![]() ![]() ![]() I went to sleep one night with a mild headache, and I woke up with the first few symptoms. Honestly, I have no idea and I don’t like to speculate. I believe this is morally wrong and I don’t want anyone to be taken advantage of in such a vulnerable state. Unfortunately, there are some people out there trying to take advantage of people suffering from VS. Please be skeptical of anyone claiming they know the cause of VS or how to cure it. This is outside of my professional training and interests. I, personally, do not subscribe to any of these beliefs nor am I interested in investigating any of these claims. These range from wild speculation, to pseudo-science, and pure nonsense. I’m also aware of several unscientific claims about the cause of VS. They all seem plausible to me, however, none of these hypotheses have been scientifically verified yet. There are a few working hypotheses, including hypermetabolism of the visual cortex, predictive-coding error, and thalamocortical dysrhythmia. However, my ability to manage my symptoms has grown significantly better over time. When my symptoms first emerged, they were always between 7 and 10 - on a scale of 1-10. My visual snow symptoms have gradually improved over the past few years. ![]() However, there’s no reason to assume that your VS will get significantly worse. A few people have reported gradual improvement over time and a few people have reported gradual worsening over time. Most people report very little change in their VS over the course of their lives. For that, you would need to see a medical professional. However, it is important to rule out other conditions that may present with similar symptoms. However, individuals with VS appear to be unable to filter this noise from their sensory awareness. Other people’s brains normally filter out this information. There are reports of people that have had it since they were born and others that have had it well into retirement.Īll of the symptoms of visual snow appear to be caused by hypersensitivity to normal sensory phenomena. In addition, it is not a terminal illness. No, to the best of my knowledge VS is not dangerous. Sometimes my symptoms are a bit better and other days they are a bit worse. This simulation is a pretty close approximation to what my experience is like on a daily basis. The simulation contains the majority of the symptoms that I experience each day including visual snow (static in my vision), increased awareness of floaters, palinopsia (afterimages), and tinnitus. I created the following video to simulate the experience of visual snow syndrome. These symptoms often cause tremendous difficulties for patients leading to stress, anxiety, depression, and depersonalization/derealization. In addition to visual symptoms, patients often also report tinnitus, migraine, migraine with aura, brain fog, paraesthesia (tingling skin), fine tremors, and depersonalization. These symptoms include palinopsia (seeing afterimages), entoptic phenomena (floaters and other phenomena of the eye itself), photophobia (sensitivity to light), and nyctalopia. Visual Snow Syndrome is a cluster of symptoms commonly found with visual snow. It is described by patients as tiny flickering dots that resemble the static of an old analog television. Visual Snow is a rare neurological condition characterized by a continuous visual disturbance that occupies the entire visual field. While I realize this isn’t as helpful as a one-on-one conversation, I sincerely hope this information will provide you with the answers and the support you need. So, I created this page to answer all of the most common questions I receive about VS. Unfortunately, I’ve received hundreds of messages about VS over the past few years and I am no longer able to respond to each of them individually. If you’re reading this page, you’ve likely come here because you are looking for more information on VS or you are trying to contact me directly about VS. In addition, I’ve tried to help educate the medical community by speaking at medical conferences and writing articles in medical journals. So, I’ve tried to teach others how to do the same. Over the years, I’ve learned how to effectively manage my symptoms and live comfortably with them. All of my tests came back negative, no one knew the cause of my symptoms, nor how to treat them. I spent two weeks at the Mayo Clinic getting evaluated by some of the top specialists in the world. I spent several months going from doctor to doctor trying to figure out the cause of these symptoms. When I woke up the next day, I experienced a series of strange visual, auditory, and tactile symptoms that I later learned were called Visual Snow Syndrome. On Feb 7, 2014, I went to sleep with a mild headache but otherwise was in good health. ![]()
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