Vision Problems?

I have visual snow too actually.

How long have you had symptoms?

For...5 years now. It began when I was 17 really depressed and started taking psychiatric medication. I can't really tell which drug caused it, but I think it might have been either Ritalin, Strattera or Modafinil. I know for a fact that Modafinil worsens it temporarily when I take it.

Does it get worse with stress, heat, or exercise? Has it suddenly gotten worse? Do you have a family history of autoimmune disease?

I think it gets worse with stress, my tinnitus gets worse too or because I am stressed I pay more attention to it. I am not really which is true.

I can't say about heat or exercise. I know heat makes me feel like crap, but exercise does help my mood.

>Do you have a family history of autoimmune disease?

I do not know.

God damn, you have tinnitus too? Again, have the weird flashes been pretty stable or has it gotten worse recently?

What state are you in? You might have the same thing and it's really underdiagnosed, so it's important you go to the right place.

>Has it suddenly gotten worse?

I can't remember desu, I think it has remained stable over the years, getting worse temporarily with stress or when I take modafinil.

It sucks, because it becomes really noticeable at night.
I also suffer from Rhinitis (been with it for like 5 years now too), not sure if that helps you in someway.

Do you wear glasses?

>Again, have the weird flashes been pretty stable or has it gotten worse recently?

You mean the color swirls? They've been pretty stable. I can command them at will if I pay attention at something with effort for a couple minutes.

>What state are you in?

I am usually depressed, lethargic, irritable and unmotivated unless I take Modafinil to work (Which is very effective)

Yes.

I don't have rhinitis but I do have pretty bad food allergies. I don't suppose you've been shedding hair, have you?

I haven't met anyone with something similar so I'm sort of intrigued right now.

I meant state as in physical location. Mine also started around the same age when I was super depressed.

Holy fuck

>I don't suppose you've been shedding hair, have you?

Yes, it seems to have lessened after increasing my exercise

>I meant state as in physical location. Mine also started around the same age when I was super depressed.

Oh, I live in Europe. Northern Spain, closing in the border with France.

>I do have pretty bad food allergies.

Certain foods make me sleepy, but I have not been able to pin point which ones exactly. Besides that, I do not seem to suffer from any serious food allergies.

I also suffer from Dandruff quite a lot. Not sure if that's an issue for you.

Damn, that's crazy. I have a little bit of dandruff but not nearly enough to worry about. I'm shedding tons of hair all over though.

I'm not really sure who to see in Europe, but I'm seeing one of the higher-ups in the American Opthalmology Association, and I'm trying to get in with this NIH researcher. You should definitely get your retinas checked out though. We should definitely keep in touch in the off-chance that you also have AZOOR/ autoimmune retinopathy. This shit is so rare and so little is known about it that it would be really neat to compare notes.

Also the thing with this stuff is that it's not immediately obvious what is going on just by them looking inside your eyes with a special lens. The retinal pigment layer that's experiencing damage is actually underneath the surface of the retina so they can't assess the full scope of the problem without either an OCT, ERG, or autofluorescence imaging. They'll either tell you nothing is wrong and send you somewhere else, or try to tell you that you have retinitis pigmentosa/ cone dystrophy even though that doesn't make sense.

Be on the lookout if they say that your retinal blood vessels are thinning out. That's a sign that you might have AIR/ AZOOR.

Sure, why not. It would be great to know if you find success. My Gmail is Saurax7gmail.com

I am saving this on a note, I'll see if my doc can arrange an appointment with a professional and I'll try to explain it to him.

Good luck user.

I'll send you an email.

You too user, and thanks a lot for the info.

It's entirely likely that it's just a migraine caused by you 1.grinding your teeth 2.being dehydrated 3.being sleep deprived

It's a good idea to get it checked though, better safe than sorry.

If this was some sort of autoimmune disease, one would expect my cortisol levels to be really up, right? Would a medication that reduces inflammation help with mood?

AIR user again.

So the theory of why AIR and AZOOR occur is that the body produces antibodies that target proteins in the retina. There is still some confusion over why people without the disease can also have circulating autoantibdodies but have no detectable signs of the disease.

I've noticed that it's heavily affected by my mood as well. It gets much worse when I'm stressed or feeling sad/ depressed, and I even had it almost completely go away temporarily after being sedated for a medical procedure. They gave me some opioid-based painkiller IV and for a few hours after waking up I had no flashing whatsoever and my visual field had expanded nearly back to normal. I've done some reading and apparently dopamine is heavily tied with photoreceptor development and function, so there is still part of me that wonders if this all couldn't be a neurotransmitter imbalance of some sort.

I'm on 2.5g daily of mycophenolate mofetil (cellcept), which is an immunosuppressant, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything for my vision. I have another followup in two weeks and he's probably either going to switch to a more powerful medication or change the course of treatment entirely.

You may not have the same thing, but it's still worth getting your eyes checked first and foremost.

Thank you for all the info once again user. I was asking because I have noticed certain medications that decrease inflammation or work to increase dopamine and/or lower cortisol, have a significant positive effect on my mood and my horrible rhinnitis and improve my vision.

These include Ibuprofen, Dextroamphetamines and Testosterone injections.
-

It might not be related at all, but it's a thought I have in mind.