phone and pray. Do you have family close?

Thank you so much for responding. Dr.s have not been helpful.
I am the main caregiver for an adult (42) daughter with special needs. We are very close. I pray I will always be able to see her face. I do the finances for our family. Always have. Hard to see me not being able to do those two things. But, I am blessed with family. My husband is here, and we also have two older daughters who live in or near the same city as we do. One works and the other has her hands full w ith two young boys with mental health issues. But, they will be there for me if needed.
I am a very independent person so this is hard. I took care of my parents, my husbands dad, and our daughter. I don't want anyone to have to take care of me.
I was the only one of eight people in my family that did not have to wear glasses, until I needed readers. I keep telling myself that God gave me perfect vision for 68 years because He knew this was coming. It still doesn't make it any easier. I just want to see my daughters blue eyes!