Is it bad to see images of patterns when waking up?

[eriberri]

well, I was diagnosed with drug induced psychosis 15 months ago, but it went away fast as I had quit doing drugs and quit drinking.

 

For a little while I have been seeing images when I first wake up. First time, I saw a giraffe skin pattern. (which is odd because Giraffes are my favorite animal) I would only see it for the first few milliseconds upon opening the eyes, so I keep opening and closing my eyes to see if it changes, but it remains the same pattern. I've only had it happen a fear times that i remember, most recently today, but it was a checkerboard pattern.

 

I don't know what the heck this is... I was wondering if it's anything I should worry about, I also have other problems with my eyes... I see the blood vessels in my eyes when exposed to bright lights, and suffer from a bunch of Entoptic phenomenon... Is it connected or something way more serious?

 

The little "flies" in my eyes are getting worse each day. I saw an optometrist and she said everything was fine, yet she was concerned that these things are happening. I also had a CT scan of my brain...

 

I was just hoping to get a little bit of insight towards this.

[jackson33]

eriberri; In giving this thread a little bump, I might suggest you PM "DrmDoc" this forum, directly and feel he could give you a little insight, he is in two of the fields your describing.

 

My first thought was the tail end of some dream, carrying over to conscience and may still hold true. The black and white color pattern would suggest an eye problem, but you have had this checked out.

 

Grats on beating the Drug and Drinking problem, but sometimes the problems that combination brings on, can take awhile to resolve. Good Luck....

Edited December 24, 2010 by jackson33

[Marat]

It sounds as though there are a number of different things going on here. First, the 'floaters' seen in the visual field, known as 'muscati fugitens,' are just the symptoms of a harmless shedding of cells within the eye. This increases naturally with age and is not indicative of a disease process.

 

Some people actually continue dreaming after waking up, in a form of lucid dreaming described in the 19th century by the English author Thomas De Quincy. That may explain the patterns you see on awakening, or it may just be a residual contrast image from changing background lighting intensities after waking up.

 

Seeing engorged blood vessels in the visual can also be either insignificant or significant. One possibility would be neovascularization near the macula suddenly appearing in the visual field as something new and thus noticeable. This is the symptom worth having checked by an ophthalmologist.

[Ringer]

Adding to what everyone else has said if your bed is close to a window sunlight hitting your eyes while sleeping could cause these types of 'phantom' images; assuming you don't sleep with a light on because that could do the same thing. That would be the simplest thing assuming there is no actual medical problem.

[DrmDoc]

I think these comments suggest the most likely cause of your experience:

 

It sounds as though there are a number of different things going on here. First' date=' the 'floaters' seen in the visual field, known as 'muscati fugitens,' are just the symptoms of a harmless shedding of cells within the eye. This increases naturally with age and is not indicative of a disease process.[/quote']

 

These shedding cells are likely the first images you perceive upon waking and are equally likely the source of the giraffe skin patterns you experience.

[Piratemolly]

I just saw this and  would like to know if you have had any closure on this. I had this same experience this morning (the checkerboard) and it has been very disturbing because I don't know what it is. If you have any additional information I would appreciate sharing  it.  Opthamologist says my eyes are fine.

Also,  I have never been a drug user or alcohol user. I have a healthy lifestyle and I'm not on any kind of Anti-depressants.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Piratemolly
Forgot info

[StringJunky]

7 minutes ago, Piratemolly said:

I just saw this and  would like to know if you have had any closure on this. I had this same experience this morning (the checkerboard) and it has been very disturbing because I don't know what it is. If you have any additional information I would appreciate sharing  it.  Opthamologist says my eyes are fine.

Also,  I have never been a drug user or alcohol user. I have a healthy lifestyle and I'm not on any kind of Anti-depressants.

Hi.I think an ophthamologist is going to know more than a random website like this.