Question - "glittery" pattern in front of eye(s) Update #11

[Catty1]

I was at a gathering tonight. Drank some soda water, had a couple of carrot sticks. Seriously.

Just when I went to leave, I noticed a funny pattern in front of my left eye. You know how when you look at something bright for a bit too long, you can "see" it for a minute or two afterwards?

This thing started looking like an award seal - the round ones with the pointy serrated edges. Except this was clear in the middle and the 'points' were clear, but kind of fluttery as some bits of colour came and went.

I was driving home and it was dark. Little by little, the pattern widened til it was at the way top and left of my field of vision. SEEMS to be gone now. But it was totally weird.

I am way overdue for an eye checkup, so I will book that tomorrow.

Have you ever had this happen to you? Did you find out what it was?

thanks.

ETA: I didn't think I could find anything on this...but "ocular migraine" fit pretty well. A headache may not even happen.

[Marigold2]

Is it like a spidar web? Have you lost vision? If so then you need to go in the morning ASAP to an ophtholmologist to rule out a detached retina.
If it's flashing of light you might be getting a cararact or your pressure might be high.
Flashing lights are not a good sign.
Good luck and keep us informed.

[Catty1]

Hi, Marigold - my vision seems to be ok right now. However, I know that this can be an early symptom of retina detachment, OR an ocular migraine (which is no problem). But yeah, will get in to see my optometrist ASAP. (He is very skilled medically, and will refer me at once if he spots anything...at least he will be able to see me soon!)

[krazyaboutkatz]

Candace, I've had what you're describing many times before and then they just go away. My father has had a detached retina in both of his eyes so I knew about the flashing light thing but this is different.

When I was having my eyes checked out one time, I asked the doctor about this and he told me it was an ocular migraine like you had mentioned. I told him that I've never had a headache afterwards though. He didn't seem to be too worried about it. I also always have my eyes dilated so that he can check my retina's out and they've been fine.

I asked my father about this and he also said that he used to get these when he was younger and he would sometimes get a bad headache afterwards. Hopefully in your case it's nothing to worry about.

[Cataholic]

Sounds just like an occular migraine!

[Catty1]

Yep, seems to be. It IS weird when you have never had one! I phoned the office and left a message for an eye appt. They are closed today and Tuesday for Remembrance Day. Hopefully I will get in this week.

Am overdue for checkup anyway.

Thanks, everyone!

[RICHARD]

Your story reminded me of really trippy thing that happened once.

I was talking to a woman in an office-The area was kinda dark and I was standing with my back to a window and she was facing me.

We made eye contact and I noticed that she had this weird pattern in her pupil. I thought, "WOW, this is strange.." and stood there, really freaked out.

Then I remembered she had an ocular lens implanted in her eye and that was what was causing this strange honeycombed pattern that the light reflected.

IT was really bizarre and I know when to question it when I see a twinkle in a woman's eye!

Hope your incident is nothing to worry about.

[Barbara]

That pattern occurs quite often together with migraine. I used to have it quite frequently - and never had migraine.
It's now gone for some years- but when I had it that's where my knowledge comes from
Hope it is the same with you- just accidental.

[Catlady711]

I had something happen like that once, but it was both eyes. At the time I was way behind on my sleep for several days and quite stressed out. Once I caught up on my sleep and de-stressed it went away.

[chocolatepuppy]

I get ocular migraines. Used to get the headache and a few other symptoms when I was younger, thank goodness I don't anymore. After the 'light show' in my eyes, which last 20-30 minutes, I usually have a dull headache for a while.
Still it's a good idea to have your eyes checked if you're due just to be on the safe side.

[Catty1]

I finally had a call from Dr J himself today. He's squeezing me in last appt of the day on Tuesday.

He cheerfully said he doesn't like the term "ocular migraine" . He asked me a few questions - was my vision still affected, did I still see floaters or did I at the time (which I didn't).

So he is leaning more towards checking my retinas. He is booking me in later in the day as my eyes will be majorly dilated and he wants it to be dark.

I am a little more concerned now...but glad I called when I did.

Thanks all for your input.

[jennielynn1970]

My dad's had all kinds of vision problems. He's legally blind at this point. He started losing his vision due to macular degeneration (the dry kind) when he was about 26.

I never heard him talk about the kind of symptom you described. He had floaters and would start to lose large parts of his vision after migraines or bad headaches. It seemed to accelerate the macular degeneration for some reason.

He did experience on eye problem that I don't know what it was even called, was about 7 years ago. He was on his way home from work, before he got disability for his vision and heart problems, and he said all of a sudden it looked like broken tree branches across his eyes. When he went to the eye doctor they said something about the coating on the back of his eye had dried out and it cracked, which is what created the tree branch effect. So, no only does he hardly see much, what he does see has all this crap tree branch stuff all over it as well.

It's good you're going into the doctor. Vision is one thing that cannot be replaced as of yet, so it's best to not wait around and risk losing it.

[Medusa]

Prayers going up right now, Candace, that all will be well. I'm glad that you decided to get this checked out sooner rather than later.

[Catty1]

Yeah - even if it IS detaching retinas, early on they can do a lot of laser zapping etc.

Will update after appt.

[phesina]

Prayers for you from all of us, dearest Candace.