Omg vision issues please help

[jessygirl77]

Please list and vision issues u get during long periods of anxiety as well as during a panic attack. I started googling ways anxiety effects vision and there’s not much out there and I’m starting to freak out about what I am reading . Which I know is bad so that’s why I’m coming here instead.
How can anxiety and panic effect how you literally see things and how your eyes feel ?

[Fishmanpa]

READ THIS. (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms#Eyes_Blurred_vision_Eyes_sensitive_to_lig ht_Dry_watery_or_itchy_eyes)

Positive thoughts

[ankietyjoe]

If what you are reading is freaking you out, stop reading it.

[nomorepanic]

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms#Eyes_Blurred_vision_Eyes_sensitive_to_lig ht_Dry_watery_or_itchy_eyes

[nomorepanic]

FMP beat me to it lol

[jessygirl77]

I’m worried what’s being described isn’t what I’m going through all though it probably is....
It’s like my vision is turned up a few notches like every thing is to bright. And the other night I think I had a panic attack while watching tv and the tv seamed really bright and everything got blurry.my anxiety has been really really high lately. And ever since that weird episode I feel like my vision is off. Almost like a tv with HDthats to high. And lots of floaters. I went to the eye dr she said I was fine. How can it be lasting this long if it’s anxiety ?

[cattia]

I had loads of vision issues with anxiety last year. They included:

Extreme sensitivity to light
Sensations of things moving in my vision
Flashing lights, white and blue
Sensation like a camera flash in peripheral vision
Feeling like things were moving towards me, especially when I was driving
Trouble adjusting from light to dark
Trouble looking at patterns

These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. There were other things I'm sure. I had my eyes checked and I noticed that when my anxiety gets less, the vision issues reduce or I don't notice them as much.

At the moment I am a bit stressed about my vision again as I had an ocular migraine a few weeks ago and have been getting headaches. I have definitely been more hyper aware of my vision and been noticing things again.

[Fishmanpa]

FMP beat me to it lol

Great minds... :D

Positive thoughts

[jessygirl77]

That’s what I’m freaking out thinking what if it’s a ocular migraine?????

---------- Post added at 17:39 ---------- Previous post was at 17:33 ----------

How do I know the difference between panic attack vision issues vs ocular migraine which I’m insanely freaked out about. I get tension headaches and free floating anxiety and have been having a lot of physical anxiety sensations lately . Can panic make everything seem super hypersentive and hard to focus on, almost to bright but not really.

[cattia]

As I said, I have a lot of vision issues relating to anxiety, but I also get ocular migraine. They are scary but harmless. I have had three or four of them in my adult life and there is really no mistaking them. They are very distinctive. When I get them, I completely lose my vision in one eye, it's exactly the same sensation as if you look straight at the sun and then get temporarily blinded. After that, I get a very intense line of flashing right lights spreading across my vision. They pulsate and they last abut 20 minutes. When I have them,I can't really see properly at all. I googled what an aura looks like (don't recommend googling if it's something you are anxious about) and this is exactly what I see. I never get a headache with mine. Even if you did get an ocular migraine, which like I say are very obvious and distinctive. it's not really anything to worry about. I don't know how old you are but I have suffered migraines my whole life but only ocular migraines since my late 30s.

[jessygirl77]

Thank you for sharing your expience with me . It means a lot to me it really does I’ve gotten myself so worked up about this. I’ve never really had anything more then a pressure headache or tension headache. I felt over stimulated and my vision got unable to focus and blurry but while I was watching tv so I kept starring at it hoping it would stop and it didn’t. Then when I walked away o sorta did see a flashing light sorta but I think it was from starting at the tv while my vision was getting weird. And then I got tunnel vision and felt blurry , blind and then thought I was gonna pass out ! Felt freezing cold and shakey and a little bit of blurry ness in my perephrial view. Oh geez I sound like a mess just writing this. It’s been a tough worry week.

