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SYMPTOMS | PATHOMECHANISMS | HISTORY

Symptoms

Transitory aura symptoms

Persistent aura symptoms

Internet survey

German version

Def. pers. aura

Worsening factor...

Improving factor...

VS and spiritual...

Persistent aura and spirituality

VS and arts

Case vignettes

FAQs

Psychological experience

Author: Klaus Podoll, Markus Dahlem, Sofia Greene	07. May 2008
Edited by: Klaus Podoll, Markus Dahlem, Sofia Greene

Visual snow lifers

"Suffering from a medical condition

I've had 'visual snow' since childhood. Basically when the lights were out I would see TV static/TV snow in my entire field of vision. I remember asking my mom about it and she didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I assumed that it was something that everyone had and that she was just not in tune enough to it... well, just this week I've found out that not everyone has it.

I'm 27 and having some serious eye issues.

3 months ago I have a dramatic increase in floaters (no retinal tear or detachment and no PVD).

Then my up close focus started to go, trouble staying focused on the words when reading.

Then I developed halos, starbursts, ghosting. (I had LASIK 5 years ago and had the halos and starbursts but after an enhancement they completely went away. I do not believe this onset it LASIK related).

My visual snow is getting worse and worse. When I stare at an object when the room is fairly dark the object starts to black out and then come back, no matter how big the object is. Even my daughters crib in her room. I think that it is the snow taking over so dramatically when starring under poor lighting conditions.

My peripheral vision starts to dim and my pupils start to constrict and dialte on their own when I'm in bed at night with the TV and a bedside lamp on. My husband has seen my eyes do this.

Negative after images increasing worse.

I've had MRIs, spinal tap, blood tests, urine tests, cat scan, chest x-ray, ekg, VEP, fundus photos, OCT, visual field, amsler grid, color testing. Everything is coming up fine except for a slightly elevated ANA score.

My retinal specialist is unsure of what is happening, but he's willing to work with me. He is sending me to Bascom Palmer in Miami, Florida to have a ERG although he feels that my retinas are functioning fine. It seems that the only information I can find online are other people who are suffering from it, and the doctors can't figure out what it is. I guess some people who have used LSD in the past suffer from it too, but I've never used drugs before."

(eyeissues, Dr Phil.com Message Boards - Depression - October 9, 2005)

"For as long as I can remember, since before I did any drugs, I've had visual snow or persistent aura without infarction. My psychedelic use has worsened this into pretty complex rotating patterns. It's pretty hard to see in the dark, all I can really see is a really thick 'fog' of colored dots, thats usually morphing into patterns...

Last summer when I was doing a LOT of 2C-B, and really large doses at that. I was having really intense tracers for a few months following. As well as tiny flashes of light here and there, or 'black holes', basically just the opposite. Now I have pretty strong patterning at all times."

(thugg, Bluelight - Focus Forums - Psychedelic Drugs - Retinal image burn after months of use?, May 21, 2007)

"Doesn't everyone see visual snow? I've seen it as long as I can remember, since early childhood. Could it be that everyone sees it, but most people just ignore it or don't notice it? And for HPPD, could it be that the drugs enabled people to notice things like snow for the first time, even though it was already there? For me, when I go out into the sunlight, the white spots, the ones in the sunlight are very bright, like sparks shooting through the air. Sometimes, the darker spots and blobby clouds form itself into scenery... landscapes, people, animals, words, geometric patterns. Sometimes in art class, I used to draw what I saw."

(socko, Bluelight - Community - Healthy Living - White spots in vision, June 21, 2007)

"There's ANOTHER name for it... and it's called Visual Snow.

Wow! I remember trying to explain this to my friend when I was about 7 years old, how I saw things 'like wrinkles or a static TV.' She thought I was lying and I thought I was the only one who saw things through that.

Mine is pretty mild, but it's constant. It's like I can see tiny molecules in the air moving around rapidly, kind of like a very, very low opacity .gif of TV static overlaying everything in my visual field.

Anyone else have this?"

