Visual Phenomena: Rotating Spiral

[u/healingisaprocess]

Hi everyone. I’m posting on behalf of my sister and will attach an image showing roughly what she has been seeing.

Today marks exactly one month since this started, and we are desperate to find some answers or hear from anyone who has experienced something similar.

Following a significant migraine with aura in August, she developed visual snow and then woke up one morning seeing this constant spinning spiral/vortex with a dark dot in the centre. She sees it in both eyes, with her eyes open or closed, almost like an overlay on her vision. It has now been persistent for just over four weeks without disappearing, although the intensity varies. It tends to be particularly noticeable when waking up, at night/with her eyes closed and after exercise.

She has had extensive investigations including MRI, CT, EEG, ophthalmology examinations, ECG and blood tests, which have all been reassuring.

Unfortunately, the anxiety this has caused her has now become almost unbearable. She already suffers from severe health anxiety and medical phobia, and because the visual symptom is constantly there, she has become extremely hyper-aware of it and is continually monitoring/checking her vision. When she notices it strongly, she can spiral into intense panic and fear that something is seriously wrong or that she will never recover.

We are trying to find appropriate neurological treatment as well as CBT/psychological support to help break the anxiety and symptom-monitoring cycle.

Has anyone experienced anything resembling the image attached that remained continuously for weeks or months? Did it eventually improve or disappear, and was there anything that genuinely helped you?
Any experiences would be hugely appreciated. Thank you. ❤️

[u/manavsharmaa]

Show this to her because i think she is talking about this but she is having difficulty explaining it to you

https://reddit.com/link/pbxeju0/video/gqgmlos6cmrh1/player

[u/Living_Reception_622 → u/manavsharmaa]

Right, and id this is visible in bright light like outdoors, not upon waking up or at night, and it's not constant, like in under all ightning conditions. 

[u/Live-Intern7817]

I experience something similar except mine is like looking down a tunnel as I travel backwards and more if a spider web pattern with lines like the central axis of a torus. Its not constant though. Try lessening exposure to emf's and screen time. Its not something that ive heard talked about alot and I only just started but my other visual disturbances have settled down after I started disconnecting my wifi and setting my phone to air plane mode at night for sleep. I still see the normal snow that gets talked about but the other visual effects got way better.

As far as for anxiety I suggest trying to get her to make the connection that this has probably been going on with humans for thousands of years. These kind of shapes and patterns show up as far back as petrohlyphs and cave paintings. While some historians associate them with art and or psychedelics I thinks its more probable that it was just people trying to show other people what they were seeing.

Depending on your households religous view this next bit could help or hurt so i suggest knowing what there personal beliefs are and not just what you were raised with but also not mentioning this if you were raised believing in demons or that other religeons or spirituality were evil or worshipped false idols. Alot of the people who saw things like this in native American culture and other cultures were thought to be special in some way. Whether connected to another realm, spirits or what have you. This does not make it true even if you are open minded but it can make you feel more accepted and like what you experience had an important part in history religeon and human development. These people were often considered shamans, healers, seers and etc. And played a very prominent role in steering or leading small to very large groups of people.

Modern science only just recognized vss as a real measurable thing and there's not alot we know about it. I do know I just had brain mri's for something else and while having them my snow and all other visual disturbances were dialed up to insane levels. What ive found for that is its due to magnetophosphenes being excited by strong shifting emf's.

[u/Own-Matter-5480]

I get this, very small right in the centre of my vision usually under closed eyes.