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A strange array of phenomena over the last three days. Insights?


Fengris

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Starting three days ago, on the 12/10/2017, I have been experiencing many and varied (primarily) visual and (sometimes) auditory phenomena.

I hope that this post is stumbled upon by somebody who maybe be able to offer an insight into the situation, and possibly suggest a means through which I could find appropriate help.

I am keeping it short and simple, and will answer further questions upon request. I am tired as it is and currently experiencing the strangest and most offputting events to date.

I suppose, I am asking for the most part if I am seeing the development of some sort of psychological/psychiatric/sensory problem, and if it is something that can be alleviated.

1st Day
I start seeing tiny, imperceptible black dots. Without warning. Everywhere. Tiny, microscopic dots. (not microscopic as in zoomed in bacteria and 'floaters'. As in tiny, all over the room)
Never stopping. No other colours, visible against all backdrops.
On flat surfaces with light colours, I start seeing formations I describe as jagged-yet-rippling waves, seemingly just barely transparent and always moving when not directly observed.
When focussing on any particular spot of the flat surface, dots become prominent over the waves.
They then form a pattern unique to (and seemingly dictated by) the point focussed upon.
The pattern seems to loop before a larger version of it seems to fade in to join it from behind the jagged waves.
The larger version becomes more clearly visible, still looping, and along with the smaller version.
Both copies start to move in a not-perfect, erratic circular motion. As this happens more copies of the pattern can be seen in between the two original copies, like a trail left behind by the foremost.
The whole collection seems to be reaching toward me from the flat surface, larger and larger. It begins to fill my vision until it reaches a point at which my brain tells me it only *appeared* to be coming away from the flat surface.
Very, very surreal experience. After I had finished the intial wonderment I went to work. While at work, though some of these manifest, none were with the same strength as my focus appeared to be on the job at hand.
During this entire experience, I did drink some water.

All of the phenomena returned after work, at which time I had little to do and nothing to concentrate on. It all came back and persisted for a few hours. Wasn't overwhelming and became easy to ignore once I had turned on the TV.

2nd Day
Corners of rooms appear to be blurred, with an active and fuzzy blur that wobbles. If observed for long, blur expands with the same 'coming toward' effect seen previously.
Edges of all shadows wobble when initially observed, and then begin to expand and contract in time with my heartbeat (via the warping of curves).
When not directly observed, shadows occasionally seem to move by themselves in ways they are not supposed and by impossible means of transition.
Seeing occasional flickers of movement from other inanimate sources in my peripheral vision also. Mainly motion in straight lines - not of the object itself but of the most prevalent colour it features.
On two occasions I observed some kind of aura effect. One from behind the fingers on my right hand for a couple of seconds, best desribed as fuzzy but curved, and one from behind a lamppost, described the same, also for a couple of seconds.
Noticed a circular light cast against a wall from my torch seemed to expand and contract like a malleable, thick liquid for as long as I focussed on observing the centre of it.
Seemed to stretch in random directions while the proportions of the wall seemed to remain the same.

Blurring in my vision, by the end of this day, could be manifest from observing any straight line, including looking at a pen, which quickly blurred, and a picnic table, blurring one wooden slat at a time
by observing them until the table itself was affected. Looking away seems to reset any particular instance of this one. The process is not progressive (i.e. one end of the pen to the other) but more engulf (slowly, the entire length of the pen begins to blur, and once it reaches capacity it seems to expand in all directions to become larger until no longer observed directly.

3rd Day
Today. It's 4:52 am. It was hard to sleep with the worry about all the stuff I'm seeing, so I started writing this post and while doing so noticed more to add to the list.
Stuff seems to be flying across my vision now, but not in an intrusive way. Left to right in peripherals and definitely ahead, not behind. But the objects themselves have been anything from blacksilhuoetted copies of things on my desk to just random shapes or lines. While not enough is ever seen to get in the way of my vision, it is somehow always instantly recogniseable as something I own orhave seen many times. I have noticed this happens chiefly when I look down to my keyboard from my screen, and back up again. The return trip and change of focus seems to be what triggers the movement.

Icons on my taskbar sometimes change colour when not directly observed. Further, when moving my focus away from the screen, my Firefox icon stays the same distance from my point of focus until I find anew one and it disappears back to the taskbar. This has also happened with text and other dark areas/objects on my desk and in the room.
I am occasionally seeing something that is not there, usually a flat shape or collection of shapes comprised of 2-4 colours and created with a very basic no outlines colour only style that immediatelygrabs my attention. When I look to the image (first thought being what is this, and why is it on the side of my guitar case) it is already gone. Usually always some kind of afterimage for a brief splitsecond, as I travel my eyesight to the location where it was.
When I look at the back of my hand (I have prominent veins, being that my arms are like noodle) and I can observe my veins writhing and finger joints moving and twisting in a very strange andcaptivating manner.
And finally, I think I am hallucinating audio as well. I keep hearing keys behind the tapping of my keyboard, and during breaks in typing I can hear door slamming, or low whispered voices. On occasion,the sound of the delivery loading gate (big ol' squeak') can be heard, behind various other noises. This and numerous other familiar audios have been heard - by me and I would presume only me. Given thetime of day, now 5:19 am, and a sunday (so no deliveries, no people, no doors slamming at this hour, and bear in mind I live at a pub that sits in the middle of a forest, with twenty minutes to drivebefore you even reach a non-farmer household)

Occasional sensations of pins and needles in my pinkie fingers both (tips to knuckles, verious strengths.) Occasionally I hear the sound of a moth beating its wings coming directly from inside my head(weird, I know, as it's my ears that hear this.)

