Visual Disturbances

[Liverbird67]

hiya rich
I think that is what has kicked all my anixiety off, last year was sitting in work when vision in my left eye began to shimmer, shortly afterwards I could not see out of it, colleagues scared the bejaysus out of me saying you might be having a stroke go to AED which I did feeling very embarassed and terrified, by this time was mouth was twitching I had pins and needles you name it, they monitored my heart which was fine BP was a bit high (I was terrified!) saw a young dr he said it was possibly a migraine aura, he was adament it wasn't a stroke as my sight recovered, no limb weakness etc since then I have had an eye test (exceptionally good eyesight and a glaucoma test it runs it my family) everything fine however my stress and anxiety have increased sorry to ramble on huney but thanks for all the blogs on here they are very reassuring.

Cheers my dears

Liverbird
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[pigtailplaits]

Hello everyone,

The visual disturbances seem to be the worst symptom for me. I was just sitting on a train one day when i noticed that my vision was 'out of focus'- and thats where it all started. That was 4 months ago and since that day I have had a brain scan convinced there was a tumor, ive had many trips to AandE and many tests have been carried out on me including blood, ultrasounds, xray etc. I have had the last 8 weeks off work coz i am just unable to concentrate on anything i look at. I can definitely relate the venetian blind complaint! I cant bear to look at anything with parallel lines coz i think im gonna faint. Im scared to drive coz i cant see properly, im scared to pick up my daughter coz i think im gonna pass out. This is not just now and again, this is every minute that i am awake, I have had an eye test and apparently my eyes are strong and healthy. My vision is not quite single but not quite double. If i look out of the window on a clear day- i think i can see rain. However, this morning i noticed bright electric spots passing my field of vision. Does anyone get this? Ive tried telling my doctor that i think i have vertigo, but everything i suggest he just ignores and puts down to anxiety. The strange thing is, i have no reason to be anxious and these symptoms occur whether i am having fun or not. Anyone else get this

[swick@cogeco.ca]

Well, like most here, this was very new to me. I am 58 and in great health and all of a sudden I have had 3 occurances in 7 months. The first one I thought looked like stock charts and was (I thought) Bi lateral and it lasted for 5 - 8 minutes. I was in panic mode and thought I was stroking out or haing a fit! On Saturday past it was more in the left eye with jagged white lines flicking mostly at the periphery and then they finally went away.. there was no head ache but my panic was very evident. However, it felt like my peripheral vision in the left eye was less than normal. Today, it started as I came into a dark room and was looking at the computer screen after changing my glasses from distance to reading. It was like a small ball with jagged outside edges and then it got bigger and bigger and then disappeared with in 5 minutes. The sides of my head were sore ( muscles)

I went to the doctor, she took my BP and it was elevated as I was sure i was going into a coma next and she gave me eye drops and sent me to my optomtrist as the opthamologists in the area were too busy to see me today without a 8 hour wait.

The optomtrist asked tons of questions and checked out the peripheral vision and in the end suggested that I was experiencing a migraine headache without the migrain portion.. After each one I felt wiped, and I am sure that is from an adrenal dump ..

If I can believe the medical community, it is not common to have the light effects without the pain, but it is enough to make one appreciate normal vision but i must say I am apprehensive about having anymore of these... I will check out the drug amitripltine and see the concommitant side effects ... Oh yes, I bought a BP monitor too so I can make sure the BP is not an issue..

Thanks to all for posting, it is great to not feel so alone and isolated with this issue!

[TomTom4049]

I too have had this occur four times in my 53 1/2 years of age. The first time was while in High School, 9th grade I think. On the way home I noticed a very round area to the right side of my peripheral vision with diagonal strips of quickly alternating black and white. I could not look directly at it. I thought this was odd and after a time I noticed I was getting a worsening headache. Later I'd describe it as a migraine. I had another one 20 years later followed by a similar migraine. Then I had the third about 7 years after the last. Now, about 6 years later, I had the fourth one this past Friday afternoon. I was using my computer and noticed I was having difficulty seeing areas of the screen and noticed the shimmering area on my lower right but it was still evident when I closed my right eye. Come to think of it, the shimmering has each time been on the right side of my field of vision. Looking at a external CD ROM drive laying close by with the word SAMSUNG on the top, all I could see was the S and the rest just wasn't visible to me. If I shifted my focal point off to the left I could see the whole word. I was pretty sure what was happening, scintillating scotoma, and immediately took two liquid capsule Ibuprofen. Within less than 20 minutes the visual effect began to subside (5 minutes or so once it began to fade). I kept a dull headache for the rest of the evening but it wasn't too much of an issue. I suppose I will have these on and off for the rest of my life. Each of the last two times I immediately thought "stroke" but dismissed that after recognizing it as a recurrence of scintillation scotoma. I suggest (if you tolerate Ibuprofen well, or Tylenol or aspirin) to take a couple, the sooner the better, to head-off the severity of the headache and for me at least, elimination of the visual disturbance itself.

[Ronno]

Hi , I've had optic migraines on and off for 15 years , it starts off with a blind spot followed by the zig zag flashing lights around 40 mins later it's gone , leaving me washed out for a few days , I don't know why they scare me but they do , fuelling my anxiety of course . A point of interest most start with me trying to see in low light ? Focusing my eyes on one spot and then that sometimes starts the optic migraine off , others say its bright light . But I have read that when one starts drink plenty of fluids and that shortens the optic migraine ?
Hope that's of interest .