Flickering Vision - Panic!

[sarah peacock]

I have noticed this happening to me quite alot recently. mainly in my peripheral vision. also a few wks ago when i was making tea my vision went all funny in my right eye like a shimmery sort of effect. it gradually got bigger and then i started to see loads of flashing colours then it moved around to my peripheral vision. it lasted for about 20 minutes then it went away. i went to the hospital as i was having a huge panic attack by this point and the doctor said every thing was fine. then about 10 minutes after i seen the doctor it happened again in my left eye but alot worse. i could hardly see at all and when it moved to my peripheral vision all i could see was bright red and blue. again it only lasted about 20 minutes. the doctor double checked my eyes for me to reassure me and said they are fine but i should see an optician. i still wasn't convinced though because the doctor didn't seem to know what was happening. i worry all the time that it is going to happen again.but i am starting to think now that maybe it is just my anxiety. i also worry that maybe i'm going to have a stroke or maybe i have a brain tumor as i also get shocks through my head.

[owainm]

Hi sarah firstly did your doctor not mention the possibility of migraine with aura, I have suffered from this and your symptoms match exactly what happens in these attacks, the crucial factor is of course is if you have a pounding headache after these flashing episodes if you do then this is most certainly what is happening to you, I hope this can be of some help to you bye for now Owain

[lesleya]

I get optical migraine too...flashing zig-zag lights in my left eye. Scared me the first time it happened. I cant see a thing out of my left eye while ive got the flashes.
The best thing i find for me is to close my eyes to block out the light for 10 or 15 mins or if i can sit or lie in a darkened room, and it nomally goes within 20 minutes.
Hope you find a way to help you get some ease.
Take care
xxx

[sarah peacock]

well i was looking at something that describes aura migrains yesterday and i think thats what it is. i do get a headache afterwards that lasts for a couple of days but it's only mild. i feel it mainly when i cough. also when it happens to me i can still see the flickering lights with my eyes closed.

[honeybee3939]

Hi

I had this a couple of times also last week, the first time it happened it really scared me, but went away after about 20mins. I felt so tiered the 2 days it happened (lack of sleep) i put it down to that. On the first occasion i was watching TV and the second i was at work on the pc so not sure if it was something to do with my eyes feeling strained.

Love

Andrea
xxxx

[coffeegirl]

Hi all, I stumbled upon this site by googling flickering vision and looking at the type of site and subjects in the left menu, I think I could belong here much more than I imagined and for much more reasons than flickering vision so I'll have a better look around but this morning my eyes went all funny and I couldn't read the computer monitor, patches of white. So after 5min couldn't take anymore so got up to give my eyes a rest and made some soup. Then they started shimmering/flickering, kinda like a heat mirage vision you would see in the desert. It got gradually worse and lasted about 15min. Then my eyes were okay, just sore. I have turned the contrast and brightness right down on the monitor. Now I can feel a headache coming on.

I dont recall having this before and of course imagine all the worst case scenarios (there are other people like me????????????) but then I do recall a few years ago I went thru a phase of this happening to me and one time it went into a full blown migrane. I dont really suffer from migrane so it was all a new experience to me but come to think of it I recall having vision flickering and headaches over a period of a month or two.

Hopefully it's just a once off.
Now off to check these other forums................self esteem, ibs, phobias.......oh dear I think I have found a forum I belong!! I feel like such a misfit at times

[Catalyst]

I got here from typing in 'flickering eye' too! Just thought I'd share my experience of migraine with aura while I'm here...

I was in the supermarket and I picked up a packet to read the information on it. All the words were blurry in the centre of my vision. Over the next 5 minutes my vision went downhill fast! The worst bit was that every person I looked at appeared to have no face details, as they just blurred. Panic

When I closed my eyes, I saw flashing coloured lights. My vision then started to 'ripple' like there was a film of water moving over my eyes. Can't explain it any better than that. My husband took me to A&E as I was now convinced I was seriously ill! They asked me if I'd ever had migraines (No - stupid question as I didn't even have a headache! )

Anyway, after tests and discussion with the doc it turns out it WAS a classic case of migraine with aura. The headache did come about 30 mins later, but I gather you don't always get that bit.

Back to the flickering eye thing... stress and tiredness would make sense to me right now. That's probably it.

[mel78]

Its been a while, but I thought I should close this one off, in case anybody is reading in future. I was referred to a Neurologist who immediately suspected migraine (without the headache). He sent me for an MRI scan which came back totally fine. I've had very, very few re-occurrence since I started the original thread (though sometimes my vision does flicker a little when I wake first thing in the morning).

So all was fine in the end - even if it was a scary thing to have happen. Of course I wouldn't be nearly so worried about it now

[rozie]

As a veteran migraine sufferer I can tell you that this sounds very like Migraine to me. I get the classic visual aura and after thirty years, I have it down to a fine art now..in the sense that in all that time, I have rarely actually had a headache!

The migraine takes a particular pattern (pardon the pun) The aura comes first, then without medication, the pain will kick in and then sickness. Different people have different variations on this. The reason I'm rambling on about all this is to hopefully reassure you. The first time my eyes went funny my field of vision actually looked like a flicker tv screen with really bad reception. I was really young and travelling on the underground at the time and well you can imagine the panic!.....

It turned out that my Mum had also had migraine years before and she recognised the symptoms instantly. when I eventually fell in the front door looking green and convinced I was dying.

Hopeyour medical appointment is helpful.Its best to let them check you out. But I hope in the meantime this allays your fears a little.

Very best

Rozie

[Going home]

I've also started to notice this flickering vision recently, though only usually in my right eye. The usual thing for me are eyelid twitches, again mostlyy in the right eye. I don't get the zigzags but can remember one or two episodes of them in the past. I do get migraines sometimes but would never have thought there was a connection with the flickering vision...just goes to show you

GH xx