7yo seeing coloured spots & dizzy in morning - stop me panicking

[Mascarponeandwine]

Does this sound concerning? My 7yo has been seeing the occasional coloured spot in his vision for a second at a time, then it disappears. It can happen a few times a day. This has been going on for 6 weeks, it comes and goes. He had a full exam with a senior ophthalmologist who gave him the all clear. Then this morning he said he woke up and his head hurt (back of head and area near chin) and he felt dizzy (sensation of falling forward) but once he’d had a drink of water he was fine.

I know I’m getting ahead of myself but am so worried he has a tumour. He has another eye appointment in a months time in the big teaching hospital (it’s a routine one as he wears glasses) so was going to ask about this then. Should I be panicking, or see how he is over the next few days? Does it sound sinister? Would something sinister progress quicker than 6 weeks?

Apart from those two instances he’s fine- strong and healthy.

I've had a couple of patients mention this within the last 2 years, both were 7 and girls - although their spots were pink/green rather than red/green which interesting in itself from a boy/girl conditioning point of view. Both were referred for a huge battery of ophthalmological tests which showed nothing abnormal.

Then in the last 6 months, three friends have had exactly the same thing with their 7-9 year old daughters again nothing abnormal showed up on ophthalmological evaluation.

I did a bit of research and came up with no explanation at all......

My guess would be that they are either some kind of entoptic phenomenon, so basically things the eye makes up - like the little lights that you can sometimes see when you look at a cloudless sky. This could be associated with the visual system maturing at the ages of 7-9.

It could also be as PP mentioned a type of visual migraine.

Of the two original children I mentioned one still notices them "very occasionally".

You did the correct thing OP, any flashes of light MUST be checked by an eye care professional ASAP (same day) to check for any damage to the retina.

—underneaththeash— that’s really reassuring thank you. Almost exactly what our ophthalmologist said! did the girls get referred to neurology or was it not necessary? I don’t really want him to go through MRI’s etc unless it looks necessary

Yes, 2 of the girls did have an MRI (which showed up nothing).

Since your son was having headaches and dizziness I think its worth having it done especially if it does occur again and then getting re-referred may be quite difficult.

We haven’t been referred anywhere yet, as saw my own ophthalmologist privately as an emergency. Your stories have been very reassuring though.

I’m going to watch and wait, he hasn’t had any lightheadedness since the brief episode on Sunday morning (that cleared when he drank water). He has a routine eyeappointment at the teaching hospital in about a month so I might follow it up then (possibly a more efficient method than waiting for the gp).

Just had another chat with him. He saw purple red and green spots of varying size once today for a second or two. I asked does it happen more than it used to, are the spots getting worse and more often? he said “oh no it happens much less than it used to, so that’s good”.

It’s an odd phenomenon We are cutting down on his screen time in case that’s a factor.

Can you try a week of not talking about these spots with him? I'm not saying you are but you could be making such a big thing of them and asking him several times a day and maybe it's time to just try no mentions for a short while?

I'd book a GP appointment , keep him well hydrated and then just stop talking about it to him for now