[jessygirl77]

Bumping to see if anyone else can tell me how anxiety/ panic attacks can effect vision

[Cptdebbie]

I get lots of vision issues with my anxiety. As time has went on, I’ve realized that most of what freaks me out are things I see all the time but don’t normally notice. When I’m stressed I am on the watch for anything irregular and lots of things freak me out.

Here’s my list:
Double vision - There is a type of double vision that is normal, but I never noticed it until I got super bad anxiety. Then I saw it everywhere. I also see double out of the corner of my glasses. It’s normal, but again, I’d never noticed it before.

Things look flat - I don’t know how else to describe this. When I’m stressed I lose my depth perception. Everything looks flat and like it’s against a wall. It totally freaks me out when it happens but it only happens during panic attacks so the docs say it’s anxiety.

Flashing lights - I get these so often I don’t even care about them anymore. My eye doc doesn’t even address it when I tell him about them. He always just says they “don’t worry about it unless it’s excessive.”

Missing parts of letters and words - I don’t really see this. It’s total perception. What happens when I get super stressed is that I look at fonts or something that have empty space in them. I totally freak out about this sure that I have empty spots in my vision. I’m sure glitches on the computer screen is a problem with my eyes. Etc. etc.

I see big blobs of color - The color is usually red.

I also:
Have trouble reading. It’s hard to explain. I just can’t focus and take in all those small letters.

See sparkles in the corner of my eyes at night

Get blurry vision

See black lines in the corner of each eye. My doc says I’m seeing inside my eye.

See things move in my peripheral vision that aren’t there

See polka dots and stripes for a few seconds when I wake up

Had an episode where I woke up in the night to go to the bathroom and saw all these weird shapes moving across my vision when my eyes were closed.

Experienced image preservation. This was freaky!!! It looked like what I saw on a movie about lsd a long time ago. It was like everything that moved left a visual trail. It turned out to be from a sleep aid.

See random dots of color

There’s probably more but I can’t think of them all right now. I don’t know if this will help or not. The only way out of the vision rabbit hole is force your mind to focus elsewhere. It took me months. I finally got to the point that I don’t stress about it as much. Good luck!!!

[jessygirl77]

Thank you for replying. I am feeling like that , that these are things I’ve always had but never paid attention to. And now that I am paying attention they seem more annoying and larger in size.

Does anyone have vision issues right at the start of a actual panic attack as well?

[Cptdebbie]

I do. Almost every time I panic, things start looking flat to me. Amazingly, it's usually only after noticing things are looking flat that I realize I'm also trembling, sweating, etc., etc.

Best :bighug1:

[katniss]

Just posted about something similar a few days ago. I was and still am having a weird vision issue when looking at bright lights. I see light rays streaking from light sources. Hard to describe but it’s like a starburst effect. Never had it before. And sometimes I will see ghosting around white or light coloured objects against a dark background. For example a white bag against a dark purple wall - the bag will have a faint outline around it. It’s so weird. I have also had a headache for a month so naturally I’m jumping to conclusions lol

[tingalayo]

I've been suffering with this for about a month now. I'm pregnant and it started when I had a dizzy spell and my vision dropped out for a second. Since then I've been so hypervigilant of my vision, I don't know what's real anymore. I see shadows or lights darting across my vision and have to immediately work to figure out the cause. They normally come from a window so it's normally safe to say it was a bird or car, but sometimes if I see it against a wall I get obsessed with working out whether it's physically possible for something outdoors to project onto that wall, it's exhausting. I also once a week or so get a sensation of my sight dropping out for a millisecond, which I believe is a pregnancy low blood pressure issue, but I rarely believe that when it's just happened. I've also had afterimages when I don't remember seeing anything bright. The worst thing now is that the stress of it is permeating my dreams, and when I start dropping off to sleep I see birds fly across my vision. Last night I got up to go to the toilet and when I was out there I saw what I now realise was an ambulance, but thought I was hallucinating blue flashing lights. I woke up two more times having dreamed about more blue lights but it felt so real I don't even know if they were dreams. Now I just feel like I'm losing my grip on reality :weep:

[jessygirl77]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I feel like I am so hypervigelint about how things “ look “ with my vision now. Also I notice floaters when I’m outside or in a bright room. How can I go from never noticing floaters and vision to just always noticing now? Plus I have a tension headache allll the time!

