Tuesday, March 07, 2023

Gridlock

About a year ago, a certain medication was causing me to experience phantosmia: i.e. smelling odours that weren’t actually present. It was not exactly pleasant to smell gasoline in my den, but stopping a certain medication put an end to it. Or almost: for every now and then, I seem to smell something that Sue doesn’t, and we do know that she has a keener sniffer than I. Nevertheless, these new [and infrequent] odours have been fleeting and actually pleasant. 

This is not about that but about a very different sort of hallucination, a year later.

On Saturday evening, we were watching telly at supper time. (I say telly because it was British. lol) There was wallpaper in background of one of the scenes, and I asked Sue about it. I wondered if she saw grid lines on the wallpaper. She didn't, but I did.

I don’t know when it began, but sometime in the past month or two, I have been noticing grid lines, like graph paper, on neutral surfaces. I first noticed them on the porcelain on the lid of the upstairs toilet. Then, I saw them on the downstairs toilet. Then I noticed them in lots of places: namely, floors and walls.

As I sit here composing this on my tablet, I look up and see grid lines on the opposite wall. But as you can see below, they are not there. Well, they are for me, even in the picture, but not for you.


I have played a lot of Sudoku in these quiet, post-surgery days, especially as I have been endeavouring to become more proficient at the Expert level.

Is that it? Have the Sudoku grid lines imposed themselves on my brain, or even left impressions on my eyes?

That doesn’t seem possible, but I shall stop playing the game for now to see if that makes them go away.

Googling yielded me no answers. I have seen that one test for macular degeneration is if grid lines go wavy. But those are real lines. Mine aren’t real, and they are straight, not wavy.

Other than that, I am seeing well, at least as far as I can tell. My most recent visit to the optometrist, just two months ago, did not reveal any cause for concern. Perhaps, I should ask for another consult, but first, I shall wait to see if my withdrawal from Sudoku corrects this weird phenomenon. I will miss my puzzle-time, but that too is life,

It’s not that this is affecting my life, but it does perplex me a little and maybe even concern me a tiny bit.

17 comments:

Ed said...

Many people see "floaters" as they age. Perhaps your floaters are just more mathematical than the blobs I see on occasion.

Christina said...

This is strange! I sometimes have olfactory hallucinations but have not experience visual ones before. Hopefully with your Sudoku abstinence, this will resolve.

Tom said...

It seems that as we get older a lot of odd things happen. Hope giving up the Sudoko works (try jigsaw puzzles or something else, but not crosswords.) If that doesn't work, I would suggest going to your doctor.

DJan said...

It might be what is known as an ocular migraine. My sister has them occasionally. I don't think it's serious. I'd trade you for my wavy lines from AMD. :-)

Jeanie said...

I have no answers, but this is fascinating to me. Please keep us posted if you find anything more.

Marcia said...

No idea what you're experiencing. Sounds very bizarre. Keep us posted.

Debby said...

No answers, but staying tuned. Good luck.

Barwitzki said...

I have no idea, just focus on other things...if that doesn't help then see a doctor.
Fresh air... being outside is the best thing for me. It's snowing and storming here - I still did my rounds.
I'll keep my fingers crossed...
A hug for you.

Granny Sue said...

How bizarre. I have never heard of this but you may have the answer. I do so many word unscramble puzzles that I do them in my dreams!

Barbara Rogers said...

You are a most unusual person. So of course you have a different vision of the world than the rest of us. But...eye doctors probably know what this is. If they don't, then you could start a cult. Just kidding. I have after images when I close my eyes after turning off the light at night. Usually some form of plaid designs, like kilts have. No idea where that comes from, and it disappears pretty quickly.

Boud said...

That's very odd. I wonder if focusing a lot in the sudoku grids has left a visual version of an earworm? Let us know how it goes.

Margaret said...

My first thought was macular degeneration but you put paid to that theory. I would think that you would have to do a lot of Sudoku for the lines to imprint on your brain somehow. But what do I know? (very little)

RedPat said...

That is certainly a mystery. Good luck with the test of no puzzles for a bit.

William Kendall said...

Very peculiar.

Red said...

This would create some stress. What causes it? No answers. Right now it's a mystery. I hope it goes away.

Joanne Noragon said...

No grid lines for me, thank goodness.

Jenn Jilks said...

Good luck with this one!