A photographers worst nightmare?

[sm4him]

I can definitely identify with this!! I have had vision problems since I was about 6 years old. Without glasses, my vision in both eyes is something completely absurd, like 20/600. Even corrected, it's not that great. Plus, I have floaters...LOTS of floaters, ALL the time, so it's basically like having constantly blurry vision.
About three years ago, I started getting ocular migraines, like what the OP describes. Jagged, white lines in my vision. Sometimes they appear and disappear quickly. Other times, they start slowly, off in one little corner of my vision, then slowly creep over my whole eye, eventually making it completely impossible to see. I've had that happen at work before and just had to stay late until it passed--couldn't see to walk TO the car, never mind drive the car home! Finally, it'll start edging off toward the other side and finally out of my vision. The headache, if there is one, usually doesn't happen til hours later, or even the next day.

Two years ago, the doctor basically told me that a retinal tear is almost certainly in my future. If not caught REALLY quickly, those can indeed have devastating effects on your vision for the rest of your life.

But, as MLeek said, I've long since decided not to ADD to the problem by worrying about it. The only thing worrying would do is stress me out, and stress kills.
And I refuse, absolutely REFUSE to let it keep me from doing photography. So, I've learned to adapt. I can't always tell if a photo is OOF or if it's just my usual blurry vision and the photo is actually fine, but I'm getting better and better and being able to note some differences that usually clue me in.

All in all, while I'd hate to LOSE my vision, there's nothing I can do about that, so I enjoy it while I have it.

I can't remember who said it, but I love the quote: "It's one thing to lose your vision. It's another to lose your ability to SEE."

Glad yours is "just" migraines, but I'll warn you--those migraines can be killers, and they can get worse and worse!! But at least they remind you're still alive!

 

[zombiemann]

I've suffered from migraines since I was a teenager, but either these are a different type or just a new symptom. I didn't even think about it possibly being migraine related because, well...., for 20+ years I've had migraines without the current symptoms lol.

I did get a good chuckle from the Doc today. He put some kind of dye in my eyes and it made my vision very yellow... so I said "Whoa, a sepia filter for real life"

 

[Dr_Totenkopf]

All through high-school my eye site got worse and worse. Its stable now I only need glasses when I drive at night. The culprit was Microsoft Word and AutoCAD. Staring at a white screen for several hours a day burned out my eyes. So a world of advice change every setting in your computer to black and dark grays. I still spend alot of time playing games and writing on my PC, but now I don't strain my eyes.

 

[Farmclicker]

My eyes are bad. I got some steel in my eye a few months ago and it took 3 trips to the eye doctor to drill the rust out. It was not a lot of fun.

That being said, I used to get what they called migraines and it affected my eyes. I dealt with it for 20 years before I finally got a neurologist who started from scratch...literally. He got a blank piece of paper and said, "now tell me your symptoms". After going through all of them he smiled. I did not have migraines at all by a type of mini-seizure. In 30 minutes time he would start the question...like "do you have a funny taste in your mouth", and I would reply, "like a metallic taste" and he would nod his head. In the end I was put on medication for it. I am a farmer without medical insurance so while the 283 dollar per month medication worked, I could not afford it. (Did I mention I am a farmer ) In the end I have found out that for me anyway, taking two aspirin per day thins my blood and I do not have seizures.

I am not here to say "this is everyone's problem"...it probably isn't, but it took me awhile to get a host of Doctors off the "it is a migraine" theory.

I am not here to say aspirin takes the place of $283 per month medication...it probably won't, but I will say for some reason (God's Intervention) it has for me. It may be worth trying.