So, who else has "visual snow"?

[SketchMaster]

I was googling around for an example to show a friend of why I never really read much and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_snow

I've had this for as long as I can remember and never thought it was a condition, it's one of those things where you think it's "normal" because it has always been there; the two main problems I have is reading and thinking quickly/clearly.

When I look at text on a high contrast LCD screen it often looks like the text is vibrating or has a "glow" around it (depends on the screen); this makes it hard for me to read and process text, and I often have to go back and reread things because so much gets ignored by my brain since it can’t focus on the damn text; paperback is *ok* because the texture of the paper helps drown out the noise. This also messes with my night vision but mostly my depth perception where in certain environments I can’t tell something is right in front of me. For example, if I’m 30ft from a wall that has the right texture, and a cable is draping in front I will think the cable is against the wall when it’s really 8ft in front of it.

The other problem I have (and to me, this is the MOST annoying thing) is my mind is always foggy and it can sometimes take intense effort on my part to focus and react to what’s happening around me. Imagine you are juuuust getting over a hangover, you feel a lot better than you did, but your brain is still a bit cloudy (mushy) and you aren’t on the top of your game yet; you know that feeling?

I LIVE with that feeling.

It’s like a bad sugar crash, or never getting enough sleep, or feeling like your brain is a sponge all the damn time. And the worst part is you get teased with moments of clarity where you go “Wow! This is great! It’s like someone turned on the lights in a dim room, and I can finally get some wo- …Never mind, there it goes again.”

I may get 30 minutes of clear head before the haze is back, and then I’m back to felling like I have an 80 IQ (in 2nd grade I was tested at 126, not great, but not bad). It’s like my brain is an old over the air TV, and I’m trying to watch a station that doesn’t quuuite come in where I live; so I can watch the show, but through a lot of static that gets better or worse depending on which way the wind is blowing. So when I get told, “you’re pretty smart” (a lot of people have told me this over the years, including Bosses, college teachers, etc..) it’s kind of a slap in the face for me, because I KNOW I could be smarter if my brain had its antenna pointed right. :-/

 

[Printer Bandit]

go see a doctor and get it checked out.

 

[moshquerade]

go see a doctor and get it checked out.

This!

holy crap, you could get some help ya know???!

 

[Possessed Freak]

I was googling around for an example to show a friend of why I never really read much and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_snow

I have this constantly, really noticeable when first waking up but I always have visual snow. It is interesting as I process that the color is full filled but I see it as having speckles of other random color (normally white dots). On a white image the dots are any color. Just assumed it was the "resolution" of my eyes and the "compression" of processing things.

 

[Numenorean]

It's just you.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Holy crap! I have visual snow, have known about it since I was young (10 or under), and always thought it was just normal. I also have increased after-images (from what I can tell), and a few other minor issues. My recent eye exams have all come back fine, though. Very interesting.

I don't have the haziness or cloudiness of thoughts like you describe, though. I can generally think very clearly, though I do occasionally have trouble processing things that people say. Some people think that I'm hard of hearing, but it's actually more like I heard them, I just couldn't make out what they were saying.

Edit: the visual snow that I see is generally red and green. In a very dark room, it's especially pronounced. I can generally "see" past it (ignore it), but if I tune in on it, it can be very distracting. It's like a bad trip, man...

 

[ShawnD1]

Man that sucks.

How do drugs affect you? Does the snow go away if you drink coffee (stimulant) or take benedryl (depressant)?

 

[rcpratt]

This is apparently the only vision issue that I do not have.

 

[amdhunter]

On my TV in really dark scenes sometimes.

 

[waffleironhead]

I have that(visual snow). Now I know what it is called. Good to see I'm not the only one.



Holy Hell. I just read through your whole post and that describes me EXACTLY. The haziness, the mental fog, the brief moments of clarity.

 

[ShawnD1]

On my TV in really dark scenes sometimes.

When you look the mirror, does your dark skin appear to have visual snow?