[Fishmanpa]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I feel like I am so hypervigelint about how things “ look “ with my vision now. Also I notice floaters when I’m outside or in a bright room. How can I go from never noticing floaters and vision to just always noticing now? Plus I have a tension headache allll the time!

READ THIS. (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms#Eyes_Blurred_vision_Eyes_sensitive_to_lig ht_Dry_watery_or_itchy_eyes)

Positive thoughts

[jessygirl77]

I think I keep staying in panic mode because mine starters as almost a white out that then turned into feeling like I was blacking out like I was gonna faint but didn’t of course. Then I had blurry tunnel vision and now I’m at this point where everything seems off with my eyes. And I’m noticing floaters :scared15:

[Fishmanpa]

Everyone has normal visual anomalies but due to your anxiety, you're hyper-focused on them and they're causing you panic. I hope you find some peace.

Positive thoughts

[jessygirl77]

Yes you are right !!! Thank you :)
I just wish my anxiety symptoms would stay the same. It’s like as soon as I get over one there is something new to worry about. I’ve had tons of anxiety stuff for years but never vision while panic attack. Or even floaters really and now I have to work on accepting a new symptoms:scared15:

[zebra]

Hi, sometimes when I am out and there is a sun (but not always) I see for a second on the white or light surface a purple spot..or on the wall of the house or on the pavement...only outdoor...it is not an aftrimage i guess more likely a spot...And yes, I am anxious..is that normal? I was at the ophtalmologist last year, everytjing was perfect..


I get lots of vision issues with my anxiety. As time has went on, I’ve realized that most of what freaks me out are things I see all the time but don’t normally notice. When I’m stressed I am on the watch for anything irregular and lots of things freak me out.

Here’s my list:
Double vision - There is a type of double vision that is normal, but I never noticed it until I got super bad anxiety. Then I saw it everywhere. I also see double out of the corner of my glasses. It’s normal, but again, I’d never noticed it before.

Things look flat - I don’t know how else to describe this. When I’m stressed I lose my depth perception. Everything looks flat and like it’s against a wall. It totally freaks me out when it happens but it only happens during panic attacks so the docs say it’s anxiety.

Flashing lights - I get these so often I don’t even care about them anymore. My eye doc doesn’t even address it when I tell him about them. He always just says they “don’t worry about it unless it’s excessive.”

Missing parts of letters and words - I don’t really see this. It’s total perception. What happens when I get super stressed is that I look at fonts or something that have empty space in them. I totally freak out about this sure that I have empty spots in my vision. I’m sure glitches on the computer screen is a problem with my eyes. Etc. etc.

I see big blobs of color - The color is usually red.

I also:
Have trouble reading. It’s hard to explain. I just can’t focus and take in all those small letters.

See sparkles in the corner of my eyes at night

Get blurry vision

See black lines in the corner of each eye. My doc says I’m seeing inside my eye.

See things move in my peripheral vision that aren’t there

See polka dots and stripes for a few seconds when I wake up

Had an episode where I woke up in the night to go to the bathroom and saw all these weird shapes moving across my vision when my eyes were closed.

Experienced image preservation. This was freaky!!! It looked like what I saw on a movie about lsd a long time ago. It was like everything that moved left a visual trail. It turned out to be from a sleep aid.

See random dots of color

There’s probably more but I can’t think of them all right now. I don’t know if this will help or not. The only way out of the vision rabbit hole is force your mind to focus elsewhere. It took me months. I finally got to the point that I don’t stress about it as much. Good luck!!!