Visual Focus Problem with extreme light sensitivity and eye flashing

[TrixieStix]

I'm posting this for my husband because he's been unable to use his eyes for the last 6 weeks.

During that time he's worn a sleep mask over his eyes during the day (and sleeps in a light-proofed room at night) due to extreme light sensitivity. When he takes off his mask and tries to focus on things closer than about 5 feet, it triggers an immediate crash. He's tried uncovering his eyes for a few hours at a time, being careful not to focus close up. But having his eyes uncovered seems to cause overall strain and lead to general worsening of other CFS symptoms.

With his eyes closed and covered, he sees stars. These are constant unmoving points of light. Periodically he also sees flashing, which he describes as a strobe-light effect, and less often a sort of static (like tv static).

He's been sick for 1.5 years now (confined to bed for a little under a year) but the eye problem is relatively recent. It did happen on one other occasion but resolved more quickly and wasn't as intense. Looking into the possibility of silent migraines, it seems like migraines resolve after a matter of time so it doesn't seem to be what he has since this has been going on for weeks. He has an upcoming appointment to see an ophthalmologist but there's never been anything wrong with his vision before. He's also seen a neurologist, had an MRI and a lumbar puncture. The neurologist ruled out MS and said there wasn't anything else she could do for him.

Does anyone have any insights into these symptoms or experienced anything similar? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

I had a severe MS-like (I was tested and do not have MS) "crash" a few months ago and it began with me waking up one morning with my vision altered, visual snow, severe orbital pain in my right eye, etc. I was sent to a Neuro-Opthamologist who said there was nothing wrong with the structures of my eyes and said it was my brain causing the vision changes. He diagnosed me with a rare form of migraine referred to as "Persistent Visual Migraine without headache". It is a rare form of migraine that causes constant visual aura but no headache and it goes 24/7 for days, weeks, months, and in some cases even years straight. I am very sensitive to light, and stress will make my visual aura worse also.

I too wear a mask over my eyes when I sleep and often after I first remove it I see flashing lights in the peripheral of my visual field (usually lower part). Also at times when I am in a dark room and my eyes are covered it looks as if someone is shining a very bright white light at my eyes and moving the light around. There is a name for that but it escapes me at the moment. The tv-like static is called "Visual Snow" and for me it is always there to some degree but more pronounced at times than others. There is actually something called "Visual Snow Syndrome" that you can google for more info. Some researchers think that the visual snow (tv-like static) is something separate from migraines and are researching it. The link below is a good resource on Visual Snow Syndrome.

http://eyeonvision.org/visual-snow.html

Has your husband seen a Neuro-Opthamologist about his vision? I've been to see mine twice so far and he wants to see me again in a few months. I know that the first time I saw him I struggled to find the right words to describe what I was seeing but after researching I found the right lingo which made getting it across much easier.

 

[flybro]

I have had these problems too,

an aura/visual migraine that got so bad it induced vomiting.

stuff that helps me 'sudafed for sinus pressure and pain, can be a big help,

i also always where a cap, everywhere, it helps cut overhead light, and I can angle it for windows left or right.

wearing very dark 'overglasses' even when watching tv or on internet,

new glasses helped too, specsavers sent optician to house for test, long process but nice people.

laying still, eating toast with butter and some salt.

There's also a link on the forum here to some useful screen/browser utilities, that reduce light from screen.

I hope all find some help soon, it is horrendous.

 

[bensmith]

just come down with these symptoms as well, glad to see some discussion, it's very scary and frankly frustrating.

 

[Husband of]

I've also been having these issues since Getting COVID 8 or 9 weeks ago. They got bad 4 weeks ago when I would feel instantly and unbearably sick when I looked at my phone but it wasn't as bad for other tasks, so I stopped using my phone, but it got worse for other tasks like using computer screens, walking on rocks at the beschc, driving, bright lights In general, especially in my peripheral, tv,

and I ended up spending 3 days having my eyes open for only a few hours. At the same time dysautonomia - dizziness and OI symptoms had also gotten worse.

Then after that three days I tried thiamine and whether by coincidence or not I got a lot better, along with dizziness and pots, so been taking it ever since, but By no means has it resolved. For me it's basically the same symptoms(which are like motion sickness symptoms to me) I get from using my brain too much, or from noise sensitivity, it's just that focusing as a trigger for feeling sick like this suddenly became a much bigger trigger than anything else.

Also, interestingly I had just said to my wife today that I wondered why if my symtpoms were the same as a migraine but without having the bad headache, because that is a recognised phenomenon.

I am feeling a bit poorly now from finding and reading this thread, so might see if I can find my wife's Clonazepam.