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bright spot in vision

I woke up with a bright spot in my eye 4 days ago, and a smaller, much dimmer image of it is still present.  When I say bright spot, it's like the after-effect of a camera flash, and then it fades out slowly.  I have had this phenomena before, but it usually fades away anywhere from minutes to a few hours.  I always chalked it up to ocular migraines, as the doctor said my eyes are perfectly healthy.  Well, this spot hasn't gone away and it's making me nervous.  I went to the doctor yesterday, which was two days after it appeared, and again, perfectly healthy eyes was my diagnosis.  He said that it was probably an ocular migraine and should fade within a day or two.  But, it hasn't and now it seems to be permanently there, in the left corner of my vision of my left eye.  It's almost like it "burned" itself there and it is now a sivler spot when I blink, or when I go from a dark to light room, or look at the sky/bright walls/computer screen.  It can also change color depending on what I look at-anywhere from green to pinkish/purple to blue.  It stays in the same place and doesn't bounce/move like my other floaters.  I thought it might be related to my sinus/ear infection (pressure), but I've been on antibiotics for 6 days now and I'm not sure if there's still pressure.  I can't stop thinking about it, and as soon as I think it's gone, it's there again, like hide-and-go-seek, except I don't want to play anymore.  I will continue to pray for healing, but does anyone have a suggestion as to what it could be?  Thanks
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Avatar universal
Actually, I did look up the grid.  Thanks for your advice.  Hopefully this is all due to my sinuses and I have nothing to worry about, but better safe than sorry, not to be too cliche.
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A related discussion, Bright Spots in Vision Field was started.
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A related discussion, Bright spot in vision was started.
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A related discussion, Optic neuritis and LCD screens was started.
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Is this post still active?
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A related discussion, Wow, same issue here. was started.
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I noticed my vision spot about 2 years ago. It was pretty bad when I first noticed it. All I could do was walk around blinking and wondering if I was going blind. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac so I told my self to let it be. It didn't fully go away, but I felt that it wasn't as prominent. So for A few years I could barely tell it was there. It got a lot more noticeable in the last few days and now I noticed one in each eye. They aren't right in the center of my vision. One is just under the center and the other is off the right. There just as you said, as if i stared at a light or a flash just went off. They stay in the same spot and I notice them most when I blink or look at different things. I even still notice them long after iv blinked. It good to know that they don't sound dangerous to my sight. I have a doctors appointment this week and I'll probably bring it up to him.
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233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
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Avatar universal
Like you I am so pleased to have found this site.  I first noticed a problem with my eyes at work where there are venetian blinds - my eyes would go a bit fizzy until they were pulled up - the blinds that is!  Now for the last couple of weeks I have a small round disc of bright light - like a camera flash when I close my eyes and a dark circle when I close them  -  happens every time I blink which then makes me blink slowly just to make sure it is still there.  Also there sometimes when I close my eyes which is annoying as can see a darker spot when I am trying to sleep which then makes my mind start wondering what is going on - I am a bit of a worrier anyway and in the middle of the night start thinking what is going on..?  Recently saw optician who couldn't see anything wrong - and put it down to a possible faulty contact lens - which I'm sure it wasn't but she told me to go back if the lights persist which they have as there may be 'something wrong with my actual eye'.  But after reading this I do feel relieved that lots of people have had a similar experience without anything too drastic going on.  
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Avatar universal
sounds like this is nothing life-threatening and just an annoyance.  i count my blessings that it is just that and am moving on.  thanks again to the doc that first helped me here!  i certainly appreciate what you do here.  now i've got a life to live and four children to raise!!
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233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
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Avatar universal
I'm new to this forum, so I have a previous post with no comments! Just trying to figure this out - sorry. Of course I could blame it on my light-filled blob that's visiting the left corner of my left eye. I find all these comments extremely interesting and very comforting actually. I began getting this light blob a couple weeks ago and it's intermittent. Seems to appear mostly at night. I haven't seen anyone yet, but I'm not encouraged to do so now that I've read through all your comments. I want to say that I am 32 years old, healthy, and pregnant for the first time. I am wondering if indeed it has something to do with blood flow, as someone in a previous post mentioned.  Blood volume in a pregnant women increases 40-50%. Heart murmurs are common as a result of the increase in blood flow, the lenses on my eyes thicken, and perhaps the blood flow increase effects vision. I have never had this sort of thing happen, so I figured it was completely a result of being pregnant.
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233488 tn?1310693103
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your last posting has been removed from this forum. If you wish to start your own website/forum and bash the "medical community" that's certainly your right. However this website is filled with hundreds of physicians and other medical providers that are donating thousands of hours of their time and literally millions of dollars of their services to help the general public worldwide.

None of us enjoy "doctor bashing" and if you repeat this we will ask the webmaster to remove your posting privileges.

