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Eye floaters and Blue Field Entopic Phenomenon caused by?

Been suffering from anxiety/stress for about 6 months now. Started my new job in June which has been very stressful. My symptoms have been as follows:

- Eye floaters (both eyes, right worse)
- Blue Field Entopic Phenomenon (even on bright surfaces indoors, constant)
- Light Sensitivity (not constant)
- Tension headaches (worse on left side, dull and I never take OTC medicine for it because it's not that bad)
- Afterimages
- Eyelid twitches
- Twitches all over body
- Itchy skin

I'm a healthy 20 year old male, only thing I suffer from is psoriasis (which hasn't acted up in a few years). Both my parents suffer from anxiety and take clonazepam.

I went to an ophthalmologist in July had my pupils dilated. Doctor said my eyes look perfect, I have 20/20 vision and he did not see any floaters. When I asked about the BFEP, he said a lot of migraine sufferers have that even though I don't get migraines.

I began adding more potassium into my diet, 250mg magnesium, B-complex and Ocuvite (lutein) over the past 3-4 weeks. Since then, I have eliminated the twitching. The light sensitivity and afterimage has significantly reduced (not back to normal but improved).

My biggest concern truly is the eye floaters and blue field entopic phenomenon. They drive me absolutely crazy and I keep reading visual disturbances, headaches, twitches, can all be signs of a brain tumor and now I've been freaking out for a week over that. Has anyone had these issues before with anxiety??? I feel good I'm making progress on my other symptoms and slowly returning, but these visual symptoms are really holding me back. Anyone with some insight I'd truly appreciate it.
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Avatar universal
Also just want to add - I do not wear glasses/contact. I am thinking I may have an astigmatism because certain writing seems to "extend" or "double" above itself and I'm getting slight star bursting of lights even during the day. Is it possible an astigmatism would do this? I apologize for the multiple questions, I've never had vision issues before in my life I'm new to this.
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5 Comments
Read the section on entopic phenomena in wikipedia.  They are normal and not a sign of something bad going on in the eye.  Not all people can appreciate or see entopic phenomena while other anxious, OCD, hypochondrical people see them all the time.  Don't take this wrong but after a normal eye exam with an ophthalmologist I think you would be better working with a psychiatrist and/or psychologist.   I know you would benefit from cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and likely some anti-anxiety medication.
Thank you Doctor. I read a bit on it, guess it is hard for me to accept it being normal, I am definitely anxious. I just started CBT hoping to see some results soon, and hopefully some vision issues clear as I can get away from an anxious state. My doctor might try me on Lexapro if things don't improve soon.

One more quick question - is there anything I can do/take to help heal/strengthen my vision? The Ocuvite has helped I'm just curious if there's anything else I can try.

I truly appreciate your time and advice.
Just the things that will keep you healthy: Eat a good diet, don't use nicotine or cannibis, if you don't drink alcohol don't start, if you do no more than one glass/wine per day, eat a good diet lots of vegetables, exercise, maintain a healthy weight, have good friends that you confide in and a religious/spiritual belief system that makes sense of our purpose in life.
Thank you Doc I appreciate the help.
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