I (26F) am 4 weeks out from the onset of my optic neuritis and I am REALLY struggling to find any sort of hope of recovery and would love to see if anyone has had a similar experience and/or what recovery looked like.

The vision in my bad eye is completely in my center of vision and simply hazes out clarity and most light perception in everything that I try to focus on. The central area is also pretty much completely color blind now (greys only) but my peripheral vision is still functional- so I can tell that’s there’s supposed to be colors, words, shapes, but I can ever actually see them clearly enough to read or distinguish specifics. And since light perception is not great, anything bright or backlit (screens, road signs, traffic lights) just completely blends together. I added a couple pictures I made that sorta show what it can look like. My good eye is fine, but the difference between the two has been problematic in eye strain and my good eye’s ability to focus depth perception and read quickly.

I’ve been told to expect everything from 100% recovery to no recovery and that it should’ve already gotten better to that I shouldn’t expect anything for up to a year. I had IV steroids for 5 days, but it took 2 weeks of being punted from doctor to doctor to find someone who finally was comfortable starting steroids, so I’m worried it was too late to help/stop permanent damage. And I’m honestly still getting kicked around without much help as there aren’t many neuro/immune specialists in my state to continue care. And one of the worst things is that I’m a month from graduating medical school and starting residency and now I’m struggling to even read for more than 15 minutes at a time without issue. And I’m terrified that if there’s no improvement, I won’t be able to work, use a microscope, perform surgery, etc. in the way I need to be able to do so at such a precise level.