A glimmer of hope
You know how so many people see descriptions of diseases on the Internet and suddenly they are convinced they have these horrible life-threatening conditions? I think web-induced hypochondria itself is now being classified as a disorder.
Well, I'm not trying to do that. So -- pending some expensive and inconvenient test that I may have to someday undergo, take what follows as pure speculation, and understand that *I* understand that it is far from a real diagnosis.
That said --
This morning I saw the revelations regarding what really happened when a TV reporter appeared to be suffering a stroke on-air. It was not, but actually a form of migraine that mimics a stroke. Okey-dokey, I'm half paying attention to the report when it lists some of the symptoms of this odd malady, and it mentions "auras."
My mind suddenly snapped to attention.
Some frantic looking online to some degree confirmed my suspicions, that what was being referred to was likely something I knew too well.
From time to time, once every few weeks or so, frequency varies, I will get this bright shimmery area in my field of vision. Usually it will be long shiny zig-zaggy lines. I can still see it shining when my eyes are closed. I've suspected that staring at backlit screens for hours a day are part of the cause, or at least make it worse. I struggle greatly to read a computer screen when they happen. I usually turn off the monitor for a while and find something else to do. There is no real pain involved. Some discomfort, I think, though that may mainly be from the frustration of being deprived of part of my sight for reasons unknown. The episodes don't last very long and are unpredictable, so it's not like I can conjure up one for a doctor -- who's unable to tap into my optic nerve and see it anyway -- so I've never given serious thought to having it "checked" (whatever that would entail).
the_dark_snack freaked when I first told her about it, as she was fairly sure it was a sign of stroke. Yet I've had no other stroke symptoms, in all the dozen or so times this has happened over the last year or so.
So you can imagine how today's report got my attention. I had tried looking this up before, but "eye shimmers" in WebMD gets you nothing. Not that I'd be thrilled to find I have migraines of any sort. From talking to various migraine sufferers, I know they can be a persistent personal hell. But now that I at least had a name for the symptom, I have at least a means of finding out eventually what my shiny unwelcome companions are.
Well, I'm not trying to do that. So -- pending some expensive and inconvenient test that I may have to someday undergo, take what follows as pure speculation, and understand that *I* understand that it is far from a real diagnosis.
That said --
This morning I saw the revelations regarding what really happened when a TV reporter appeared to be suffering a stroke on-air. It was not, but actually a form of migraine that mimics a stroke. Okey-dokey, I'm half paying attention to the report when it lists some of the symptoms of this odd malady, and it mentions "auras."
My mind suddenly snapped to attention.
Some frantic looking online to some degree confirmed my suspicions, that what was being referred to was likely something I knew too well.
From time to time, once every few weeks or so, frequency varies, I will get this bright shimmery area in my field of vision. Usually it will be long shiny zig-zaggy lines. I can still see it shining when my eyes are closed. I've suspected that staring at backlit screens for hours a day are part of the cause, or at least make it worse. I struggle greatly to read a computer screen when they happen. I usually turn off the monitor for a while and find something else to do. There is no real pain involved. Some discomfort, I think, though that may mainly be from the frustration of being deprived of part of my sight for reasons unknown. The episodes don't last very long and are unpredictable, so it's not like I can conjure up one for a doctor -- who's unable to tap into my optic nerve and see it anyway -- so I've never given serious thought to having it "checked" (whatever that would entail).
the_dark_snack freaked when I first told her about it, as she was fairly sure it was a sign of stroke. Yet I've had no other stroke symptoms, in all the dozen or so times this has happened over the last year or so.
So you can imagine how today's report got my attention. I had tried looking this up before, but "eye shimmers" in WebMD gets you nothing. Not that I'd be thrilled to find I have migraines of any sort. From talking to various migraine sufferers, I know they can be a persistent personal hell. But now that I at least had a name for the symptom, I have at least a means of finding out eventually what my shiny unwelcome companions are.