Wanna hear something weird? (Coming over from anxietyzone)

[Eventhesparrows]

Hello all! First post on here, but I was a "hero member" over on anxiety zone.

Anyway, I've dealt with hypochondria/health anxiety for over three years now, and my "go-to" fear that's ALWAYS at the back of my mind (if not the front) is the fear of having a brain tumor. I had a clear MRI 2.5 years ago, but lately - this is the weird part - when I'm lying in my bed at night on my phone, I'll be reading something on social media, or an article online and if I stop, keep my eyes still, I'll see flickering in the bottom half of my vision. The weird part? When I put my hands over my nose (cupping it in either side), it stops. I can't see the flickering anymore. It's really weird and it's seriously scaring me. Could it be the phone's reflection off my (sometimes greasy) nose? I'm so scared this is a sign of a brain tumor :weep:

[Dave1]

Hi, good to be speaking to a hero!
Good choice of illness - almost any symptom could be twisted by an expert hypochondriac to be a sign of a brain tumour! :D Anyway I tried the experiment. I could see a slight, slow, up-and-down, streaky movement under the phone, but I had a major problem when I put my hands over my nose because I didn't have any hands left to hold the phone. :)

[Eventhesparrows]

Lol. Yes. Mine was propped up. And you're right - everything "is" a brain tumor to me. Anything and everything is a sign or symptom of it :(

[Totallyphobic]

Hi I was a hero member at AZ as well is this the user name you used there? Mine is the same. On topic with HA any little sign always becomes a symptom of what we fear If your MRI's were clear then knowing these little symptoms will alert you when something major is wrong by a totally worse one that is different

[Eventhesparrows]

My username over on AZ was bpadilla49. My MRI was clear....But that was 2.5 years ago.

[Ethansmom]

HI, Welcome! I was a hero member on AZ well. I'm so glad we can all keep in touch through this wonderful website. I also have brain tumor fears! You are not alone.

[Eventhesparrows]

This is just so weird though. I've never had it happen/never noticed it before.

[Dave1]

Was it like my description or different? If it's different then maybe yours is normal and mine is the problem! :D

[Fishmanpa]

This is just so weird though. I've never had it happen/never noticed it before.

We all have benign anomalies and little things that we can't explain. IMO, this is one of them and something you just never noticed before. Like floaters. We all have them, some notice them more. It's a HUGE leap to go from a benign perceived visual anomaly to a brain tumor.

Positive thoughts

[Eventhesparrows]

Thanks Fishmanpa. Missed you.

---------- Post added at 21:42 ---------- Previous post was at 21:38 ----------

No, Dave1. It wasn't a slow thing. It's more like a fans reflection. Like if you're looking at a glass coffee table and there is a fan above you on, the flickering lights from the fan being on...That's what it looks like. But the strange thing - the thing that's got me really scared...Is that it happens randomly...Not every night when I look at my phone in bed.

[Dave1]

I kind of get the reflected look but no flicker, I don't use my phone much, maybe you're looking at yours too long.

[Eventhesparrows]

So I think I may have another piece of the puzzle - it only happens after I've had my eyes shut for a period of time, and then expose them to low lighting. For instance, it'll happen if I'm laying in bed praying (with my eyes shut) for a while, then I open them and surf the web on my phone in bed...Or it just happened right now after getting a massage - about 5 minutes after getting up off the massage table, I was sitting on a sofa, staring down at the sofa in low lighting, and I saw the strobing effect again at the bottom of my peripheral field. Weird. Is this a natural occuring phenomenon???