Really worried about my eye - floaters, weakness, light sensitivity

[BKF1515]

Hi, everyone, I know there was a thread about 'floaters' about a week ago but I had to write something here b/c I am getting anxious about my left eye. Is it normal to get floaters in one eye for a period of time, say a few weeks and then have them fade away again? This has happened to me twice over two years in my left eye and both times with a feeling of weakness in that eye, like only that eye is tired and it feels a little blurry and sensitive to light (like little halos are around things relfecting light)?

Please let me know if this has happened to you and if it turned out to be anything b/c when I Google it (I know, I know) I only get glaucoma and retinal detachment which totally freaks me out that I might be headed into eye surgery and/or potential blindness in the near future. I know I have to go see an opthalmologist for a check-up but if I call tomorrow morning I may not get an actual appt. for days or weeks and I want not to worry about it every minute of every hour of every day until then.... Thanks so much if you can help.

[Lucia_1989]

Hello there.
I have suffered with anxiety for years now, and i have this too.
My eyes are especially sensitive to light i find myself squinting half the time and sometimes i find that my vision is very blurry. I too get the eye floaters off and on but i have had them for years and have been to get my eyes tested and have perfect vision. so im sure this is all down to anxiety.
I hope this helps feel free to private message me.
take care.
Love Lucia
xxxx

[BKF1515]

Thank you, Lucia, do you ever feel that just one of your eyes is 'tired'? To me this is unnerving - just one and not both at the same time.

[emma44]

Hello! I am new to this site, and I have been suffering from terrible debilitating health related anxiety for the past 2 years. I have suffered from a variety of symptoms both physical (palpitations, sweating etc) and emotional (such a constant and never ending fear that I have some dreadful disease), but the symptoms that have frightened me the most are to do with my eyes and the strange symptoms I have been having...

First of all I started getting floaters, not very big and not all that often, but enough to scare me completely!! However once I saw my opthamologist who explained to me exactly what they were (and that my retina was perfectly intact!) I now notice them less and less and they do not bother me at all anymore.

Next, I started to notice stange colours and shapes (mostly pale blue "blobs") when i stare at a blank white wall. Interestingly this only happened when I was at work, under harsh fluorescent lighting, and only when I was extremely anxious and stressed (even more so than usual!) - I literally have to "look" for these shapes before I see them!! Again both my dr and eye dr thought this was anxiety related, and since my last eye exam a month ago I have hardly noticed these shapes at all. I was also told that this could be due to occular migranes as harsh lighting can be a trigger?

Finally the latest symptom that is causing me extreme worry and panic occurs when I focus on a patterned design (eg spots or stripes on clothes). Once I have focused on the design for a few seconds I see other "images" of the pattern jumping around on the fabric. Its very difficult to describe!! Again I mentioned this to the opthamologist last month who did not seem very concerned and said that this was related to my anxiety and was quite a common problem - but so far I have not found anyone else with this particular symptom!!

I feel that some days I seem to be making real progress with my anxiety, but at other times I just seem to be going backwards and getting worse!! It is on my mind constantly and I feel as if I am constantly on a high state of alert, looking for new symptoms, especially to do with my eyes!!

Emma
xxx

[BKF1515]

Emma, Thx for sharing. I know what you mean about seeming to make progress over a day or days or even weeks at a time and then something comes up health-wise and I seem to slip backwards again. Eyes are a frustrating area of the body b/c we constantly notice what we are looking at and if it is 'normal'-looking, etc. What you have described sounds like overfixation and anxiety which is of course easy for me to say but I wish I could follow my own advice. When I sit here feeling this weak, blurry eye, which now feels dry and even a bit sting-y, I am convinced SOMETHING must be wrong - esp. since I haven't been to an opthamologist for a check-up in years. I really just can't stop worrying about it. :(

[NoPoet]

Hi, symptoms like this with your eyes is likely to be something everyday and non-harmful e.g. tension headache, migraine, squinting, tired eyes, tiredness etc. you could have an eye exam if you're concerned as this will locate nearly any problem.

The aching around the eye seems to indicate migraine or migraine-type headache or, more likely, squinting.

Anxiety and medication can create a blurred eyesight effect.

[emma44]

thanks for your advice! yes I completely agree that being anxious about our eyes is particularly distressing as I am constantly looking for abnormalities that are not there!! My Dr described my state of mind as being in a constant state of "hyper vigilence"! I just wish I could ignore all this anxiety and get on with my life but I am really struggling at the moment, especially after feeling so much better before!

[marcc64]

I get floaters in my left eye only, don't know why not in my right, i have had them for as long as i can remember but never really noticed them as much until HA kicked in.

[BKF1515]

I made an appt. with an optometrist for Wednesday morn. Will definitely let you know what the result is.

[Claesand]

Vision... excellent choice for obsessing, it's my own favorite at the present time I'm relieved to hear that someone has this horrible feeling that one eye is constantly a bit tired and sort of lagging a little bit (and hope someone is relieved by hearding that I have it). It's the same eye that I have floaters in. The floaters I don't mind anymore, I even sort of like them since I know what they are, it's those glowing things that I really hate. For me they're pale yellow and sometimes there is like a short tiny flash... I also got visual snow but I think that's a by-effect from trying to look at floaters and trying to look for other stuff: I noticed that when I focus and so to say use my eyes for what they're good for (looking at things) I see perfectly clear. Well, I better go check so I don't have double vision!