Visual Snow Syndrome: Proposed Criteria, Clinical Implications, and Pathophysiology

[Sevv]

I've got tingling sensations and muscle weakness from my antibiotics after 2 months of taking them. I've Also got tinnitus but I've got nothing wrong with my eyesight nor have I ever had any eye floaters or anything
Does this mean I could develop visual symptoms?

If you worry enough maybe. Anxiety is a major cause. But I guess only few people with tinnitus get VS, otherwise VS wouldn't be so unknown.

 

[Skity]

Just putting it here

 

[aot]

Has anyone had their VS get temporarily worse, and then go back to baseline?

I work up at 5:00 on monday and my VS was crazy. A bunch of crazy shapes were everywhere, trailing was insane, and of course my tinnitus was louder.
I made to the bathroom and my vision was thumping in correlation with my heartbeat. I splashed some water on my face and calmed myself down. The visual symptoms went back to baseline, and the tinnitus went down after about 15 minutes.

I've been super stressed lately. Could that be the cause?

 

[FGG]

Has anyone had their VS get temporarily worse, and then go back to baseline?

I work up at 5:00 on monday and my VS was crazy. A bunch of crazy shapes were everywhere, trailing was insane, and of course my tinnitus was louder.
I made to the bathroom and my vision was thumping in correlation with my heartbeat. I splashed some water on my face and calmed myself down. The visual symptoms went back to baseline, and the tinnitus went down after about 15 minutes.

I've been super stressed lately. Could that be the cause?

I had something similar recently. I saw these green effects over my regular VS. It was almost similar to something out of the Matrix. I felt like I could almost make out these type writer type letters swirling in there too.

My tinnitus was amped up *very* loud when this happened but I made myself fall back asleep and when I woke up it was back to baseline.

For me, it seemed definitely tied to waking up in the middle of the night. I thought at first maybe it was a night terror but now I'm wondering if disturbing the brain during part of sleep can do this.

 

[Orions Pain]

Has anyone had their VS get temporarily worse, and then go back to baseline?

I work up at 5:00 on monday and my VS was crazy. A bunch of crazy shapes were everywhere, trailing was insane, and of course my tinnitus was louder.
I made to the bathroom and my vision was thumping in correlation with my heartbeat. I splashed some water on my face and calmed myself down. The visual symptoms went back to baseline, and the tinnitus went down after about 15 minutes.

I've been super stressed lately. Could that be the cause?

Mine is terrible when I wake up in the middle of the night. If I walk to my bathroom it starts pulsating as you mentioned.

 

[Skity]

Anyone knows what's up with Visual Snow Initiative's Visual Imagery Project (VIP) trial?

They popped out of nowhere with this trial and I couldn't find any information whatsoever regarding it or any science to back it up. If it wasn't free I'd call it snake oil but quite frankly I'm just confused.

 

[aot]

Anyone knows what's up with Visual Snow Initiative's Visual Imagery Project (VIP) trial?

They popped out of nowhere with this trial and I couldn't find any information whatsoever regarding it or any science to back it up. If it wasn't free I'd call it snake oil but quite frankly I'm just confused.

It didn't pop out of nowhere. VSI has been vocal about it's development on their social media for the past few months. Thing is that's it's been delayed a bunch of times due to money issues.

 

[Sevv]

Anyone knows what's up with Visual Snow Initiative's Visual Imagery Project (VIP) trial?

They popped out of nowhere with this trial and I couldn't find any information whatsoever regarding it or any science to back it up. If it wasn't free I'd call it snake oil but quite frankly I'm just confused.

It's probably similar to residual inhibition for tinnitus. Certainly worth a try.

 

[Skity]

Okay, I'm with you on this, especially as I got nothing to lose, just finished session number one, went alright, really lost time perspective while doing this as I thought I'm only half way through and all of a sudden I got the finished message.

 

[threefirefour]

It's probably similar to residual inhibition for tinnitus. Certainly worth a try.

I tried it a few hours ago and my static is mostly gone. I still see it with my eyes closed but when I look at the wall I usually see the most static on in my room it's just not there.

Also palinopsia has been all over the place. It's reduced a bit but right now it's a bit worse than usual.

 

[threefirefour]

Okay, I'm with you on this, especially as I got nothing to lose, just finished session number one, went alright, really lost time perspective while doing this as I thought I'm only half way through and all of a sudden I got the finished message.

Yeah for some reason the timer begins while the session begins, NOT when the video begins. Poor web design in my opinion.

 

[Skity]

Yeah for some reason the timer begins while the session begins, NOT when the video begins. Poor web design in my opinion.

Oh so it was probably not just my wrong sense of time but I really did miss out a few minutes as I was preparing, hope it won't harm the progress, but I find it hard to believe.

 

[TheDanishGirl]

Will this new treatment only work for the static vision aspect of visual snow or also the associated visual disturbances, I wonder?

Visual snow is a lot more than just static vision (as you all probably know)

 

[threefirefour]

Will this new treatment only work for the static vision aspect of visual snow or also the associated visual disturbances, I wonder?

Visual snow is a lot more than just static vision (as you all probably know)

It's not supposed to, in fact apparently reduction in not just VS, but palinopsia, halos, tinnitus, migraines, and limb numbness are being tested. Apparently 47% of people experienced both reduction in visual and these non visual symptoms, but the team improved it. Lets see if it's much better.

 

[TheDanishGirl]

It's not supposed to, in fact apparently reduction in not just VS, but palinopsia, halos, tinnitus, migraines, and limb numbness are being tested. Apparently 47% of people experienced both reduction in visual and these non visual symptoms, but the team improved it. Lets see if it's much better.

Wow, that's actually quite exiting to hear.

I see someone on here already reporting starting treatment. Where do one get this treatment?

