Central Serous Retinopathy ~ The Follow Up

A lot of folks land here on Gust Gab when they are searching the interwebs for Central Serous Retinopathy.

We know how THAT goes...because this past April, when my husband was diagnosed with CSR (Central Serous Retinopathy) - we too searched and googled and searched and googled...

There isn't much info out there...

Which is why it was important to us to get out OUR information...

I never did have the hubs follow up his first 'guest post' regarding his CSR...

It gradually got better - and since he could see pretty well, life seemed to get even busier...
in the meantime, we have gotten quite a few comments & emails from other folks across the country, the world even...who have also been diagnosed with the mystery that is CSR...

Ladies and Gentlemen of the interwebs...
I bring you the 2nd guest post of the hubs...

CSR – The follow-up. 7 months since diagnosis. 3.5 months since last exam.

I should have done this post months ago.

I had my last eye exam for the CSR in my left eye in mid July. I had noticed on my own that my vision was much improved since my last exam about 5 weeks earlier. They rated my eye 20-25 without correction so it had improved since my last visit. The scans came back and showed that the fluid was almost gone. Instead of any type of mountain type shape of the retina it was straight. So, it was missing the little indent that a normal one has, but was still moving in the right direction.

It’s almost November now and I would say my vision in my left eye has again improved a little. It isn’t as strong as my right eye, but I would guess it's almost 20/20. I don’t know if that eye ever was as strong as my right eye or not. I never had a reason to check, so I think it’s possible that my vision may be as good as it was before. Maybe not. I’ve heard and read that the vision in the CSR eye may never be as good as it once was. It doesn’t prevent me from doing anything and at this point I don’t notice unless I cover my good eye and try to read some tiny print.
Just before my last visit I started to notice ‘floaters’ in my right eye (the good eye). Floaters are from the center of the eye that is sort of a gel turning to fluid as you age. Sometimes a piece of the gel part breaks loose and floats around in the liquid part. I probably had them for years and never noticed them until this whole thing. Anyway, the Dr was able to check that out while I was there as well. I was told it was unrelated to the CSR. He also checked out my eye and as long as I wasn’t seeing flashing lights, that it shouldn’t be a big concern. He said sometimes gravity takes them down out of sight vision and they go away or become less noticeable. Sometimes they don’t go away. So far, I still have them. I actually have them in both eyes. I have a larger one in my right eye that passes through the middle of my line of sight. So, that is the one I notice the most. On sunny days, they cast shadows, so seems like there are many more of them. Sunglasses help quite a bit, so I wear them as often as I can. Not like a rockstar, but I just try to be more careful to protect my eyes and it helps to hide the floaters.

I still have some trouble with vision in my left eye. I mostly notice it when I’m tired and at night. Lights can get stretched or I get sort of a halo effect around lights.

I’ve started exercising again. I’ve read and received advice to be careful with excessive exercise or pushing your body to hard. For those that know me, I’m far from an athlete or a fitness freak, but I do like to stay active. When I got diagnosed with CSR for the first time, I had been training for a 5k and had just started running about 4 miles a few times a week. So, that piece of information certainly made sense. After a few small runs I had a 5k event coming up so I wanted to try one on my own before the big day. I had to push pretty hard since I’m not a great distance runner and hadn’t run for a long time. Afterwards, the vision in my left eye seemed to be blurry and I was a little concerned I had pushed too hard. The next morning my vision was fine and I took it easy for a few days. I’m not sure if I got sweat in my eyes or I really did push too hard, but my vision has been fine since then. I was able to run a 5k a few weeks later without issue. I also ran one last week without any problems. I do a moderate workout for 30-60 minutes 3 times a week and haven’t had any concerns.

So, there you have it...
If you've been diagnosed with CSR - There is hope for you - even without surgery. We were told right away that Rob might need surgery, and that the way the Central Serous Retinopathy was affecting his eye, he'd be a great candidate for surgery - if it came to that.

(Well hello there $5000 deductible!)

Alas, Rob was able to manage his CSR with just a handful of regular appointments at the Vitreoretinal Surgeon's office and come out on the other side unscathed.
He had to lay off the exercise, I had to nag less...but at this point - we have mostly put it all behind us.
Now, here's hoping he doesn't have a reoccurance - which we hear is common.