It's the proper term ( learnt from pink vision Headway)
It's one of the things I now live with .
Supermarket syndrome ( cherylclair posted)
Part of it too.
It has improved but as I'm 'appearing ' more 'normal 'sorts the chaff from the wheat with understanding of how debilitating it can be in respect of being around people.
Description I read :
Visual perceptual distortions
Visual stress on viewing striped or busy patterns
Narrow stripes in dark colours on a white background the worst.
Eyestrain
Headaches
Words moving/ jumping even reading of typing
( in my case fading ftom thd right as I type)
Light sensitivity particularly to certain types of artificial lighting .
And reflecting/ flickering
A physical reaction of ducking as head 'sizzles' and sharp pains .
Patterns provoke Visual distortions.
Head pains found to be associated with Visual cortical hyperactivation caused by a stressful pattern.
Linked with ;
Meares Irlene syndrome ( Buster read thus and posted too)
supermarket syndrome ( described b cherylclair)
Severe clinical depression
No mention of b12 deficiency or a hit on the head .
Two reasons I'm asking;
1. Inability to even enter a cafe without the threat of unknown lighting ' attacking ' me. ( trying to get out more .twice a disaster) outside cafe fine.
Outside fine.
Wear a hat with s brim in shops.
Still difficult as stagger will can start .
Feeling of being in s goldfish bowl( distortions )
2. Even family giving presents with stripes ,busy patterns.
( I used to love btw) to me of husband.
Have yo be hidden/ put away .
4. Noise of wrapping paper / tissue paper sets of tinnitus and vision goes down/ irritated brain
5. I'm actually up long enough these days to need a light on I the evening
! Up lighters with low wattage best .
6. Vestibular disorder involved giving false signals tou are going to fall all of the time.
Hi Nackapan . I had these symptoms a few years ago after contractacting a virus and ending up with labrynthitis. I do feel for you - it's exhausting. Largely cleared up, but I do have minor probs still, altho maybe that's B12? 🤷♀️
It is typical of other neurological issues also I believe. Eg. An ex colleague with parkinsons had similar challenges, along with the more commonly known tremors/motor issues.
Yes I get some of this some of the time. I feel I have a hangover and wobble when walking . Bright light can in or out start nausea dizziness and feeling disorientated . This only started after minor op 15 months ago when B12 problems started. I went to dizzy clinic with physio and has helped but some off days. Hope you feel better
Thanks. I didn't have any of it before b12 deficiency.
No history of migraines either.
I've had problems with my eyesight for as long as I can remember, if someone took my photo with a flash on, I'd get a retina burn that lasted for hours.
These days I get a bit 'blinky' in strong light, I take sunglasses with me when I'm going out anywhere, and usually wear a baseball cap.
I find reading from a screen - be it laptop, phone, or tablet - to be a bother, often causing a retina burn like 'blotch' in my vision.
And I cannot read things where someone is using night mode - white text on a black background - that is just impossible for me to make out.
Well now I know what it's called! And there's another issue the doctor will ignore 😒
Hi Nackapan, yes these all sound very familiar. For me it has been a combination of B12D and adrenal insufficiency - getting sufficient B12 and taking cortisone replacement has mostly cured it all. I can still tell when I'm going low B12 because some of the come back. In my case, I think it's mainly damage to the optic nerve, plus probably some sensory processing issues.
Most debilitating/annoying for me were :
Visual stress on viewing striped or busy patterns , Words moving/ jumping even reading of typing , Light sensitivity particularly to certain types of artificial lighting
But also a glare of the image left over on my retina after viewing a bright light - even the TV or phone on low light can do this (drives hubby crazy because I turn the brightness on the TV waaaay down at night).
I also had very bad "flickering" - as if I was watching the world through an old movie where you could see it jumping from frame to frame.
Visual snow
Then right before my arms went numb, I developed a Scotoma - a bright yellow "sun" that covered over 75% of my field of view. I could see through it but more difficult. When I closed my eyes, I would see a bright yellow circle with fuzzy edges, shining with the strength of a billion suns. If it comes back these days, it's much smaller and not as bright.
And a small black blind spot.
