flashing lights? and ringing in ears?

[kellyo19]

I had flashing lights and twinkles/glitter in my vision field. It comes with optic nerve involvement due to the swelling from PE/PIH.

For me, the flashing lights looked like someone was taking my picture w/ a camera, only there was no camera. Sometimes I'd sit in the dark and have these constant flashes... sometimes the flashes of light wriggle around in a circle or sweep across like a wave. I thought I was losing my mind when it started. Also, once in awhile I got pretty little glitters/twinkles when my BP was high... It looked like pixie dust if you watch Tinker Bell movies with your little kids.

The ringing in the ears - its called Tinnitus, I have the luck of a hearing loss with tinnitus that occurs randomly but can last for hours at a time. I'm not aware of tinnitus in pregnancy but that doesn't mean anything as I'm not a dr.

In either case, vision issues or tinnitus, let your OB and/or MFM know... the visual issues do need further examination.

[jgrumet]

Ohh thank you for all the responses!

So have we come to the conclusion that the moving silver sparkles are from a sudden drop in blood pressure?
And the high bp visual disturbances are more white distinct not moving spots?

I had those moving sparkles right when i started developing PE. I sometimes get them when I go from a relaxed position to standing up really quickly, but I never get them just standing up not moving. I started getting them like that when me PE developed. Now I think it is from my BP jumping around....which I guess if you have them is something to look out for.

I thought it would be helpful for pregnant people to read clearly from personal experience what the visual disturbances look like (I wish i had that!) but I was asking more for myself when I stand up quickly and still sometimes see them. I was worried my BP was shooting up instead of dropping suddenly and needing to get pumped back up.

[lornarose]

The flashing lights for me looked like shimmering sequence that you find on garments. I recall one of my consultant's wearing a head scarf and I thought she had little sequence or embellishments on it but it was just a flat fabric. You know that movie series about those vampires, Twilight, I think? Well, there is a scene when the vampire is in the sunlight and his face is sparkling. That is how it looked. I was in hospital for ages and people were giving me loads of DVD's and I happened to watch that one at the time.

I have had on off ringing in my ears all my life. I pay it no heed.

I am trying not to be a hypochondriac since the PE last year.It's hard work.

[brandib]

For me they didn't look like the silver sparklies you see maybe out in the sun or if you stand up too fast, they are BRIGHT WHITE lights. When I see the silver stars/sparkles theres lots of them like swarms which are really small and glittery, the white lights are bigger a lot more spaced out and you can look all around and watch them float everywhere. They are true white, not silver, and they are soooooo bright not like the silver sparklies that are like little peices of glitter. I saw those silver sparklies a whole lot my last pregnancy but only saw the white lights right before a seizure. But this pregnancy, in the shower, I saw those white lights and freaked, but nothing came out of it. I got out of the shower and laid down and was fine.

[aajatwins]

I saw stars - like little lights popping. My bp this time around is low, so I see them a good bit when I get up and down a lot (which I do, chasing two toddlers) and it is common to see them when changing positions quickly because your bp can drop really fast because of the movement. But the night before my induction & seizures, I saw stars just randomly in the shower, and my nurses looked concerned when I told them about the stars, but not enough to cancel my induction. But I think there are several different ways the visual disturbances can present - I've heard of squiggly lines and black spots - and ultimately, I understand that high bp can cause blindness.

I don't know about the ringing in the ears.

Good questions!

[jgrumet]

Okay, this has been a question I keep forgetting to ask, and I'm thinking it will help some pregnant women with symptoms.

When I was pregnant I would see "stars" randomly (Like when you've been hit in the head or stand up too fast) like little moving sparkles. When I went in the first time to labor and delivery I told them I had a flashing light symptom and told them about my stars. They brushed it off saying that was not what the lights look like.

So my first question is....what kind of light do you see?

My second question is...could the stars I was seeing happen when my blood pressure would drop suddenly from being high? At the beginning of PE it would fluctuate rapidly. I've always associated those stars with a sudden drop in pressure (like from standing fast)...but in my pregnancy I would get them just standing up doing the dishes.

My second question is, I always thought my ringing in my ears was from PE (it came at the end of my pregnancy..I would press on my ear and it would go away)...but now I'm thinking it is from hormones because I still get them all the time with low bp. My sister just had a baby (normal pregnancy) and she said the same thing is happening to her. What is the deal?