I have experienced it, but only during stressful periods
I experience it frequently
I have had it my whole life
0voters
I recently watched a video about Visual Snow Syndrome, where your vision is overlaid with a noisy pattern similar to a detuned TV or film grain. It dances on your vision at all times, but it’s often easier to notice in a dark room or after closing your eyes. You will probably also see it on top of any large area of one colour, such as a blue sky or a blank wall.
However, it’s purportedly quite a rare phenomenon. They estimate it to be only 5% of the population who suffer from it. I’m curious to see if that 5% holds up in amongst us lot.
I do see it. I didn’t know it was unusual, I’ve experienced it my whole life, and just thought it was normal. In fact, I still suspect it might be normal. Some folk apparently also have other symptoms alongside of it, such as migraines, nausea, or dizziness, but I’ve never had that.
To be clear, this is not the same as floaters in your eyes, or ‘seeing stars’ when you bump your head, those are different phenomena. The below image is what it sort of looks like. I guess it may vary in severity between people, to me it’s quite subtle, until it gets really dark.
I’d never heard it called that, but I’ve had it all my life (along with ringing in my ears). Also, I don’t know that I’d say I “suffer” from it, since it doesn’t bug me.
Huh. Apparently I have the related blue field entoptic phenomenon – no snow but the occasional whole bunch of flickering bright dots. First noticed it while relaxing in a lounge chair at the pool.
I’ve experienced it (not lately, but during my teens/early 20s). I wouldn’t say it was during stressful periods, just something I would occasionally notice. I didn’t vote since there is no option for that.
I don’t have that, but I do have “Migraine with aura” effects occasionally. I see Zigzagging patterns that usually start small, then gradually increase in size before shrinking again. How long it lasts varies.
I think I have it, but I only notice when I am almost asleep in a non-dark room. Is that the same thing as seeing patters in your eyelids when they are closed (mine are never uniformly black)?
Never heard of it. I have had (on rare occasions, unrelated to stress) visual migraines that could be described as “film grain” (among other visual artifacts). Low-light vision is obviously less sharp than broad daylight vision as well (at least in my experience).
I remember being frightened by it as a child, though since I though it was normal, it was impossible for me to explain what was scaring me – odd little blobs floating around in the dark, running into me and my parents, but not bothering them at all. Now I realize that it’s always there, and I just ignore it completely.
I’ve had visual snow before, but not the syndrome where it persists. I’ve always understood (as mentioned in the article) that everyone has it naturally, but usually your brain filters it out. The syndrome happens either because of too much of it that can’t be filtered, or an inability to filter it out.
I saw it in a stressful time with particularly complicated visuals (in my case, a bunch of gray rocks of various size). I also get a bit of snow whenever I get startled and I’m almost asleep.
I had that (not accompanied by a headache) since I was in HS. I was on a subway platform going to HS. Scared me half to death, but it had disappeared by the time I got off the train. After that I would get maybe a half dozen times a year. It ended when I started using beta blockers. Thirty-five years later I stopped using the beta blockers and they recurred but only a couple times a year.
This is surprising*. I honestly thought what I had been seeing was normal, as it matches what cameras do in low light. It’s just a lens effect or whatever. I feel really weird and self-conscious about it now.
I believe that, especially in low light, a sudden stimulus like an unexpected loud noise can spill over into visual photopsia even though it is not a visual stimulus.
I’ve not had that, but like other have mentioned I’ve have occasional bouts of migraine with aura. That was terrifying the first couple of times it hsppened-- I thought I was having a stroke!
That image of visual snow looks like an image of how I experience my tinnitus. Constant, everywhere, only recedes in the presence of stronger stimulus.
