@jerry@mantissa for years my retina Dr was telling me to watch out for flashes, floaters and shadows. Then one day I had what I described as pixellated static suddenly appear in one eye. While I was rushing to emergency checkup with him it gradually disappeared. And then I learned about “ocular migraines”. Never had one before or since but they are freaky.
Is it your actual vision that does it, or is it like the vision you have when you visualize thing? (I’m still trying to figure out internal vision, since I didn’t even know it was a real thing until a few years ago)
@nazgul to me, it was my actual vision. It was as if I was looking through glasses that turned my vision into a bunch of disconnected shards - almost like a kaleidoscope. That video did a good job of representing what the world looked like to me. I couldn’t see anything, at least not coherently.
@jerry ooh I get those but very luckily no headache afterwards in most cases... think my first attempt at describing them was like a curved chevron of spray polish on a CRT television 😆
The first time I had an occular migraine, I quite literally thought I was dying. My vision starte turning into these shards from the outside in. I was watching my vision completely go away. I called to my wife and she came running. I told her what was going on and I think she said something like "stop being a baby, you're not dying. it's a migraine. sit down and let it pass".
@jerry hahahaha I remember having one and over half an hour my vision progressively became more abstract and smudgy until I was completely blind. I asked my friend to walk me home (after walking directly into a garbage can) and after having a nap my vision came back. I remember mildly thinking “I hope I don’t have ms!”
Later when talking to a doctor she was “oh that was a migraine”
I haven't had one for a while, but I have had a number of them in the past. For me the flashing patterns just widen out until they go beyond range and I feel a little weird. I didn't lose my vision though.
Some people say they are the onset of a migraine. Did you actually get one?
@jerry When I first started having them, I tried to ignore it until a friend convinced me to go to a doctor just in case it's serious. (Friend is smart, and I've been to many different doctors since; thankfully mine aren't serious.)
But I learned what not to say to urgent care staff: "Hi -- I'm having visual hallucinations."
@jerry I had the same experience with the vision. I thought I was having a stroke or something. Unfortunately I didn't have a wife at the time to tell me I was just being a baby.
@jerry I had that twice. Eventually it turned into a central serus retinopathy which blinded me a couple times before it stabilized. The second blinding was like 6 months. Terrifying. Now I see a small shadow where what used to be the area that went blind was, and it is totally yellow-blue colorblind.
This, incidentally, is why I'm colorblind in only one eye.
@jerry I would freak if my vision did that. Mine looks like I'm underwater and wavy followed by a dark shadow where I go blind. Happened as I was entering my third trimester and the first time happened as I was about to hop in the car after shopping. Thought my low blood pressure was doing a number on me and I put head between my legs to divert blood to my brain. Did alot of breathing to get more oxygen. A few women walked past me with my butt up in the air and my car door wide open. None bothered to ask if I was okay. Luckily it stopped it enough for me to get home.
The really bad ones had me completely blind. I once had to pull off the Hwy as it was happening into a Walmart parking lot. I was on a 2-hr drive home from work and was just able to get a call in to say I would be late and napped it off. (Really miss the phones with tactile buttons.) Docs said it was hormonal. I suppose they were right since they stopped a year postpartum. Kinda. They pop up now and again when I'm super stressed. But very rare and pretty minor.
@jerry Sorry to hear that. Hope you figure a way to control it. I did alot of deep tissue massages and hydrated alot when I found out it was hormonal. I think it helped alot. Might start up again with all the stress I'm having lately. Docs say I need a less stressful job. I told him I would be happy to sit around at home if he would send me my usual weekly pay. 😝
@jerry First time i got one of these i was in i think 9th grade. Had no idea what was going on and i got one heck of a headache after. My parents took me to the doctor and they weren't sure what it was either. this was mid 90's Not sure if these were not well known at the time or if my family dr just didn't know.
They sent me to the optometrist and THEY told me it was likely an ocular migraine. I've had to live with them ever since. wasn't until 2 or three years ago that i finally got a prescription to try to knock them out when i get them.
@jerry I get them too, it was def scary the first couple of times. I’m fortunate that I don’t get the pain. For me, I mostly get them when stressed ¯_(ツ)_/¯
@jerry For me, I used to get migraines - the painful ones - as a kid and young adult. As I’ve aged, I no longer experience the pain - for which I am extremely grateful. I’m sure I’m not alone in calling what remains “igraines”.
I seem to get them mostly with weather and seasonal changes - pollen or mold? Atmospheric pressure? Sometimes stress. They are always disorientating.
@jerry I had one of those in one eye once. The eye was completely blind with black and white sort of jagged lightning bolts across my vision. The other eye was fine. There was no pain and it passed within an hour. I'd had regular, i.e., painful, migraines for many years before this happened. Ocular migraines are very weird!
@jerry ive only had like two, but mine looked like patches of tv static that were thin black and white vertical striped lines.this animation is pretty close, but imagine it just one horizontal pattern of this stuff insted of the 'bubbles'