Floaters in eyes - anyone ever suddenly had this? Did it end well?

[cherryburton]

Please don't tell me if not, am so scared I could vomit.

Felt like I had an eye infection yesterday (eye felt hot and itchy) but then I noticed some dark floaters in my left eye. This is all slightly complicated by the fact that I don't have a lot of vision in my left eye due to an accident I had when I was very young.

Ended up in A&E and am now waiting for an appointment with the ophthalmologist (hopefully tomorrow) and am terrified as the Doctor I saw yesterday said it can be anything, a build up of cells, cholesterol, a tumour ... (He did say that eye cancer is extremely rare but I am prone to anxiety and it was obviously the only thing I registered!)

Any cheery pleasant stories to tell me please? I daren't google, I fell like I'm having a heart attack just thinking about it.

[AtYourCervix]

I did. I googled and shat myself. Thought I had various tumours and detatched retinas and stuff. Turns out it is just an age thing.

Good luck for opthalmologist appointment. AND DON'T GOOGLE!

[cherryburton]

Thank you Cervix . Do you still have them now or have they subsided? Apparently he could see more bits in my eye than he could count. Dunno why this would suddenly come on. Even if it's a detached retina it's not the end of the world as that eye is rubbish anyway. I just don't want a glass eye/cancer/death. We've spent this year watching my FIL die of cancer and he only died 5 weeks ago. Could really live without any more stress!

[AtYourCervix]

I see them more if I am tired - or looking at nothing like a cloudy sky. Irritating but not worrying.

[fuckityfuckfuckfuck]

Could you be pregnant? I got floaters in my eye when pregnant, before I even knew I was. I've read that it's quite common so I've assumed I don't need checking out, but now I'm thinking maybe I should?

[motherinferior]

If you've suddenly got them, you do need to see a specialist. PM me if you like: I write about eyes a lot, for RNIB, can email you something I wrote on floaters.

[cherryburton]

Fuckity, god - I suppose I could be? (Not sure if that would be more or less stressful?!)

mother - will PM you.

[AtYourCervix]

this was my panicky MN eye floater thread at the time. here

[cherryburton]

Ahhhh, I may vaguely remember that thread... Reassuring that no one said eye cancer. Glad yours turned out to be fine Cervix.

[AtYourCervix]

3 years ago my, how time flies

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

It could be a vitreous detachment - not so scary but can take a bit of adjusting to. the 'jelly' at the back of the eye detaches from the retina. Harmless but it needs a look at and you've done exactly the right thing.

[cherryburton]

Thank you BadKitten and everyone. Pulse rate settling down a bit.

Thanks, motherinferior, that wasn't scary and was quite reassuring.

Just hope this appointment comes through asap so I can stop freaking out.

[slartybartfast]

dh has them. he went to A & E and then ophthalmology, but no concerns and no treatment necessary.
i think he just has to live with it.

[jetsetlil]

I have had this. An optician told me it is normal - just an age thing and eventually your eye just stops seeing it. Don't worry.

[LongGoneBeforeDaylight]

I did, in 2005, when I was 21. I didn't see anyone about it but have subsequently. I went from having none to maybe 10 in each eye. I can still see then, they still annoy me but ultimately harmless.

[JellyBelly10]

I have lots and lots of floaters in both eyes, always being pointed out to me when I go for eye tests year after year (as if I didn't know they were there!). Mine have got lots worse as I get older (now 43) and I notice them more and more in normal day to day activities (rtaher than when I'm staring at a blank wall, which was pretty much the only way I could see them at one point!). BUt I've had them since I was a child, so they've never really worried me, the optician told me that the only time they are worrying is when you can also see flashing lights...can't remember what the combination of floaters and flashing lights meant, but I remember that it wasn't anything too serious like cancer and imminent death!! My optician told me that there's also an operation that you can have to drain the fluid/jelly out of your eyeball to remove all the floaters and then it's replaced with an artificial replacement fluid. Personally I hope I never ahve to go down this route!!! But floaters are not usualy serious or wrrying...they can be caused very easily bya knock to the head but are not usually harmful.

[LongGoneBeforeDaylight]

I think the combination of floaters/flashing lines is a sign the retina is detaching. This is a medical emergency as the detachment only takes something like 24 hours so OP it probably isn't that. While it IS a medical emergency it's also completely fixable.

[Naoko]

My dad had this. He saw an opthalmologist and I forget what the condition was called, but the doctor did something clever and futuristic sounding involving laser beams, and now my dad is fine and the floaters are gone.

[startail]

I have one in my left eye, very irritating St first, but I don't notice it as often 3 years later.
Optician says age and being short sighted don't help.
Yes, flashing lights and floaters can be a sign of retinal detachment, straight to A&E because it need not result in permanent damage if fixed quickly. I have an elderly friend who's eye sight seems not to have suffered despite this.

[cherryburton]

Thank you. I have an appointment tomorrow morning, and I had a chat with the doctor who called who was really reassuring and said the A&E doctor wanted telling off for mentioning tumours. So am feeling slightly less panicky about it.

[ThatllDoPig]

I had them when pregnant too. All fine now.

[cherryburton]

Hello again. Turns out I have a posterior vitreous detachment, which is much less scary than the stuff I was envisioning. It's not serious and there's nothing to be done. I just hope the floaty things settle down in time, it's quite annoying. Thanks for all the support.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I was right :)
You do learn to ignore them though sometimes they might haunt you if you are looking at bright back grounds such as the ceiling. However they can be quite good if you are bored as you can play with them - trying to make them go to different parts of your vision (note - don't try that in meetings)

[cherryburton]

Rofl BadKitten!