visual symptoms

i am wondering whether underlying anxiety can cause unexplained visual symptoms?

for the past eight or so years, i have periodically developed what looks like the afterimage of a camera flash (one eye at a time, though it occurs in both eyes), which then turns to turns ot a grey blob that i notice most when looking at the sky or something with contrast (eg blinds). over a period of about two or three weeks it begans to fade, leaving a small permanent blind spot.

i have had my eyes dilated numerous times and nothing has been found that would explain this strange phenomenon.

i guess my questions is, in the absence of any clinical findings, could it be my mind playing tricks on me, as a channel for my anixety.

when i have these eye episodes, everything else fades into insignificance in the wake of my fear of going blind or having some degenerative eye disease.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

The answer is yes, it could be exactly what you describe.  When you pay close attention to visual things you can observe all sorts of natural phenomenon that we usually overlook, and then fixate on them, which makes them more pronounced, and now you have an odd symptom that nobody can explain.  Sounds right?

[mel07green]

i agree i fixate, but what i don't understand is how my mind could make random spots appear in either eye, at different times, and for weeks at a time.

sometimes i have been through a period of great stress when it happens (as with this latest episode) but at other times it seems to happen when everything is going well (new job, bit trip overseas etc, relatives visiting from australia) ...

so sometimes i think i am clutching at straws with the anxiety thing and it is an organic visual disorder that is either rare or in the early stages and the doctors cant seei t yet.

my ABSOLUTE biggest fear is blindness, always has been, since i was a kid (i am 39 and this eye thing has been happening since i was about 30) ... i am sooo anxious over this that i can't eat or sleep. i have lost 20lbs in the past 4 weeks. it's the "not knowing" more than anything, because i feel so trapped in this cycle.

i do have a history of health anxiety (in my 20s i thought i had ms, lupus, sclerdoerma, RA etc), but that all settled down. and the panic attacks had more of less stopped.

but now this? do you think anxiety cause such a specific and enduring thing or am i deluding myself? when i have mentioned the "psychological" possibility to opthalmologists, they have more or less laughed at me, even while having no explanation themselves.

[mel07green]

sorry, doctor, i didn't flag the question to you ...

[Jillaroo]

I have had many visual disturbances with anxiety and depression.  I think with myself at least, that I get so overwhlemed that so many things are wrong, that in a way...I have made my own self believe that every little thing that happens is a BAD thing.  I do not think that blind spots, floators, etc is leading you to blindness.

[mel07green]

jillaroo, what kind of visual symptoms have you experienced?

[m402]

Guys,

I've had some similar symptoms. I occasionally experience a slightly greyed-out area that's about 1/4 inch by 1/8 inch-usually only when reading newsprint (as
opposed to books) and only in my left eye. It doesn't move or look like a floater, but it does fade after about 1-2 seconds.
Opthamologist and neurologist visits both turned up normal; however my GP did
find a slight nystagmus (eye, not eyelid twitch) in my right eye, which the opthamologist did not find. Hope this helps.

[shotz]

I've had visual problems for a number of years. The doctor diagnosed it as optical migraine without the painful headache, thank god.  Stress, not eating right, and I think just not taking good care of yourself contributes, as well as certain trigger foods. I think hormones may also play a role.