thanks Turobtina. It just makes me wonder becuase my original thought was that maybe he just has an over-active and very creative mind because he is 'ALL GO' until his head hits the pillow. Not A-D-D, just "a boy." Another thing I read suggested that kids who see this may have "hyperacute awareness of entopic phenomena," which is basically being extrememly in tune with particles that naturally float in the air.

My daugter is 6 years old. She started seeing colored spots and "jagged lines" a year ago. We took her to a pediatrician who thought it may be a type of migraine but had an eeg done to rule out seizures. It turned out to be occipital lobe seizures. She is totally coherant and does not lose consciousness when she gets them. Make sure your pediatrician or neurologist runs and EEG on your child.

I'm also really glad i found this site. My son is 6 and has been saying for a while he sees colours in his eyes. I've dismissed it most times but he gets mad. In reading all these other comments I see lots of similarities. He's very active, non stop infact, he has an incredible memory and has been able to read things back to me in order just by looking at pictures since he was 3. I also believe he has a 6th sense from other things he has said although this seems to have stopped over the past 12mths. He is sometimes scared, usually around bedtime which is when the colours seem more prominent. I'm not sure where to go from here. I havent taken him to the GP's because I often find them too dismissive when it comes to kids and stuff like this.

i m a boy of 21 n i m seeing colored spots for many yrs, it glitres on the upper part of my eyes which last for about 2-3 minuts and i can see to my left side while and for certain time after the spots. its fully colored with all colors giving me confusion at the left side. it continuse even when i close my eyes. and after and during the spots there is a headach. i can explain the excet problem to doctors and they gave me glasses of 0.25 but it hursted my eyes so i didnt use it..it happens when i focus on an object.

I'm an optometrist in the San Jose area in California. I won't pretend to know all the answers to all of these cases, but I think I can help with some. The symptoms are a bit different so the diagnosis or answers may not all be the same.
The first impression is that the child is making it up or just wants attention. But the children I have seen are intelligent and I felt they really were seeing these spots. And you can tell with all the various people, even older people that they couldn't all be making this up!
1. The most likely answer is migraine aura. (the visual spots and symptoms). Migraines often are genetic and can start at young ages. Some people get only the headaches, some only the visual auras, some both. Constiction of the blood vessels in the retina or back of the eyes (from stress, excitement, physical activity, certain foods) causes these spots. Eveyone sees it differently, it can look like rainbows, blurry vision especially in the periphery and can change and move to the central vision, color spots, geometric patterns, etc. It usually lasts for 10-20 minutes. When the blood supply returns to normal, the spots go away. If the vessels over-dilate near the scalp/head area, then it causes the migraine headache. Triggers can be bright light, like suddenly going outside in bright light without sunglasses, stress or just being busy or active, foods such as MSG (watch out for chinese food), chocolate, beer or alcohol, cheese, and I'm sure processed food may help to trigger which one response suggested. It's easy to find foods that trigger migraines on the internet. You can also learn to control the initial constriction of the vessels with biofeedback instruments which measure temperature of extremeties or fingers to help prevent the headache. In some people, the spots are a sign that the headache is coming.
2. There are small pieces of debris in most people's eyes, or floaters that can give spots, lines, and spiderweb appearance. They are easiest to see looking at a light colored background like a computer screen or blue sky. If you pay attention to them, it can drive you crazy cause you see it all the time. They move around slowly. Best is to just ignore, and usually you won't see them very often. But be sure to get a dilated eye exam to make sure they are the normal ones.
3. One response mentioned seeing the retinal blood vessels. Since the vessels are on top of the photoreceptors, you should see the shadow of the vessels all the time. But the brain suppresses this, unless light is shined in the eye at an angle and the brain momentarily picks up the shadow. Also the white blood cells coursing thru the vessels are large enough to see the shadows of these which look like clear little bubbles or translucent spots. It's usually only when the blood flow changes that you can see this, like suddenly standing up from a sitting position, you see the "stars" for a few seconds.
4. I'm sure there may be possible other explanations for some of you so be sure there is no brain tumor or anything unusual. And if you see the color spots all the time, I just don't have an explanation. But if you read all of these, many have in common the migraine aura symptoms, and many have remarked about headaches or family history.

Hope this helps,

Milpitas Optometric Group

I am 29 and have been having these spot and fuzzy vision problems then about 30 mins later i get a headache anywho for some of you i know you were concerned about the spots your child sees . hope it helps in some way

My Daughter who is almost 4 years old started seeing spots. She used to call them her blue eye and now she says they are purple and green. She seems to see them more at night when she is tired, but has seen them during the day too. She is not on any medicine now but has been on allegra in the past for allergies. She is seeing a doctor tomorrow.

My daughter is almost six and started seeing spots every night in bed about a week ago. She has also seen them when we have been at the movies this week, and also when she put on a pair of sunglasses! I took her to the doctor who said she could find nothing and that if it hadn't cleared up in a week, I should take her for full blood tests and also to see an opthalmologist. She recently had an eye test and everything was normal, so it seems unlikely that it's eye related, so I have been worried sick!! I'm so glad I found this site as at least I know there isn't some dreadful disease that's causing this, though a diganosis of some sort would be great! I think I'm still going to go ahead with the blood tests next week if they're still there - she sees brown spots!!

She also is very healthy, with no real allergies and has a good diet and eats well.
She is very intelligent, especially with numbers, also very artistic and creative. She has been very energetic in the last week to ten days, so I thought maybe she was over tired, but we'll just see. Will let you know.

...is also seeing big blobs or splats of color. He said they have also been lines. Colors he has seen are yellow, pink, orange, and green. After reading this page, I am hesitant to take him for any testing, as they probably wouldn't do any good.

