Visual hallucinations of random form dimension

Amorphous shapes likened to plants: "Algae-like clouds"

Elna Gabriella Jönsson, Aura vision, 2004. © 2004 Elna Gabriella Jönsson (see here)

"It was more than a month ago, but if I remember it correctly my vision - I think it was only on the left side, I'm not sure, but that is my most common experience - started to get blotted out by 'difference clouds', sort of like the things you get when you close your eyes and rub against them with your finger tips quite hard. You see them full-fledged while your lids are closed, but as you open your eyes they seem to jump and skip across your eyes, blinking and finally fading. It can take quite a while for them to disappear. These algae-like clouds often alert me that a migraine is coming, or sometimes the ache has just started. They usually make me feel disoriented and faint, as though a fast train is swishing through my head, leaving me off balance. This particular time I knew that a migraine was coming, but the ache had not started yet. I was feeling slightly nauseated, but not much, as I was lying in bed at the time. I tend to loose track of time during migraines, but I don't think it lasted very long. Maybe a couple of minutes, maybe more, I really can't say. It was followed by headache later that night."

(Elna Gabriella Jönsson, Email to Klaus Podoll, October 9-11, 2004) [more]

Amorphous shapes likened to animals: "Black cats"

"I'm 46 and I've had classic migraine as long as I can remember - 'black cats' in my peripheral vision in the run-up to the attack, then the full art deco style dancing zig zags and blank spots in my direct field of vision, overlapping with nausea and disorientation, but no real pain to speak of. I also get pretty continuous white flashing in my peripheral field that is normally only noticeable when I'm in a pitch black room. I didn't realise that was migraine-related until my ophthalmologist diagnosed it. My attacks are sporadic but clustered together - I'll get two in the space of a couple of hours, maybe, then none for months. Bright light is a definite trigger, and sometimes thundery weather. All in all, I can cope with this."

(Karen Traviss, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Change in types of migraine?, June 30, 2002) (Further examples of zoomorphic interpretations of visual aura phenomena see here.)

Ashes

"Once I thought it was snowing ashes for about 10 seconds, and it took almost 5 seconds to figure out it was my vision - and that was actually after the pain had subsided, which is totally out of the ordinary. Personally if I ever saw a purple leprechaun dancing with a green rabbit I'd probably attribute it to migraine aura. I've just had my vision do too many crazy things during migraine aura to ever suspect anything else anymore."

(Heather, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Migraine Aura (Quick Sparks), September 7, 2003)

Blotches

"I see blotches of black or dark grey."

(Richard, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Migraine aura??, May 28, 1998)

"I get a number of different auras. Sometimes I see blotches of color that aren't there."

(Anniezel, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Migraine aura??, May 24, 1998)

Bright lights, spots and other things that look like they came out of Disney's Fantasia

"Does anyone else see bright lights, spots and other things that look like they came out of Disney's Fantasia when you close your eyes? I do not have auras but do experience the above and blurry vision when I'm getting a really bad migraine. I was just wondering if anyone else has the same symptoms."

(Lynne, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Visual Disturbances, December 15, 1999)

Bulbous shapes

"Sometimes just before a headache I see bulbous shapes in different colors, moving in lava-lamp fashion, actually rather gorgeous. Once I had an aura so strong I thought it was a spiritual experience."

(Julianne, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Visual Disturbances, December 15, 1999)

Dots

"And my most common 'omg I'm getting a migraine today' is black swirling dots first thing in the morning, especially when I take a shower. I can always tell my day is going to be crappy."

(goddessdi, LiveJournal for migraine sufferers, November 23, 2005)

"Mine are the same as yours. I get the dots and the double vision. Weird."

(pixels in love, LiveJournal for migraine sufferers, November 28, 2005) [more]

Dots and lights likened to micrographs of sperm cells: "Sperm"

"The other, and more common, migraine effect for me is swarms of little dots, looking rather like micrographs of sperm in action."