Some of those wiki links are interesting. I have these when I take benedryl:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed-eye_hallucination

 

[ShawnD1]

Holy Hell. I just read through your whole post and that describes me EXACTLY. The haziness, the mental fog, the brief moments of clarity.

I'm also curious what happens when you smoke a cigarette. Does it make things feel less cloudy or more cloudy?

 

[amdhunter]

When you look the mirror, does your dark skin appear to have visual snow?

That's just dandruff.

 

[waffleironhead]

I'm also curious what happens when you smoke a cigarette. Does it make things feel less cloudy or more cloudy?

I havnt smoked in ~10 years. At times I still crave them though. I'm not going to risk trying one, even in the name of science.

 

[Jeff7]

When you look the mirror, does your dark skin appear to have visual snow?


Some of those wiki links are interesting. I have these when I take benedryl:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed-eye_hallucination

Closed-eye hallucination.
Huh...I never even thought to look up something like that, as it's been something I've known for as long as I can remember.
The animation it shows by the Level 3 section is a reasonable representation, though mine usually includes a fair amount of blue or green, and it's typically a continuous cycle of some shapes decreasing in size, while others envelop them.

I figure that my optic nerve's gain is just set too hit, but I'll be damned if I can find the trimpot to adjust it.

 

[Possessed Freak]

Closed-eye hallucination.
Huh...I never even thought to look up something like that, as it's been something I've known for as long as I can remember.
The animation it shows by the Level 3 section is a reasonable representation, though mine usually includes a fair amount of blue or green, and it's typically a continuous cycle of some shapes decreasing in size, while others envelop them.

I figure that my optic nerve's gain is just set too hit, but I'll be damned if I can find the trimpot to adjust it.

HAH, mine are in greyscale. I can force myself to get them by rubbing my eyes hard. Alternately I get them on occasion when I go to bed. Large clouds of grey form then dissipate into a cloud of black... then they reform. Actually I find them soothing. Perhaps I have a built in screen saver.

 

[Krynj]

I get something similar, but only before I'm about to get a crushing migraine.

First time it ever happened to me was a few years ago in college. Got to the point where almost my entire right side was totally obscured by wavy jagged lines. Could barely see anything. Then it went away, and I spent the rest of the day in bed with a headache.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Closed-eye hallucination.
Huh...I never even thought to look up something like that, as it's been something I've known for as long as I can remember.
The animation it shows by the Level 3 section is a reasonable representation, though mine usually includes a fair amount of blue or green, and it's typically a continuous cycle of some shapes decreasing in size, while others envelop them.

I figure that my optic nerve's gain is just set too hit, but I'll be damned if I can find the trimpot to adjust it.

I see the same thing, and level 3 is the best representation. Man, the things that you learn on the Internet. It's something that has puzzled me all through my life, and now I finally know that I'm not alone.

 

[CurseTheSky]

HAH, mine are in greyscale. I can force myself to get them by rubbing my eyes hard. Alternately I get them on occasion when I go to bed. Large clouds of grey form then dissipate into a cloud of black... then they reform. Actually I find them soothing. Perhaps I have a built in screen saver.

Hah, very interesting way of looking at it.

Maybe we're cyborgs or androids in disguise. :O

 

[SketchMaster]

This!

holy crap, you could get some help ya know???!

It's not quite as dramatic as I may have put it, I'm not blind and drool from the side of my mouth; I just have to read slowly and make a effort to pay attention. And I've had it since I was a kid, and it never got worse so I never really thought much off it.

I would call up my Doc to see about running some tests... But I'm kinda stuck overseas right now working and have a contract for a year, so I'm kinda stuck unless I:

1. Call in a favor back home.
2. Get very ill.
3. Get blown up.

Here is the thing, I've looked this up a bit more and found forums full of people with the same issues I'm having and have spent $1000's getting tested and trying different drugs with no real payoff. It's pretty much one of those things where (as you have seen from others posting) most that have it don't realize it's not "normal" and never bring it up; or, Doctors have no idea how to treat the thing. It sucks, but it is what it is. :-\

Man that sucks.

