Haziness

In the top half of my peripheral vision, I've noticed that when I'm using a computer (my PC is in front of a lightly coloured blue coloured wall), when I'm staring at it for a long time, a kind of yellowy hazy mist appears, which does end up going away once I've blinked and looked away for a few seconds. I've noticed this for about 6 years now and during that time I developed floaters and started to notice a kind of heart beat in my vision which only usually affects me if I'm doing some intense exercise out in the sunshine or I get really nervous.

Over the years I've had a fair few amount of tests done on my eyes and have had them looked into and retina photographs taken. I've never once mentioned the yellow haze appearing in the top half of my peripheral vision (which only really) or the heart beat thump in my eye. Everything's fine according to who I've seen.

I'm just wondering if it's something to do with blood pressure or heart rate. Because I do have a fairly high heart rate for my age (19), and my blood pressure might not be fantastic.

It's strange though because if I go to the gym regularly during a spell of time, do some intense exercise and then rest, the yellow haze which appears in my peripheral vision when I'm staring at my computer screen doesn't seem as vibrant and not as noticeable.

The heart beat thump I must also add is accompanied by a kind of shimmering, which can only really be distintively seen outside in bright light.

I do tend to get stressed quite often and the shimmering seems to get worse as my blood pressure goes up, it's like the blood is travelling quicker and quicker and I can actually see the blood moving powerfully around the blood vessels. I'm not only talking about those tiny dots which move about I'm talking about proper shimmering in the vision which does seem to appear worse when my heart rate goes up.

I know I've babbled on a bit about it but if you could explain why this is happening then that would be great.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Anything that you've had 6 years and hasn't lead to something really bad is not likely to be serious. Most "bad things" are progressive over that period of time. I would suggest seeing a neuroophthalmologists. Find one at www.aao.org

JCH MD