I have to go back to the beginnings of my memory of my SOM, because my symptoms were constant, and relentless, during the several years prior to my surgery last July.

 

I had a sense that my symptoms and their occurance and increase were connected to the changing seasons.  For many years I was convinced, or more properly, convinced myself, that the changes that occur during the alterations in the rotation of the earth and degree at which we are aligned to the sun during the course of the year were a significant factor in the reappearance of my symptoms.  Whilst I now think that the coming and going of my symptoms during the year were just my disorder's natural nature and progression, I was invested in those seasonal change theories for decades.  They still hold an allure for me, but I am able to recognize them as part of my desperation to make some sense of my difficulties with my vision.  However, even though I have come to accept, sort of, that, I am not entirely giving those particular theories up any time soon!

 

I just do not know enough about how my brain works to place all of this in context.  My experience with SOM has made me feel vulnerable in ways that remain with me still.

 

So, as to actual triggers, I must report that I seemed to be without them, despite all of my weird theories.  Mostly.  It could be that because I had such constant symptoms that triggers were less evident to me. 

 

Even though I have participated and shared in discussions about triggers over the years, and wrote on the history board that it wasn't a trigger for me, I do remember being troubled by the strobing that you can experience when strong light passes through irregular barriers, like bright sunlight flashing through bare tree branches whilst driving.  Simply because it bothered me does not mean that it translated into increased symtoms, but I have to be honest and say that I just can't remember how closely aligned the two were.

 

Sinus problems, colds, flu and other temporary health conditions did not seem to bother me.  Caffiene and other stimulents did not bother me.  Night driving was a problem, but it was more a factor of my symptoms than it was something that made them worse.

 

Stress?  That seems to be a huge factor for many of our members.  Until the past year or so, I have always held two or three jobs at a time, in addition to having the usual, hyperactive family life that most of us seem to have, so it will never be possible to know if any of that increased my symptom load or not. 

 

Emotional difficulties.  We all have these.  Just trying to make it through your life brings all kinds of emotional distress and issues.  It is simply part of the human condition and experience.  I have written before that I have sufficient emotional issues to fill an encyclopedia...and probably a few mental health care facilites as well!  That is only partially my pathetic attempt at humor.  Living in our world is not easy, and having an invisible, misunderstood, misdiagnosed and mismanaged disorder certainly does not help, not to mention that all of the falling, tripping, stumbling, dropping, crashing, and household accidents surely have a significant impact on our stress levels and our ability to cope.

 

It is difficult to pull out all of what I have felt, thought and shared about triggers in the past.  Being without a lot of eye movement now seems to have triggered (ha! SOM joke!) a loss of memory for me regarding all of that.

 

Even though I am, clearly, useless in advancing this topic, I do, firmly, believe that triggers are an important component of SOM, and I am very interested in hearing what triggers you experience, or have experienced in the past.

 

Come on.  Haul your twitchy selves out of hiding and complacency, and share your experiences, thoughts, feelings, theories and more.  We miss all of you guys and look forward to hearing from you.