Yesterday we were eating supper and my 8 year old crawled under the table to come to be saying, "mommy, I need to tell you something."
He then whispered in my ear, "I think I saw the Lyme Disease up in my room today." I asked why he thought that and he said, "Well I could see little squiggly worm things in my eyes and when I moved my eyes, they moved."
I know eye floaters can be caused by inflammation by a virus or bacteria, but I don't know any 8 year olds that have them!
makes me mad!
Will they go away with treatment? I would hate for him to have them his whole life!
Take care, Ocean
Posted by Just Julie (Member # 1119) on :
I think that your son could also have been having an "optic migraine", which I myself have, and have had, for at least 16 yrs now.
Optic Migraines are when you see "little worm squigglies" usually clear, not colored, in your vision. I had them happen, and I was freaking out a bit, since I thought I was losing my vision, or having a stroke. I went to an opthalmolgist (not lyme literate, I was not diagnosed yet) and he was an older gentleman. He told me what it was that I was having, he had them himself!
He then went on to tell me that this is a spasming of the blood vessels in the brain, that they last about 20-30 minutes. And that was exactly as I was experiencing them myself, he told me that if when you first notice the "squigglies" which is what I've always called them, then if you lay down FLAT on the floor (no pillow even), they will pass in 5 minutes. I had a 2 yr old at the time, and he told me that even if I was shopping at a store, like Macy's, to crawl under a clothes rack, and lay there, with my son in his stroller, I would see that he was right!
I laughed, it really gave me a relief to know what these were, and that they were not uncommon. Women usually have them more than men, but I think that could be that men don't see doctor's like women do. In any case, the "optic migraine's" can precipitate a true migraine headache, or NOT. Mine do not have a migraine headache following them. I'm thankful.
They can be precipitated by low blood sugar, and stress. If you google "optic migraine" you will find more info.
If this is what your son is explaining, then I would be more relieved if I were you.
I have floaters-true floaters, and I did not get them until recently. I'm 46 yrs old, and near sighted since I was 10 yrs old. I googled "vision floaters" and found that they truely are something one gets in their 4o's-50's, and they are common in near sighted people.
Hope this helps!
Posted by ping (Member # 6974) on :
Yes, kids can have them. I've had them all my life and can't remember when I didn't have them. If your childs eyesight is now being affected, please let his LLMD know right away.
ping "We are more than containers for Lyme"
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Thanks guys, I am going to ask him if he's had this before. I was so freaked out yesterday I didn't say much because I didn't want him to be scared!
I've never heard of an optic migraine! I have what I think are eye floaters, they aren't usually wiggly, but black flecks that I can only see against something light colored. I have them all the time, they move with my eye balls, I really started noticing them 3 years ago when I was 27.
I will see if he stil has them today and if he has them again, I will tell him to lay down to see if it helps.
So you just lay on the ground, on your back until it passes? We will try it, thanks for the info Julie =)
Ocean
Posted by tickbattler (Member # 14873) on :
My 5 year old saw orange and black spots. The first time it happened he awoke screaming in the middle of the night. He thought these spots were on the walls of his room.
Lyme/coinfections definitely cause this.
My son's vision problems started about 3 weeks into treatment and lasted about 11 months. He has been rid of them for about 1 month now. I'm hoping they are gone for good.
tickbattler
Posted by NMN (Member # 11007) on :
I see flourescent squiggly worms moving in my vision 24/7. Does that mean I am having optic migraines constantly??? I think I am seeing bugs on the lense of my eye.
They look similar to Bartonella quintana stains I have seen. I also have millions of floaters too by the way so I know the difference.
Posted by Kali Dhi (Member # 19686) on :
I remember having major eye floaters when I was younger. 8-15 years old Id say they were the worse...
Posted by peacemama (Member # 17666) on :
My older son says he has them all the time. He sees them as a giant video game and plays with them when he is bored.
Still hoping lymeplayground.ning.com gets some more action.
