eye advice

[rach6]

Hello, I'm new here so wasn't entirely sure if I should post again right away, but this has been on my mind constantly for the last fortnight and would really appreciate some advice. Two weeks ago I started to see a small cluster of black dots in my right eye, usually at the corner of my eye or whilst looking at a bright screen, that disappeared as soon as I blinked or looked away. They are not there permanently and I have only had them every couple of days since they first turned up, but after reading up online that floaters could be a sign of a retina tear, I haven't been able to stop panicking about it. It had me in tears earlier convinced that I was going to go blind or worse.

Would my symptoms be more intense if it was, in fact, a retina tear? Or are there other symptoms I should be looking out for? Or could it be anxiety linked? I'm booking an eye appointment for hopefully this week to put my mind at rest, but as an agoraphobic this itself is stressing me out. I haven't been out in a public place in over four months and I'm terrified that I will have an anxiety attack or faint in the waiting room/during the eye exam. Any help or advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

[Kelley]

Hey Rach.
I too have an eye exam next month and am also stressed over it! If you do a search on visual disturbance in the search column you'll see one I posted about similar occurrences. Eyes are very switched on when anxiety is involved, after all they are nerves themselves. However it doesn't always help when you have experiences like these so an eye exam will put your mind at ease

[Magic]

Hi Rach6
Sorry to hear about your eyes. The main thing is to get your eyes seen to
and examined. You could explain to the receptionist before hand about your anxiety
I'm sure they will be sympathtic.Often they have many people in who have similar problems.
Let us know how you go on

[DonnaWallace]

Hi Rach6
Sorry to hear about your eyes. The main thing is to get your eyes seen to
and examined. You could explain to the receptionist before hand about your anxiety
I'm sure they will be sympathtic.Often they have many people in who have similar problems.
Let us know how you go on

I hope that this idea will work for you Rach. I hope that you feel better now after this.

[PanchoGoz]

ello
i have a similar promblem. i see a single spark of light when i look at something dark, and i have great big floaters right where i focus on things so its an annoyance. its all hypersensitivity due to anxiety like Kelley said. daydreaming/eyelock makes it worse for me

[rach6]

Thanks so much for all the replies :] I have an appointment booked for next Tuesday (it's the quietest day, apparently) and was told not to panic about the floaters, but I honestly can't help it. Tuesday feels like such a long way off and whilst I'm calmer during the day, as soon as it turns dark outside I'm freaking out and losing sleep stressing over this.

[jothenurse]

I actually had a small tear/hole in my retina. I had many, many black specks that did not go away. They did a laser treatment to stop it from tearing away. Floaters can be very common, and have nothing to do with a retina tear. They can be from tiredness. They told me that if your retina tears, it will be like a curtain closing on your vision. If that happens, you should go immediately to get it checked. Don't worry about the floaters. They're annoying, but you'll be ok.

[rach6]

Thanks again, everyone. I finally went for my eye test a few days ago and from what the eye lady said, there are no obvious signs of a tear/bleeding, etc. That was a massive relief, but the only problem is, I refused to have the eye drops that dilate the pupils before she did the check. I was really quite anxious anyway and the thought of having the drops and waiting around for an extra half an hour really panicked me - anyway, she had a look despite not having them, but I can't help feeling that she might have missed something because I refused them! I keep telling myself that if it was something serious the floaters would have gotten worse by now, as it's been over a month, and she would have spotted a sign at the checkup, but it doesn't seem to be helping the nerves/anxious feeling in my stomach about the floaters. I've also noticed a new smallish floater in my right eye (it was there during the check up), but it's not like a curtain or veil, it's more like the dots left behind after a camera flash. I have a similar one in my left eye that I've had for a couple of years, so I'm not overly alarmed, but considering the situation..

[carlos2011]

Try not to worry Rach, my floaters have changed a lot since January. It doesn't help with the bright weather we have been having recently.

How are they now? The opticians wouldn't of missed anything, so don't worry about tears..you would know if you had one..you would have bright flashing lights etc.

Thanks

Carl