I first saw these weird lights when I was about 18-20. I was wearing these weird, cheap, clear, chrome-ish, sunglasses. I just thought that the sunglasses were bothering my eyes and never wore them again.
So, these lights that I see are totally awesome (sarcasm doesn't come off well in writing, but what you just read was sarcasm at it's finest). Imagine if you can a regular old triangle. Put that in the upper right corner of your right eye. Then place one right next to it, but invert it so the point is face down. Then butt another good ol' triangle right next to that pointing up. Then one after another they keep adding on and making a semi circle around my eye. Sounds great, right? Oh...I am soooo not done! In each triangle there are lines of lights, that flicker and look like they are constantly rotating...imagine a Vegas sign. Plus since each of the triangles are pointing in different directions, all these lines are going in different directions. It's like my very own disco acid trip in my eye (I'm guessing). It then goes from being at the outside of my eye, so "floating" into the center of my eye...right in the middle of my vision. I can "see through" it, but as you can imagine it's not all that easy to ignore.
After the first time it happened, it didn't happen again for at least a couple years. Then it would happen randomly, every once in a while, but never often enough to make me worry too much.
Well, as most of you know, I got a neck/back injury at work that morphed into a whole body injury due to internal inflammation pinching nerves...again, super awesome! So, since this injury in February I have had this Vegas style eye show more and more frequently. In the last couple of weeks it was happening 2-3 times a week and lasting about an hour.
Now, I never had a headache or anything like that with it, just a kind of strange feeling, a little bit disorienting. But, that is pretty darn weird, and it was happening a lot, then you throw the injury in the mix, and I got a little worried. So I went to the opthmologist (are they no longer called optometrists?)
When I got there the nurse tested my vision and I got 20/20 in my right eye and 20/20 -1 (which, defying basic math, is not 20/19) in my left. Then she dilated my eyes. Oh mama! I had never had this done before, and it was darn nuts! There was a sign that said that it can make your vision blurry. I started reading and thought, huh, it is a little blurry. But, I kept right on reading. Then it got a little more blurry...then a little more. Soon my book was a gray page...no lines, no letters, just gray.
So the doctor poked and prodded my eye, looked at it with a bunch of different little scopes, and lights, and said I had an Ophthalmic migraine. So I said but I don't have a headache. She said it's just lights and patterns with no headache. Which, if I had a choice to have a migraine with or without a headache I would so choose without.
I still thought it was a little weird- and, as my sister said, “Maybe I have been watching too much House, but it sounds like a tumor!”- so I looked it up online. This is some of the stuff I found on webmd:
- Photopsias consist of small spots, dots, stars, unformed flashes or streaks of light, or simple geometric forms and patterns that typically flicker or sparkle.
The scotoma, which is frequently semicircular or horseshoe shaped, usually begins in the center of the visual field and then slowly extends laterally. The scotomatous arc or band is a shimmering or glittering, bright, zigzag border. Most visual auras consist of flickering, colored or uncolored, unilateral or bilateral zigzag lines or patterns, semicircular or arcuate patterns, wavy lines, or irregular patterns.
- Eye migraines – silent migraine: If this is you, you may be getting strange visual disturbances, usually lasting less than an hour, but no headache. You likely have a type of migraine, which needs to be treated in basically the same way as any other type of migraine.
- Eye migraines - Ophthalmic migraine: Ophthalmic migraine ( also called opthalmic migraine) has the same symptoms as the occular migraines mentioned above, but occur at the height of the migraine, and most often occur in young men. Sometimes as time progresses the migraine sufferer will lose the headache and end up with a ophthalmic migraine which is a silent migraine (are you getting the hang of this now?). These are much more common eye migraines. The International Headache Society doesn't use this classification. That's why you may read a variety of descriptions with the same name. But many of these are now outdated.
I had once been in a Denny’s with a light right above the table. The way the light was shining was really bothering me. Then my vision started bluring, then I started feeling really dizzy, then my head started hurting, then I completely blacked out. My friend unscrewed the lightbulb, and everything slowly went back to normal. I mentioned this to the doctor and he said it seemed like an optic migrain. That made sense to me because a headache was involved. So, again, at least I don’t have the “migraine” part of the migraine!
Here is something I found that seems to go along with this type of migrain:
So, these lights that I see are totally awesome (sarcasm doesn't come off well in writing, but what you just read was sarcasm at it's finest). Imagine if you can a regular old triangle. Put that in the upper right corner of your right eye. Then place one right next to it, but invert it so the point is face down. Then butt another good ol' triangle right next to that pointing up. Then one after another they keep adding on and making a semi circle around my eye. Sounds great, right? Oh...I am soooo not done! In each triangle there are lines of lights, that flicker and look like they are constantly rotating...imagine a Vegas sign. Plus since each of the triangles are pointing in different directions, all these lines are going in different directions. It's like my very own disco acid trip in my eye (I'm guessing). It then goes from being at the outside of my eye, so "floating" into the center of my eye...right in the middle of my vision. I can "see through" it, but as you can imagine it's not all that easy to ignore.
