It had been a long, stressful day at work. The meeting had been quite demanding, and something had been wrong with the heating in the booth, and despite the technicians coming to visit it was still stiflingly hot.
All in all, I was relieved to be walking home through the dark evening, and looking forward to taking the Metro to the Zuidstation to meet Richard and Leigh, my visitors for the weekend.
And then, I noticed a rather strange, multicoloured jagged "W" in my field of vision. Looking like a primitive computer graphic, or one of those burned-in images you get when you've looked at something bright for too long, it was slowly growing, turning into a horseshoe, and within five minutes a circle, right in the centre of my field of vision.
By this time I was seriously alarmed, and was quickening my pace so that I could be at home before my retinas detached completely. But luckily, by the time I got home the light show in my eyes was already starting to drift off to the right, first into my peripheral vision and then seemingly off into space.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it seems I've just suffered an ophthalmic migraine. Caused by a spasm in the optic nerve, they can be completely painless (as mine was), and don't require treatment, often never recurring. Thank heavens for that!
Posted by Eurodan at January 26, 2004 11:59 AMScary, aren't they? I've had them only rarely, but the first couple -- when I had no idea what was happening -- were really disturbing. Was I going blind? Was it a brain haemorrhage? Some kind of neurological system crash?
This is the sort of thing they really should warn you about in school. There should be anti-hypochondria lessons on the national curriculum.
"No, George, that's not cancer. It's a pimple. Please don't squeeze it in class."
Posted by: matt at January 26, 2004 12:53 PMAha - I note by the use of the word "them" that you've had more than just the one. It's interesting to hear that they seem to be quite common, as I've never, ever heard of them at all before this week.
I agree about the idea of warning people - after all, I might have had a heart attack from the fright!
Posted by: Eurodan at January 26, 2004 9:24 PMI only see the last two posts, looks like a reference to scintillating schitoma. Had it since 1980, no big deal, just happens once every couple of weeks or so. I might expect pilots to have this treated, but the average citizen such as myself:
...nah...
BTW,
Anyone got a handle on how much of the rising health-care costs in the USA and Canada are attributable to Hypochondria? The prevalence of hypochondria in other countries by comparison?