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[Tokkius]

that's called pareidolia. You interpretate stuff incorrectly. Happens when you are tired, or even when you are not. Nothing to worry about in itself

Thanks. Takes a bit of the edge off.

[Fossaman]

Huh. My first thought on reading the OP was to wonder if he got terrible headaches with the visual weirdness. Because it sounds kinda like a migraine aura to me.

[ChairmanPoo]

Well, the main symptom from migraines is the migraine itself (it would be hard to miss that one out, IE worry about the lights and NOT worry about the headsplitting headache), not the aura (which is not universal). And it is just prior to an attack, not something that obscures the vision "for months". So not really, no...

[Fossaman]

*shrug* There's such a thing as a 'partial migraine' that consists only of the aura. Anyway, it was just an idea.

[ChairmanPoo]

Harrison's pretty clear about when to suspect a migraine

Table 15-4 Simplified Diagnostic Criteria for Migraine
 
Repeated attacks of headache lasting 4–72 h in patients with a normal physical examination, no other reasonable cause for the headache, and:
At least 2 of the following features:  features: 
-Unilateral pain
-Throbbing pain
-Aggravation by movement   
-Moderate or severe intensity
Plus at least 1 of the following
-Nausea/vomiting
-Photophobia and phonophobia

Though, TBH, it does mention the possibility of migraine with an unusual presentation

Patients with acephalgic migraine experience recurrent neurologic symptoms, often with nausea or vomiting, but with little or no headache.

[kilakan]

You know, what was the verdict on the floating spots, cause I have something that if I look into a dark space, and there's nothing there I'll see little white dots all over the place like static on a television.

[Aqizzar]

You know, what was the verdict on the floating spots, cause I have something that if I look into a dark space, and there's nothing there I'll see little white dots all over the place like static on a television.

I'd like to know this myself.  I didn't catch it earlier in the thread, but I've had exactly the effect your talking about since I was six years old.  I've never been able to figure out if it's normal or not.

[ToonyMan]

I always believed it was little white parasites swimming in your eyeball.

[kilakan]

no, not that, like flickering on and off all over the place, like EVERYWHERE MAN!

[Peewee]

If you're looking into a truely dark space (IE: nothing to really focus clearly on) your brain starts trying to see what's there, and if it's trying too hard, you get that light show. Nothing to worry about.

[Aqizzar]

If you're looking into a truely dark space (IE: nothing to really focus clearly on) your brain starts trying to see what's there, and if it's trying too hard, you get that light show. Nothing to worry about.

The problem is, I see it in light spaces too.  In dark space it's just easier to see.  Pretty much anything darker than open mid-day sky creates this haze of flashing spots, like a light-burn but much fainter and covering my whole vision.  It only seems to happen at certain times.

[kilakan]

ya, that's a better description of what I'm talking about.

[TheNewerMartianEmperor]

I have it too. Is there a name for this?

[ajar]

I often see black stripes crawling down my vision. It's an infection from Starcraft cutscenes - eh, kidding. But the hallucination is real, and I see it with either eye or both. I also see these filtered hallucinations - color dots, light spots, noise, blur, double image if I do things with my _perception_. I can create photographs with cave adaptation, sunlight and preferably brightly shining objects. They will naturally appear on your closed eyelids after staring at white objects in sunlight from the inside of your house for more than 20 seconds.

Maybe the hottest things are these transparent scorpii and insects I see when feeling relaxed and gone out of "comfort zone", which I mean home or everyday. I've seen them in military service and when visiting some far spot, like a different city for a few days. I suppose you can also see "dead people" like my friend, saints, angels like an online contact of mine or Christ animating out with golden light from a crucifix in a local cathedral, like a yogi friend of mine. If you feel screwed up with these go to the doctor, if you want to see more, why not try pushing your buttons, perception and imagination with a teacher. If you don't care, why not just go on with life.

Never used drugs, does it show?

[Grendus]

You know, what was the verdict on the floating spots, cause I have something that if I look into a dark space, and there's nothing there I'll see little white dots all over the place like static on a television.

It could be an afterimage. It could be your brain trying to figure out what it's seeing - your brain may be interpreting the blackness as TV static based on prior experiences with the TV. It could be an actual mild disorder. It could just be something floating in your eye (congealed gel, gunk, etc).

The brain is more complex than anything we've made so far, and near as we can tell it grows pseudo-randomly. While the actual structure is encoded, the neurons tend to build connections at random and see if they do anything. Sometimes the senses get wired up weird. I hear sights sometimes, though I can tell the information is coming from my eyes (which feels really weird), strange things happen with sensation and perception. While I'd ask the doctor about it at your next check up, chance are it's just something peculiar and harmless.





As a side note, earlier people talked about hearing voices or sounds from their workplace before they went to sleep. When I worked in a kennel, I would hear dogs barking for probably 20 minutes before I got to sleep. They were so loud I had trouble relaxing, it sucked. As soon as I quit (got fired from) that job, the barking went away.