Eye Test

[tinker_bell]

hi everyone

I am really stressing out I went to the opticians the other day because I was seeing flashing lights and I was really concerned what it was. The optician did lots of test and told me my eye health was good and that I still didnt need glasses. She said it was likely to be migraines and anxiety causing the problem. Then when I got home I looked at my 2006 optician print out and noticed that my aided av was 6/5 in both eyes and its now 6/6 in both eyes. This sent me into a huge panic so I thought what if I am slowly going blind and glasses wouldnt help anyway. I then made the silly mistake of looking it up on google only to find that there is an eye condition that is called Retinitis pigmentosa in which you slowly lose your sight and go blind. One of the symtoms of this is seeing flashing lights. I am really worried that this is what I have and that I will slowly go blind.
I tried ringing the optician who said that there was no problem that 6/6 aided is still 100 per cent vision but what if everytime I go back it gets worse and glasses dont help. My worse fear is going blind.

Sorry to have gone on and on. I am just sooo worried about it :weep:

[Utility]

Hi

Your optician is the expert, not google.

[tinker_bell]

Yeah I guess your right :) I just always get these things in my head and cant get rid of them and of course cos I am now thinking about my eye sight 24/7 I notice things like more flashing lights and asking myself if my eyes used to be like that etc etc

[countrygirl]

I am a non medical eye expert! I was born with severe short sight and now inmy late 40's have all the complications and am now registered partially sighted so I totally understand your fear of going blind cos for me its a real possibility. I will eventually be able to have operations to hopefully restore my sight but there is a big risk they can blind me so I will not have the operations until I am almost there anyway.

Please please believe me from my vast experience of all symptoms of real serious eye problems that you have nothing at all to worry about.
Yes flashing lights can be a sign of something serious like detached retina but in 99% of cases it is nothing serious- silent migraines which I have had occasionally give the zigzag flash that moves from one side to other of eye. True eye problems do not go away like silent migraines do and the flashing is completely different I know.

Your vision is wonderful so appreciate it for me please. Opticians are much better than any Dr as they specialise in eyes only so please beleive them and ignore you occasional flashing lights.

[tinker_bell]

Countrygirl - thank you for your reply and I am very sorry to hear about your problems with your eye sight.
The flashing lights I am seeing at the moment has been for the last 3 weeks and I get flashes in both eyes like lightening on and off during the day. The more I think about it the more I seem to get it.
I feel abit silly now after seeing what you have gone through.

[countrygirl]

Sorry tinker bell I didn't mean to make you feel bad honest but was just trying to explain how I know what the serious stuff is like.

ARe you getting pin pick flashes or lightning type flashes?? If you have an serious eye problem then the flashes don't come and go they are there all the time - I had a vitrious detachment that went wrong ( jelly in your eye naturally detaches with age and you don't know its happening) but when it goes wrong as mine did I got lightening flashes around edge of eye every single time I moved my eye being more obvious in darker light but it was all the time every day - I could even see it with my eyes shut as the movement was pulling on my retina. An optician would be able to see straight away if anything like this was the cause of your flashes.

I also have a retinal bleed and woke up to see a black hole in my vision that flashed different colours when I blinked - it never moved and was there all the time and again I could even see the different colours with my eyes shut.

HOpe these two examples help reassure you the difference between serious eye risk things and annoying but benign things

[countrygirl]

Hopefully the moderators will delete the previous post as its obviously an advertisement.

[tinker_bell]

Hopefully the moderators will delete the previous post as its obviously an advertisement.


Thank you countrygirl I just saw that and went into panic then read your post calmed me down. :)

[anxietyoverload]

Hi

Im completely new to this site, my anxiety started when i went to the doctors due to feeling constantly sick, they diagnosed me with indigestion due to some acid tablets the doctor had given me for period pain which tore the lining in my stomach!! this lead to me been ill for around 6 months, before this happened i was very happy go lucky, but now i worry constantly about every pain i feel!! since then i have been seeing shapes, lights and flashes infront of my eyes, which are worse when i stress. iv been to the opticians and they confirmed i am fine, seeing your post has made me feel so much better!! thank you!!

[tinker_bell]

Hi

Im completely new to this site, my anxiety started when i went to the doctors due to feeling constantly sick, they diagnosed me with indigestion due to some acid tablets the doctor had given me for period pain which tore the lining in my stomach!! this lead to me been ill for around 6 months, before this happened i was very happy go lucky, but now i worry constantly about every pain i feel!! since then i have been seeing shapes, lights and flashes infront of my eyes, which are worse when i stress. iv been to the opticians and they confirmed i am fine, seeing your post has made me feel so much better!! thank you!!

Hey anxietyoverload :)

Welcome to the site. I glad it has made you feel better. Being on this site really helps you see that a lot of these symptoms are shared by others and you are not alone. Its nice to hear when others have been through the same as you and it is just an anxiety thing. I went to the optician and everything was fine but its still there when I get really anxious or stressed. I am trying to ignore it and not panic and am hoping it will slowly go. It is not as bad as it was at first so fingers crossed.