Posted by yxibow on September 1, 2006, at 1:11:42
In reply to Re: anybody ever experience this vision phenomena?, posted by nickguy on August 31, 2006, at 21:30:41
> yes, they are "little black floaters." I've had them for a while, even when not on medicine. I also have those other things I mentioned, along with little white floaters. The most upsetting is the "t.v" vision and seeing streaks of light when moving an object of light through a dark room. (i.e, moving my cell phone through the air in a room with no lights)
I have been searching long for anyone who has ever had the slightest related phenomenon.Yours is probably quite different I'm sure, but ever since Nov 17, 2001, my perception of the world has been altered. The only theory is the massive anxiety and panic feelings I had after Sept 11 which might have triggered a phenomenon in my brain called a Somatiform Disorder.
Somatiform disorders are rather misunderstood -- people think from old psychiatric days but they are not malingering, they are truly chemical changes in the brain and one is actually experiencing the phenomenon. The most common one seen in psychiatric hospitals is pseudoseizures -- anxiety driven attacks of pseudo-epilepsy when one doesn't actually have it. The body expresses the anxiety as a physical phenomenon.
I have had this for nearly 5 years -- I have gotten better first with Luvox, which downregulated (theoretically) the excess D2 (visual pathway dopamine) that is thought to be at least partially at the root of this complex. But I was still wearing sunglasses to nightclubs and the like. Eventually I stumbled upon Remeron for sleep, and noticed that there was a decrease. Remeron has 5HT2A blockade like an atypical antipsychotic, minus the D2. Unfortunately weight gain was massive so that was terminated. I eventually agreed to Seroquel. Klonopin came in somewhere along the way, and now I've switched to Valium. If I have a really tough day with it I take 1mg of Xanax (tends to be later in the evening that things get worse.)
The phenomenon for me was first extreme bright headlights and taillights; extreme confusion inside stores with fluorescent and metal halide artificial lighting. Even when things slowly climbed down I saw mirror images of my dashboard and television and any screen. I always could, but now was intense as far as anything 60 Hz, I could see very intensly bad monitor settings, including up nearly to 70 Hz.Contrast was off basically, brightness was off. The world was sending me too much input, or I was taking in too much input.
Today, its still here, a large sum of Valium and Seroquel are the main medications in my arsenal that are the top ones which regulate but may not actually "cure" the disorder.
The idea is as I take steps forward and backward and forward again towards integrating back into society and moving out and moving on, an occupied mind will flush some of these subconscious not terribly controllable 24/7 phenomenons.
I am not however, schizophrenic, or delusional, or not aware of what the world should actually be, because I have fond memories of college and I can still barely remember what was "normal" (in a relative sense.) In fact if I did have psychosis, or psychosis NOS, I would ironically probably be happier because I would treat these as if they were the way the world actually looks.
There's a very intelligent mind waiting to get out under the muck and progress towards what everybody wants in their 30s. I hope as I recently turned 31 that it will be a better year in all.
So -- have I ever experienced snow -- yes more in the past ... mildly.. and strange streams if I looked up at the stucco ceiling.There is a small support group -- I havent looked in a while, at
http://p210.ezboard.com/bthosewithvisualsnow
The streaks and trails of light you see are palinopsia, a phenomenon of persistant vision after a stationary object, i.e. a traffic light green would continue as a line.
Some people experience this and other phenomenon as a part of HPPD (Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder) after using substances for a long period of time such as LSD and then seeing them even after discontinuation. I'm not suggesting that is what you are experiencing.
The floaters you describe I think are corneal (external to the brain) layer optical phenomenon as opposed to neuronal optical perception. I, and a number of people have them, mostly perceived in a bright outdoor lighting setting, possibly at an angle to the sun -- most people get used to these , however there is a fairly dangerous procedure called a vitrectomy (an operation on the vitreous layer followed by a replacement with compatible silicone gel in the vitreous region) that is only reserved for the worst cases. These are when large amounts of bodily fiber detach and float in the vitreous and make vision a difficult issue.
Now, if you ever experience an extremely bright light or flashes of light and an uncomfortable feeling in the eye, go post haste to an ER, as this is known as a retinal detachment, which has to be surgically reconnected to save vision. But I don't think that is what you're experiencing.
Largely my phenomenon is painless in the sense of pure external pain -- it is psychic pain, and a lack somewhere of filtering. However sometimes a long day or lack of sleep can lead to a fair amount of ibuprofen.
I hope this has provided some insight and though this is the medical forum, I think it fairly fits either here or in another appropriate forum equally considering the 6 medications I take daily (2 aren't psychiatric per se -- insomnia and back and neck stiffness)
Tidings-- Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:681799
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060825/msgs/681957.html