Nope but I see these when I’m getting a optical/ocular migraine.
Yikes, you’re actually seeing that?
It doesn’t do what I see justice. They are often beautiful. When they first occur it causes a blind spot. The zigzags are a rainbow of shimmering color. They go away after a hour or so and I feel lousy if I don’t have a headache. If I do get the headache with it I have to find a dark room and try to sleep.
Sorry to hear that, it sucks
Well at least you get pretty rainbows
Its a pretty rainbow that is forever at the edge of your vision. You can’t look directly at it.
Wait, there are people who get migraines without the headache‽ I just get the agonizing ocular pressure and occasionally nausea
Yusssss
That’s the shape. But it’s constantly oscillating and the colors shifting rapidly.
Vision gets obscured but for me my visual processing/reasoning gets cloudy too. I can still navigate the world but finding a door handle is difficult.
I get sore behind my eyes after and real tired. Happened a few times in the last couple years, anxiety I think.
Youtube mostly has classix migraine aura but this is close enough if you imagine the zigzag image.
I occasionally get them and mine feel more black & white than color, the the jagged shape and the arc around the center of your vision is spot on.
And remember the jagged arc is always in your peripheral vision. You can’t look directly at it and study the details because it moves when your eyes do.
This is what I have. I’ve had them my whole life.
Yeah and it has the best name, Scintillating Scotoma. The first time I experienced one it was terrifying.
Yeah, that names sounds about right for what you’re describing
I don’t get ocular migraines so I have never seen something like this. I can see subtle multicolour flashes if I close my eyes and do things like looking around quickly or apply pressure to my eyes. This image reminds me of the flashes I see, but 1000x more intense. Would you describe it like that?
No I’ve seen what you describe. What I see when I’m having one is most often a shimmering electric zigzag. Sometimes it take different shapes and the colors vary. Its always at the edge of my vision and moves when I move my eye. Its better to close your eyes when they are happening. At least for me. I have had them in both eyes at once and its really freaky since normally I only get them in one eye at a time. They don’t merge well and the combined blind spots have rendered me almost completely unable to navigate. I’ve pulled over while driving more than once and waited it out.
First time I had one of these I was so stressed out. I thought I was about to have a stroke.
Same! I was on a road trip in Ireland and it came out of nowhere. Freaked me out. I’d never had one until a few months after my first bout with COVID. Now I get them but usually only if I’ve not been drinking enough water for a few days, and ONLY when I stand up. It’s preceded by a weird sort of throbbing where it feels like sound is turned down in time with my heartbeat.
Do you happen to have astigmatism or relatively poor vision, by chance?
I used to get these every month or so since I was like 10 until a few years ago, when I finally pulled the trigger and got LASIK. Have not experienced one since, which is a Godsend given that they would usually last for an hour or two and be accompanied by a gnarly headache which would otherwise render me useless.
I’m a little far sighted with perhaps a slight stigmatism. Mine are triggered by the seasons as far as I can tell. I get them mainly when the pollen drops in the spring and when the mold comes in the fall. They were particularly bad last year but some years they are just a minor annoyance.
Ah, I found that mine were largely caused by prolonged squinting to try to account for the astigmatism; along with some combination of dehydration, lack of sleep and/or excess caffeine consumption.
I have a permanent eye floater. When I get really bored I find suitable things in my field of vision to look back and forth between and play pong with.
That is some exemplary “silver linings” shit
You should be a motivational speaker or something
I got few permanent ones.
When I was a kid I played geologist and crushed rocks with a large iron hammer. Few of the metal splinters that ended in my eyeballs left a mark that is still visible today when I look at the sky.
Not actually floaters, I know.
I got one or two from looking at the sun for no reason when I was a kid
god I was dumb
What was your high score? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTEGOI9Leys
Seen them for decades, but thought it’s best to keep them a secret. Until Family Guy just casually mentioned them like they were no big deal! Not as crazy as I thought, after all …
They are my little worm friends
They’re always with me :3
Fun fact, this is because your vitreous humour is shrinking and as it shrinks bits of it congeal into little protein strings. They’re called floaters, but some people laugh whenever I say that for some reason.
If you get a bunch of new ones all of a sudden it may mean you’re at increased risk for retinal detachment.
The way its been described to me is that if you suddenly see a snow storm in your eye then you need to get to the doctor immediately
Yes, since as long as I can remember. Welcome to the alien hive mind comrade! /s
Eyeworms. Villagers get them from touching raw meat then rubbing their eyes. It’s only a matter of time before the worms burrow into your brain. Then you shit yourself and die in a most embarassing way.
That sounds right. No wonder I’ve been repeatedly shitting myself everywhere I go…
Having an astigmatism that changes really frequently means I notice these more obviously within months of changing my prescription. Fuck these things!
Huh … I never noticed that I stopped noticing my floaters after getting glasses. When you have something like that for decades, you stop actively seeing those things.
Squiggly line in my eye, fluid.
I see you there, lurking on the periphery of my vision.
But when I try to look at you, you scurry away.
Are you shy squiggly line?
Why only when I ignore you do you return to the center of my eye?
Oh squiggly line, it’s alright, you are forgiven.
Pretty sure I fucked up my eyes from psychedelics even though I didn’t trip more than 5 or so times in my life. I took some golden teachers and I noticed that my glasses felt like they were in the way of my eyes. I took them off and I could legit see. I need glasses to see anything that is 2 feet away from me, all I see are huge masses of colors and blobs without them on since I was about 9. Ever since that trip I see weird shit randomly, especially when I’m nervous, it just swirls and flashes. Eye doctor says nothing is wrong, I’m just seeing floaters. Shits weird.
Lol, HPPD goes brrrrr.
I can’t tell you if this is what you’re experiencing, but worth a read if you haven’t come across the term before: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen_persisting_perception_disorder
I had heard of it before but hadn’t read much about, mostly from fear that it would be true, like this part of the wiki article hits too close because I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what I’m experiencing. FML.
“Many report that their visual distortions become more pronounced or even emerge during periods of heightened anxiety or stress.”
I’d recommend seeking out a therapist if it causes you distress, specifically one with some clinical interest in psychedelics if possible (keywords include ‘integration therapy’). Know that while there’s still a lot to learn about HPPD, you are not alone, and in a lot of cases it can be managed. It’s mostly a question of recognizing your triggers and developing tools to work through them (so if stress is a trigger, stress reduction techniques; abstinence from cannabis or other drugs if that’s a trigger (pretty common), etc.)
Some folks just kinda roll with it, but there is stuff you can do to help manage.
Immediately made me think of Baldurs Gate
You’re turning into a mind flayer!
Like all of us?
It’s light refracting through otherwise invisible bacteria on your eyeball.
NB. This comment has since been retracted by the author.
There are no bacteria in your eye. These perceptual disturbances are due to increased retinal sensitivity to vitreous substance. It’s why they move when around like they’re in liquid when you turn your head fast.
