Pregnant - seeing flashing lights/out of body sensation?

[DinoSn0re]

Hi, looking for some advice/reassurance really...

I’m 18 weeks pregnant and earlier on today I suddenly felt

Sorry, posted too soon!

...suddenly felt really spaced out, seeing lots of flashing lights, when I looked down at my arms and hands it felt like they weren’t attached to my body...it was all very odd! I also couldn’t feel the floor properly when I was walking. This continued for about half an hour, it’s now eased although I’m still seeing flashing lights in my left eye in particular.

Any thoughts as to what could be causing this?

Thanks

I've heard that flashing lights are a sign of pre eclampsia so it's worth getting checked out urgently.

You were probably faint from low blood pressure which is very common at your stage. There's a delay in oxygen reaching the brain which causes those effects. It's not dangerous. Avoid standing still for long periods, getting up suddenly and dehydration.
Pre eclampsia does not occur this early.

Call maternity unit

You need your body checked but that sounds like low bp to me. It's really horrible. I had it from around 22 weeks with dd1. Nothing much to be done about it.

sign of pre eclampsia. Call your midwife asap.

Pregnant with my first baby so I maybe don't know much but I got this leaflet from my midwife at my booking appt and one of the things it says you should call your maternity unit for is any problems with vision including flashing etc. So that's definitely what I'd do if I was you.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I’m giving the midwife unit a call this morning.

Probably low blood pressure at this point in the pregnancy but definitely needs to be checked out as visual changes are a sign of pre-eclampsia.

Flashing lights can be a sign of pre-eclampsia, so good to get it checked out. What you describe can also be an ocular migraine, which is weird and unpleasant but perfectly harmless. You can get them even if you don't get normal migraines. I've had a few when I've been really stressed out or really sleep deprived. They usually last less than an hour. They really are harmless if that's what it is, but it's worth getting your urine and bp checked and keep an eye on any other odd symptoms.

This sounds just like when I have a migraine with aura. It's very scary, isn't it? Luckily my migraines have halted since I've been pregnant but others start having them in pregnancy. Worth getting checked though, good luck!

I had a hormonal migraine towards the end of my first pregnancy - I couldn't feel my face, had pins and needles in my arms, flashing lights and couldn't speak properly. Was very scary & was admitted overnight but just due to hormonal changes apparently.

Sounds like the migraines with aura that I get but definitely best to be checked 😊

My husband suffers from cluster migraines and he said it sounded like the aura of a migraine, although my headache afterwards was just a full ache whereas he always describes the pain as severe, it makes him throw up and the after effects last for days. I’m not sure how much migraines vary on the pain scale so I’m not sure if it was that. I hope not anyway as I’ve never had one before and don’t want to start! I spoke to the midwife unit this morning and they’ve suggested that I see my midwife on Friday at my local surgery to have my BP checked, and other than to take it easy, and to go straight in if it happens again. Thanks for the advice everyone.