Shimmering/Flickering Vision?

[Sevv]

Hey everyone,

I've had slightly flickering/shimmering vision for a while now (noticeable especially when looking against a wall or the sky).

I have quite the eye strain, not so good sleep and high anxiety currently, which are probably causing it. Also can't focus my eyes...

Doesn't seem visual snow to me, since except the mild flickering nothing would fit.

Has anybody else experienced that?

 

[Autumnly]

Sounds like this could be visual snow, I have mild visual snow and sometimes also experience those symptoms (flickering and shimmering vision, issues with focusing) and I've read other stories of people experiencing similar symptoms.

"Visual Snow Syndrome patients often experience their vision flickering, particularly in their peripheral vision. It is difficult to describe, but it is similar to the heatwaves you usually see above a car on a really hot day. It is like having strange ripples travel through your vision. For most sufferers, it is most noticeable in bright lighting conditions, particularly in the first ten minutes or so of exposure." - Source

"Enhanced entoptic phenomena: [...] excessive blue field entoptic phenomenon (uncountable little grey/white/black dots or rings shooting over the visual field of both eyes when looking at homogeneous bright surfaces such as the blue sky) [...]" - source

But I'm no medical expert!

 

[Sevv]

Is yours constant or intermittent? You sound like it's the latter.
I'm probably gonna visit an eye doctor...

 

[Autumnly]

The tiny dots are constant, the flickering and shimmering vision and issues with focusing are intermittent. Sounds like a good idea to visit an eye doctor!

 

[Sevv]

The tiny dots are constant, the flickering and shimmering vision and issues with focusing are intermittent. Sounds like a good idea to visit an eye doctor!

Thank you a lot for your help. I'm amazed you can still give out support even though your T is so much worse than mine.

How did you make it through all these years? My T is low my visual snow (if it is actually visual snow) is low too. But still I wonder how I should continue my life. What drives you, who has so much worse symptoms?

 

[Autumnly]

How did you make it through all these years? My T is low my visual snow (if it is actually visual snow) is low too. But still I wonder how I should continue my life. What drives you, who has so much worse symptoms?

The hope for medical treatments keeps me going. I'm 26, if they find something within the next 5 years I'll be 31, I'd still get decades to enjoy the fact that I'm able to have a life again. Nowadays, I'm a lot more grateful for what I have. Currently, thanks to Neuromod, the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota, treatments seem so close.

 

[Sevv]

The hope for medical treatments keeps me going. I'm 26, if they find something within the next 5 years I'll be 31, I'd still get decades to enjoy the fact that I'm able to have a life again. Nowadays, I'm a lot more grateful for what I have. Currently, thanks to Neuromod, the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota, treatments seem so close.

You're so super-tough. If I had gotten this with 20 I wouldn't live anymore.

 

[Juan]

Hey everyone,

I've had slightly flickering/shimmering vision for a while now (noticeable especially when looking against a wall or the sky).

I have quite the eye strain, not so good sleep and high anxiety currently, which are probably causing it. Also can't focus my eyes...

Doesn't seem visual snow to me, since except the mild flickering nothing would fit.

Has anybody else experienced that?

That's probably overuse of computer and cellphone screens coupled with hearing problems. I think the nerves interact, the hearing nerve etc.. maybe there is a cross of nerves or some deterioration. That would be my guess. You can check with an eye doctor and also with a neurologist.

 

[Juan]

The hope for medical treatments keeps me going. I'm 26, if they find something within the next 5 years I'll be 31, I'd still get decades to enjoy the fact that I'm able to have a life again. Nowadays, I'm a lot more grateful for what I have. Currently, thanks to Neuromod, the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota, treatments seem so close.

Yeah, one has to put things into perspective, adapt to the changes. However, I would expect a cure or medication in the next 5 years. That's the same tale that has been going on for like the last 40 years, and those 5 years into the future never come.

 

[Autumnly]

However, I would expect a cure or medication in the next 5 years. That's the same tale that has been going on for like the last 40 years, and those 5 years into the future never come.

You would expect a treatment/cure or you wouldn't expect one?

 

[Juan]

You would expect a treatment/cure or you wouldn't expect one?

I wouldnt expect one. There seems to be no real money for this. The healthcare lobby prefers to fit patients with expensive hearing aids that solve nothing but costs thousands of dollars.

 

[Sevv]

There will be one. I thought Visual Snow Initiative was going to release something this summer. Also stuff like Lenire might incidentally help. Then there's medication like XEN1101 that seems to target everything that includes hyperactivity in the brain. Also, visual snow seems to be caused by a thalamocortical dysrhythmia, which is involved in many disorders like depression, tinnitus, Parkinson's, etc. Research is bound to find out more about the underlying causes.
Also, with the onset of quantum computers in 10 years and advancements in AI probably a computer can calculate what is needed for a fix. For example, it was revealed in a study that people with visual snow have abnormal brain wave patterns. This was found out with machine learning.

 

[pinkrose16]

I have been having similar symptoms (flickering colorless except today I also experienced flashes, heavy floaters, and tiny dark spots. Anyone know any information about what it could be? I have been thinking either visual snow or ocular migraine/migraine aura but what about the flashes and spots? I really appreciate the help!

 

[Flyingsheep]

I've had this weird symptom for a few years now. I only experience it if I wake up and haven't had coffee for a few hours. Once I drink a cup of coffee it goes away. Always thought it was just a caffeine withdrawal symptom. Maybe it is, I don't know. It hasn't really gotten worse though. But it's exactly what was described, where if I shift my eyes to somewhere else I see a flickering heatwave like effect for like a second.

 

[Sevv]

@pinkrose16
Hard to say. If retinal detachment has been ruled out, it's probably visual snow.

 

[Mario martz]

Hey Seev, that sounds like visual snow to me.

I have had it since 2016, got it a few months after I develop my tinnitus.

 

[Sevv]

Hey Mario
Thanks for your reply. I guess it is. But again I am fortunate that it is mild (like my T). Ironically I am already used to it, I find it less disturbing than my T...
So for my VS symptoms: flickering vision, very mild light sensitivity, basically no trailing, slightly impaired night vision, slight starbursts, slight glare. Nothing else (no palinopsia, no floaters, no double vision), so I guess I'm good for the moment. Ah yeah, sometimes mild tingling in feet/hands and T. But since I don't have migraine I have high chances of only getting a mild version (people with migraine get worse VS than those without).

 

[Mathieulh]

I have been having similar symptoms (flickering colorless except today I also experienced flashes, heavy floaters, and tiny dark spots. Anyone know any information about what it could be? I have been thinking either visual snow or ocular migraine/migraine aura but what about the flashes and spots? I really appreciate the help!

That's most likely vitreous detachment, you need to see an ophthalmologist ASAP.