The Physicians of the Eye Care Forum

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Avatar universal
I can set up a forum on one of my servers if there is sufficient interest...
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Last night I had a wicked headache and my flashing bright spot was suddenly MUCH brighter and more obvious during the worst part of the headache. Kinda made me wonder if it is in fact some kind of migraine related thing. It's only in my right eye though, and everything I read seems to indicate that migraine auras occur in both eyes and are visible even in the dark or with eyes closed, which is not the case with mine.

It's back to "normal" today, less obvious but still there every single time I blink.
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Avatar universal
one would think a doc would pick up on this and try to find an answer since there are so many with this condition.  i've had an mri recently because of a possible pituitary imbalance and it came back negative for any kind of tumors so for all you out there that sit there and think ...."could it be a tumor?".  it's most likely not.  no tumors or anything like that in my head and my spot is still there!
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i think it's just incredible that so many of us can have this symptom and yet none has a diagnosis. there has to be something identifiable going on  ...
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OMG I'm so happy to have found this site! I have had a flashing bright light in my right eye for 2 weeks now. It's there 24-7 whenever I blink!! I had a full eye exam last week and the eye dr. found a small retinal hemorrhage and ordered full blood work up which revealed, you guessed it, nothing. So I'm not sure if the hemorrhage is what I'm seeing when I blink or what. Eye dr. said she really didn't have an explanation, maybe a floater, maybe an ocular migraine thing, but it's there 24-7 going on 3 weeks now. I have floaters and this is different. My floaters are gray blobs or streaks, this thing is a bright spot, like after a camera flash, and only when I blink. It doesn't float down like floaters do if I stare at them long enough.  It's making me crazy!!
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Avatar universal
We should start a group about this, shouldn't we?

I'm new to this board, but I've had my original blind spot for 2 years, a new one cropped up a week ago, and I think another new one is starting as of an hour ago.  All three are in my right eye.

I've had the visual field and OCT tests numerous times, my eyes are healthy, the ophthamologist can find nothing wrong.  They started out as a "camera flash" or as though I looked at a sun glare, and then faded away to a blind spot.  They're highly noticeable on an Amsler grid, or against the sky, computer screen, lampshade, etc.

I decided to take it to my family doctor and see if she can recommend other tests (maybe an MRI or CT scan?) to figure out what this is.  I see her this coming Tuesday, and I will post here when and if we figure this out.

By the way, I'm female and 33 years old.  No other health problems except for seasonal allergies.  I am tired of paying my opthamologist for the same expensive tests over and over again, which never show anything.  Insurance doesn't cover 100% of every test, and now I have a hefty bill over there.
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Avatar universal
It seems like the spots manifest as missing bits on the amsler grid. I have about three in my right eye and two in my left.

I've been wanting to go to the doctor about it but from reading everyone else's posts it almost seems like a waste of time.
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i've had all sorts of things speculated to me - from migraines to a virus to ambylopia. no actual diagnosis though.
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Hey, I've got the exact same problem. My problem started with floaters though, and then six months later I developed first one small spot and then within weeks a couple more in both eyes. Some disappeared, but some seem to be permanent and have been there for almost a year now. Real small spots that I really only see when looking at something with contrasting lines. Spreadsheets on the computer are the worst. I've been to more eye doctors than I can name, retinal specialists, neuro-ophths, etc. No one can find anything wrong at all. A few have mentioned the possibility of some sort of an infection causing it, but nothing has shown any definitive signs of that. I'll let you know if they figure anything out.
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Avatar universal
yep, i'm exactly the same as you, as far as the "positive" and "negative" spots go.

i can see the spots with my eyes closed for a few days/weeks after the first appear. once they settle down and become scotomas, i can no longer see them except under the conditions you describe above - positive when i blink, negative when i pass the mouse through one, etc.

so you can see them on the amsler grid? that means they in the central 10 degrees of vision, ie the macula. same as mine.

tell me, how do they manifest on the grid? as missing bits? as grey spots? also, how many do you have, roughly?

i can't tell you how reassuring (not sure if that's the right word) to talk with someone going through the same ...

mel
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Avatar universal
I just did an amsler grid for the first time and I guess the spots would be more central to my vision as well because I can see all of my spots with my head about 1 foot away fromt the grid. When said peripheral I guess I meant not directly in the center.

soplussed, yes my spots are also sometimes 'positive' and 'negative'. They're mainly 'negative' when I don't blink and something passes through the spot that doesn't really contrast with the background
For example, when looking a white computer screen and I pass the mouse pointer across the spot the pointer just disappears.
The spot is 'positive' when the backgrounds contrast or I blink.

Are you guys able to see the spot just after you close your eyes? I can sometimes.


nancydrew, it's good to hear your doc seems to think it's fine. That's reassuring.
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