Tracers - when you move your hand or an object and see its after-image after it's moved. psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Tra... Usually attributed to drugs. Nope, mine was B12D!
Opthomologist dilated pupils and checked the retina over a period of several years and never found anything. Thus I conclude it was the optic nerve.
I don't have light sensitivity during the day, also not for fluorescent lights anymore, but I am super sensitive at night.
--------
Solutions that helped me :
Supermarket syndrome - try to get in and out as quick as I can. No big costco's or shopping malls for me. I not only react to the lights, but also get air hunger. This is partially also low cortisol for me. Also over stimulation to everything, in the early days. I used to go hide in a corner while waiting for hubby to finish shopping.
Special sunglasses can help. For a while I used glasses they give to people after cataract surgery or those with macular degeneration. I have several pairs of Cocoons in different colors cocoons.uk/lenses/ Then benefit of these is blinders on the top/sides, so that outside light doesn't come in. cocoons.uk/cocoons-frame-te... You can also get slightly yellow tinted 'driving glasses' but they weren't strong enough for me, plus they didn't have the top/side protection. I don't need these anymore after getting enough B12.
No solution for the stripes - i try to avoid them
For noise - this has not completely gone away. I now carry Loop Earplugs with me everywhere loopearplugs.com The sound of eating can tip me over into murder. Crinkling sounds, anything repetitive, bassy noises drive me nuts. Loop earplugs are nice because you can get them in various strengths, plus the ones I have include an additional insert to dampen the sound even more, but you can still hear people talking. It really takes the edge off. I put them on in shops sometimes. I have the Loop Engage Plus for daytime and Quiet for sleeping.
For TV, like I said I turn everything way down.
For my computer and phone, I have blue-blocking filters on top of whatever filters they already come with. I give my computer a yellow, orange, or red tint depending on how I'm feeling that day. For windows: f.lux justgetflux.com/ and for my android phone, Twilight play.google.com/store/apps/...
We got Philips Hue lights for the house - during the daytime they are on with a yellow tint, at night I put them to red/orange.
Typos: I still do this, and my worst problem is skipping entire words, and not realizing. I think this must be something in the brain. In the early I was also dyslexic (?) - typing letters in the wrong order (but no problems reading). I go back and re-read/edit, but I don't have your problem that words disappear. I never had any of these problems prior to B12D.
All this has cost a lot of money. And doctors have never acknowledged any of it. It could lead you to the madhouse, if not for these forums.
Have had more time and visual 'tolerance ' to read some of the links. As paper noise really affects me I might try some loops at Christmas.
Present unwrapping noises torture for me . Usually leave the room or use 'gift bags '
The cocoon clip ons make looks interesting.
I've tried overlays I bought used for dyslexia .
I've tried an assessment by a Proffessor using a colour meter machine ( advice from Headway forum)
It may have been too early 😕 as now I might benefit more but thd pair j have with a yellow / grey hue are now the wrong prescription.
Very expensive trip.
But as the fourth different optician/ optthmologist using latest equipment accepted my actual eyes are healthy....phew so must be damage to parts of the brain messaging. Not so good .
I waited 18m for a neuro Opthalmologist on the NHS .
High hopes for at least an explanation for symptoms.
That was the most disappointing consult to date .
A kind manner .
Quietly patronising .
No explanation.
No understanding 😕
Optic nerve and health of eye okay.
( so 5th look)
Asking why I've had so many examinations!!
When he started questioning my mental health I zoned out.
Trying to kero calm so as not to confirm MH problems by exploding .
Then he thought maybe side effects of antidepressants?
Must've been on notes as prescribed but not taken!
Looked dumb struck when I said I am only on b12 injections.
He simply did not know.
He ended with
" The brain is very complicated "
One of the lowest points .
Sat on a bench waiting for a lift ( hosputal 20 miles away) big neurology hospital)
I got perspective seeing other patients in varying amounts of stress .
Poor bloke sat slumped next to me inbetween treatments for cancer coukdnt even get a drink as the hospital shop would not accept cash !!!!
So went back to carer mode . My bag packed ( never like to be without food or a snack ) long waits expected.
His face brightened at a box of juice and a biscuit .
We laughed when said I wouldn't take cash either!
When the copied in letter came.
