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Shimmering Vision Outdoors, Anxiety, Panic Attacks. History Of Myopia, Thin Cornea, Ocular Migraine. Causes?

Posted on Fri, 22 Jun 2012

Question: I have shimmering vision outdoors, do not take any medication. Suffer from anxiety, panic attacks although those have gone away fairly recently. Eye doctor says eye health is fine, although being watched for glaucoma d/t family history, myopia, thin cornea. So far no glaucoma. Other symptoms are fatigue, past history of one ocular migrane about a year and a half ago with zig zag lines and loss of part of vision. That resolved after 20 minutes or so. The shimmering vision is most prounced in the bright sunlight, almost as if my eyes can not handle any sun whatsoever anymore. The shimmering is distressing and causing me to become depressed. Recently tested for b12 which is at 192 and ferritin is 22.alt is 9- other lab values normal

Answered by Dr. Shiva Kumar R (10 hours later)

Hello,

Thanks for the query.

Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some good information and recommendations regarding what are going on.

From the information submitted it looks to me like probable a case of visual migraine also called as auras. Without any warning these flashes of lightning bolts that shimmer around an object and interfere with or obscure one's field of vision. This seemingly hallucinatory episode usually lasts for 15-20 minutes and may or may not be followed by a headache.

Many things can trigger a migraine attack or XXXXXXX such as exposure to sunlight, hunger, lack of sleep, anxiety, stress, perfumes and so on. Usually, this condition resolves even without treatment.

So I personally a trial of medicines used for treatment of migraine is worth trying in you to confirm the same.

I am sorry you are dealing with this frustrating concern and I hope you can find yourself in better health soon with the help of your Neurologist.

I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr Shiva Kumar R
Consultant Neurologist & Epileptologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E

Follow up: Dr. Shiva Kumar R (1 hour later)

Thanks for your answer. It happens every single time I go outside, almost immediately. A new symptom this morning is I woke up with cloudy vision, like I was looking through a fog. It was not the same as my eyes adjusting after getting up, my eyesight was foggy and blurry for several minutes. Just one more question, could these symptoms be caused by stress and anxiety only? I will be taking your advice to get further work up done, but I was just wondering if anxiety can be so bad as to cause these symptoms?

Answered by Dr. Shiva Kumar R (6 hours later)

Hello and Thanks for the query

Similar symptoms can occur with stress, anxietry as well as seizures arising from the back of the head. However anxiety and stress is a diagnosis of exclusion after detailed work up.

I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr Shiva Kumar R
Consultant Neurologist & Epileptologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D