Anxiety and visual problems

[astnrsh]

For the past 3 months when i look at white walls or look at the sky its seems there are flickering (or maybe jittery would be a better word) objects in my eyes. I always just dismissed this as what ive heard might be visual snow. Resently though when i wake up it seems that the jittery effect seems to worse for a few seconds. My vision is always really bad at night since this happened. Now the thing that made me post was a few minutes ago i began to cough really hard and i say the little objects in my vision every where. It almost looks like the air is twisting around, its very weird. I also have had sensativity to light and see large halos around lights, and for the first time yesterday morning when i woke up i saw a double image my cloak for a few seconds.

A month back i went to the eye doctor and he said i just had dry eyes and was a little shocked by what i was telling him i saw. To add a little back round about 2 weeks before the visual probably started happening i had a panic attack that sent me into depersonalization, which i am still currently working my way through. Every since then i have had a ton of anxiety and suffer from it on a daily basis. The past week it seemed to have gotten worse so im wonding if this could be the cause to all my problems. I am currently going to a psychiartist who says thats probably the problem, i just wanted to see if anyone else suffers from these symptoms. I recently just posted on the eye care forums to see what turns up.

[Jade59]

Wow....your screen name is tricky to spell out.  

I have floaters too.  Very annoying.  I also see halos around objects and always have double vision.  My eye doc said I have astygmatism in both eyes.  

[astnrsh]

Thank you for your imput and replies. To better clearify my doctor wasnt really shocked he just didnt know how to explain my problem. We did some kind of scan that showed everything with my eyes were normal and i did a blind spot test which was also normal. I dont know if what i see are just a lot of floaters or something else. Ive seen floaters and they seem to be a bit different. When i look to the sky it seems staticy almost like a TV channel with bad reception same with the walls. When i really take a close look though it seems like little black spots are flying around and they move all over the place. They also seem to move pretty fast. It almost looks like there are a swarm of gnats flying around. If those are floaters and im i was just being paranoid over nothing that would be awesome but if not than just tell me what you think. One last thing they havent seen to gotten worse its just today i saw them right after i coughed really hard for the first time and it scared me.

[KevinNJ25]

Agreed with Lyd.  I suffer from SEVERE floaters.  It is by far THE most anoying thing you can expirence.  I bet you have light colored eyes as well.  I started getting floaters after my first ever panic attack back five years ago.  But intrestingly enough when I do feel anxious they are much worse then when I feel relaxed.  Again, it is nothing more then dead cells entering your field of vision.  They can also vary in shape.  Some are circle, some are stringy looking, and some are even cluster-like.  It is nothing to worry about and unfortunately Doctors can not do much about it :\  Stay strong and good luck

[RubyWitch]

What I believe you are describing are known as "floaters" and we all have them at various time to various degrees. They are nothing more than dead skin cells that "float" through our field of vision and are usually quite quickly absorbed. When we look at a blank wall or into the sky, they ARE much more noticable.
If you described all these other visual symptoms to your eye doctor and he was "shocked" by what you were telling him, yet did no tests and sent you on your way with a DX of "dry eye," I would run away and get a second opinion immediately! I don't want to scare you, but I have been DX'd with dry eye and I have none of the symptoms you describe. My eyes water excessively, that is all. I do not see halos around lights, I do not have double vision, I am not bothered by bright lights, I do not see mass amounts of floaters when I cough, I have not suddenly found it difficult to drive at night.
I can understand how all of this could cause an increase in your anxiety, it sure would in mine, and I find it rather amazing that your psychiatrist didn't recommend you get a second opinion.............I might run away from that person as well. Anxiety can cause a great many physical symptoms, but in my humble, non-medical opinion, I don't think it is the cause of your eye problems.
Get another VERY thorough eye exame!
And let us know what they find, OK?
Peace
Greenlydia