(ms. snookypants LiveJournal, November 12, 2007) [see also here]

"I cannot even express how happy I am to find this website. I have been seeing what you all have been describing since I was a little girl... I started recognizing it at the age of 5. When I was little, I did not know what to think of the 'static' I was seeing, so I thought it was God. I am now 25 yrs old and still wondering to this day what I see all the time and how to get an explanation for it. I have tried to explain what it looks like to my family and friends, and find it almost impossible to describe. I have always said that it looks like static TV - or when it gets all snowy… only with NO color. It's just part of everything around... it does not block anything, make anything blurry, or interfere with my life if I dont want to see it. At night or in the dark I see it the most. It is all over me, and sometimes the 'static' either moves quickly almost like invisible shooting starts or its completely still… I have never seen any figures or anything of that sort, however. I am very interested in discussing this with all of you since it has always been a part of my life and this is the first time I found that I am not the only one who sees this 'energy.' I never believed in paranoia things, but I have NO idea what this could be. I also have 20/20 vision so I know it has nothing to do with my eyes. Why can we see it and not everyone else? Why is it clearer in the dark or on a flat surface? Any thoughts?"

(Jara, unseen company - Experiences with the unseen - Visible Energy, April 22, 2008)

"Everyone PLEASE look at this website... the first 3 pictures are exactly what I see that I was describing... is this what you see? It is called 'visual snow' and it's a real condition, although very rare."

(Jara, unseen company - Experiences with the unseen - Visible Energy, April 30, 2008)

"I, too, see the static or snow. I've always seen it, I simply thought it was how everyone experienced vision. I started getting the notion that it wasn't a universal experience during my junior high school years. We were learning about molecules and I mentioned to my friends in class that I thought I could see the molecules of the air. I was met with blank stares. I then asked my mom and brothers if they could see the air. More blank stares. Then I knew I was seeing things differently than everyone else. It's as if I can see vibrating atoms. Anyway, I've pretty much kept it to myself although my husband knows I see static. I also get migraines with aura and I'm pretty sure it’s related. Guess we have a 'gift' huh? The simulations on the migraine-aura website are a good representation."

(Nancy, unseen company - Experiences with the unseen - Visible Energy, May 9, 2008)

"neurodiversity.com - honoring the variety of human wiring." Top row (from left to right): Henry Cavendish, scientist; Blind Tom Wiggins, pianist & composer; Helen Martins, artist; Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher; Bottom row (from left to right): Alan Turing, mathematician, logician & cryptographer; Nikola Tesla, engineer; Glenn Gould, pianist; Andy Warhol, artist. © 2007 Kathleen Seidel

Visual snow from birth

"I started thinking about the several people who've come by and posted briefly about having visual snow from birth... Anyway, these people had no idea anyone else had this condition, they're leading perfectly happy and healthy lives, and most have expressed no interest in seeking treatment. How does everyone else feel about these 'lifers'? Do you think people that acquire snow later in life actually get it worse, or that there's just no sense of loss for people who developed visual snow early, and therefore no problem?"

(nbains [subject #105], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – From Birth, January 27, 2005)

"It does pose a dilemma. My brother is in a profession where he works with a lot of 'disabled' people, i.e blind, deaf, autism spectrum, etc. 'Differently abled' isn't just a political correctism, a lot of people born with 'disabilities' feel that their existence is no less complete or acceptable or rewarding than those of people considered 'normal' [see Harvey Blume's (1998) concept of neurodiversity; cf. also Deer, 2007]. In fact, many feel that they have a better existence as a result of their 'disabilities', and there's sometimes a backlash from the community when someone tries to make adjustments in their life to function more like a 'normal' person.

I wouldn't expect many people who've had visual snow since birth to be all that troubled by their condition, or even see it as a burden. The key is that there's usually no sense of loss, and that mitigates things a great deal."

