Visual Snow - Sensitivity To Neon Lighting

[ramakentesh]

Ive been meeting up with a few other patients of POTS which is a great thing for me to do - chatting to someone in person that really understands like few else how irritating and debilitating POTS can be at times.

Anyway, ive noticed a few things and ive been discussing them with my friend who is a medical researcher. One of them is the visual symptoms. Some POTS patients have them exactly the same as I do and others cannot relate in any way.

We were wondering whether this might suggest something helpful. So for people who get the following visual symptoms I was just wondering whether they could confirm a few things from the questions below - thanks HEAPS for your replies.

Symptoms:

Visual Snow

Starburst (flashes of white light)

peripheral whitelight flashes

floaters

afterimages

difficulty focusing under neon lighting

Worsening of symptoms under neon lighting

Any other of a myriad of visual disturbances

Questions:

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere?

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome?

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you?

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS?

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings?

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant?

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden?

thanks heaps!!

[bjt22]

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere? Yes...I pool EVERYWHERE....literally everywhere.

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome? No.

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you? No. The opposite. My veins are practically lying outside my skin.

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS? No anxiety. Again, almost the opposite. Things that should scare me often don't. It could be said that I have had a "hyperadrenergic presentation" based on the fact that without meds, my heart rate will go extremely high, both resting and standing, and my blood pressure can spike very high as well.

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings? Usually.

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant? Always there, but there's always variation. Nothing is completely static.

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden? mild, then sudden, I think.

As to the visual problems....you might also want to ask who has had problems with migraine.

And yes...I get all the above visual disturbances.

[firewatcher]

Symptoms:

Starburst (flashes of white light)-all the time

peripheral whitelight flashes-all the time

floaters-doesn't everybody have these?

afterimages-in many other colors

difficulty focusing under neon lighting-can you see the pulse rate of neon? I can, so can my friend with MS.

Worsening of symptoms under neon lighting

Any other of a myriad of visual disturbances: color intensity before a migraine, pixelation of vision

Questions:

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere?

Stomach and upper thighs

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome?

Icy, sweaty, physically colder to touch than other parts of my body-forearms will be warm and pink and hands will be white and cold.

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you?

Not particularly, I have huge veins in my forearm.

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS?

hyperadrenergic dxed at Vandy Nov. 2008

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings?

Most definitely!

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant?

Wax and wane

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden?

I'd had most of my symptoms all my life, but had a sudden crash in Aug. 2007 that was worse than any I've ever experienced.

[HoudiniCat]

1. No

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. Anxiety was one of my worst symptoms; thankfully it (and most other of my symptoms) are under control now

5. No

6. Wax and wane throughout the day, if that makes sense

7. Abrupt

[fire_lupine06]

Symptoms:

Visual Snow Sometimes..mainly driving in rain or fog

Starburst (flashes of white light) not really

peripheral whitelight flashes Nope

floaters yes esp if i get upset

afterimages sometimes

difficulty focusing under neon lighting omg yes ...

Worsening of symptoms under neon lighting yep

Any other of a myriad of visual disturbances

Questions:

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere? pooling in hands feet, hands and other places.

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome? yes i do

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you? no, thank god

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS? Yes i think so

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings? No

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant? wax and wane

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden? mild then sudden

[pearsjon]

i have all visiual disturbances you described and then some you didn't.

1. feet, calfs, thighs, hands, face, stomach

2. yes

3. no, they can find a vein but it always blows out

4. no i wouldn't consider it anxiety, more of a highly over reactive sns

5. no

6. some are constant and some wax and wane

7. noticed mildly and then progressed.

[Guest brianala]

Symptoms:

Visual Snow

Starburst (flashes of white light)

peripheral whitelight flashes

floaters

afterimages

difficulty focusing under neon lighting

Worsening of symptoms under neon lighting

Any other of a myriad of visual disturbances

Questions:

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere?

Haven't noticed any pooling, and I have not been diagnosed with it, no.

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome?

Yes, definitely. All the time.

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you?

No.

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS?

Anxiety, yes. But I don't have POTS, I have NCS

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings?

Yes

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant?

Waxes and wanes. It's worse in the morning, mid-day, and evening.

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden?

Well, I think I've always had this, but I didn't get diagnosed until a year ago when the constant (and I mean constant) palpitations started.

[mae]

I'm also very sensitive to lights and have many visual symptoms from computer screens, reading words on the television then focusing on the picture, cannot drive at night due to pupils not adjusting to oncoming headlights, symptoms are always worse in stores with the fluorescent lighting.

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere?

I pool everywhere except chest,face,back

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome?

Yes

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you?

Yes they poke numerous times

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS?

Unsure

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings?

Some days

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant?

Constant

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden?

Mild for years then abrupt after delivery

Mae

[summer]

Yes, I have all these symptoms as well.

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere?

I have a small amount of pooling in my feet and hands when standing, but I believe most of my pooling is probably in my stomach.

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome?

Yes, I have raynaud's and my hands and feet are freezing all the time.

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you?

No, I have thin skin and my veins are easily visable. My anticubital veins are large, but easily blown.

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS?

Yes, a hyperadrenergic presentation, I would say.

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings?

Early mornings are bad, then bad from early afternoon on.

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant?

Wax and wane, but never gone.

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden?

Mild symptoms always (mild-moderate as a young adult), but suddenly disabled after a virus at 40.

[Aprilmarie52]

Symptoms:

Visual Snow: no

Starburst (flashes of white light): no

peripheral whitelight flashes: no

floaters: YES

afterimages: no

difficulty focusing under neon lighting YES

Worsening of symptoms under neon lighting YES

Any other of a myriad of visual disturbances YES-difficulty focusing

Questions:

1. Do you seem to pool or have you been told you pool in your hands and feet, stomach or everywhere? not that I know of

2. Do you suffer from cold feet and hands similar to raynauds syndrome? yes

3. Do nurses have trouble finding a vein when trying to needle you? yes

4. Is anxiety or a hyperadrenergic presentation one of your problems with POTS? yes, anxiety

5. are your symptoms worse in the mornings? most of the time

6. Do your symptoms wax and wane or are they constant? wax and wane

7. Was the onset of your POTS abrupt, sudden or mild then sudden? sudden