i've been seeing spots since about 5 or 6 yrs old. now i'm 20 yrs old and i think they're 'floaters', they used to just be spots but now they're lines and other shapes too. i've also been getting bright flashes of light increasingly for a couple of years. they appear as tiny pinpricks like a laser pointer and stay there for a couple of seconds, and they could be any colour but used to be mainly red and blue but now they're mainly purple. they happen randomly throughout the day and night and there's usually about 5 to 20 per day. anyone know what it is? recently i also had a larger patch of flashing light like a strobe light, and it made it look like stationary objects behing it were moving, but when i turned the light off or closed my eyes i could see just the strobing light in an oval-ish shape near the centre of my vision and it didn't go away until the next day. not sure whether it's a brain or an eye thing?

I'm 37 and have had the same symptoms as Hannah describes ever since I was around the age 4. Hannah- you described it very well.

This is something that I always thought was completely normal until I mentioned this in my workplace today and everyone around me is looking at me like I'm crazy.

What....you don't always see specks of colors? It never occurred to me that it's not what everyone sees. It's like, if I want to concentrate on them, I can make out what appears to be tiny, brightly colored particles.

I see them when I don't concentrate on them as well - I've just gotten used to them.

I just brought my daughter to the opthomologist on Friday (she turned 7 on thursday) because, through a general conversation, we discovered that she has been seeing multicolored spots and shapes all her life. She never said anything because she thought everyone had them. She says at night time its like watching her own personal tv. Turns out she has perfect vision; nothing wrong with her eyes. So the doctor wants us to consider an MRI because it could be a precurser to any number of different things. I just placed a call to our pediatrician this morning to find a pediatric neurologist and obviously I have been surfing the net and found this site. To be honest, she is as healthy as they come, she is active (but not a sports star:), she loves drama, sings beautifully and is full of sarcasm and life:)...The only thing I have noticed as a "maybe" thread through this post is allergies. She has suffered from sinus and allergies since she was about two. She takes Claretin in the morning and Benedryl at night. She used to take Zyrtec. I will bring this up with the Pediatrian and let you know what I find out. I am determined like all of you to get to the bottom of this but I will also be very greatful if an MRI comes back clear. The doctor did ask her to draw what she was seeing. She drew a rectangular shape, squiggles (she said she couldn't quite describe that one; it was just squiggly) and different size dots on both eyes but it changes to more shapes at night. Sorry for being long winded but want to put everything out there to see if we can find anymore common threads. Thanks and good luck to all of us! Think positive!!

Im 14 now and i see colored dots in my vision. However they change in color and shape. They are usually red,blue, or green...but they can be other colors. Sometimes they're dots and sometimes they're like a brick wall or spirals, but i can see through them. They show up best at night and i can see them when i close my eyes. They are always there and never go away but their not always easy to see. When i was 5 i went to the doctors and they said it was my imagination. i dont know if this is related but i temporarly lose vision for about 10 seconds sometimes, so i dont know if your 5 yr olds are instore for that. I have heard many different reasons for these colors and spots i see; vision migrians to holes in your retina. But if your kid doesn't see them in color (for example they see black or grey) i would guess it was floaters. I'm pretty health and im a 4.0 student but i do have astigmatism. I'm going to the doctors eairly tommarow and i'll tell you my results but i hope this helps describe what your kids are seeing. My dots are transparent usually but im warning you i didnt lose my vision when i was five but i do occasionally now so get them checked out! Dont let them tell you imagination or making it up crap. It is real.

My six year old son has recently told me he sees coloured spots, wavy lines, and scribbles. I've just had his eyes tested and they are fine and the gp says he's never heard of it before. The optician said he'll probably grow out of it! Not very helpful.
My son said he's had them since he was bout 3... before he started school, but he can remember a time when he didn't have them so he wasn't born like this.
It's just nice to know he's not alone. I don't want to out him through a lot of tests at the hospital if it's all going to come back negative as it's not nice or fair on him.
Hope someone can come up with a certain answer and it's not anything serious.

colored spots
My son who is 7 woke up this morning and told me he sees spots. He said he has been seeing them for a long time and says the spots are everywhere.
He asked if I see them too and I said no.
He is active, he has allergies, no medications, was born 3 months early and has had many headaches as a child. He has been complaining about his legs bothering him, but I told him it's growing cramps.
Most people on here have children around the same age from 5 to 7. I plan on taking him into the eye doctor, but after reading all these statements I don't know if it would be a waste of time since no doctor or eye doctor is finding anything. Keep posting if someone comes up with something.