After the first time it happened, it didn't happen again for at least a couple years. Then it would happen randomly, every once in a while, but never often enough to make me worry too much.
Well, as most of you know, I got a neck/back injury at work that morphed into a whole body injury due to internal inflammation pinching nerves...again, super awesome! So, since this injury in February I have had this Vegas style eye show more and more frequently. In the last couple of weeks it was happening 2-3 times a week and lasting about an hour.
Now, I never had a headache or anything like that with it, just a kind of strange feeling, a little bit disorienting. But, that is pretty darn weird, and it was happening a lot, then you throw the injury in the mix, and I got a little worried. So I went to the opthmologist (are they no longer called optometrists?)
When I got there the nurse tested my vision and I got 20/20 in my right eye and 20/20 -1 (which, defying basic math, is not 20/19) in my left. Then she dilated my eyes. Oh mama! I had never had this done before, and it was darn nuts! There was a sign that said that it can make your vision blurry. I started reading and thought, huh, it is a little blurry. But, I kept right on reading. Then it got a little more blurry...then a little more. Soon my book was a gray page...no lines, no letters, just gray.
So the doctor poked and prodded my eye, looked at it with a bunch of different little scopes, and lights, and said I had an Ophthalmic migraine. So I said but I don't have a headache. She said it's just lights and patterns with no headache. Which, if I had a choice to have a migraine with or without a headache I would so choose without.
I still thought it was a little weird- and, as my sister said, “Maybe I have been watching too much House, but it sounds like a tumor!”- so I looked it up online. This is some of the stuff I found on webmd:
- Photopsias consist of small spots, dots, stars, unformed flashes or streaks of light, or simple geometric forms and patterns that typically flicker or sparkle.
The scotoma, which is frequently semicircular or horseshoe shaped, usually begins in the center of the visual field and then slowly extends laterally. The scotomatous arc or band is a shimmering or glittering, bright, zigzag border. Most visual auras consist of flickering, colored or uncolored, unilateral or bilateral zigzag lines or patterns, semicircular or arcuate patterns, wavy lines, or irregular patterns.
- Eye migraines – silent migraine: If this is you, you may be getting strange visual disturbances, usually lasting less than an hour, but no headache. You likely have a type of migraine, which needs to be treated in basically the same way as any other type of migraine.
- Eye migraines - Ophthalmic migraine: Ophthalmic migraine ( also called opthalmic migraine) has the same symptoms as the occular migraines mentioned above, but occur at the height of the migraine, and most often occur in young men. Sometimes as time progresses the migraine sufferer will lose the headache and end up with a ophthalmic migraine which is a silent migraine (are you getting the hang of this now?). These are much more common eye migraines. The International Headache Society doesn't use this classification. That's why you may read a variety of descriptions with the same name. But many of these are now outdated.
I had once been in a Denny’s with a light right above the table. The way the light was shining was really bothering me. Then my vision started bluring, then I started feeling really dizzy, then my head started hurting, then I completely blacked out. My friend unscrewed the lightbulb, and everything slowly went back to normal. I mentioned this to the doctor and he said it seemed like an optic migrain. That made sense to me because a headache was involved. So, again, at least I don’t have the “migraine” part of the migraine!
Here is something I found that seems to go along with this type of migrain:
- Eye migraines – Occular migraines: Ocular or retinal migraines are quite rare. You get partial (retinal) or complete (ocular) blindness, in one eye or two. This disturbance lasts less than an hour. Sometimes it comes with a headache, sometimes it doesn't. The headache (often a dull ache behind the affected eye) usually happens afterwards, but can happen before or even during (our bodies are so unpredictable!). This type of migraine varies with which artery is being hit. Occular (ocular) migraine occurs repeatedly, though not usually in a regular pattern. You could go days or years between attacks.
So, I am not going blind...and I think that is a good thing. I had a hard enough time having my eyes dilated! Here's to sight!
4 comments:
Wow - Kasey I had no idea your vision was that affected! But I'm really glad to hear you're not going blind and that you don't have the "headache" part of these headaches. Hope things are good in Hawaii... we miss you!
My name is Jen. I'm 25 from Michigan. I am experiencing the weird, flickery light thing in my left eye as I type this. It happens just the way you describe it and just as random. This blog came up in a google search for "vision problems flcikering light in eye" lol. It goes away after about 20 mins to a half hour. Anyway,bla bla bla. Atleast I'm not alone. Thanks!
Wow - I had the exact same thing happen to me the other day. Got home from work for Lunch, sat down and started to read a letter. Next thing I know, I'm finding it hard to read and there's this weird triangle-zig zag thing going on in the corner of my right eye which seemed to have changing colours in it!
Lasted about 15 mins and there was no accompanying headache. Glad I'm not alone ;-)
I found your blog while googling eye problems. I get the same things, only when the spots finally stop, then the headache comes. And because of the motion like qualities of the lights, I end up with motion sickness. Your description is dead on! Hopefully you are feeling better!
Rhiannon
faielyne@yahoo.com
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