(nbains [subject #105], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion - New Member- had this as long as I can remember, August 16, 2006; addition in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

Does opininion of bad or good VS depend on duration of condition

"I have had VS all my life and it is a nuisance but it is not as traumatic as in some others. I am beginning to believe this is because I am a lifer, someone who has had the condition as long as they have had a memory. Do sudden onset VS sufferers find it more agonizing then lifers? I would imagine so. I think the nuisance factor of the condition for some may be relative to how long one has had the condition. I believe a lifer can have the same degree on a person with sudden onset of VS and the person with newly acquired VS will see it as more of a hinderance than the lifer. Almost like some one being born blind versus some one who became blind later in life (though this example is extrem). How do you life time sufferers feel? Is VS intolerable? Non life timers, what do you think. Personally if I woke up one day and did not have the condition I could see myself going through anxiety because it is all I have ever known, but I am not saying that I want it, just that it is all I have ever known when it comes to my sight."

(tokooltone [subject #556], Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General discussions - Does opininion of bad or good VS depend on duration of condition, April 5, 2008)

Mostly, I think it's just one of those quirks, one more way of being different from the norms

"Not sure where to put it, might fit in with the migraines forum, but might also be interesting to others so I just put it here and leave it to the mods.

I've been wondering about my visual disturbances for a while, as they reached an annoying level when the Horner's Syndrome set in in February. Especially the increased light sensitivity is no fun. Neuro made a connection to migraines and essentially it's nothing much to worry about and nothing much to be done about it.

I was ok with that explanation and filed it away. Then I did some semi-random surfing on something completely different (Klonopin, I think), and via a few links stumbled upon the wikipedia entry on Visual Snow.

So that's what's been going on all these years! And here I was thinking it was normal to see these interesting polychrome patterns moving through my field of vision (when I close my eyes) in the dark. Asked my b/f's mom and she said nope, she just sees black when she closes her eyes. Always thought there was no such thing as pure black as you'd always have this wavering in front of it.

This also explains the amount and persistence of afterimages I get, and the busy flittering and dancing of spots and stuff in front of the sky, and the funky wavering colourfields I can move around with my eyes if I stare at the right background.

I never felt like giving hallucinogen drugs a try*, and now I find out it's essentially because I was hallucinating already, no drugs neccessary. Saves on money, side effects and troubles with law enforcement, let me tell ya.

On the other hand, of course it also means I can have a hard time reading small print (afterimages of what I just read dancing over the next line...), I can't see as well in the dark, even with my glasses on (because the nebulae/dotted filter/whatever the heck effect I'm seeing through obscures my vision) and so on. Now that I pay attention to it, I can sort of distinguish between 'normal vision' and the snow, so I think I have a good idea what the world looks like to others.

Mostly, I think it's just one of those quirks, one more way of being different from the norms. But it's sure cool to know I'm not alone and that others who have it have it the same way I do (mostly).

In a way this would fit nicely in the 'You mean it doesn't happen when you...' thread in the EDS/HMS forum, but as it's supposedly more a migraine thing, I thought I'd post it here and see who else sees the world through a veil.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

*or any other drugs, for that matter. I can be pretty darn silly without being intoxicated, thank you"

(Seyrenia, ButYouDontLookSick.com Message Board - Unlisted - Visual snow and other fun 'sights', June 20, 2007)

Visual snow sufferers vs. visual normies

"It just kinda reminds me to an Asterix intro...

The year is 2007 A.C. The whole world is entirely occupied by the visual normies. Well not entirely!

One small amount of indomitable VS sufferers still holds out against the invaders.

And life is not easy... :D"

(SamyFire [subject #268], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Discussion - Visual snow comic, September 18, 2007)

Randall Munroe, Morning (xkcd comic), March 12, 2008 (larger image see here). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License. This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). [more]

This cool VS club we're all in

"Glad you're around to know what 'dead pixels' are, Specialist. I thought he was somehow referring to The Sixth Sense -- 'I see dead people'. Hey, that could be our code for this cool VS club we're all in. Whisper to one another 'I see dead pixels' when we meet."

(Sarah A [subject #432], Yuku forum Visual snow or static - General discussion - Web Comic: xkcd: "[...] seeing dead pixels in the sky", March 21, 2008)

Reference

Blume H. Neurodiversity. The Atlantic, New York City, September 30, 1998.
Deer B. Autism research: What makes an expert. BMJ 2007; 334: 666-667. [Full reprint available here]

Acknowledgments: We wish to thank nbains (subject #105), the founder of the VisualSnow.com website, for bringing to our attention the problem of persistent aura "lifers".

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