Crazy! My wife just told me that our 5 year old son mentioned how he sees colored spots. He seems to fit the profile of many here-- he is very intelligent and good with art and numbers at a level above his age group. No allergies that we know of though. I immediately wanted to take him to a doctor, but now I'm not sure-- it sounds like all the tests others have done reveal nothing.

Im 15, almost 16... and I have floaters in both my eyes. They have been there a while. I don't wear glasses or anything, have like 20/20 or close. but I also have spot things, It used to be like id lay in bed with the ceiling fan light on, and look at the ceiling, an image of the shape of the lights in changing colors would be there when i closed my eyes. Or looked at something else after there would be a see-thru colored flashing between me and what I was looking at. But lately it seems like theres shadows and light that isnt there on surfaces, it changes depending on the angle i look at it, but these things dont happen much outside, or inside if im in a kinda bright room looking at a dark surface. When I watch tv it's like my vision is perfect, I have a 32 inch crt hd tv, but my like 1996 lcd flatscreen comp moniter looks like its got those spots on it when I look at it, but its me not the screen. I wanna know whats up, I just got my first car, luckily I can c fine outside. In my case it might be from eye strain, im healthy, skinny, not a nerd, have tons of freinds, but i might spend 10-12 hours on a computer a day during the summer, or free time in the year, or 15 hours xbox 360. I need to know because i can eliminate some of that, this dosnt bother me, I just want to make sure I won't go blind later on.

Srry for long post, hope someone can help me or this helps someone

My daughter, age 7, just started complaining of seeing colorful spots in the past week. We have an appointment today with the ophthalmologist.

She has had numerous health issues over the past 2 years starting with an ongoing, persistent cough (which was diagnosed as a sinus infection). She was then started on antibiotics and had a severe allergic reaction. This led to a hospitalization and diagnosis of asthma (which is now uncertain). She was referred to an allergist due to an abnormally high reading on a blood allergy test. The skin tests showed nothing so the allergist told me that my daughter was coughing for attention. I was certain this was not the case. The allergist stated my daughter has no allergies, but when I asked him why the blood allergy test was so high he stated he had no idea. Soon after that, a GI doctor diagnosed my daughter with severe acid reflux and gastro paresis. *Please donâ??t listen to a doctor who tells you your child is trying to get attention just because he/she does not know the answer!

My daughter is currently on prevacid for acid reflux and erythromycin for the gastro paresis. She also has spooning of the nails along with horizontal brown lines in several of her nails.

She also complains of headaches at times.

Even with all the health issues, she is very smart and does extremely well in school, performing above her grade level in all areas.

With 7 different doctors involved in her care, I have made an appointment at Mayo and am hoping to get more answers and relief for her.

I appreciate any information or suggestions anyone can offer.

Hi,
I'm 25 and I've seen coloured spots my whole life. Reading these posts are interesting because it's the first time I've ever heard anybody describe them the way I see them. When I was a kid I told my parents that it was because I could see "Gravity". They took me to the doctor and the doctor said I was imaginitive. But they never went away, and they still drive me crazy. They actually impair my ability to communicate, read, drive, everything. Still, I've managed to live a pretty decent life. Would love to know what they are and get rid of them though. I can't imagine seeing without them.
Cheers

I am a 38 year old female and I still see the spots. I have been able to see them for as long as I can remeber. For me they are better discribed as thousands of tiny flashes of light about the size of the head of a pin. They are usually more red, but change to blue and white. Sometimes they are more blue. They swirl around and sometimes form patterns. The first time I saw them I was in bed with my eyes closed. It quickly progressed and I could see them every where as long as the lights were dim. Just recently, I began to see them in full daylight! When I was a teen, I learned about Atoms and wondered if maybe I could see the atoms that actually form matter. They also say everything emits different levels of energy which has been proven by the use of thermal imaging. Do we maybe see that energy? I have 10/10 vision in one eye and 10/15 in the other so I definitely dont have vision problems. I have had headaches and sinus problems though. I have never found a medical reason for what we are discribing. If anyone does I'd sure like to know!

never post at 2AM - you will repeatedly misspell the word "describe" - sorry LOL

My son is 6 and is also complaining of seeing colors. He looks at a white piece of paper, or light colored shirt and sees orange, red, green, gold, purple. It changes slowly, about every 5 seconds. It moves with his eyes, like floaters. For example, he looks at a white piece of paper and only the spot he is looking at is that color, which changes the longer he stares. If he blinks, it momentarily clears, then comes back. If he looks to a new spot, it follows. This does not happen when he looks at black, brown or other dark objects. Only light ones. What IS this? I am scared and not sure where to go. Called the eye doctor and they did not think it sounded serious to warrant an emergent exam and he can come to their office in 2 months for their next opening. He has allergies also and is on Singulair and Zyrtec. Singulair is fairly new. Has history of headaches, but not complaining of headaches with these "colors". Could it be painless migraine? Occipital seizures? Side effect from medication? I am worried and not sure what to do.

