Great to hear your situation is stable & thanks for responding. One of the challenges is the path forward - what really sets off another event? My GP said it was probably inevitable & that by staying in decent shape I pushed it off from happening earlier. It does make sense that the risk will drop over time - I agree it probably will never drop to zero… In my limited knowledge gained over the past few weeks I think luck plays a fairly large role.
My objective is similar to yours - to remain physically active. I’m not lifting as much as I did 15 years ago, in the winter I’ll try to get my bench back to 315 & will occasionally work my squat back to 405. I’ll do 100 pull-ups in 6-8 sets fairly regularly, I do ride 5,000 to 6,000 miles a year - usually with a fair amount of intensity. Today I got out for a 40 mile ride. I also believe treating this condition in someone that is physically active is somewhat different than treating someone that isn’t & will continue to look for Drs that are either physically active themselves or have a history of treating patients that are.
My neuro opth was supposed to be the bomb. He said lifting was bad for humans because his dad was a runner. He also didn’t know what anti-estrogens were for people on TRT. So, I didn’t trust him blindly. But he had a very interesting theory (stress on theory). He said ot may he that some, like me, have inelastic arterioles feeding the optic nerve. They were unable to respond sufficiently to drops in blood pressure that are normal at night. The rise and fall in blood pressure should be met with a corresponding relaxation and constriction of the arterioles. Thus, at night, this time, my pressure dropped too low to supply adequate oxygen. As you’ve read, this is related, potentially, to lifting as a function of the rise and fall of blood pressure during lifting.
@EyeDentist
Have you encountered cases where people go partially blind ostensibly from staring at bright screens in the dark?
It’s happened to 4-5 of my mom’s friends (none have underlying conditions or previous vision problems), but apparently blindness from staring at screens is a myth. What are your thoughts?
It’s a well-documented phenomenon called transient smartphone blindness. It occurs when someone looks at their phone with one eye while the other is occluded. (The typical scenario is the person is lying on their side, with their ‘down’ eye covered by the pillow.) What transpires is that the occluded eye becomes dark-adapted, which renders it temporarily much more light-sensitive than the eye that’s been staring at the cellphone. Then, when the person turns their head and looks at something with both eyes, the vastly greater sensitivity of the dark-adapted eye makes the non-adapted eye seem blind for a few seconds–until the previously-covered eye loses its dark-adapted status, with the resulting diminution in sensitivity interpreted by the individual as the return of vision in the fellow eye. There’s actually no change in the functional status of the eye perceived by the individual to be blind, so in that sense it is a myth. But the experience itself is very real (and scary).
Thanks for responding & you have been a big help. Most of the case studies I’ve come across are from individuals that ended up with a pretty severe outcome, not much on people that have only one event & continue on with their lives without wrapping themselves in bubble wrap and sitting on the porch for the rest of their lives. You are the only one I’ve found that continues to lift. I did come across one guy that ran a marathon after his NAION event. I haven’t come across anyone with this condition that continues to ski - I’ll reach out to some ophthalmologists in a few places 5,000 feet & up to see if they have any patients that continue to ski or spend time in the mountains.
I have continued to cycle & it does seem like I see better out of my affected eye when I’m riding or engaged in some other physical activity - do you notice any difference when you are lifting?
No positive impact when I lift. Of course, I may be a fool, but other than you, I have never met anyone who even knows about this (except for specialists). So, I have nothing to compare it with. Apologies.
I spoke with Karl Golnik this weekend, he is a Neuro Opthamologist out of Cincinnati. He is also a competitive cyclist & used to throw the discus and used to lift heavy. He gave the following presentation in January.
I found an article discussing hypotension & NA-AION, seem to recall it concluded that risk of an event increases if the diastolic pressure drops below 50 at night. I’ve read about the potential danger from a sudden drop in blood pressure as well. I’m trying to do a better job in cooling down after a workout, drinking more water (a gallon a day) to stabilize my blood pressure & reduce the chance of a sudden drop, and I’ve stopped using beer as my primary rehydrating agent. No more naps after a hard workout either.
Hi - I know the odds of you gentlemen being still around this forum are low , but I was just diagnosed with NAAION and would love an update on how you guys are doing or if you have more information as time has passed. Thanks.