(Dave Hatunen, Newsgroups: sci.med, Subject: herringbone pattern in front of eyes, March 31, 1996)

barnzenen, Illustration of sperm-like visual migraine aura, 2003. © 2003 barnzenen

"To tell the truth, my visual aura before migraines usually look like sperm. A bright silvery light that swims around in my vision and leaves a little tail behind it (hence the sperm comment). I've not noticed the backwards 'C' but I do get more light sensitive then usual. These are my usual migraines. I had one last week that took me out of commission for the whole week. This one didn't have an aura with it, it just smacked the hell out of me. Because it struck so suddenly they (being doctors) thought I might have had a seizure (ala sambwiches friend) or a tumor might have formed and started effecting me, or spinal meningitis jumped on me. I was given morphin (to little effect) and some other things, a CAT scan, and a spinal tap. Needless to say, I had a long and interesting hospital visit. The migraine didn't leave for several days, so when I got home I was laid up in bed for about 3 more days doing nothing but sleeping. The only symptoms I had were: very light/sound/touch sensitive, slurred speech, loss of some feeling in right leg, stiff neck (like I had to pop it and couldn't), and pain induced vomiting. All the symptoms have gone, spoke with a neurologist and she confirmed that I do have a brain (CAT proved it) and that I'm not dying of anything."

(barnzenen, message posted to halfbakery Visual Migraine Aura Simulation, March 28, 2003)

"I'm not particularly competent in Photoshop, but give me a little time and I'll see what I can get for you. It is going to be a little difficult to draw it, though, because of the 'tracers' or lines, or in my words sperm, appears and then immediately disappears. - I'm not an artist by any means nor do I pretend to be, but this is a fair description of what it looks like to me. I've had a drug-user tell me it sounds like tracers, only tracers start with a light that really exists and then follow that light, kind of like when a video camera records a flame from a candle and it has a light line following it. Mine start out for no apparent reason and then disappear just as suddenly as they came. For some reason they have a multi-colored tail, as I tried to show in the drawing, and they have a little larger head. They move and 'squiggle' across my field of vision, even if I move my head. They are in my field of vision for usually no more then 2 minutes, but I have had on occasion seen them for about 5 minutes. Since I've started taking a new migraine medication I've only had one or two occurrences of this aura as opposed to the weekly occurrences."

(barnzenen, Email to Klaus Podoll, September 5, 2003)

Flashes of light

"I see a flash of light - like a flashbulb - in the corner of my left eye. It started happening about 2 months ago and now it is a daily occurrence and happening more frequently - 6-7+ times a day. I do not always have a headache. I have been to the eye doctor actually a retina specialist and he said that my eyes should not be the cause of this flashing and that it had migranal phenomenon."

(Kris Piscatelli, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: flashes, September 7, 1999)

"I see flashes of light (always the same color), with and without pain, sometimes as an aura (preceding a migraine). This type of thing is not uncommon, according to what I've read, and has been recognized as part of a 'classic' migraine for some time."

(Rachel Gordon, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: flashes, September 10, 1999)

"I get little flashes when a migraine is coming on. It reminds me of the cartoons when they hit someone on the head and they see birds and stars flying around. Well it's not too much like that but it is funny to tell people that. I get little flashes like when you stand up too fast and you feel like you are going to faint."

(Anthony in Mexico, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Visual Disturbances, December 15, 1999)

Flecks of light

"my weirdest are little multicolored flecks of light, zooming every which way. You know that 'hyperspace' effect in sci-fi movies? That's kind of what they look like, only sometimes, I can focus in one one or two flecks and 'follow' their trail. I'm told you can get the same affect from acid. When I found that out, I said, 'Well, cross THAT off my list of things to do in this lifetime.'"

(mnda, LiveJournal for Support Group for Migraine Sufferers, Subject: Weirdest migraine aura, November 23, 2005)

Seeing air/molecules

"I have always described it ... like 'seeing molecules.'"

(Wendy, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Visual Disturbances, December 15, 1999)

"I know this one is strange 'seeing molecules.' (teeninsey particles)"

(Wendy, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: visual snow, January 19, 2000)

"But I always have some weird visual thing going on, even when I don't get the complete aura. I describe it as 'seeing air.' The air is full of sparkling dots, like I can see the molecules colliding..."

(Raven, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: The Big Aura!!!, April 23, 2000)

"This is amazing. I thought I was the only sane person who believed he could see air. Who is Raven?"

(Creighton Michael, Email to Klaus Podoll, November 20, 2004) [more]

Creighton Michael, SQUIGGLE 704, oil on canvas (30" x 30"), 2004. © 2004 Creighton Michael [more]

"One of the problems in painting 'air' is the landscape reference becomes too strong. Finally I am able to create the 'air' or space without a landscape reference. Instead the painting alludes to the painting process. The image of SQUIGGLE 704 is attached for you to see this change."

(Creighton Michael, Email to Klaus Podoll, December 8, 2004) [more]

TV snow

Kelly Campbell, Migraine, 1994. Kelly Campbell's image "Migraine" was originally published in the section ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT from the Kansas State Electronic Collegian, December 1, 1994 (see here). © 1994 Student Publications Inc., Kansas State University (see here)

"Ugh- whenever I get migraines... Light of any kind makes me writhe in pain and it's like I am watching a non-existent station on the television (black & white 'snow') out of the corner of my left eye."

