Is this a vision issue that I need to be concerned about?

[Tracy]

I was cuddling with my kids in the early morning, and ds6 points to the ceiling and says, "See the dark spots swirling?  They always do that and become a tornado."  I thought he was kidding, but when I asked him about it further, he was quite sincere.  It sounded completely nuts to me.  But then dd9 nodded her head and said "Yeah, it doesn't happen very often, but I have noticed that sometimes, too."  She completely understood what he meant.  

 

When I asked dh about it, he said that sometimes the numbers on digital clocks wiggle, but that was as close as he could get.  

 

Neither child has any issues with reading.  Ds6 is my academically-minded kid.  He is rather advanced and does most of his work independently.  

 

Any thoughts, BTDT experience?

[City Mouse]

Might be visual migraines

[Guest]

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[Guest]

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[Lecka]

I see things like that sometimes, but I don't have migraines, and I think what I have is not a concern.  I am blanking on what it is called, but I have come across it before, and been like, oh, that is what that is.  

 

When I was a little kid I could entertain myself with seeing them against a wall or ceiling.  For me it can be more when there is a ceiling light -- these circles or swirly things can show up against a ceiling light sometimes, and sometimes they do spin around like a tornado.  

 

But I don't think it is any big deal.  

[Lecka]

http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/benign-eye-floaters

 

This is what I have.  

 

"In addition, a unique form of eye floaters is associated with the visual aura of migraine headaches."  I don't have that kind... just floaters.  

 

I wonder if I tune them out a lot -- b/c just now I can totally see some against the computer screen.  But it is also a case of the computer screen being a light in a dark room, which is a time I am prone to them.  Sometimes if I look at them I can just see them float around, and if I don't look at them, maybe I don't even see them. 

 

Oh, I am/was also extremely nearsighted.  I had Lasik when I was about 20.  But I remember the floaters most from when I was in around pre-school or young elementary, and used to look at them sometimes when I was bored or against a pretty light.  It is vaguely like enjoying looking at a kaliedoscope, but also not really like that.  

 

As far as the digital clock -- for me I also used to do that, but I really think it is like those "tricks" where you focus on one spot on a page, then glance away, and it looks like the image jumps.  I can remember figuring out to do that with a digital clock and thinking it was kind-of cool and fun.  I liked digital clocks, and might stare at one when I was bored or trying to fall asleep, and then I might make the numbers jump -- but I think it is just a thing where you look with one  eye and then the other eye -- it is really like in those optical illusion books.  

 

For me, I am confident it is no problem.  But if it seems like more than this -- I would check into it.  But I also remember feeling a little relief when I found out floaters were a normal thing, and the same with the optical illusion books, and finding out the explanation for why it works that way (and I vaguely remember it has something to do with the dominant eye and switching between the dominant and non-dominant eye).  

 

Oh, I just remembered, I used to see them a lot with stained glass as a backdrop, sometimes, if there was sun coming through the stained glass.  It did not always happen but I can remember sometimes just looking at it when I was in church.  

[Tracy]

That is interesting that you mention visual migraines.  My husband does experience something like that, but it is more like a blurriness/difficulty focusing.  When he spoke to an eye doctor about it, he said it sounded like a migraine without the pain.  

[Guest]

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[Tracy]

They are called "Silent Migraines". Wish mine were silent also ;) !

 

I think what your husband experiences as blurriness is the symptom identified as tunnel vision. I sometimes get it during a full blown migraine. It is very annoying! Or maybe it annoys me because I have to deal with it along with the pain :tongue_smilie: .

 

It hardly seems fair to call it a migraine, because it does not even compare to the pain that others experience.  

 

Thanks for the links!

[stripe]

I have a relative who gets floaters but not migraines.

 

I was once told I was having migraines without the headache but I was never too sure about that diagnosis anyway.

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[Tracy]

He is not experiencing the pain but it can most likely be disruptive for him at work. So, while it seems odd to have a migraine without any pain, at the same time there is a disturbance to regular daily functioning. It is most likely added to the migraine category because the symptoms are the same as those found in a migraine with aura.

 

Yes, it is disruptive for him, especially when he is driving.  When he is home, he has to sit with his eyes closed for a while.  But it usually only lasts for a few minutes.  

[Guest]

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