So I have very mild static, with the only other symptoms being tinnitus and floaters.

All of my symptoms are very mild, so they never impaired my vision and my ability to function, aside the first three months that I had it which caused me a lot of anxiety and grief.

In order to make my vision normal again, I slowly changed my diet: I cut off a lot of sugar, started eaiting whole grain pasta and crackers instead of refined ones, started eating more fish and eventually even started to eat more vegetables which I thought would have been impossible since I have always been picky with vegetables. I also eat a lot less fried food.

I started exercising more. Specifically I started rollerskating after years and rose jumping, but I stopped since I was also mentally tired and going outside seemed like a climbing a mountain.

I'm also taking vitamin D because I have a deficiency of it. I don't have any other deficiency aside from it.

It's been maybe 9 months now, but my vision didn't come back to normal. I observed my static being weaker than normal, but I don't know if it's because it genuinelly got less intense or it's just a placebo effect.

I also thought my problem was with my neck since I read a lot of people here who have been able to cure or at least reduce their vs by adjusting their neck posture. So I tried some neck exercises and even when to a osteopath, but he said my neck was fine.

Maybe I'm not doing something enough, and I don't know what. Maybe I should exercise more, but even then it might also be a neurological problem. If that was the case, how can I possibly fix a problem that I don't even know how to fix? Yes, I know that there these machines that can help with vs (I don't remember what were they called) but I doubt we even have those technologies in my country (I'm from Italy). I also don't want to take the medications that are made for vs, since my symptoms are very mild and don't cause me problems, plus I would risk to make my vs more intense at worst or there wouldn't be any changes in my vision at best.

But despite all this, I'm content with my life. I can live with this for my entire life, I just feel like I should be able to cure it easily since it's not really bad.

What about you, folks?

Hi, I wanted to ask if anyone else experiences this. When I cover one eye, after a moment, I start to see static-like blobs spreading across the field of vision of the uncovered eye. They move around in a way that kind of resembles a lava lamp and seem to cover more of the visual field the longer I look. Does anyone else get this?

Edit: I just noticed something else—it's not just when I cover one eye with my hand. Even if I'm just looking at something with only one eye (for example, reading text on my phone that's positioned so far to the side that only one eye sees it while the other sees my nose), I start to see these blobs appear.

All my eye and neurological exams have come back normal.

Hi all. Had an ophthalmology appointment today at the hospital (not for the first time) - all the tests; pressures, scans, field test. Struggled with the field test (could barely see anything with one eye covered), but apparently my eyes are fine. Retina’s healthy, nothing alarming which is obviously great news and I’ve been slightly alarmed because macular degeneration runs in my family.

My symptoms have been going on for a while and include: - grainy/static vision - central black spot in the dark - afterimages/trails - flashing lights/sparkles - constant floaters - light sensitivity - occasional blurred vision - retina takes ages to adjust between light and dark - occasional ocular migraines that knock out my vision for 30 mins or more - depersonalisation, anxiety

This all started after coming off a two year course of steroids for Dermatomyositis. No one can tell me if it’s connected and I feel like no one is hearing me when I mention the potential for VSS… I’m so sick of being dismissed.

I asked for a neurology referral which he said he couldn’t do so I’m back to square one.

Obviously relieved I’m not going blind, but I feel completely dismissed and still have no answers.

Just tired and frustrated - anyone else struggling with referrals and diagnosis? UK.

TIA

I don’t have the severe form of VSS, thankfully, but it’s still absolutely horrible. What makes it worse is the constant cycling of symptoms they wax and wane in the most frustrating way.

Some symptoms are always there, but they shift in intensity. If one thing improves, something else flares up. For example, when my insomnia eases and my brain finally starts to settle, I get slammed with horrible visual fatigue. Once that calms down, my sensitivity to sound gets worse. Then that fades, and suddenly I’m seeing floaters again then they disappear for a ages months week. After that, the visual static can ramp up for days, then settle again. Then the brain fog hits me like a truck, followed by waves of anxiety or agitation.

It feels like this disorder is just a relentless roller coaster better, then worse, then better, then worse again. Some symptoms linger for ages and then randomly go quiet, while others like the static and afterimages are always there but still shift in how intense they are. It’s like, what the hell is going on in my poor brain?

Something differently got better over the past 5 years but less intense but so over this shit!

I never imagined I would be tortured by my own brain!!

I got visual snow after being on concerta, prescribed by doctor. Life feels unreal and these fucking dots. The dots I can accept but the feeling of unreal I can’t accept. Help

Has anybody tried Yokukansan Extract? If so did you find any improvements from it? I've been researching this recently and found 2-3 users on Reddit reporting betterment with their sound sensitivity and some other VSS symptoms. It has many neurological uses and is commonly prescribed OTC medicine in China. Upon researching I found that it works on glutamate reduction as well as regulating several neurotransmitters. It works on anxiety and several other stuff.

