Seeing a Cluster of Clear White Circles When First Waking Up

[NeonSushi]

Hi Everyone,

When first waking up in the Morning i see a cluster of clear white circles. The Circles appear larger than floaters and there are a reasonable number of them, maybe 20 or so. The Circles are only visible when waking up if i close my eyes for a brief second exposing my eyes to darkness and then reopen to the natural light of the room. Sort of like Retina Burn, but instead of seeing an image when i close my eyes, i see it while opening them.

After roughly 20 Seconds of light exposure in the morning the circles fade and are not visible at any other time through the day. Besides the Clear White Circles, there is nothing else that impairs my vision in the morning.

I have been to an optometrist for an eye exam. They performed a scan on my eye and did a vision check but they couldn't find any issues. I also informed my Doctor, but neither of them seemed to be concerned when i informed them of the Circles.

I am not overly concerned about them being there since they quickly fade and are not visible throughout the rest of the day. I am just curious as to what they could possibly be caused by? I haven't been able to find anyone online that is sharing a similar situation, so i'm interested to see what it could possibly be.

I uploaded a photograph of an image that is similar to what i see when i wake up. I'm not sure about the policy of sharing links in the question details but here it is:

http://s32.photobucket.com/user/magictaco17/media/16683516_1619488168067174_2077775300_n_zpslrkguohg.jpg.html?filters[user]=146179937&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

Thank you for any help you can give
Regards

[JohnHaganMD]

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[JohnHaganMD]

There are many posts here about people waking up and seeing circles, patterns of light, spots that fade rapidly after they are up. These people usually state they have had multiple eye exams without any problems or pathology being found.   Most of these can be explained by the biochemistry of the eye. Our eyes have 3 systems for seeing in ambient light. One for bright light, one for dim light and one for dark or night. It takes a while to shift from from one system to another ("getting use to the dark" or "getting use to the bright lights). During sleep your eyes are shut and usually you are in a dark room so your retina shifts into dark mode (scotopic) when you wake up and start to see in daylight your eye has to shift into bright light mode (photopic).  The shifting can be faster in some people than others (slows with age, slows with nicotine/cannabis use, etc) this can account for spots and patterns. So the unifying feature is that its present when waking up and goes away relatively quickly when the eye is exposed to light.

[NeonSushi]

Thank you very much Dr Hagan, you have put my mind at ease.

Also thank you for the fast reply, i was expecting to wait days for any information. I hope the rest of your day goes well.

Regards
NeonSushi

[JohnHaganMD]

You are welcome. Might help also to read the section in Wikipedia on entopic phenomena  

[NeonSushi]

Hi Dr Hagan,

Sorry for bothering you again, but you were very helpful previously.

It seems that the number of circles i see in the morning has increased to about 50. I'm not sure if i am just noticing them more vividly and they were present before, or if they have genuinely increased in number.

Do you think it would be a waste of time time to book an appointment with an ophthalmologist with my described symptoms, when i have already gone to an optometrist and been cleared of any  issues?

I noted what you said about our eyes having 3 systems for seeing ambient light. When i woke this morning it was around 6:30am, and the curtains of the room were closed, so it was still very dark in the room but the circles were very visible. Do you think that my vision changing from Scotopic to Mesopic would be enough to see the circles.

Is there any other possible causes for what i see in the morning? Again, i am not overly concerned, just curious about the situation.

Thank you for any help
Kind Regards
NeonSushi

[JohnHaganMD]

I thought you had seen an ophthalmologist. Of course you need to see an Eye MD the training, experience and instrumentation is a higher level with the eye MD. So for sure see an ophthalmologist. Comprehensive ophthalmologist or retina specialist or neuro-ophthalmologist.

[NeonSushi]

Hi Dr Hagan,

I have sent you a private message, if possible would you be able to reply?

Kind Regards
Neon Sushi

[JohnHaganMD]

No MedHelp.org rules do not allow private messages as it might be construed as establishing a formal doctor/patient relationship.

[Mike2460]

Do you lucid dream?

[JohnHaganMD]

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[Katekatekatehello]

I do and I seem to have the same thing waking up. Usually worse the more intense dreams I have

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

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