Guys Iām gonna kinda open up a bit here. Last April I suffered a supposed concussion. And I really havenāt been the same since. In July I started seeing static in my vision and ultimately it seems like Iāve developed something called Visual Snow Syndrome. There are no definitive treatments for it at this time. Itās been kinda hell living with it and trying to adapt to it. Itās exhausting. I wonāt go into much more detail at what I have to put up with every day, but wonky visuals, no energy, and daily migraines are just the surface of it.
I just ask for prayers. In surviving but I miss living.
Have you seen an Ophthalmologist to make sure no eye issues? (I definitely donāt know jack about eyes).
If itās a optic nerve issue, or even a visual cortex problem that presents itself as a visual problem, have you seen a Neurologist.
Iām assuming that you have seen both.
Have you been checked for a B-12 or Folate deficiency? Both are associated with cases of Visual Snow Syndrome.
This sounds like it is a form of nerve pain or neuralgia. Even nerve injury.
I would recommend taking two course of action
1. Take vitamin B6 100 mg daily, vitamin B12 1,000 mcg daily and Super B complex one daily. I like Nature Bounty but mainly because Krogerās has it 2 for 1 all the time.
Do not take more than 100 mg of B6 daily. Itās the only water soluble vitamin that can be toxic at higher doses. 100 mg is definitely safe. I had tinnitus (auditory nerve damage issue) Was told nothing could be done. It rarely bothers me anymore by doing the above vitamin mix.
2. Neuropathic pain modulating meds can help any neuralgia type issue. One I frequently prescribe is Sertraline (it has been shown to help with Visual Snow Syndrome in some patients. There are two families of medications that can help with nerve pain, dysfunction issues. Anti-seizure meds and antidepressants. I treat nerve pain frequently with these meds. The nice thing is once your Visual Snow Syndrome resolves, you can stop the medicine that helps you. The most important thing is not to go high dose. For seizures and depression, it takes a higher dose than it does for nerve related issues.
If the medicine doesnāt help you, donāt let the doc just keep going higher if it isnāt helping. If itās helping at lower doses, then trying a higher dose is reasonable.
I will list the ones that I have the most success with:
Anti-seizure meds: gabapentin, pregabalin, oxcarbazepine
Make sure that the doc stays low dose. Remind them that they are not treating seizures.
Anti-depressants: Sertraline, paroxetine, Effexor, Celexa, Cymbalta, trazodone.
Older meds can help too, but take longer to help: amitriptyline and nortriptyline
Make sure that the doc stays low dose. Remind them that they are not treating depression.
lamotrigine Has shown promise and helped some patients (I know nothing about that drug) but found it looking for something to help.
Find the nearest Neuro-Ophthalmologist as they have probably treated VSS before.
VSS has been associated with ocular migraines. Find a medication that helps your migraines and it may get rid of the VSS too.
I hope that helps.
To the rest of VN, this is the very reason why I canāt just skip ahead to catch upā¦
edit
it!