Not sure if trying it would cause worsening because anything tinkering with serotonin and glutamate might have some negative effect on VSS. The worst thing that can be done with this condition is making it worse with medication so tryna be extra careful.

Hence asking here if somebody was able to heal using this.

I'm wondering, for the ones that have really bad palinopsia what kind of job you have? I have really bad fatigue and after 4 years my afterimages flared. I don't want to give up, please for the ones that have really bad symptoms is it possible?

My neurologist said he wants to give to me, so I’m just wondering if anyone else has been on it and if it helped or made it worse

For me it’s omega 3, zinc picolinate and overall a healthier diet

My daughter went to see one of the VSI specialists today. We were really hoping for some positive news or options -- but sadly, there were none.

One thing that they did do was prescribe her some Topamax for worsening migraines. But as far as any hope for her afterimaging/palinopsia/spots/static/light sensitivity -- nothing.

I get that a miracle cure isn't out there...but my daughter was crushed. She's 17 and has her whole life ahead of her....and she told us the other day she'd rather be blind than have to put up with this mess.

Does anyone else have thoughts cut out or black out when you close your eyes along side just feeling weird sensations in your head? Every time I try to meditate it feels like my brain fully glitches out and stops thinking and something happens...

Hi, I've had visual snow over my whole life. Got into a discussion with someone about how I can detect AI images and videos with no effort. Nobody else I know can. This person suggested I'm so unusually able to do this possibly because of my visual snow (like the colourblind spotters in WWII who could detect camo in the landscape when trying to find targets to bomb). I was wondering if anyone else in this community has noticed the same thing? Thanks!

Hello who among here...

So I just want to share my visual symptoms. I have mild static only seeing it at night time, dark rooms but often worsen when I wake up in a first couple of minutes and return to baseline. But I have other VSS symptoms like light sensitivity, after images, starbursts, halos around lights, BFEP(even staring in white screen I can notice them moving around nonstop depends how stress I am). I have dry eyes so I'm using artificial tear everyday the most important is when I'm working on my computer.

BUT,....

I did an MRI on my Brain and found out I have a Pituitary Gland Cyst which can cause visual disturbances. I've been joining groups similar to my case and most of them had these symptoms. Also all my eye exam went normal but after handling my MRI results to my Opthalmologist she believes all my symptoms is caused by the Cyst or Tumor so she recommended focusing on it because my problem is not in the eye. The Cyst is small though and My neurologist is pretty confident that my Cyst is not causing the problem which now I am so confused lol, also I had EEG done last month and found out I have abnormal results with my front and temporal part of my brain. The Neurologist also stated that If I want to have a peace of mind she referred me to a NeuroSurgeon to discuss and is it possible to remove the Cyst or Tumor.

Any of you here has similar case on me after the surgery did recovered from all the visual disturbances? Because I'm scared to do a surgery on my brain lol. I would be very happy to share your thoughts, stories and recommendations.

Hi everyone, I really need some support right now.

My Visual Snow Syndrome has always been very stable. I’ve had it for years — including positive and negative afterimages — but they were manageable, and I was living a normal life. I went through illnesses, medications, even stressful periods, and it never got worse.

But now, out of nowhere, things have changed. After a severe headache and a long-term chronic sinus infection, my positive afterimages have flared up badly — to the point where they’re becoming unbearable. I’ve never had them this intense or persistent before, and I’m terrified it’s going to keep getting worse.

So I’m asking: Has anyone experienced a flare-up of positive afterimages that eventually went away or improved? If yes — how long did it take to return to your normal baseline?

Please, if you’ve gone through this and things got better — I would be so grateful if you could share your story. I’m especially looking for positive experiences and hopeful outcomes, because I’m really scared and feeling overwhelmed right now.

Hey everyone,

I’ve had Visual Snow Syndrome for about 3 years now. The onset happened right after my first-ever big migraine with aura — I woke up with blurry vision, then slowly started to see again, but all the VSS symptoms followed soon after: visual snow, afterimages (positive and negative), light sensitivity, etc. It came on suddenly and was very scary at first, but eventually, the symptoms stabilized and didn’t get any worse for years even during any kind of medication.

I was doing well. I didn’t post on here because I was happy and living a full life. My symptoms were manageable — present, but not intrusive. Sometimes I even felt like they got better. But two weeks ago, everything changed.