The person I saw was a locum.
Still not convinced he was a neuro Opthalmologist.
But an Opthalmologist.
Saying I can return if symptoms worsen !!
That's when I stopped.
I asked for a referral to vestibular physiotherapy to help.
To my astonishment this was done ✔
I'd paid for the first sessions to get me walking as nothing offered then.
One failed epley manoeuvre from a pompous G.p.
The failure my fault???
Also to ENT which had been refused 3 yesrs earlier !
Ear pressure test okay.
Management of tinnitus offered but I'd tried white noise and hints given so a one off very short telephone call.
So like most on here with things ruled out.
Having thr inner strength to keep true to oneself .
And not getting mentally ill ,having been told many many times the symptoms probably psychosomatic you start to wonder.
Avoiding many many drugs offered after trialling a couple .
I think we should all be applauded for finding a way to progress with our lives .
I had pattern glare, visual stress, Mears Irlen syndrome for about 32 years.
It stopped within a few months of me starting on a vitamin D protocol which includes 600mg elemental magnesium a day. As they magnesium is the only thing I was taking that has any links to helping migraines, I believe it was this that cured me.
The Irlen "crowd" basically said it can't be cured because we don't know what causes it, and refused to listen. I gave up trying to persuade them (it's more lucrative to sell sufferers many pairs of coloured glasses than suggest a relatively cheap mineral). Those who have bought into a succession of expensive glasses seen reluctant to try anything different.
So I just created my own Facebook page - life after visual stress - and left it at that. That details how it used to affect my life, and the changes I started noticing.
I still take the magnesium, and I no longer hide from lights or patterns
Hi Nackpan, oh my, I just found your post after searching for visual problems in the group! I have 95% of what you describe and it's horrendous, I'm so sorry you suffer with this too It has pretty much ruined my life. I have been going through this to some extent for about 8 years but have been getting worse in the last year after the 'you know what virus', plus now other neuro symptoms have crept in making me suspect a possible B12 connection.
The pattern thing - walking over block paving does it. Stripes, especially black and white look like they are moving. Pulsating vision, night blindness, light sensitivity. And what jade_s describes as ' "flickering" - as if I was watching the world through an old movie where you could see it jumping from frame to frame".
Trying to establish what is wrong has been impossible and I've been fobbed off so many times. Eyes themselves are very healthy so I believe this is a brain thing.
2 months ago I found out I have severe iron deficiency and was anaemic. Finally the GP recognises it's not all in my head. Turns out I've been iron deficient all my life - I requested my entire blood test history and there it was, plain to see, yet never been flagged as a problem, basically I have never made it into the normal range. I saw on one test I was anaemic as a 7 year old but never treated as my Mother was never told of the problem. Maybe this may have caused some damage over the years. Now trying to increase ferritin with high dose iron supplements.
I'm now about to Self inject B12 if I can muster up the courage to do it, to see if that improves anything. Praying it does.
I'm sorry I can't offer any real help, I take all the same practical steps as you do with avoidance if possible, also what jade_s does. Just know you are not alone. Your post has made me feel less alone as I didn't think anyone could understand what it feels like to be me and the toll it takes on you mentally to deal with this daily.
When I ask for the lights to be turned off overhead and we sit in the dim, and I start to muddle my words because my brain switches off when there's too much noise, and I feel like I'm drunk/drugged/hungover/concussed/inside a goldfish bowl all the time - people cannot understand this and it gets on their nerves because they have to do things differently around me. The big TV's everyone seem to now have are impossible to watch, makes me feel like I'm on a rollercoaster. No one understands why I avoid social occasions and think I'm just miserable.
But I somehow keep going everyday, somehow. I thought I was weak, didn't try enough, am a hypochondriac but actually I'm one of the strongest people I know and clearly you are too. Wishing you and everyone else going though this all the best and hope things improve for us all.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
It has pretty much ruined my life. I have been going through this to some extent for about 8 years but have been getting worse in the last year after the 'you know what virus', plus now other neuro symptoms have crept in making me suspect a possible B12 connection. 
B12 GP Prescribes two adult sisters with same PA Condition an
Does anyone get "pressure" head aches?
Vitamin D
B12 deficiency returned?