How do drugs affect you? Does the snow go away if you drink coffee (stimulant) or take benedryl (depressant)?

Never really paid much attention, but I don't drink coffee because it messes with my blood sugar too much to be of use to me. I will say that being tired or stressed can ramp it up quite a bit. I was up for 24hrs a few weeks ago, and MAN, was that a show.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I don't have visual snow but I have a long stringy floater. I'm going to have a vitrectomy by the end of the year.

 

[KidNiki1]

Wow! You learn something new about yourself every day! I have level 3 closed-eye hallucinations a lot. All different colors although bluish purple patterns the most. Like Jeff7 mentioned, a pattern that collapses into itself getting smaller and smaller.

No visual-snow per se but I do get weird auras around moving objects sometimes...I notice it most around cars if I don't look directly at them as they pass through my field of vision.

 

[Chiropteran]

We live in a simulation. Your connection to the server has a little static, you just need to replace your cheap $4 coax cable with one of those $200 monster cables.

 

[ShawnD1]

Closed-eye hallucination.
Huh...I never even thought to look up something like that, as it's been something I've known for as long as I can remember.
The animation it shows by the Level 3 section is a reasonable representation, though mine usually includes a fair amount of blue or green, and it's typically a continuous cycle of some shapes decreasing in size, while others envelop them.

I figure that my optic nerve's gain is just set too hit, but I'll be damned if I can find the trimpot to adjust it.

Your situation might be better understood if I explained my situation.

What is acetylcholine:
I said I see closed eye hallucinations when I take Benadryl. Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is sold as an antihistamine but it doesn't actually block histamine. It blocks acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is used for all kinds of signals in your body; it's like your body's telephone network. If your skin is being attacked by allergens, that signal to the brain uses acetylcholine. If you hear things, that signal from your ears uses acetylcholine. When you see things, that signal uses acetylcholine. When you want to move your legs, that signal to the legs uses acetylcholine. By blocking acetylcholine, Benadryl numbs everything. Loud noises don't seem as loud, bright lights are not as bright, itchy skin is not as itchy. It also tends to make people feel fuzzy, confused, and tired. Simple things like moving your arms can seem very difficult. People who are big and have a lot of muscle can be weak and girly just because they their body's communication grid is all screwed up.

What happens when acetylcholine is blocked:
Taking too much Benadryl does a lot of interesting things. The human body has a lot of fail safe designs, so signals are happening all the time even when you're not doing anything. When you see nothing, there is a signal from your eyes saying that you see nothing. When you hear nothing, your ears need to tell the brain that there is no sound. It's never assumed. When signal are blocked too much (like taking 4 benadryl pills or having some kind of illness), that basic data information is blocked, and a person will have problems very similar to "phantom limb" syndrome. When you don't have a signal from your eyes saying that you see nothing, what does your brain think you see? It goes ahead and makes shit up. You'll see random things. Maybe you'll see lights, snow, people, aliens, swirling colors, whatever. When your brain isn't getting signals from your ears, you could hear nothing, or you could hear all kind of random crap that isn't actually there. I once took too much benadryl after having a severe allergic reaction, and it felt like my skin was being poked by needles. Not just one place, but my entire body felt like that. When there's no signal coming from the skin, the brain will make something up.

Why I mention smoking:
Nicotine is the opposite of Benadryl. Benadryl lowers acetylcholine activity, but nicotine raises acetylcholine activity. If the OP sounds like he's high on Benadryl, then maybe nicotine would help him. Smoking is bad, but you can still buy nicotine in the form of gum, inhalers, and patches. I have never been a smoker but I still keep a nicotine inhaler with me when I drink.

 

[Demo24]

Interesting, I always described it as 'grainy' although it doesn't bother me to much as I don't think it's too bad. As in I don't feel it hinders my vision, just something I've gotten accustomed to.

Apparently I also have level 3 closed eye hallucinations.