What was going on in my brain when it created this image?

October 30, 2023 10:38 AM

In a moment of extreme pain, my vision went out and I saw a very clear visual without any simultaneous or prior cognition. What was happening in my brain?

I've been dealing with pretty rough sciatica for about four months. After weeks of some improvement, this weekend it got worse than it had ever been. Pain on 10 any time I would try to move from lying, to sitting, to standing, eventually a general inability to lie down on my back or stomach, could only find physical comfort in a kneeling or all-fours position, etc. A not fun weekend.

At one moment, moving from half-sitting to fully sitting, I experienced the greatest amount of pain I've ever felt in my life, like I just felt like my body shimmered with pain, and my vision cut out and I saw a an image of what I perceived to be myself as a shadow filled in with a neon orange light.

This all lasted a split second, again I did have an instantaneous sense that I was looking at me but there wasn't really much thinking going on, if that makes sense.

It was really impactful and weird! I'm mostly curious what was going on in my brain to create an image like that under extreme pain. Does this question even make sense? I have no background in neurology or the science of the body or the science of anything really.

(This is maybe not relevant to the brain question, but: my sense of my sciatica is that it's a psychosomatic response to incomplete grieving over several overlapping events in my life recently. Like obviously there's an underlying physiology--my MRI result come back this week--but I gather that some people with a disc bulge experience pain, some with the same disc bulge do not, and that there are psychological distress factors that come into play. Feel free to tell me if this sounds totally unhinged.)

posted by kensington314 to Science & Nature (9 answers total)

I don't have an answer, but you may find something of interest in Oliver Sacks' writing. Perhaps The Mind's Eye or Hallucination would have relevant portions.
posted by carrioncomfort at 12:02 PM on October 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

Here are two links from the Institute of Human Anatomy.
This You Tube website is two really great doctors that discuss various topics related to the human body. They have a huge library of various topics to choose from. I chose the two below for you since they are directly relevant to your question. Both doctors are very light hearted, informative and reliable about their delivery, but be forewarned that they show human cadavers to teach, but they are respectful in their discussion. You may find useful information on their channel.

Sciatica
DMT and the Brain

By the way, I have had sciatica myself to the point where I could not walk, and I found that doing side leg lifts were really helpful in getting some blood to the pinched nerve. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.
posted by effluvia at 2:08 PM on October 30, 2023

Response by poster: effluvia, thanks! Are these the side leg lifts you are picturing? https://www.wikihow.com/Do-Side-Leg-Raises Just double checking since they didn't make it to my exercise regiment from my physical therapist.
posted by kensington314 at 2:12 PM on October 30, 2023

I do gentle side leg lifts standing up holding a post for balance. Very gentle, build up reps slowly.

My other favorite thing is to lie on by back in bed with a stretch resistance band and use the strap anchor as a stirrup. I extend my leg into stretch forward, and above my body and extend my heel.
This position supports your back, stretches out your back and leg muscles without putting any weight on them, drains your legs of blood and lymph, and strengthens your muscles.

I have seen a real improvement in my leg strength, core muscles, pelvic floor muscles and skin (which is from draining my lymph from my legs) and back.

Gentle exercises, and as frequently as I want. Nothing taxing on my body.

Glad you find this information helpful. I hope you feel stronger and better soon, friend.
posted by effluvia at 2:19 PM on October 30, 2023 [5 favorites]

Regarding your theory of the psychosomatic component of your pain, have you read Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John Sarno? Many rational, sciencey people reasonably think this book is total woo, but it's not. I'm a rational, sciencey person, and although I was scoffing at the silly book while I was reading it, damn it worked. You don't need to believe it, you just need to read it. Back pain that had been significantly disabling for me is now a vague memory and an occasional trivial annoyance. (I can't recommend his later work, which veered too far into "This one idea explains EVERYTHING!!!" territory. It doesn't explain everything, but it does help to explain some things in a very useful way.) I hope you can find some relief soon.
posted by Corvid at 3:08 PM on October 30, 2023 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: Corvid, I have, and I have had this in the back of my mind until you reminded me. Just ordered it! Thanks.

effluvia, thanks again, I'm incorporating this into my routine.
posted by kensington314 at 3:28 PM on October 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is kind of not at all the point, but I suffer from lower back pain and sciatica in my left leg and while reading AskMe several months ago I found a question about back pain that referenced Stuart McGill's book Back Mechanic and I immediately ordered it and devoured it and I have incorporated his "big 3" exercises into every day life and I'm not going to tell you all my problems are solved but it has made a net positive influence on my life and has given me relief and pain mitigation strategies and, maybe most importantly, a better understanding of the hows and whys of how a back works. Best of luck!
posted by kbanas at 4:31 PM on October 30, 2023 [4 favorites]

I've experienced something similar. I explained it to myself as my brain being overwhelmed by pain signals and just saturating all available channels.

Aside for all the pour souls who end up here looking for sciatica tips: +1 for Sarno.

I have ruptured discs in my lumbar and sacral spine. And a herniated disc in my lumbar spine. I have visited the emergency department a few times out of fear that I wouldn't be able to get out of my house in an emergency.

I'm a rational engineer-type. I consider myself very averse to woo and that book gave me my life back. (Well, that book, a change of physician, rigorous PT and a course of epidural steroid injections.) I remember rolling my eyes at the first bit but finding the "try it, what do you have to lose" premise pretty inescapable. Kind of Pascal's wager for your spine.

Now I tell people "I don't have a back problem, I have a stress problem." I think they think it's a bit.

Good luck!
posted by KevCed at 4:34 PM on October 30, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I’m on mobile so I can’t find my sources, but there has been some work suggesting that extreme pain (or really any extreme nerve input) can cause the brain to scramble its inputs, causing sensory data to get processed by the wrong parts, leading to hallucinations of various types.

When I was stabbed, I swear I saw a bright purple flash and then watched myself fall to the pavement from a viewpoint roughly 8ft above my head all the while I heard a weird hissing noise. That is of course impossible, but boy howdy it hurt.
posted by aramaic at 7:08 PM on October 30, 2023 [5 favorites]