So, it's January 3rd somewhere.
Not here. I am currently slightly sloshed on champagne after clinic. Dang, this work thing sucks. Tem42 already did a lovely job noding Charles Bonnet syndrome. I was going to reQuest that I node it, ha, ha, loophole. I saw an older woman who is losing her vision and came in complaining of hallucinations a month ago. The thing is that she was perfectly aka exquistly specific about the complaint. The hallucinations were only when she went to bed and opened her eyes. She shut them down by closing her eyes.
Now, I am a family practice physician. Visual hallucinations are really rare. Auditory are more common: methamphetamines and schizophrenia or both. So as fast as she was describing her visual hallucinations, I was looking them up on the Mayo clinic website: here. Huh. Major fail. So then I google it. I get this. And there it is: Charles Bonnet syndrome, which is not in my medical memory banks. I know she is losing her vision because I am brutally thorough about other providers/past medical history. Both she and I are relieved that this is a possible explanation and even plausible.
Today I called her because I have the note from her opthomologist. Yes. Charles Bonnet syndrome. She is asked which eye is affected and is trying to have the hallucinations and .... you guessed it. Fail. She has been opening one eye at night, but they are not recurring. She's coming in next week. So hooray for google and hooray for the Mayo clinic (even though it failed), because I can look weird stuff up fast.
And hooray for her and me and Tem42.
And Charles Bonnet, whoever he was. My patient is VERY happy that she is not going BANANAS.