Today's worry - my eyesight

[ServerError]

Health anxiety is a nightmare! It's just one thing after another. The other day I was on here terrified about vasovagal syncope and dissociative seizures. I'm over that now, even if I have those issues!

However, today's worry is my eyesight. I'm struggling to believe I don't have glaucoma or macular degeneration or a retina that's going to detach. Firstly, let me say that I know nobody here can tell me for certain whether anything is wrong or not, but hopefully I can at least be reassured to an extent.

The thing I'm worried about is eye floaters. Not the clear, circular kind that sometimes form strings. I've had these since I was a kid and they hold no fear for me. I had eye tests at school that never showed up anything, so I've no reason to believe these are bad.

But for the past few years - probably no more than five - I've had grey (or possibly black) floaters, mainly in my left eye. They're very noticeable against a bare background (a white wall, the sky), but even in a busier scene, I can see them. They're very small blobs of dark colour that have been there for a while and never worried me. I also get blurred vision, especially at the end of the day. I'm getting an eye test at the weekend so I know that's the only real way to find out what the deal is, but I'm trying to reassure myself it's normal. It might not even be anxiety-related. It could just be anxiety making me catastrophise it.

Is this a familiar-sounding tale? Or am I going blind? Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks as always.

[countrygirl]

I am partially sighed with severe eye problems from birth ( sorry for anyone who already know this and is reading) and have alot of experience of eye problems and know all the danger signs etc etc.

As you say having an eye test will be the definitive answer you need but as someone with an awful lot of knowledge though experience nothing you have said sounds in anyway out of the ordinary.

Everyone has floaters, whether you see them or not depends on your emotional state and also on how shortsighted you are.

The red flag symptoms I have had drilled into me are

Sudden cloud of black floaters that make you think you have cobwebs or spiders falling on you.
A curtain coming across or down your vision so you lose part of your sight.
A big black hole in your vision that flashes different colours when you blink
Lightening flashes at the edge of your vision on eye movement and worse in the dark ( totally different to migraine aura)
Severe pain in the eyeball
Sudden clouding of vision.

Even thne these are just symptoms that make eye drs want you to get seen asap but don't have to be really serious.

I get retinal bleeds which cause the black hole in vision, they heal up themselves usually with me but I see the eye dr everytime and they moniter in case I need treatment.

Have your eye test but I am guessing that you have perfectly normal eyes:yesyes:

[ker92ri]

Hi I really feel for you because I have this fear every single waking minute of my day. The only relief I get is through sleep and I'm quite scared to do that. But as country girl said as long as you are aware of the red flag symptoms. I recently went to see the doc about my floaters, they have gotten darker and it really scared me because I was almost certain I was having a retinal detachment. Turns out everything checked out fine. But she also told me that I was so hypervigilant and I had to address this because I would notice and obsess over all aspects of my vision (which is what I'm doing).

I'm trying and taking every day as it comes, but this is really an awful and tiring fear

Sending hugs and hope you feel better soon

[Buster70]

Firstly over half the illnesses you mentioned I don't know what they are and I'm not going to google them , about eyes I get floaters I first noticed them when it snowed couple of years ago , funny story i was walking my dogs one morning and though my god my floaters have got worse I stopped walking and it was loads of midges come out early because it was warm not nice walking though a cloud of flys but not life threatening either , things arnt always as bad as you think , I'm 45 now and need reading glasses but I guess that's just age related , take care .

[ServerError]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I really think I'm just becoming overly aware of perfectly normal floaters because of my anxiety - they never worried me before. My vision definitely feels 'off', blurry, unbalanced and strange, but I know what tricks anxiety can play on us. Hopefully my eye exam will clear up these worries.

Buster70 - the first two things I mention are not even dangerous. Vasovagal syncope is basically just a medical term for fainting. Glaucoma I imagine you've heard of, but macular degeneration is another eye condition. It's bad, but the good news is most people won't get it. Hopefully me included!

[ServerError]

Just wanted to share the good news that I got a clean bill of eye health today. The opthalmologist (I think that's right) could see my floaters but wasn't worried about them. She said I have very healthy eyes and said my vision exceeds 20/20 (I don't really know what that means but she said it was good!)

The only slight downside was that I apparently have 'light' eyes (again, not sure what that means) which increases my risk of cataracts, but I can reduce this by wearing sunglasses.

All in all, a happy outcome.

[helenhoo]

Well done for getting IT checked out. I had a massive eye worry beginning of the year. So much so I gave self eye infection through touching and poking and straining and testing. I wasn't sure what periphal visjon was, if my eyes worked properly. Even now I have tired eyes because I haven't slept much and slept in make up.

[turboswag]

Hello! I too have floater worries. I know the ones you're talking about, the clear "o" or doughnut shaped ones that get in squiggly strings. But there are also darker ones which are more noticeable. I have one in my peripheral vision, and the only way I can describe it is "inky", like when you drop a bit of black paint in water and it swirls around, when I move my eye this happens. I got my eyes checked and even mentioned my floaters to my eye doctor and everything is fine :) no worries!

[ServerError]

Yeah, I got a clean bill of health with my eyes so no longer worried about this anymore.