So I have been on gabapentin for a week now. An old friend of mine Mr Heat Haze has reared his ugly head. Haven’t had this symptom for about 6 mths. Do many people get this?
Is heat haze classed as an aura?
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Heat haze has to be classed as an aura. My neuro-ophthalmologist basically said anything that isn’t an obvious eye issue is likely aura.
Can’t speak to gabapentin but I can say in general all meds can make it worse before it gets better. For me that’s always been a couple of weeks of biting the bullet and waiting it out.
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Is this ‘heat haze’ the shimmering @Amylouise and I were discussing. In which case it’s Visual Vertigo. Starting a new drug will cause side effects and as Gabapentin is used to help with visual issues quite probably it could cause them as well although they say say it’s actually low in side effects generally so may be coincidental. Helen.
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I don’t get shimmering it just looks like you are looking through gas.
Same thing I’d imagine. Just different person’s description.
I think I have this (shimering/vibrating) but only looking mid to far distance, up close I dont have it. As @flutters, my vision therapist told me is the brain doing that, not my eyes, as my eyes look pretty align now after vision therapy. 
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See from my pic! Is that what you get. I only have it outside and in my vision in the distance not close up. When I blink and look away it clears then come back again. It’s not constant thou.
Thanks Emily. Have you had heat haze before? It’s all so strange these symptoms. I have no known eye issues in fact quite the opposite with good vision normally.
Yes. And I always found the sense of apparent motion nauseating. Effexor made a huge difference there, especially in conjunction with VRT.
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I agree Emily…Venlafaxine is helping my outdoor motion most of all
Jo x
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That’s so good that you and Emily have made such progress. I feel like I am at a stand still at the moment but still early days on gab! I feel like I have an air lock 24/7 in my head and ears. The detached head and vision is getting me down.
I had 4 years of torture with exact same thing…you will get better…it just takes a long time…horrendous illness x
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I’ve had what you describe as heat haze. I used to call it visual vibration, but yeah, heat haze sounds more appropriate cause it’s like looking at the cement in summer time where it shows that heat fog/haze except when I look at objects afar they look like they have that haze and vibrating. I’m not on meds persay, but that symptom comes and goes but it rarely shows up now. For me, it’s always objects afar like the tv; not up close like a smartphone to my face.
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Yes I know what you mean. I’m a photographer. Heat haze. ‘Looking a gas fire’ - well that is Heat Haze, isn’t it. It’s impossible to know for sure but it’s, as you have no obvious vision issues, it’s a symptom coming from the MAV. Just like the flushing under the dining room lights. Helen
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Gosh you have been through the mill! I bet you feel like you have a new lease of life now! Thanks for your words. I will get there just seems to be never ending x
Yeah exactly like the heat coming off the ground or on top of a car on a really hot day! I only have it too looking at a far and I’ve only had that symptom outside.
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Did you have heat haze recently Helen? It’s not in the whole of my vision if that makes sense, it’s if I’m looking at a certain object in the distance. I haven’t had it today luckily.
Yes, one day last week I posted to Amy cos I had never had it before and just wanted her to know her shimmering and my heat haze seemed same/similar. I had it indoors when putting warm compress over my eyes I do for Dry Eye every day. Never had it before. MAV just keeps changing. After all my yrs of it I could hardly imagine I’d get new symptoms now but there, I did. It’s no big deal. Just another MAV symptom. Nothing to worry about really. Just goes to show how well our vision is usually. A lot of what we see is not what our eyes actually see but what our brain permits us to see. It filters a lot of stuff out usually before we see it but if it’s not working correctly, these strange things happen. Think of it a bit like a computer with a bug that got through the security shield. Helen
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It is bizarre how we have new symptoms or existing one’s show up randomly. We take for granted how much the brain controls everything. Hey ho nothing surprised me with this anymore. I could probably see a unicorn flying past and it would be a symptom of mav 
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