Eye floaters

[kittykat22]

Hi,

Im hoping other people can give me some advise on this...

Over the last week or so I keep noticing eye floaters, my family say they are common and everybody gets them but until my anxiety started I never noticed them and now it seems I've got a big increase in them.

I was really worried so went to the optician who tested my eyes and said they are fine.

I just can't understand why I'm suddenly seejng so many more floaters and I'm scared something is wrong :(

X

[Maj]

Hello, I've always found that these type of thngs are more obvious when you are tired and stressed. The optician would definitely have noticed if anything was wrong with your eyes - the eye test is so thorough these days. You will find that when you relax about them then they will gradually disappear or be less obvious. x

[Murphys Maw]

Hi

i get floaters when im about to have a migraine. i describe them as little sparkles that go round in a circle and then join up. i take a painkiller the minute get it and it seems to keep the headache at bay. I worried about them too but not anymore.

Best wishes
Maw x

[ankietyjoe]

I'm getting those a lot too. I also notice that I have very dry eyes due to constant anxiety which causes the top of my eyes to be tender, and also itchy overall.

The floaters get stuck because they're not cleared away with any sort of natural lubrication when you blink.

Eyedrops may help you, although I personally believe eye drops are only a short step away from torture :shades:

[LucyLiz]

I've had these since I was 6 or 7? At the time I told my poor parents I was "seeing falling sticks" you can imagine what they thought of that... I don't think they go away but are more noticeable during bright lights. They don't bother me in the slightest and find it quite funny when I move my eyes quickly in one direction and they fly across my vision! I forget they are there 90% of the time and I have loads of them! all different shapes and sizes.

[LucyLiz]

not bright lights, I meant white walls, or when looking up at the sky etc

[violet33]

i get floaters in bright light,or when looking at sky or white wall also. also, in fluorescent lighting i see floaters. i hate them, and i really dislike bright light. ifind it overwhelming and stressful.

[kittykat22]

Thanks everyone.

Does anxiety make them worse though or do we just notice them more becasue we pick up on things more than usual? x

[imjustnotme]

I see floaters all the time, more in bright light and white walls or anything white...but I also have a static vision...and will often see shapes of something i have looked at..like i look at the tv and then if i look the other way i can see the shape of the tv still, it's odd!

[Carrera74]

I see floaters all the time, more in bright light and white walls or anything white...but I also have a static vision...and will often see shapes of something i have looked at..like i look at the tv and then if i look the other way i can see the shape of the tv still, it's odd!

I've been having this a lot more lately. My floaters are like little round shapes with a dot in the middle. I try to focus on it and it moves. I think its a floater?!

I have the static vision too. I didn't realise it had a name.

[Jenny63]

I had these a few years ago and had all the usual tests done. I was put down to Migraine in the end although never always got the headaches:)

[stuart39]

i have these too but its not until i lie down or shut my eyes that i notice them. sometimes you try to follow them with your eyes shut and youll never catch them! they seem to always be slightly away from your main centre of focus. when your busy or rushed or just doing normal stuff i never notice them and they dont bother me but on the odd occasion when its quiet i spend 5 minutes trying to look at them-impossible!

if youre really concerned then a free eye test should put you at rest.

[Carrera74]

I had them in the car the other day and chased them all the way home (I wasn't driving lols)

[MidnightCalm]

I have black ones, they're small and more obvious in the light, they move just after my eye, say, when I look to the right then they all go to the right :/

[jennytot]

I am so glad I found this thread! I have been suffering with really bad stress/depression/anxiety lately and although I first noticed these floaters about 10 years ago (and obviously, panicked massively back then too!), I have had an increase in them for the past week or two. I had no idea they could get worse/become more noticeable with anxiety and stress. I have noticed in the past that they were always worse after a late night or if I was hungover or dehydrated. I also had no idea they were so common!

[Worried_Male]

Floaters are perfectly normal, it's just a projection of the retina. Everybody i know gets them.

[holly1986]

hello
i have a severely bad astigmatism but i never had floaters or anything like that until i had anxiety and at that point id have them terribly. i went to the opticians and they told me that any nervousness whatsoever plays up with your eyes and these will go away once you relax.
The problem is that you see some floaters, you panic, think youve seen another one, then another one, panic more and it makes them worse. these are 100% caused by anxiety and if you had anything seriously wrong with you, you would have many other symptoms - even if you had these symptoms they rarely indicate bigger problems.
Hope this helps
Oh btw i should mention i had this problem, visited 3 seperate opticians and 2 different doctors, had multiple tests and guess what? as soon as i found something else to worry about they disappeared!