I MUST BE DYING

Palinopsia is when I see trails of lights and afterimages. For example, if I look at a green light, move my eyes up and down I get a long green trail. Or, if I look at something and look away its stuck in my eye. I can't tell if its a processing delay or a type of light sensitivity.

The point is, its so scary, especially since I've been hanging around this forum and noone seems to have this. I think I am dying. Has anyone heard of this or experience this or know someone who has?  Please tell me I'm not dying from this....

My palinopsia was like this

first i had photophobia real bad. it was so bad that even the moon at night and traffic lights were bright. that is part of anxiety.

then my vision was very traily. i've had that before and lots of people i know have it too when they are very tired. then mine became constant. it is worse in dim lighting and terrible on black backgrounds (like my old car's interior was all black and it was hell on my eyes)

i could see the trail when cars go by or people or anything, like my own hands.

i have constant fuzzy vision like i've been staring at a staticy tv for a long time. it's not too intense, but always there. my vision is never clear. it's worse if i stare at the sky in the day.

i can also see "heat" or smoke fainty sometimes. usually this is in day light.

my trails aren't colored. they are usually light. for instance, if i see a red light, my trail won't be red, but instead, a white trail.

the after images were really bad for awhile. if i stared or even looked at an object i could look away and then it would appear very strong (not in color, but in black and white) in an opposite direction. it was so strong that if i had a pencil and paper, i could draw the image because it was so clear. it was there in both eyes. i sometimes felt pressure in my eyes, especially my left.

i had also flickering in my vision like a strobe light and big zig zaggy bluish or whitish lines when i went from dark room to a light room.

this is daily for me and has been for years. it must be some sort of brain damage???? 

i don't think all neurological disorders/diseases show up on thoses tests. i could swear i was having some sort of seizures when i had my EEG. 

i think it could also be vascular, but i don't think it's likely????.

i don't know if brain damage shows on an mri either. i know i was not breathing enough or correctly for a few years after panic. i think i had slight brain damage. lots of people with panic disorder think they have slight brain damage.

Hello everyone,

     I am new to this site, and I was very shocked to see so many people with the same complaints that I have.  I have had full blown Palinopsia for almost 4 years, and had some symptoms for up to a year before that.  I am extremely sensitive to light, I see streaks of light, after-images of almost everything, "static" on white space, strobe effect in dark rooms, and I even wear a blindfold in the car at night because I can't stand the changes of light.  It took me almost 3 years to even find a name for my condition, up until that time it was waiting ages for tests that showed that I was completely normal.  I suffered in years past from depression and anxiety so the doctors tried to tell me that it was all in my head, even now after my diagnosis my family doctor still wants me to see a shrink to see if that helps *sigh*.  I also have been iron dificient for 4 years and while I have been taking iron pills I still suffer from fatigue, and I have also developed new food allergies recently as well.  I would be interested to know if any of you have found anyone offering a treatment, as of yet I have only been told that condition is unlikely to change and likely permanent.

Evaleigh

Neurogurl,

     My symptoms are constant and unchanging and have been for almost 4 years.  I had some symptoms before that, a kind of grey see-through ripple effect on the sky that my doctor said was just a bit of light sensitivity.  But later that year over the course of a month my symptoms rapidly increased, more every day, until one day I couldn't stand it anymore and I had to quit my job (I was a photographer).  I am very sensitive to light and wear dark glasses at all times outside (sometimes inside if the lights are very bright). At night I am ok in the city if I have my dark glasses on, but when we get on a country road with no street lights I have to put on a blindfold, I just can't stand the sudden changes of light from oncoming car lights.  I have after-images all the time, if from a bright light such as a camera flash they can last up to 5 mins or so, if they are of an ordinary object they only last a few secs.  I see streaks of light, and as I said above strobe effect in dark room (sometimes after turning off the light I can see a circle with veins radiating out of it in red outline which I was told was the inside of my eye).  Other than the light symptoms I have fatigue, and iron deficiency, the last two years I have had some twitching in my muscles that can't be explained but may be unrelated, and in the last few months I have developed allergies to foods that I used to eat all the time.

Evaleigh

Thank you so much for your reply. This is great information. I have been to many different types of specialists but not a behavioral neurologist or a neuropsychiatrist. I will search for one in my area which is Boston. It is great to see there is research being done on this particular condition (palinopsia). A lot of the sufferers hang around the VS forum at ezboard since there is not one here. Before finding that forum I felt so alone. I thought I was the only one with this trailing thing. Doctors tried me on Lamictal which actually worsened my symptoms.

Now I see you mentioned cervical pressure. Could you explain this a little further and how it would cause palinopsia and the other visual disturbances. How would someone get checked for that. I have had 2 mris of my brain which were both normal. Do you think palinopsia could be caused by a heart condition or vascular disease? I originally started at this forum since I also get palpitations and thought maybe its connected with a heart condition. But after having so many tests on my heart it seems that my heart is fine (structurally). I wonder sometimes if a chemical imbalance in the brain would cause changes in the heart (palpitations). This is so complex. And so rare. I am so scared....

Could you tell me if this is a life threatening condition?