New and strange lights/shimmer in eyes.

[Anthony_B]

A few days ago, I had a migraine headache which passed later that afternoon. Despite it passing several days ago, I now have this lingering vision problem that, as of this writing, hasn't gotten any better and may have actually gotten a little worse.

I'm a 24yo male and I don't get frequent migraines, but I have had a few throughout my life so I'm fairly familiar with the tell-tale aura and the after effects of the headaches. This new symptom is different and I've never had it before. It's very difficult to describe, but I'll try my best.

The effect is similar to the phenomena you get when you see two very contrasting colors next to each other (like red/orange and blue) that causes the borders between the colors to glow or shimmer slightly. Another similar example would be the glowing afterimage you get when you stare at a dark shape and then look at a white surface, but instead of looking away, you look slightly to the side so that the glowing afterimage appears more like an aura around the original object.

This shimmery "aura" outlines almost every border between objects, colors, lines and difference in depth. The effect is most prominent in whites/bright colors - especially dark text on white backgrounds and vice versa (the text almost appears to have a highlight around it). I would almost describe it as a ghost image or shadow, but it's like the shimmery aura colors of a migraine in appearance. It doesn't obscure my vision at all (unlike a migraine aura) and I can still read and discern objects, but the constant extra visual noise can be distracting and stands out in my peripheral vision. I do still have some pain/pressure in my temples/forehead/eyes similar to the residual pain after a migraine, but it's fairly minor and only acts up every now and then.

For a week or so before the migrain hit, I'd also been dealing with an odd pressure/fullness/tenderness in the right side of my head/temples and neck near the carotids and a couple of swollen lymph nodes (one in my neck under my jaw and one at the base of my skull). The pressure feels like my carotid area is swollen, but outwardly appears normal. I've been worried that these prior symptom are from temporal arteritis/giant cell arteritis, but I have no idea if this is the case.I don't know if it's related, but the symptoms haven't fully gone away yet and now I have these flashing lights on top of it.

I'm scheduled to see an ENT this Thursday for my neck/lymph nodes since a round of anti-inflammatories prescribed by my GP didn't change anything. I'm also going to see an optometrist for these new flashing lights next Monday, but I saw that this community is very active and wanted to get an early opinion of what I'm dealing with. The wait is difficult and I'm worried I may have something seriously wrong with my eyes/arteries/nerves/brain and any answers or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Anthony_B]

I understand. Thank you for your help. If I get any answers from the MDs, I'll reply with the results.

[JohnHaganMD]

OK

[Anthony_B]

I suppose it's good news that nothing terrible stands out to you right away. I am curious how anxiety can cause these shimmering highlights around things. These lights have been constant for several days straight, from waking to sleeping. Wouldn't I be aware of being anxtious this entire time?

As I type this, the text has a very distinct shimmering aura around it. It isn't some circulation/neurological problem?

[JohnHaganMD]

No way I can tell but anxiety can create all sort of symptoms in the body that are not part of a disease process and are related to the generalized anxiety. That's all I can say Anthony.

[Anthony_B]

I'll see what I can do to get an appointment with an opthalmologist. I've been visiting my family MD for my other symptoms quite a bit lately and I'm worried I'm starting to wear on his patience going in so frequently with so many different symptoms.

In your opinion, what do my symptoms seem to suggest? Do they sound serious? I do occasionally suffer from sinus issues (pressure, headaches, etc.), but I've never had these symptoms before. Could it be related to sinus pressure?

[JohnHaganMD]

Your group of symptoms do not bring to mind a common syndrome nor are they highly likely due to something serious.  Often an underlying anxiety syndrome creates a lot of these nebulous symptoms.

[JohnHaganMD]

In my opinion you should be seeing an Eye MD ophthalmologist rather than a non-physician optometrist. You can ask your family MD to refer you and make an appointment for an exam in the near future.