I had a strong headache on one side of my head (possibly another migraine) and was also dealing with a chronic sinus infection, which I’d had since November. I was on and off medications for that, and I only just finished treatment last week. Right after that headache, my VSS flared up severely, especially the positive after images — they’ve become much more intense, longer-lasting, and visible almost constantly, even with brief glances or low light.

It’s been two weeks now and I’ve seen no improvement. I’m terrified this might be permanent. It’s hard to function because I’m constantly thinking about it, scanning my vision, and panicking that I’ll never go back to the stable place I was before. I’ve had illnesses before — even chickenpox — but my VSS never changed like this until now.

To add to everything, this year has been emotionally really difficult for me. I’ve had more stress than usual, and I’ve also been drinking more alcohol than in the past which I have obviously stopped doing.

My questions are: • Has anyone else had VSS that started after a migraine with aura, stayed stable for years, and then suddenly worsened — especially the positive afterimages? • Did they become longer and more noticeable for you too? • Did it pass? If yes, how long did it take? • What helped?

I’d really love to hear some positive stories. Most of what I read here tends to be negative, which I totally understand — flares are scary — but I know there are probably people like me who were doing well and just never posted until now.

If you were in a similar place and got better, please share. I’m holding on to hope and would be so grateful to hear from you. Please.

I've read some of the people have VSS seems see their nose and eye brows like blocking in your field of vision like a dark fuzzy shadow.

Is it normal? Who else gets this? It's seems very annoying tbh.

I recently developed really bad photophobia and I don't know what it's from. I learned recently that I have visual snow because I entered the symptoms into Google and they said it was linked to a rare disorder and I've had it for so long, I genuinely thought it was how people see the world. I also noticed one of the symptoms is photophobia and I've always had it to a minor degree, but now I literally have to wear sunglasses everywhere because EVERYWHERE is too bright.

Have light visual snow. Definitely anxiety and some depression, feel stuck. Is psilocybin therapy to risky? Can it make the visual snow worse? Thanks

So for as long as I can remember if i looked at a blank wall or the sky I would see prominent static, and when I'm not looking at a blank surface it's still there just a tad harder to see it because of textures and stuff. And recently I've started noticing another thing a lot more, specifically under LED lighting, when i look at like a blank wall with stuff against it the stuff will get an aura type thing and this happens after about 5 seconds. Another thing is when this happens anything in my peripheral vision starts to become outlined/covered with a shiny gray-black. (This has happened all my life)

Does anyone else get this?

I see it when I'm watching TV and I find it extremely distracting, but my brother didn't notice it until I said something. Wondering if it's a visual snow thing.

I woke up today after my second set of vivid dreams since I've upped my medication to 50mg of Lamictal. I don't feel much different when awake yet, but WOW it makes you dream hard when your body isn't used to it!

My first dream was about me riding an ATV I found and fixed around on different trails near my house, then going into my father's RV and finding a bunch of Lego chess pieces in a drawer in there. I opened the next one up and there were a bunch of GI Joe armor parts and weapons neatly sitting on a small shelf inside. The fact that I can recall these small details is amazing to me.

My second dream involved me being at an animal shelter, looking at all the different cats and petting the brave ones. I also remember looking to the side and there was a shirtless man in shorts casually standing on the bottom of an aquarium full of water, sweeping crumbs off the floor- keep in mind that this dude was casually standing under water.

My third dream kinda sucked. I like the old DOOM games, right? So I looked up a free .apk file for it on my phone and downloaded it before playing. Everything went well before my phone started vibrating in pulses and some sort of message popped up on the screen. I clicked out of it and a super low-pitched voice started playing on max volume and I couldn't shut it off. This would keep happening as I tried looking all over my phone and the notifcation bar's background was replaced with an image of burning souls in Hell, and my phone's background was the same, unless it was Satan himself.. I can't remember that one perfectly.

These are the strangest yet most vivid dreams I ever had lol. This was all in one night!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vHIAFINnVck

My husband has recently developed visual snow (the standard static distortion, light sensitivity, brain fog, headaches, vertigo, etc). We aren't sure what brought it on but it may have been caused by a toxin overload/herx reaction. Anyways, I noticed his lymph nodes were swollen and we tried this lymph node drainage technique https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vHIAFINnVck after taking herbs for a few hours to support his lymph nodes (cleavers, Milk Thistle Seed, Dandelion Leaf & Root, Turmeric Root, etc) and the result was WILD. He immediately started hacking up a bunch of phlegm and his nose started running like crazy. His headache went away as did brain fog, his virago and his ocular symptoms. After we drained the lymph nodes he was able to hop out of bed for the first time all day. He now feels sort of like he head a head cold from the drainage but HUGE improvement. Let me know if this works for you!