Floaters, Phosphenes and Eyeballs

What are phosphenes?

Along with all of the crazy symptoms after COVID came an annoying increase in phosphenes, those odd moving bits of light that pass through vision that some people call “floaters”. If you have ever looked through a microscope, binoculars or a telescope, you may have recognized them as illusory glowing specs that that move around without really interfering with vision. They are typically not believed to harmful, and everyone has them to some degree, but I found the increase in them to be annoying. Since migraines often come with auras (overlays of color on your vision a bit like a lens flare on a camera), perhaps my permanent migraine caused me to get more of them

Either way, I did some research and learned that lutein, zeaxanthin and astaxanthin can potentially help with them. I stumbled across these items while looking into ways to boost cognitive function, as higher levels of these within the brain seem to be associated with healthier brains and better cognitive function in older people. When I saw that they often came in multi-vitamins meant to help aging eyes, I hoped that I might get a two for one benefit: reduce the phosphenes and get a slight mental boost.

The eye supplement I use:

Andrew Lessman's Ultimate Eye Support with Astaxanthin

What it does for me:

Not long after I started taking these, the phosphenes went back to normal levels. If I stop taking them for a week or so, they come back. Thus, I considered them a success for me. Since they include a bunch of other things that I think are healthy (Vitamins A, C, E, Zinc, Copper, Omega 3 and various polyphenols), it seemed like an added bonus. Also, neurology patients like me are often told to have very high antioxidant diets. Lutein, Astaxanthin and Zeaxanthin are powerful antioxidants and lutein is believed to be anti-inflammatory.

As further incentive for me to try something like this, I learned from a close family member that they were told by an ophthalmologist to take a very similar product to help prevent the progress of macular degeneration. With that in my family history, it seemed like taking this product could have other helpful preventative possibilities.

Finally, if you wade through the numerous reviews of this product on Amazon, a number of older consumers say they believe these improved their close-up vision, and claim to have the eye test results to prove it. I suppose if they either improve strength in the muscles that help you focus your lens, or somehow increase the flexibility of your lens, that they could have some kind of positive impact in that way.

I have noticed that things don't seem quite as blurry when I am not making a conscious effort to focus (i.e. without straining), so the supplement may be helping.

If you click the above link, you'll probably notice immediately that they are expensive. You can definitely get a similar mix of ingredients for cheaper, especially if you are willing to pop several different pills. But I do not want to add even more pills to my routine, and I like the small soft gel size. The other thing worth noting, is that I take one a day instead of the recommended 2, so that price lasts me for nearly 6 months. They do come in smaller bottles for less money, but typically the larger bottle results in a noticeably lower price per pill, and there are often specials and discounts to reduce the price.

For more information:

WebMD: Lutein and Zeaxanthin for Vision:
https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/lutein-zeaxanthin-vision

National Library of Medicine: The Effect of Lutein on Eye and Extra-Eye Health:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164534/

National Library of Medicine: Astaxanthin: …Biological Activities and Its Commercial Applications
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3917265/

Medical News Today: Benefits of Lutein for Macular Degeneration:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-much-lutein-per-day-for-macular-degeneration

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