What Kind Of Visual Symptoms Do You Have-if Any At All?

[ana_22]

just wondering what kind of visual symptoms people get?

when upright (and sometimes supine) i feel as if my vision is pulsating, very mildly. When reading the newspaper i feel like words are moving, not the words im looking at but the words on the edges if this makes sense.

Sometimes i also get a dimming thing happening. it feels like someone has dimmed the lights for a second.

can anyone relate?

[Katja]

I have visual symptoms 24/7 (for as long as I can remember), but they worsen dramatically when I have been upright too long on any given day, even if I am sitting down, or when am experiencing pre-syncope. I have visual snow, palinopsia (increased afterimages), and see halos around lights or any object against a contrasting background, like letters on a page or computer screen. I don't know if this has anything to do with my autonomic problems, however, though they appear to influence the intensity. My vision also changes briefly when I stand up, but usually I'm so disoriented for a few moments that I still haven't managed to figure out exactly what happens then. It appears to dim a bit, and almost seems to get "scrambled" around.

[firewatcher]

I get blurring and double vision with eye fatigue and then complete greyouts occasionally on standing or climbing stairs. I have also found that my eyes do not move inward like they used to, one eye will not move in to focus on close things at all and it makes it hard to read or work.

[summer]

So interesting to read these responses, because I have lots of visual symptoms that I find difficult to describe. Katja listed "visual snow" and I as soon as I read it I thought "that's it!". I have lots of that but did not know what to call it - kind of like watching a tv channel that is not coming in well - is that what it is like, Katja?

I also have lots of black floaters, worse when my other symptoms are worse. I also have difficulty changing my focus from one thing to another. For example, if I am reading a book, and I look up at something, then look back at my book, I have a lot of trouble refocusing on the words.

Summer

[Miriam Poorman-Knox]

Might want to get checked for dry eye (Blepharis). One can have some tears, it has an incrediable effect. My docs say that with dysautonomia or other chronic conditions, because of medications etc. Might be worth seeing an opthamologist who specializes in the front of the eye. Just a thought. Miriam

[momofsara]

Sara has some visual disturbances, and it is hard for her to describe how they affect her. I do know its hard for her to focus sometimes. And she goes blind (as in no vision at all) when she turns her head to far to the left or right. She has seen doctors about this, but so far there is no explanation. Susan

[Katja]

summer - your description of visual snow matches mine. I don't have migraines, but I do have a family history of them, and my psychiatrist believes that my visual disturbances are neurological in origin and indicate that I either have something called "persistent migraine aura without infarction," or an odd presentation of simple partial epilepsy. I haven't had a chance to see a neurologist yet. I haven't found much information on it, but here's a link:

http://porillion.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/...-snow-part-one/

Curiously enough, until a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon an article, I thought my visual disturbances were "normal" vision! Even stranger, my younger sister turned out to have identical 24/7 visual disturbances, although she does not have the same health problems (we think). I am very nearsighted, but her vision is perfect, and no problems have ever been found during our eye exams. Both of us also have many floaters in our vision, though ours are semi-transparent rather than black.

[summer]

Katja - Thanks for the link. Wow. The things we learn here!! "Visual snow"- that's definitely one of the symptoms I'm experiencing. I also read your post in the "smoke" thread. I have suspected at times that some of this was connected to migraines, but after keeping a journal of some of these symptoms, I wasn't so sure because I could experience any of them without a migraine to follow. Then sometimes I can have a migraine without other symptoms (smoke smell, visual disturbances) preceeding it. Or, I can have them all at once. Thank you again for the info. I'll look into it more.

Summer

[carinara]

I can very much relate to your symptoms. But one thing that really helped me was the suggestion of a friend to go and have a visual disorder test. When i got testet they found out that i have a visual disorder called `Winkelfehlsichtigkeit` i just searched on the internet but didnt find the english word for it. But i did find and english article about binocular disorders:

http://www.vision-therapy.com/general_bino...ion_disorde.htm

When i was diagnosed with this disorder a few years ago, i got some glases with a prism in it, and all of a sudden the symptoms got much better. These disorders are a little bit like POTS. Not many people seem to have heard of them. But all the symptoms you have described like: not being able to focus right, the letters seem to move around, headaches, fatigue and so on are all also symptoms of this disorder.

When your eyes dont function correct TOGETHER they can make a lot of funny symptoms. And another thing as well. Them disorders have nothing to do with normal bad vision ( like when you go and get tested for some glasses). the testing for this disorders take at least 2 hours and you need special machinery for it.

Maybe you should have a further look into it.

All the best, carinara

[mountainsunflower]

Hi, i have floater (black threads, clear threads, and clear dots) I also have what i think some are calling visual snow... (sort of- everything is clear but it is like i have to look through snow to get there) Anyhow, i called my eye doc and he had me come in. Apparently, in my case, the gel that covers the cornea is turning to liquid (or something of the sort) He said this is normal and can happen as you age, however, he isn't sure why it is happening to me (i am a bit young for this) but believes it may have something to do with an injury (he doesn't think it is due to POTS) The only thing is- i have to watch for changes and see he 3/4 times a year to make sure as the gel pulls away from my cornea it doesn't take my cornea with it. When i first went in, though, they were suspecting this or a visual migraine, so it is worse getting seen by an eye doc if you haven't already.

[jump]

I only have visual symptoms when I'm experiencing pre-syncope, so I'm pretty sure mine are only a side-effect of POTS.

If I stand too long or stand up too suddenly I experience sort of a "white out" - it's like rapid flashing of light in front of my face. Almost like if tons of papparzzi were snapping those old-fashioned cameras in my face. When this happens I can't see anything, but it happens very consistently if I'm going to faint, so it's a really good warning-sign. When I experience this I sit down fast, and I'm usually fine.

What an interesting thread!

jump

[Megan]

I often get "little black bugs," especially in my periphery vision. Occasionally, I lose all sight completely. Apparently it's nothing to worry about-my sight always comes back, usually after lying down with the lights out for a while and sometimes only after I pass out (completely unconscious). I've always wondered if it had something to do with my huge pupils taking in too much light and therefore sometimes needing to just shut down for a while.

Meg

[ramakentesh]

doubel post

[MelissaCrystal]

I have visual problems associated with POTS, and also something else called Macropsia/Micropsia (or Alice in Wonderland Syndrome). That can cause words you're reading to move or do weird things to your perception. I have very annoying episodes of this, especially when the lights are dim.

[ramakentesh]

persistent migraine aura without infarction - I looked this up and it pretty much sums up the visual symptoms that I get. Visual snow, dimming, darkening, floaters, tunnel vision.

[Darlene]

I have visual symptoms too. I have floaters, I see tiny pin point sparks of light when looking at the sky, or a white background, my vision gets blurry sometimes, one time about 5 years ago, it was as if someone turned off a light switch, but it was not pitch black, it was dim, it only lasted for a second, sometimes i have i thinks it auro cause it will last for about 20 minutes, and then it goes away, where I see flashes of lights and zigzags, this scared the heck out of me the first time it happened, at night i really see crazy things, I use to see stuff floating around, but now when I wake up and look and my daughter if she is sleeping beside me, her hair looks blue, so does her face. Weird, I know.