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Originally posted by kacan:
I have been seeing flashing lights. When I try to determine which eye it is in, I see it in both, but also see it when my eyes are closed which leads me to think it isnt in my eyes at all. Does anyone know what this is? It can be quite distracting, especially since I already have a problem with one eye

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The flashing lights were one of the most annoying and disturbing symptoms...mine were often white but sometimes blue. You are right, it is quite difficult to describe especially when trying to explain it to a skeptical doctor. The good news is that as I have improved, they have all but disappeared.

I saw an opthamologist and several neurologists but never received what seemed like an adequate explanation. I was tentatively diagnosed with optic neuritis but I'm not sure if that is an adequate explanation. Over time, I've come to associate these flashing lights with neurotoxins so I have focused some of my effort on taking in various forms of fiber and taking antioxidants to help the eyes.

Do either of you also see the flashes of light in the dark?

Have you had other visual problems such as blurry vision or "snowy" vision? Or scotomas (blurry splotches in your vision)?

Does your vision ever seem to flicker sort of like an old movie?

Shelley, I've taken several different fiber products but the ones that seemed to help the most were those with soluble fiber in addition to insoluble fiber. Soluble fibers are things like psyllium, prune powder, pectin etc. An example of insoluble fiber is wheat bran.

I usually try to avoid posting names of products lest anyone think I'm advertising for someone or something (I'm not) but here goes. I like a product called Ultimate Fiber (don't remember manuf.) and another called Perfect Seed by Garden of Life. There's also a product called Cholesfiber which contains grapefruit pectin and soy protein but some people have trouble digesting soy.

There are several anti-oxidants that are good for the health of your eyes including lutein, the various carotenes, etc. I try to eat as many different veggies (and blueberries) as I can but I also take an antioxidant product which is targeted at eye health. There are lots of these combinatoin anti-oxidant products on the market. I usually find a good one on sale at Vitamin Shoppe. Bilberry (European blueberry) extract is supposedly terrific, too.

Magnesium and Eyes - Lyme Symptom #27

``Low magnesium can cause a thinning of elastic membranes such as the cornea.'' http://www.visionworksusa.com/disease.asp?d_num=15

``SIMS images showed lower Mg concentration throughout the retina of the Mg-deficient rats, and the ratio of Ca to Mg concentration was significantly higher than in the control rats. Mg deficiency induces multifocal necrosis in the retinal pigment epithelial cells and pyknotic (apoptosis-like) changes in the photoreceptor cell nuclei. The changes in Mg-deficient retinas may be due to an imbalance in the distribution of Mg and Ca trace elements. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.''

PMID: 11133179 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

``Low levels have been linked to degeneration of the eye's retina, high blood sugar, high blood pressure and clotting problems that can be linked to heart disease.'' (5)

``Dry mouth and dry eyes are usually symptoms of magnesium (and possibly potassium) deficiency. Dry mouth and dry eyes are very easily treated with magnesium glycinate or citrate - the nutrient your body is likely starving for. Use of synthetic tears and other simplistic wetting techniques including chewing gum are not solving the nutritional deficits that cause the problem. Magnesium and high potassium content foods such as bananas, potatoes and other whole foods are greatly preferable to drugs. I have found that my health improved greatly simply by using balanced potassium/sodium salts (Morton's Lite Salt) rather than by using plain table salt (sodium chloride). Use of plain table salt can easily lead to imbalances between potassium and sodium. Dry mouth and dry eyes, particularly when coupled with insomnia often precede other better-known magnesium deficiency symptoms.''
http://www.coldcure.com/html/dep.html

Magnesium also acts in a way related to calcium channel blocker drugs. This effect may be responsible for the fact that under certain circumstances, magnesium has been found to potentially improve vision in people with glaucoma in preliminary research.1 Similarly, this action might account for magnesium's ability to lower blood pressure.2 http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/Supp/Magnesium.htm

They seem to come in waves. Real bad for a few weeks then gone for a while. It seems to be happening less often since i've been on antibiotics for 7 months.

My eye doctor had no real answer for me as to why it is happening. I just chalk it up to another lyme symptom.

Where would I find that article you mentioned above in the Lymelight newletter?

