Flickering Light Problem - Ocular Migraines

[Lyn23821]

I too have experienced and still experience seeing flickering lights. I only see these lights upon waking in the morning.and I have it at least once a week. My best way to describe it is like a kaleidescopic light similar to what's on a cop car, but not as bright.  Just pulsating. I found it to be very fascinating at first, but then felt something is obviously wrong here. This started about a year ago, and it took me until today to find what I believe is the answer.  I am also a type 1 diabetic and thought it was related to retinopathy, yet when explaining this phenomenon to my opthalmologist --he never heard of what I had described.  My eye examinations are always great, so he wasn't concerned.  Today I ran across a disorder called "Ocular Migraines" at http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/ocular-migraine.htm. See below:

"People with ocular migraines can experience a variety of visual symptoms. Classically, you will see a small, enlarging blind spot (scotoma) in your central vision with bright, flickering lights (scintillations) or a shimmering zig-zag line (metamorphopsia) inside the blind spot. The blind spot usually enlarges and may move across your field of vision. This entire migraine phenomenon can resolve within only a few minutes, but usually lasts as long as about 20-30 minutes."

I would further research "ocular migraines" and scintillating scotoma."


This discussion is related to Flickering / Flashing Lights + other Vision Problems.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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