Hi. I'm glad I found this forum. I'm very concerned and very scared. Two months ago, my daughter (who is 3) had a seizure in school during her sleep. It was a not a febrile seizure. We did all the tests - EKG, MRI, EEG, Urinalysis, Xrays and finally a 3 day EEG at our home. All the tests came back okay except the EEGs. They came back abnormal and showed an area on the right side of her brain that is susceptable to seizures and further tests show that "if" she has any more seizures, they would "probably" happen while she is sleeping. She was at daycare when this happend, right in front of the teacher, so I have no idea if this was the first. Because we only have one documented seizure, she is not being medicated.

Four days ago, she was laying in bed going to sleep and started crying for me to get the spots. She said there were black spots all over the place. I started freaking out becuase I thought maybe she was seeing a ghost of something. I finally calmed her down and she fell asleep. Tonight, same thing. Black circles flying around her and making a big circle and she was scared. We picked her up and told her to show us where the were and she pointed all over her room. About 2 minutes later, she said they were "yellow, no pink...I like pink".

I'm going to make an appointment with her Ped. Neurologist, but I know it's going to take forever to get an appointment. I'm freaking out here... Advice anyone?

My 9 year old daughter starting complaining about seeing spots when she was 8. We saw a pediatric opthamologist and a neurologist. She had a normal MRI. They were diagnosed as possible painless migraines. She stopped complaining about them for almost a year. Last month the same pediatric opthamologist diagnosed them as floaters. Now I'm starting to think it might be spring allergies. She is an active dancer with a dance team. Very good in school. She is also OCD (obsessive, compulsive, disorder)Her father has the same OCD issues, but has never seen spots. Thanks for all the postings...at least we are not alone!

My daughter started seeing spots on and off 2 years ago. Since October of 09 they have been a daily occurance. She also has allergies and migraines came into the picture last November. She had 10 migraines in 7 days (aura, vomiting, massive headache). She was hospitalized. MRI's showed nothing, but her EEG showed some "sluggishness" in the part of the brain that is connnected to her vision. More comprehensive testing occurred through an ND and we found out that her body has a hard time breaking down toxins and she is storing heavy metals (arsenic, lead and mercury). A symptom of heavy metal toxicity is migraines and visual impairments. A heavy metals test costs $60. If you go this route make sure you find someone who is experienced with this type of testing.

My 6-year old daugther sees black and white spots. She says she has been seeing them for as long as she can remember. Now and then she also complains about headaches. I am so amazed at all your posts! What amazes me is the age range, it is all the same! I am going to take her to our MD tomorrow, and I don't expect any new findings, but I also emailed my naturopath about it, and I absolutely trust her, so I will let you know what I find. I am also going to ask the doctor in town that I know who does vision therapy. I hate this for her, just like you!

I forgot to mention that the neuro-optometrist I am going to see for my daughter also answered my question as to why all of us are mentioning the same age for our kids to start mentioning seeing the spots. It is because going to school is a great strain on the eyes of young children, especially if there are predisposed for vision sensitivities or other problems with their vision.

I remember this from a child. make sure they are not looking at a light or soucre of light (tv showing white/bright, lamp, light, windows, the list goes on) and THEN looking at something light coloured, or even a different colour. The image of the light source will remain burned into the retina for a short while. try it yourself. the images are different colours depending on the colour of the source and what you look at next. hope this helps!

The neuro-optometrist we are going to see said that it is either:
1- occular migraines (nothing much can be done about that)
2- accomodated spasms (which can be treated with prisms, glasses, and vision therapy).
The colored spots some children see with lights - the auras - are a little more difficult to treat, he said.

I was at work yesterday (age 26), sitting on my laptop. Suddenly in my right eye i could see a purple color bubble, i got scared, it looked like a jelly fish first, however when i tried to open close my eyes several times it went and came back again. Frustrated i called my doc who is an eyespecialist and the best in India. He was in Prague when i called him, nice of him to answer ny call, he said not to worry and that i was seeing my blood vessels thats it, its a common phenomenon. He told me to take Collosal Colloidal Iodine Oral Solution two tespoon twice a day....for 10 days... its gone now thanks to him. But phew it was scary....................hence don't worry it should be ignored.

Hi,
My son just turned 4 and he is seeing spots (since a few months ago), mostly at night. They do not scare him, but my husband gets freaked out every time my son talks about it... I, on the other hand, ask him lots of questions about the shape and the color (usually round, purple, green, and blue). One of my friends thinks he is seeing auras. He is very active and healthy (but, prone to ear infections). The pediatrician does not seem alarm by it (but my husband is)... Please keep posting as we can all learn form each other...

Hi everyone.

Really great to finally be able to relate my experiences with other people's!

I'm 21, and recently it occurred to me that seeing these colours was abnormal, they've never obscured my vision but if i look at a plain coloured surface (of any colour), or if it is dark, they become much more noticeable. I have no health problems and have seen these for as long as i can remember. I have great eyesight too. I've only ever once had a migraine and don't suffer from headaches. This has not affected me long term but maybe this is because i can see through the colours.
I don't know if any normal person has colours when they close their eyes? But if you do, it's a bit like this - loads of colours...red and green, blue, purple,orange and they're almost like a TV when the signal is bad and it goes fizzy.
Anyway, great to hear your stories, thanks!
Hannah x

P.s. I forgot to mention that these coloured spots NEVER have stopped. They have always been in my vision and have never had a day when they've disappeared. Very strange, after reading most people's have gone after 20 mins or so. Anyone else have it constantly??