I was just discribing to my husband this morning that I am having a symptom like an old movie flickering just as you described. I am also having this weird symptom when I look across the room at....oh, lets say the picture frame.... the edges jump around with waviness.

I saw my eye doc the other day and he sent me to a retinal specialist and, of course, everything looked normal.

One of the first symptoms I had when things started to go wrong was flashing lights at the base of my vision when I looked up and also the base of my vision was like being under water.

The under water symptom statred to fade after 4 months of oral abx and then within 4 months was almost gone. These other symptoms started a few months ago and recently have gotton worse.

The flashing lights were gone by Feb. but started back a month ago.

Of course the eye docs look at me like I am crasy but I do not care. My LLMD retired in January, and I am going ot be seeing a new LLMD in 3 weeks.

Aspartame

``At the time of this first hearing, people were going blind. Themethanol in the Aspartame converts to formaldehyde in the retina of the eye. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class of drugs as cyanide, and arsenic -- deadly poisons!!! Unfortunately it takes longer to quietly kill, but it is killing people and causing all kinds of neurological problems. NOT A DIET PRODUCT Aspartame changes the brain's chemistry. It is the reason for severe seizures. This drug changes the dopamine level in the brain."
http://www.arthritistrust.
org/downloads/
publications/pub818.pdf

BUT i had heard about some aspartme side effects(not from this post and not that it could cause eye probs) and stopeed drinking soda in june 03 and stopped eating sugar free stuff sept....

lyme getting better or aspartme (i really avoid it now)...

Along with this, however, I have other visual distortions, including hallucinations--or images of things that appear for a brief while. Sometimes I see beautiful patterns of colors.

A neurologist just diagnosed me with seizures. He said that my lesions were likely causing irritation, especially one near the cortex, and that would increase neuronal activity that leads to the seizures once it begins firing in a pattern. He believes my description of visual changes and other disturbing things, like memory blackouts, oflactory hallucinations, and sudden odd repetitive behavior, suggest the seizures, as does my abnormal MRI.

While flashing lights can have several causes, I do think that one must consider seizures in Lyme. The neurologist I am seeing, who is the director of an Epilepsy Center in a major city, said that I was already "at risk" for seizures because I had Lyme disease with lesions in the brain. I was surprised that he openly acknowledged a connection. I have never heard a neurologist say this.

Also, one might look into migraines. There are such things as painless (acephalic) migraines that cause visual disturbance but not that sick "headache" with nausea. Migraines are vascular. Lesions caused by borrelia, the neurologist told me, can be the result of vascular weakening in tiny areas that leak like a tiny stroke, and then leave a scar. The scar can lead to neuronal irritation and hence, seizures.

One characteristic of seizures is that the vision changes are episodic and last for brief amounts of time, say a few seconds to less than two minutes. Seizures may occur more often right before going to sleep or upon waking up, when brain activity changes. They also occur with stress or when tired. They can occur repeatedly and then disappear for a while. Sometimes you become sleepy after a seizure. Or it leads to another type of seizure, one with impairment of consciousness.

I don't want to scare people into thinking they are having seizures when it is possibly brain inflammation or an optic nerve problem. But I always chalked things off as general Lyme weirdness without considering that some damage then becomes another condition with Lyme as the cause.

Then again, I also no longer completely trust any doctor's opinion. I hold out the possibility that I may not have seizures at all. I will continue to monitor and be on the lookout for other explanations. I have found that one tends to get whatever disease the doctor you see specializes in. Some are right, some are dead wrong.

For now, the lamictal I have to take seems to be improving my neuropathy.

He indicated it is something called "retinal tug" and was related to my Lyme. He advised me to keep my eyes hydrated (natural tears) and to not open them quickly or strain excessively.

I had an eye exam both by a neuro-opthamologist (dr. S) and by my normal one and neither saw anything to worry about at the time.

I still have it happen alot especially when my eyes are closed. I also have dry eyes, blurriness and lots of junk floating around in my eyes!!

Sherry

The latter is found in corn. Yes, lots of sugar in corn, but good stuff too! Maybe why the Bible lists corn as one of the main foods we need.

Yellow is best.

Happy Thanksgiving ;-)