I’ve been having them for about 20 years. It used to happen once or twice a year, some years not even that much, but the frequency has increased the past couple of years. When I had my first one, I went to my opthamologist for a diagnosis. He acted like it was no big deal, and it was so infrequent that I didn’t worry about it.

I see my opth. once a year for dry AMD and I have an appt. with my him in a few weeks, so I’m going to ask him about it.

I haven’t notice any triggers. It just happens randomly, beginning with a mild disruption in my vision. At first, I think my contacts are blurry and I need to clean them or something. Within a minute or so, I recognize what’s happening and I can close my eyes and see what you describe as “kaleidoscope vision”. Although, I hadn’t heard that term before, it accurately describes what I see. Mine is usually an arc or circle of tiny X’s that sparkle. At first I can only see it if I close my eyes. As it progresses, I can see it with open eyes.

Even though they are more frequent now, they seem to be less severe and of shorter duration. I used to not be able to read or watch TV and the whole episode lasted about 45 minutes. Now, I can still watch TV (or drive, if it happens while driving), but I can’t read. And they only last 10-20 minutes.

The first time it happened, I was left with a dull headache and very sleepy. I think I slept for several hours after. But now the headache is very slight and I don’t feel that sleepiness afterwards. I recover almost as soon as my vision clears.