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Hello,
I was diagnosed HIV positive last year (2008) due to a strange blindness.
A few months prior to HIV diagnosis, I developed a spot of missing Vision on my left eye (periph). A few months later I lost all peripheral vision in both eyes.
At hospital the opthomology dr said damage looked similar to glacoma. But my pressure was normal. After numerouse tests spinal, blood, and they even stuck a needle directly into my eye and withdrew fluid. Everything has come back normal. I'm still loosing more and more of my vision weekly. They are calling it optic nerve atrophy, or nuopathy (forgive spelling).
It is now assumed that it is HIV related because they can find no other cause.
My T-cells were less than 20 and viral load 750k. Now however cd4 is 900+ and viral load undetectable. Yet vision loos continues to get worse.
Have you ever heard of anything similar?
Is there something else I can ask for besides a dog and a stick?
Also CMV test shows exposure but inactive.
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Response from Dr. Holodniy
Hmmm... I am not sure I have seen or am familiar with anything like this that is specific to the HIV virus itself. It appears from your description that there is no "retinitis", or inflammation or infection in/on the retina. Most HIV associated infections (like CMV or toxoplasmosis, among others) occur in the eye in people with very low CD counts (certainly < 100), which is not the case with you. There have been reports of people developing an immune reconstitution syndrome after starting HIV treatment, which usually results in atypical presentations of various opportunistic infections. But given the bland nature of what you describe in the eye and vitreous (eye fluid) (i.e., a lack of inflammatory response) this seems unlikely. I wish I had a better response, but it sounds like the optholmologist has been doing a pretty thorough work up of the issue.
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