Astigmatism/Ghosting/Eyes??

[Grover]

I have been having a bad time of HA recently. Yesterday I noticed that when I look at certain text I can see a very faint transparent image of the text below it, almost barely visible. I do have astigmatism but I don't wear glasses. I have read that astigmatism can cause 'ghosting' as they call it for some people. Apart from that I don't have double vision looking at everyday things, although I have for years noticed for years that if I stare closely/intently at objects I can see what looks like an extremely faint ghost type image/low glow around it's edge, no more than 1mm wide of the real thing. I only notice this thing if I look for it. I have also noticed for years that my eyes blur and don't focus as well during anxiety episodes. I sometimes think that if you look hard enough for anything you will eventually see it. Any feedback on vision and anxiety would be appreciated.

[nomore]

Do you think that what you see might be eye floaters?
Ever since my health anxiety started all of a sudden I became aware of floaters in my left eye.
Mine just seem like semi-transparent tiny threads which move as I move my eyes. Initially I was really scared because I didn't know what the tings were. Went to an eye doctor, they did a bunch of tests and confirmed that I did indeed have floaters in my left eye and nothing else was wrong. Probably been there a while, I just never noticed them.
Ever since then I don't pay to much attention and the floaters don't really bother me that much any more. I guess just like the doctor said, my brain got adjusted to them again.
Floaters are generally more visible if you look at a clear background (blue sky) and in certain lighting conditions (office lights).

My eyesight also does tend to get blurry in high anxiety periods, but that's nothing out of the ordinary.

[cattttt]

Get yourself some glasses! I have astigmatism in one eye and I'm legal to drive without glasses, but I still can't see straight sometimes. My right eye (the one with the astigamatism) is slow to focus and isn't right sometimes even with the glasses. And yes, my sight is worse when I'm anxious, and if you look at anything for long enough you will see all sorts of things.

[bab]

nomore, I have had floaters in my right eye for months. Are they dangerous or a symptom of something?

[BeltaineInchy]

Nah, floaters are safe. Everyone has them. They are dead cells which everyone builds up from birth. People who are short sighted are more aware of them than others, especially in bright light. When you are anxious your pupil dilates so it lets in more light and makes floaters more visible. I have a nice pattern with some floaters that make something like cross-hair sights. From a very early age I used to play with getting things in the sights, lol.
Also, once you have noticed floaters it takes quite an effort of will to tune them out again, and, of course, as soon as you think of them they re-appear.
I have a slightly different one to add to the eye stuff. I get a halo around lights at night time. Been checked by the opticians and she just said my pupil has slightly larger than normal and the edges may cause inteference with the light and hence halos

[turnthelighton]

Hi Grover. I have big issues with my eyes and it started my anxiety started. I see floaters all the time, long sighted in one eye (left) and have problems with 3d according to the optician. I sometimes think I am going blind as when I look at bright walls etc it looks textured, bubbly in fact. When things go wrong for me it is all on my left side as well - strange. My optician suggested that even though I dont legally need to wear glasses wearing a mild prescription would help my eyes, so it may be worth looking into. Take care.