Posted by John S (Member # 19756) on :
I have the squiggly floaters that disappear whenever I don't move my eyes. I also have black dots.
There is no such thing as a clean white wall anymore.
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
quote:Originally posted by John S: I have the squiggly floaters that disappear whenever I don't move my eyes. I also have black dots.
There is no such thing as a clean white wall anymore.
Yup! Once I looked up at the sky and saw a plane and my eye floaters were mostly in a circle around the plane, like I had a gun scope on it. I had to laugh at that!
Peacemama,
Our son likes video games too! I'll have to tell him what your son does! Kids are great at turning lemons into lemonade, we need to learn from them!
I asked and he said he hasn't seen any today. He said his neck feels kind of wobbly today and he is tired. I don't know if this is all related to the cold laser he had done on Tuesday with the Lyme frequencies or not.
Well, it sounds like others have had the floaters for a long time too from a young age, so I guess he is not alone!
Thanks everyone!
Ocean
Posted by Lymeorsomething (Member # 16359) on :
I haven't found anything to combat the floaters yet. Not even the fabled Mangosteen put a dent in my floaters They look like 'chetes but I've been told time and time again that they are not...so who knows...
Posted by Faith6 (Member # 14072) on :
I've had floaters for many years. After cataract surgery last December I have started to have more of them. My eye doctor sees me every couple months to keep an eye on them. I have always assumed they were form Lyme.
I was searching on the internet a few days ago and I also came up with them as a symptom of beginning retinal detachment. I have read that antibiotics can effect floaters, making them worse.
I see my doc tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what he says. They are definitely getting worse!!! They bother me most when it is dusk, cloudy, or the lights are low and they all pile up on each other.
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Consider OmegaBrite for kids.
It will help.
I promise.
Posted by ticked-offinNc (Member # 15420) on :
Ocean,
your son sounds precious!
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Tickedoff,
Awww...thanks...he is such a sweetie! He is our innately 'good' child. Wants to be kind and sweet, ect.
Our Middle child....likes to use her intelligence for evil!
And our third...well, she's learning from BOTH of them...not sure yet how she will turn out yet, lol!
Thanks all for your help!
Marnie, any chance there is a vegetarian version of that supplement? I don't think I can get him to take it. He's been a vegetarian since birth, and while we are healing, I am open to trying something if I really think it will help, but if he knows it is fish oil, I'm not sure he would go for it.
Take care all
Posted by 2roads (Member # 4409) on :
Ocean....sounds like my son.
A never ending battle.
He says he has worms/marbles in his eyes. I think it effects him all the time, but most disruptive when focusing.
He also says he has sticky eyes.
Frequently fussing with the lids.
He is being treated for tbd's presently.
If it is related...i hope it goes away.
2roads
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Bb looks to deplete lysine (among many other nutrients!!! Lysine must be in balance with arginine).
A lysine deficiency impacts the EFAs...negatively! Our eyes are often the first to indicate a problem.
Research the symptoms of "just" a lysine deficiency.
"Generally, only vegetarians who follow a macrobiotic diet and certain athletes involved in frequent vigorous exercise are at risk for lysine deficiency.
For vegetarians, legumes (beans, peas, and lentils) are the best sources of lysine."
Bb's Osps (outer surface PROTEINS) are depleting OUR amino acids = our protein building blocks...and when those amino acids are low, they impact other nutrient(s) availability - including vitamins and minerals too because the nutrients all work TOGETHER.
"Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), two non-essential PUFAs, do not generally occur in vegan diets. The human body can convert alpha-linolenic acid into EPA and DHA but, even so
some of the body tissues of vegans contain less DHA and EPA than those of other dietary groups. The consequences of this difference, if any, are not known."
I understand your choice, but also understand that this diet choice puts you and your children in a "social minority" and this could have many "repercussions" as others would deem this "odd" (in our meat-eating society) and may lead to you or your children being /feeling ostracized by some persons.