(Allison C. Serpe, Newsgroups: alt.gothic, Subject: Synaesthesia?, February 13, 1996)

"I have always described it like the fuzz on a TV screen when the cable goes out or like 'seeing molecules.'"

(Wendy, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Visual Disturbances, December 15, 1999)

"I could never think of an appropriate name for my visual disturbance, other than to describe it like the *snow* you get with poor TV reception."

(Nance T., Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: visual snow, January 19, 2000)

"My snow isn't permanent... it happens when my migraines are real bad. It's funny that you used that expression though, because I have always described it as 'snow on tv' or also, and I know this one is strange 'seeing molecules.' (teeninsey particles)"

(Wendy, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: visual snow, January 19, 2000)

"I woke up yesterday feeling like a nail wrapped in a cotton ball; the pain hammered in sharp but dulled by sleep. Another migraine. I was thankful that I had apparently slept through the 'aura' part of the migraine (the part where my vision is distorted, like light shimmering like a lake, or really bright snow on the TV screen)..."

(Christine Hyung-Oak-Lee Zilka, Hello The Stories, May 16, 2000)

"I get three types - incredibly complex geometric 'quilt patterns' in orange and black that mutate and change as they evolve over time, typical zig-zag 'fortification patterns' that move from the center to the periphery of my vision, and white 'TV snow' sparks that wriggle and flash. Generally speaking, the sparks signal a mild migraine and the fortification patterns and quilt blocks mean I am in for a real headbanger - but i have also had ocular migraines in all of these light-shows with no resultant head pain. I am seeing sparkly TV snow in my right eye right now and feel no head pain, as a matter of fact. I am a little disoriented and nauseous, but hanging in with only a couple of Excedrins."

(Catherine Yronwode, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Migraine Aura (Quick Sparks), September 9, 2003)

"Subject P.R. described the visual aura as a scintillating white noise ('like TV snow') beginning in the paracentral left visual field. The boundary of the scintillations was well defined. The aura had an expanding crescent shape, progressing slowly outward, with a minor clockwise component, affecting the lower quadrant to a greater extend early on. The white noise was closely followed by a scotoma that persisted in the center of the visual field for a few minutes. The scintillations plus the scotoma moved from the center of vision toward the periphery over 22–27 min. While the vision was still abnormal a mild throbbing headache began contralateral to the hemifield defect."

(Cited from Hadjikhani et al., 2001)

Visual snow

Water-like or heat waves

"Ocular migraines cause [in my case] transparent watery waves and circles in field of vision."

(Corvus, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: Opthalmic Migraines, November 16, 2001)

"'visual disturbances' are often a sign of impending migraine -- some people see splotches and flashes, and like me, sometimes people see rippling or water-like waves over everything I'm looking at (like heat waves coming off of hot pavement)."

(Grace F. Rohrer, Newsgroups: alt.support.step-parents, Subject: Ever see the herringbone pattern?, September 22, 1999)

"'Shimmering desert heat wave' - that describes it"

(Anth, Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative, Subject: Any ideas of what these symptoms are?, May 19, 2004)

"My migraine follows a very specific pathology: I get the aura (looks like the wavy air rising from a hot road), anywhere from ten minutes to a couple of hours later, the pain starts."

(Melinda Milford, Newsgroups: alt.support.headaches.migraine, Subject: (a long one) Just need to know if some things are normal..., February 12, 2002)

References

Hadjikhani N, Sanchez del Rio M, Wu O, Schwartz D, Bakker D, Fischl B, Kwong KK, F. Cutrer M, Rosen BR, Tootell RBH, Sorensen AG, Moskowitz MA. Mechanisms of migraine aura revealed by functional MRI in human visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001; 98: 4687–4692.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Migraine Art - The migraine experience from within. Neurol Psychiat Brain Res 2002; 10: 29-34.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Migraine Art - The Migraine Experience from Within. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California 2009, p. 177.
Sacks OW. Migraine. Revised and expanded. University of California Press, Berkeley-Los Angeles-Oxford 1992.
Siegel RK, Jarvik M. Drug-induced hallucinations in animals and man. In: Siegel R, West L (eds) Hallucinations: Behavior, experience, and theory. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY 1975, 81-161.
Vine G. Digital terrestrial TV in the UK. Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity - The Premier Audio/Video On-Line Journal, February, 2002.

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