Has everyone noticed that these things seem to be more of a surprise and annoyance than any sort of real problem. It sounds like the older guy has floaters (like rain on a windscreen in a car)... the colored spots sound different though. Kandinsky the russian artist could apparently hear colors and see sounds (or something similar)... so you might want to encourage those seeing them to not wish these spots away...and just find some way to live with them... the kid that trained themselves to live with them sounds like they have the right idea. I would think that keeping the spots to themselves (other than family members) might be a good idea... since school mates might be critical of it, and also it's a plus later in life (should they want to be a doctor or something) that nobody else knows about them other than themselves.

Hey guys, i have a similiar problem,which developed over the last week. im 15 years old and very recently i developed some sort of floating spots in the center of my vision that follows my eyesight around that i can see in both eyes, I can see them in the dark and light and when i concentrate on it, it seems to morph kind of like a tadpole shape and change kind of a reddish color, until they shrinks and dissapears, then reappears as a circle again,then changes etc. The spots kind of look like after image spots like ive looked at a small camera flash but less subtle. The spots conjoin and split apart too, its very odd, i have a hard time sleeping because its so obvious with no light. ive had a lot of floaters since i was young (especially when i squint) and im sensitive to after images, so im wondering if it will go away on its own (hopefully). ive been to the doctor and im waiting on the referral for the opthamologist

it only seems to really morph when i concentrate on it btw
thanks, dylan

Hey,
wow, I didnt know that seeing diffrent colored shapes were weird? I am 15 years old, and it has been happening even since I could remember. It would happen more-so after a bright light hit my face, or if I wasnt focusing.

Oh, also I can make my pupil's dialate. I ddint know if this has anything to do with it, but I thought I should throw this in. All I have to do is make everythinggo fuzzy. That is the best way I can describe it. I asked my mother when I was little if everyone could do that, and she said sure. She didnt take it seriously.
Thanks,
Kat.

I am 20 years old and I have been seeing colored spots since I was 7 or 8. I went to the optometrist and he told me that what I described was not possible. Jennyden described it almost exactly like I see it. Millions of tiny colorful spots that I can see through. I see them all the time, but they especially stand out at night or on solid color surfaces. I do not suffer from migraines, but I do have allergies. I recently asked some of my family and friends if they could see these spots. For some of them, if they closed their eyes and focused really hard, they described something very similar to what I experience. I was recently diagnosed with adult ADHD. I was wondering if the spots could possibly be related to that. I am majoring in psychology and have learned that most people who suffer from ADHD are suffering from misplaced attention. Or seem to pay attention to things that people would generally ignore, such as quiet or monotonous sounds. I was wondering if maybe everyone sees the spots, but only some ADHD people are actually attending to them. A lot of the children described in former posts seemed to be very creative, intelligent, and high energy. This could be connected to the seeing the spots and some may have an undiagnosed form of ADHD. This is just my theory. It definitely surprised me to discover that some of the people I know can see these spots when they focus. Let me know your thoughts

My 6 1/2 year old son just started complaining of seeing colorful spots. As I read through the previous post I noticed a lot of similiarities. My son has had asthma/allergie problems for years and was previously on singulair, zyrtex, flonase, and albuetrol. He is extremely smart, remarkable memory, very artistic. He does get occasional headaches. He eats very healthy now...fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, drinks distilled water only. No junk food, processed food, only hormone free/no antibiotics meat. write me if you find out what the colored spots are please!

My daughter, 5, almost 6, has just informed me today she sees colors, like pink with orange inside, when she looks at "nature", such as trees, or the sky. She say's it's gone on for a while but she never mentioned it. Haven't gone to see the doc yet.

My 6 year old son told me about the orange spots that look like Australia and other smaller islands for the first time tonight while he was in his bed (dark.) He said he has been seeing them "since before he was 5." I imediately freaked out, jumped on google and here I am. No headaches or real allergies. ADD with a high IQ. I will keep an eye on this thread. Thanks for sharing.