Anxiety and eye worries - really struggling!

[anaa1]

Hi, I had an optician appt last week and she has referred me for further check. She told me that my retinas ‘just look different from each otjer’, that this could be normal for me due to having had a lazy eye and squint as a child. She actually wrote on the referral form though ‘possible changes in macular region’. I have health anxiety and this has sent me absolutely crazed, I can’t think, am just in a state of panic, have diagnosed myself with macular degeneration and I’m terrified, and can only find information about its progression on line. This is made worse by the fact I occasionally get blurry vision in the centre when I’ve been doing close work (but it always goes away after a minute and I have had this for a long time when there was no change in my retina)
I don’t know really what I’m asking for other than can anyone offer any words of wisdom for me?
I’d be so grateful x

[Oldmum55]

Anaa1 it's good that you have seen an optician and you have been referred. At least you are going the right way about it, I know you will be anxious till you have been seen, but in the meantime try to be positive, don't just concentrate on the worst possible scenario. Hopefully you will be seen soon and reassured.

[Surfskatefamily]

Hi, I recently had an eye worry. Not the same but I suffer from anxiety and it was so stressful not knowing. The wait is 22 weeksfor ophthalmologist here.
However a consultation with a private one was between £160and £180. And you can be referred back to NHS for further exams and treatment if you need. I had the consultation private and used my emergency savings as I felt it was worth it to prevent me worrying myself sick for so long.
Could be worth ringing your closest private hospital to enquire prices. You'll likely get seen next week.

[GreenButBlueButYellow]

Blurry vision when focusing close up for a minute or so...I get this too! If I look at my phone for 5 min then look up my vision is blurry looking straight ahead it can take up to a 30 seconds to come back Properly. I do have a squint too. Do you have any vision problems? If you did have MD you would surely have other problems?

[anaa1]

Hi, I thought I would update in case anyone found this of interest now or in future. Thanks to you guys for responding, and sorry I didn't get back before, but I'm not on here very often.
So I saw the Opthalmologist at the local hospital and he was such a lovely guy. Basically there is nothing wrong with my retinas. The only thing I have is that the membrane at the back of my eye (which naturally detaches as we age, and comes away from the back of the eye, it's called posterior vitreous detachment) has detached completely except at the macular region in my right eye. Theoretically this could cause me a problem if it eventually detaches, as when this happens it can cause a macular hole, but that's treatable.
Because the specialist knew how anxious I'd been, he kindly referred me on to see a retinal specialist just so I could find out more about it, and again he said there's no issue at all really. When I said about my blurry central vision after close up work he just said let them know if it worsens but that it is just one of those things, nothing to be concerned about. I feel sure it's caused by that area of membrane that's attached, because the blurry central vision is only in my right eye, which is the one where it's attached.
So anyway if anyone needs to see this at any point, a referral CAN be literally nothing, just because you're referred doesn't mean you have anything! Next thing to work on is my anxiety :-D

[Oldmum55]

Thanks anaa1 for getting back and great news! It's reassuring to all of us to know that if referred for any reason, there's no need to fear the worst!

[anaa1]

Glad it helped - I wanted to update in case it was useful! X