I just picked up my guitar and played a quiet blues riff, and heard a muffled conversation behind it. Nothing clear, but two distinct voices and various tones that didn't seem todepend on the strings being played. Another audio hallucination, I guess.

My own shadow on the wall just appeared to raise its hand as I typed the last sentence, very briefly, with a flickered transition down-up-down.

I occasionally now see smoke rising up in the corner of my sight that isn't there when I look around to source it.

I may sound as though it is all getting too much - it isn't. It is surreal, that's for sure, but the very worst of these phenomena combined become an annoyance. The changes to my visual (which for want of a better word seems 'glitchy') field are the most concerning, and I would definitely appreciate any useful insight whatsoever.

I am a little bit concerned that I am looking at a buildup towards a migraine, but with all of the things I am seeing and hearing right now I hope not as this is stressful and intense enough as it is.
Otherwise I don't know what to think. Happy to answer any specific questions for you regarding lifestyle, habits, etc. if that helps to figure it all out.

There have been other things but they're mostly derivative of something I have already listed.
If anybody can help me figure out what is going on here, I would be a very grateful (and probably slightly less worried) man.
Note - I do not consume recreational drugs or any other pharmaceuticals. Lack of sleep on the third day probably contributed to the phenomena listed there, but otherwise that's it.
I do consume one Vit D booster, one Iron booster, and one Multivitamin daily. Have been for a while, so it isn't that.

Edited by Fengris
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Have you been taking any drugs? If not, I have been seeing some sort of hypnagogia with eyes closed open and closed all my life. It's patterns, colours, swirling circles, flashes etc. It's much more prominent in the dark, with the eyes both closed and open. I forgot I had this until I read what you wrote. These are called phosphenes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene

They are some theories, but no one knows what causes it and it doesn't bring any danger as far as I know. I don't know if this is what you're talking about. Yours seems more severe (smoke, blurring, stuff flying accross your vision) and it has suddenly started happening to you, so it might or might not be that.

Anyway, it's probably best to go see a doctor.

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The majority of the listed experiences have now passed, though the black dots remain along with the occasional flickers or movements in my peripheral vision that aren't easily explained. I suppose this was some sort of episode? I can confirm that the last time I consumed any sort of dangerous substance was over two years ago, and though I am a regular drinker I am not a heavy one. Anyway, for the most part my senses seem reliable again, and I will visit my doctor and ask for an EEG (if that is the right scan to ask for) to ensure that this was not the result of any brain-related problem.

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16 minutes ago, Fengris said:

The majority of the listed experiences have now passed, though the black dots remain along with the occasional flickers or movements in my peripheral vision that aren't easily explained. I suppose this was some sort of episode? I can confirm that the last time I consumed any sort of dangerous substance was over two years ago, and though I am a regular drinker I am not a heavy one. Anyway, for the most part my senses seem reliable again, and I will visit my doctor and ask for an EEG (if that is the right scan to ask for) to ensure that this was not the result of any brain-related problem.

Don't dismiss retinal problems, so an optometrist might be advised by your doctor. There's lots of possibilities that it might be symptomatic of and your doctor should be your first port of call. Just describe what you've been experiencing and take it from there.

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Alright. This is why I didn't go to a site like webmd, some actual advice is nice to hear.

Out of interest, when you say lots of possibilities, what would be the most common of those? For the purpose of further research, and to be able to stay alert for any other symptoms that may be precursors to another potential 'episode'. If one were to happen at work it could be disastrous, and some form of early warning seems sensible.

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2 minutes ago, Fengris said:

Alright. This is why I didn't go to a site like webmd, some actual advice is nice to hear.

Out of interest, when you say lots of possibilities, what would be the most common of those? For the purpose of further research, and to be able to stay alert for any other symptoms that may be precursors to another potential 'episode'. If one were to happen at work it could be disastrous, and some form of early warning seems sensible.

It would be unethical for any of us to start guessing for you. If i was in your position I wouldn't think twice about going to see a doctor... I wouldn't consider those symptoms  trivial if those weren't normal experiences that I had. 

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21 minutes ago, Fengris said:

Alright. This is why I didn't go to a site like webmd, some actual advice is nice to hear.

Out of interest, when you say lots of possibilities, what would be the most common of those? For the purpose of further research, and to be able to stay alert for any other symptoms that may be precursors to another potential 'episode'. If one were to happen at work it could be disastrous, and some form of early warning seems sensible.

Go see a doctor now. And be sure to spill out everything to the doctor, especially if you had any drugs, all the details.

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  • 1 month later...

Like many mental disorders, it might be related to problems with sleeping.  Know that even non-pharmaceutical substances can be psychiatrically problematic.  Many supplements along with their "recommended" intake are not sufficiently screened, but their availability is considered an important freedom.  The answer might be right in front of you.

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