 

[aot]

Wow, that's actually quite exiting to hear.

I see someone on here already reporting starting treatment. Where do one get this treatment?

https://visualsnowproject.com/

Best if viewed on a laptop or desktop.

 

[Sevv]

I tried it a few hours ago and my static is mostly gone. I still see it with my eyes closed but when I look at the wall I usually see the most static on in my room it's just not there.

Also palinopsia has been all over the place. It's reduced a bit but right now it's a bit worse than usual.

How long did the effect last? Or does it still?
Also, how bad are/were your symptoms?

Mine's a 1/10 (translucent), trailing maybe a 2/10, negative afterimages a 1/10. No big deal after getting used to, but don't wanna make it worse.^^

 

[threefirefour]

How long did the effect last? Or does it still?
Also, how bad are/were your symptoms?

Mine's a 1/10 (translucent), trailing maybe a 2/10, negative afterimages a 1/10. No big deal after getting used to, but don't wanna make it worse.^^

For me, it wore off completely by nightfall (8 hours later). Bear in mind it was the first day though.

 

[Sevv]

For me, it wore off completely by nightfall (8 hours later). Bear in mind it was the first day though.

8 hours? Holy shit, that's long. So this was sort of your first day in years with normal sight?

 

[TheDanishGirl]

https://visualsnowproject.com/

Best if viewed on a laptop or desktop.

Thanks. I'll try it.

Like I said I'm not too bothered by my very mild static/snowy vision, but it would be interesting to see (punny ) if this treatment could actually make my vision clearer, and maybe help other visual disturbances, which I am more bothered about, like afterimages, or glare and halos (I don't expect it to work on floaters, as they are a physical thing).

EDIT: Well, it seems I can't watch the video. My internet connection is so bad, it keeps stopping :/

 

[Sevv]

Did one session. Changed the way my VS looked a bit and because of that it seemed slightly worse (because I wasn't habituated to this pattern) for a couple minutes. Afterimages were also increased for maybe 2-3 minutes. Maybe my VS is too mild?

Thanks. I'll try it.

Like I said I'm not too bothered by my very mild static/snowy vision, but it would be interesting to see (punny ) if this treatment could actually make my vision clearer, and maybe help other visual disturbances, which I am more bothered about, like afterimages, or glare and halos (I don't expect it to work on floaters, as they are a physical thing).

EDIT: Well, it seems I can't watch the video. My internet connection is so bad, it keeps stopping :/

Can't you preload then play the video?

 

[threefirefour]

8 hours? Holy shit, that's long. So this was sort of your first day in years with normal sight?

Not really, I've had a few days where it was gone because I took Xanax. But yes this was the first time it did it without medicine, and it happened right after the treatment so it cant be a coincidence.

 

[Sevv]

Not really, I've had a few days where it was gone because I took Xanax. But yes this was the first time it did it without medicine, and it happened right after the treatment so it cant be a coincidence.

Interesting, maybe Xanax would help mine too. But I'm not gonna touch that stuff unless forced...

 

[aot]

 

[Lucifer]

View attachment 38720

I don't think I have visual snow but so far other than @threefirefour anyone else had success with VIP?

 

[Skity]

Just finished the fourth day, and I have to admit, this is by far one of the most boring things I've ever done, and I don't think I can handle another day of this, its like watching paint dry.

Result wise, I don't really notice any difference in my visual snow, but my visual snow is pretty mild and honestly I don't notice it unless looking at a white wall or at the sky so it doesn't really bother me that much.

 

[pinklights98]

Does this work on floaters?

 

[ASilverLight]

I tried this even though my VS is really, really mild (blank surfaces / bright light only) but after just 2 sessions my symptoms got worse so I quit. Been a few days and it's back to normal now.

Should add tho I had this low level of VS years before tinnitus.

 

[aot]

I tried this even though my VS is really, really mild (blank surfaces / bright light only) but after just 2 sessions my symptoms got worse so I quit. Been a few days and it's back to normal now.

Should add tho I had this low level of VS years before tinnitus.

Interesting. Well, it certainly does something. Some people have reported improvements, some worsening. And this seems to vary depending on what day they're on. Both effects seem to be temporary.

I wonder if it depends on the severity of your VS.

Still, I wasn't expecting much. It's only in its first incarnation. I wish there was a forum section for VS. The subreddit and Tapatalk forums aren't really that active.

 

[Allan Mcmillan]

I can't answer your first question. We don't know what causes it, but for those people where VSS and tinnitus have the same underlying cause (e.g. malfunctioning thalamus) it will obviously be the same. All my symptoms started at the same time, so there must be people out there who have the same underlying condition, but only have tinnitus and vice versa. Some people only have visual symptoms, but no tinnitus.

I have found almost zero testimonials where VSS reduced over time. Just a few rare unclear claims. No, the very large majority never sees any improvement in their VSS symptoms and often there is even a slight worsening over the years. Most people claim however that their symptoms remained more or less the same over many years, even decades. In some cases it is progressive and it becomes significantly worse over the years.

To date, I have not really found anyone with VSS that improved. The only place I haven't looked is on the facebook VS support page. Perhaps there are testimonials on there, but I doubt it.

I believe however that there are people who had HPPD and did improve over time. This is however a special case of VSS (induced by drugs). It is certainly highly related as the symptoms are identical. It's possible that the damage with HPPD is different and is recoverable for some people, but in many or most cases even, it doesn't seem to resolve either.

If you know of any testimonials where people with actual VSS improved over time, please share them.

Energyflare here. I think I had temporary visual snow when I developed tinnitus for the first time. However, I got full blown visuals from HPPD one year after that. So yeah, I think it can go away if caused by tinnitus/HPPD but other pathologies seem to be irreversible.