Tips for relieving visual snow

Symptoms 🌡
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Hello everyone. I thought that I would offer some tips for those of you that are suffering with visual snow. It doesn’t seem to be a universal symptom for everyone with MAV but it seems to be a common symptom. I’ve searched this board and read quite a few threads about visual snow. I want to share with you how I reduced my visual snow.

I like some other people who have VS first noticed it as a child. I thought that I had super vision and I could see atoms floating around in my bedroom at night. The strange part is that my visual snow seemed to have went away from the time I was a probably about 10 years old until last fall when I was 32 years old. I wasn’t sure WHY or even if it actually did go away but my awareness of it did?

It came back full on after my first vertigo attack. Even after the vertigo subsided, I was left with roaring tinnitus in my left ear and very active visual snow. I also developed eye floaters for the first time in my life. It sent me into a spiral of depression and anxiety. I convinced myself that it was too hard to live with visual snow and eye floaters. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I felt like I couldn’t enjoy anything. I felt robbed of my life.

I’m a fairly positive person but the visual snow changed me. This lasted for months for me. I was starting to think that I would go blind. I was losing sleep and very anxious all the time. I would think about my vision from the time I woke up, until I went to bed. That is when I started researching ways to cure visual snow and eye floaters. I found out quickly that they were both “uncurable”.

I decided one day that I HAD to get better. From visual snow. From eye floaters. From vertigo and light sensitivity. From all of it. I decided that I WOULD. There wasn’t any question. Whenever I found myself thinking about my eyes or thinking about the symptoms, I would stop myself and say “I’m going to be cured”.

I also found a video on youtube (its very easy to find if you search for visual snow) about a young man who claims he nearly cured his VS with neck stretching and better posture. I thought–what the heck! I’ll give it a shot. I started stretching my neck, every time I thought about it. Several times a day. I reminded myself to sit up straight.

Guess what? The VS started to get better! My VS is about 50% better. I’m not exaggerating.

The only thing I did was stretch my neck, sit up straight, and change my thought pattern about it.

I wanted to share this with those of you out there who feel hopeless. Who read that VS isn’t curable. Don’t believe that. Tell yourself it will get better. It will.

Visual snow can only take away your happiness if you let it. I realized that I’m quite lucky that I’m still able to do everything I love even with visual snow. The less I started thinking about it, the more I realized I didn’t even notice it. The same with eye floaters. I can now go an entire day without thinking about it until I realize that I DIDN’T think about it.

I had a conversation with a friend recently about eye floaters and he too suffers from eye floaters. He said this “At least we have eyes to be floated in”

I hope this helps someone out there. Or at least gives you something to think about.

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Thank you for the positive post, Carrie.
I don’t have the Visual snow, but have had floaters from time to time that just disappear on their own. However, I totally believe that keeping the neck stretched and flexible as well as good posture can ONLY be good for anything affecting our eyes and ears. Just makes sense really. We all know that sitting crouched over a computer all day is bad…but don’t really think about the far reaching consequences.
So glad is working for you - and I do agree with your friend about at least having eyes!! We sometimes forget that things could always be worse than they are!

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thank you! This is very helpful.

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I did want to ask if you took any medication for your MAV at all? thanks!

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Alecar03, hello. I had mav like symptoms for quite a while and I’m doing much better now. I was never diagnosed with Mav. I found out my MAV like symptoms are from a cholestetoma and retracted ear drums. Still waiting on surgical repair.

No medications. I took sumatripitan once for a 3 day migraine.

My visual snow has almost went away entirely. It’s Maybe at 10% of what it was at the worst.

These days I’m almost completely back to myself. I have a few things I’m still dealing with but it doesn’t prevent me from living my life happily anymore. I hope you get well too! The best thing you can do for your health is to stay positive and tell yourself you’re getting better. Best of luck.

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I want to say thank you for this comment! I’ve had MAV since roughly the first day of June 2017 and I didn’t start seeing the white snow until maybe a month in. I’ve been explaining it to people as white noise from a tv, but now I can properly call it white snow! Thank you for this comment once again and I’ll try the head neck stretching and see if that helps. When I’m symptomatic I’ll see it during the daylight, but I always see it in pitch black or in the darkness.

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Hey everyone , I was just wondering what everyone’s visual snow is like … although I am improving very slowly …this symptom has never gone or got better and it’s a little worrying . I’ve attached a link and this is exactly what I see on any blank surface. It’s not always this severe it can go up and down but never gone . Can anyone relate ? Tell me it isn’t just me and has anyone had any luck resolving this ???

Visual snow illustration, courtesy Kaidor

(admin: found a similar animation that I was able to actually upload)

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https://www.axonoptics.com/2017/03/visual-snow-guide/

Amy, I found this article very informative. Sorry I know nothing about visual snow. But I guess the old theory still stands. If it’s coming from the MAV condition it’s a MAV symptom and once the preventatives are working properly they may control it eventually, Helen

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Helen though that’s an article on a vendor for migraine glasses’ website. I wouldn’t be too confident on its impartiality :slight_smile:

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Aura floaters and visual snow seem to be be the only mav symptom I have had literally as long as I can remember. When my neurologist began to suspect mav a year and a half ago she asked if I had aura. Until she explained what that was I thought that was what everyone saw, and until I read this post I didn’t know that I’m the only one in the room that can see the air. I have been feeling the isolation of this for sure but talk about a whole new dimension.

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floaters are not necessarily a migraine symptom - they are real visual aberrations due to a break up of the gel inside your eye. These worsen with age as the gel breaks up a little and causes more distortion.

I can imagine, however, that a build up of floaters (which presumably can fluctuate depending on the state of your gel on any one day) might help provoke a migraine as your brain is being put under additional stress to process through the aberrations.

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This is exactly the type of visual snow I have! When driving, I see this same scene… when applying makeup in the morning, I see the snow on the white wall to my left. When in the tub I see it on the white wall to my right. Looking out the windows, I see it across my field of vison. My Ophthalmologist who was the first Dr I had seen that actually diagnosed me with ocular migraine told me this was very common with the condition and floaters were also common.

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Thanks so much Helen I’ll have a read . It’s just such an awful symtoms as everything looks like it isn’t still :frowning: I am hoping dr S can advise on what med to add to help control my migraine more as this and the spaced out feeling are my most stubborn symptoms ! :confused:

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So glad it isn’t just me ! But so sorry you suffer to hun! Has ur neuro said anything about this ? Has ami helped at all?

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Really your only symptoms are floaters and snow ? I started getting floaters and flashes since mav but the snow is by far the most bothersome !

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Hi Amy, my snow is like glitter mainly in my peripheral vision. :sparkles: And the occasional flash of light which is always very off-putting. My Dr seemed to think the Ami would treat that symptom as well and I have had a bit of relief. The snow is still there but only with a solid white (or bright like the sky) surface to my right, left or straight ahead. It’s so strange! I do think it has lessened since starting Ami! What dose of Ami are you at now?

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Just found this. Dr Goadsby sounds familiar somehow to me. The phrase that grabbed me was very nearly the last sentence where he mentions scans showing “the unusual activity in the visual cortex at the rear of the brain”. Helen

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/aug/08/visual-snow-debilitating-eye-condition-doesnt-exist

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Hey James. The frequency people see floaters when they have VS is increased. I didn’t see floaters for ever and then BAM one headache and I woke up with them along with all the visual snow symptoms including palinopsia. The general theory is the part of the brain that filters things out is on the fritz hence the snow and floaters.

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That makes complete sense, thanks!

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James can’t remember did you ever get visual snow ?