Embarassing visual disturbance question

Question

HI AGAIN EVERYONE.  I HAD AN ABNORMAL VEP INBOTH EYES AND THEY DIAGNOSED IT AS MS ON THE REPORT.  I AM WAITING TO SEE A NEURO AS I HAVEN'T  HAD AN MRI IN 10 YEARS.  MY EYE DOCTOR ORDERED THE VEP AS I HAD BEEN IN THE HOSPITAL AND BEEN ON ORAL STEROIDS AND SHE WANTED A MORE RECENT VEP.  MY FIRST WAS REPORTED AS NORMAL IN 1997, THEN ABNORMAL IN 2000 IN RT EYE AND BORDERLINE IN LEFT.  LAST SEEN NEURO IN 2000 AND THEY LOST MY MRI'S OF ALL THINGS.  I HAVE BEEN HAVING THESE EMBARASSING EVENTS AT NIGHT AND I READ A LOT OF HEALTHY PEOPLE GET THEM ESPECIALLY SPIDERS. YES, I SEE SPIDERS AND THEY WAKE ME UP AND ONE FELL ON MY HEAD (I'M NOT EVEN AFRAID OF SPIDERS AND THANK GOD IT WASN'T SNAKES:)).  I KNOW THEY ARE NOT REAL BUT HERE IS TONIGHT'S ENTERTAINMENT:   I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL KITTY AND THE OTHER NIGHT I AWAKENED SLOWLY TO SEE HIM IN FRONT OF ME AS A BEAUTIFUL PURPLE AND BROWN SPOTTED LEOPARD WITH INTENSE GREEN EYES...THEN HE SLOWED RETURNED TO HIS BLACK AND WHITE KITTY STATE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.  HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS?  I'M TOO EMBARASSED TO TELL THE DOC THIS!! I HAVEN'T HAD ANY CHANGE IN MEDS AND HAVE BEEN OFF STEROIDS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS.  THANKS SO MUCH AND SORRY FOR THE CAPS. MY EYES ARE TIRED AND I WORK FULL TIME SO I AM ONLY ONLINE AT NIGHT.

sadie405 · Accepted Answer

Because you are fully aware that you are experiencing a visual illusion, clearly you are "all there." So please do NOT be embarrassed, and you MUST tell your doctor.

I am not a medical doctor, but  there is something called "Charles Bonnet Syndrome" and this sounds pretty close to what you describe:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bonnet_syndrome

I ran across it following some pretty whacky visual events of my own. (In my case I was told that the lesions in my occipital and/or frontal lobes were likely to blame.)

Your description of the leopard with the green eyes was beautiful, by the way-- amazing what malfunctioning nerves will come up with!

Best,
Sadie

BlackCatz · Answer

THANKS SO MUCH, SADIE! I HOPE IT ISN'T A TUMOR AND IS JUST HORMONES OR SIDE EFFECTS OF MEDS..WHO KNOWS. I REALLY DIDNT WANT TO GO IN THE MRI OR DEAL WITH A NEURO AGAIN. I HAD HEARD THAT OCCIPITAL LOBE LESIONS CAN CAUSE THIS; ACTUALLY THE TECH THAT DID MY VEP TOLD ME THIS. WHAT WERE YOUR VISUAL EVENTS LIKE? I SEE SWIRLING BLACK SMOKE WHEN i OPEN MY EYES SOMETIMES.