I knew a strict vegetarian who was no longer invited to her parents' home for Thanksgiving because her diet choice made her family "uncomfortable". Very sad, but true. She tried hard to not force her belief in food choices on them by bringing "extra" vegetables or a casserole. It didn't work.
"This much we know: Vegetarian children, who receive adequate calories, grow more slowly during their teens than children consuming animal products, but reach full adult height.
The girls have their menarche as much as *six years later* than those eating a typical American diet.
And finally, heart disease and cancer of the breast, prostate, and colon are
far less common among adults who grew up as vegetarian children."
Pro and con! NOT EASY! Tough choice because:
"We are a culture that is obsessed with food. Moving beyond just a source of nourishment, food is now a social tool, a status symbol and a multibillion-dollar industry.
We love to do everything hand in hand with food. Watch TV, go on dates, throw parties, and organize reunions.
Meals in this country are centered on meat, and therefore vegans and vegetarians are less easily incorporated into the myriad of social encounters we humans enjoy.
This is somehow threatening to all the non-veggies out there who feel they *need to adjust their life* to accommodate their ostracized friends.
The vegan or vegetarian is then resented for being such a perceived disruption. Bottom line is no one really cares about the choices another makes until they perceive it affects them. People are inherently selfish."
My son sees floaters too. I assume it's from Lyme b/c I have them also.
But you know he has several eye problems that I think could be from Lyme. He developed an eye muscle problem a few years ago. It typically comes on at a much younger age. So his dr did MRI's and CT Scans to be sure he didn't have a brain tumor.
He also sees double vision sometimes. Gets severe vertigo! Has bad depth perception & is color blind. I think that's all but not sure?
But doesn't need glasses b/c his actual vision is concidered normal.
So I didn't think much of the floaters with him.
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Hi Marnie,
Thanks for the info =)
yeah, we've told our kids they are welcome to try meat. They know that their is gelatin in Marshmallows and they eat them at my parents house, as it is their choice. I became a vegetarian when I got really sick with 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' and became high raw foods. I've never been as sick as I was prior, which is why I will not eat meat again.
Though we didn't eat much growing up, maybe 2 times per week? We ate a lot of organic beans and nuts and fruit, my mom was a HUGE fruit and veggie eater =)
Yup, My sister and I were 18 and 15 when we got our periods. We weren't totally veg, but very close. So far our kids are above average height so far. I was glad I didn't develop as early as my peers...it would have been hard because I was so shy.
I totally understand what you are saying and we really don't want our kids to feel different, though I always did. When I was in elementary school, my mom packed things like Almond Butter sandwiches, plain raw almonds, apples, carrots and organic blue corn chips. Blue corn chips are now mainstream, but back in the 1980's, you couldn't get them in the grocery story, so kids didn't know what they were. My sister got asked if she was eating moldy chips, lol!
My mom belonged to a health food coop, so she got all kinds of stuff through them. Instead of fruit loops we had Fruit flavored Oatios, that tasted like cardboard pretty much!
We aren't quite that strict with our kids, because I totally understand other kids getting weirded out over what you are eating. I'm sure in their teen years at least they will try meat at some point, it's their body/choice, I'll love them no matter what =)
Oh...we do eat eggs sometimes too, so we aren't vegan. Well, right now I am, but not the kiddos. Thanks for the links too, I appreciate your help!
2roads,
I'm sorry that your son is getting such awful symptoms too...it's bad enough when you are sick...then when it affects your child, it's maddening!
I hope his symptoms start resolving soon.
Ocean
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Amy,
I think I was writing when you posted!
Wow, I bet that was so scary not knowing if he had a brain tumor. Yikes!
I'm so glad he didn't...not that Lyme Disease is any fun!
It sounds like a lot of Lyme kids have eye floaters, so my son is in good company I guess!
I asked today and he doesn't have them. He said they were kind of yellow/clear...mine are black, so not sure if they are the same.
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
They look like 'chetes but I've been told time and time again that they are not...so who knows...