Looking for advice

Discussion

Posting in both r/visualsnow and r/dysautonomia because I apparently have both (I’ll explain). I’m mostly looking to see if anyone has any input, or similar experiences that may lead to a new course of action.

 

In summary, I was diagnosed with autonomic nervous system dysfunction at the age of 19. I am 23 now, and it's important to note I'm in the military and have been since I was 18. I only say "diagnosed" in parentheses because my cardiologist didn’t order any tests, just looked at my Holter monitor and my symptoms, and said it’s that. Additionally, I was diagnosed with visual disturbances (which look more like visual snow), and both issues seemed to occur at the same time.

 

I first noticed the issues on 14 July 2022 when I was 19, about to turn 20. I would look at white walls and see that they were kind of moving, and I also found it significantly harder to see in the dark. Also, working out became hard; low-level jogs wouldn’t tire me out, but they would make my heartbeat super-fast. A medium-intensity job that would barely have me breathing hard would have my heart rate at 160-170. I also noticed I couldn’t tolerate alcohol or caffeine anymore; 3-4 alcoholic drinks would leave me with a hangover, and anything past that would have me bedridden for the whole day, and a cup of coffee would have my chest feeling odd. Accompanied by this are episodes of dissociation, dizziness, vertigo, sudden motion sickness, and brain fog.

 

I’m 23 now, and unfortunately, I have gotten almost nowhere with figuring out how to make my life better. I’ve been to a bunch of doctors and keep getting told it’ll fix itself, COVID caused it (never tested positive), and it's nothing to worry about (military doctors, btw). Fortunately, I have restarted my quest for answers and am now being seen by a civilian neurologist and cardiologist. So far I’ve done MRIs (w&w/o contrast), MRAs (w&w/o contrast), Holter monitor, echocardiogram, and nerve testing, and nothing seems to be physically wrong. My provider’s current avenue is medicating me for migraines. I really like this provider, so I am going to continue with his treatment, but after so many years of disappointment, I find it hard to remain optimistic.

So I’m just looking to see if there are other factors I am not considering. I’ve cleaned up my diet significantly, changed the way I work out (adding more electrolytes), reduced my caffeine/alcohol, and reduced my stress levels. Does anyone have any similar experiences?

The breakdown:

23M with symptoms of:

  • Visual disturbances/visual snow
  • De-realization 
  • Heart palpitations (cardiologist said autonomic dysfunction)
  • Vertigo
  • Brain fog
  • Tinnitus
  • Motion Sickness 
  • Random anxiety attacks
  • Sudden intolerance of caffeine and alcohol (really bad hangovers)

Posted Feb 26, 2026, 3:24 AM UTC

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