Anxiety about eye floaters. Positive replies only please

[Nursed123]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this so bear with me if its a long awfully written post!
Basically, I started seeing a load of floaters about 3 weeks ago shortly after coming off my anxiety medication - I am having the most awful time.
All I see is clear worms, brown dots, brown lines. You name it.
My eyes are healthy I've had them checked - the anxiety is stemming from the fact that I cannot believe I will ever see clearly again and I'm only 25!
Can anyone with positive experiences please help me out here I'm going insane!
I cannot live with this forever
X

I get them sometimes, then they go away. It'll be fine.

There are always there but because you're anxious and your senses are heightened you are simply noticing them. Why have you come off your medication? Do you think you were ready? Maybe try telling yourself that the floaters are nothing to be concerned about and try and fit some mindfulness into your day. Is there anything you enjoy doing that would take your mind off your eyes? Even if for just a short time. Now I've read your post, I can see them in my eyes but I'm not concerned and that's the only difference. Sending you my best wishes.

please relax! It will go with time!

Sounds like you might still be suffering a bit of anxiety. Your reaction sounds a bit extreme. Are you getting some extra support if you are no longer taking medication?

Hope you feel better soon

I have these - was worried about them when they first appeared but got eyes checked was all fine. They are still there, but I just don't notice them unless I get reminded (eg by this thread). Your brain is excellent at filtering out the stuff it doesn't need to know, give it a few weeks.

I used to get these in my anxiety filled days used to think I'll be like this forever but I've learned to just love with them while still going about my daily business and they eventually went!!anxiety will make you believe that it will never go but as you know anxiety is the biggest liar you will ever know!!

possibly completely off the mark -
I have never been on medication, but I can tell you that I have had ocular migraines on and off for years. They are characterised by dots and zigzags floating around in my vision, they last about 20 minutes, and they come without warning. They are pain-free, though I did notice I was feeling a little heavy headed just before it started last time. They are apparently entirely harmless. And they give my colleagues a laugh when they notice that I'm moving my head around like a chicken, trying to dodge around a floater in order to read something on the screen, because for some reason my brain keeps telling me that if I move my head, I'll be able to see around the dot, as opposed to the reality which is that the dots just move with me... sigh.

I have these and have had them checked out and mine are nothing to worry about- like other posters have said I don't notice them unless I think about it or get reminded!

You are all so lovely. Thank you for taking the time to reply so quickly.
My reaction is extreme I know and I have been back on my meds for couple weeks now so I hope they kick in soon- these silly little things are really affecting my life!
They are constantly in my line of vision no matter how hard I try to ignore them, just seems impossible at the moment to ever not be able to see them.
It doesn't help that I have stupidly been googling and reading some very depressing stories from people who say it is a load of rubbish that you can ever not see them and that you are doomed!

Thanks again for all your encouraging Comments. X

If you are of an anxious disposition, OP, step away from the medical websites and google "pictures of cute fluffy animals" instead! No good ever comes of self-diagnosis!

I suspect trying to ignore them is the worst thing you could do. It's like trying not to think about green penguins - all you can think about is green penguins. Like ithinkwerealonenow said.

I had a Grand Mal seizure a few years ago, initial tests said that I was fine but they scheduled more for a few weeks later to make sure nothing was missed - of course I convinced myself that I had a brain tumour (which is what they were looking for after all) and in those 8 weeks before getting a resounding all clear I had an abundance of floaters. And blurry vision. I went to the opticians and I fretted but once I got the all clear I have never noticed a floater since though of course I must have them.

I have one - mostly I don't notice that it is there. My optician says it is harmless.

I believe they are protein, very common and not a health issue.

I have them too they are annoying. You have to live with them like other irritants in life. Is there something else you can be grateful to your body doing well?

When I had my eyes checked for floaters the optician suggested the following to 'settle' the floaters - just moving your eyes, look up and then down very quickly a few times and they will 'settle'.

Like others have said, your brain gets used to them and you will notice them only occaisionally

I really am grateful for all of your positive comments and for giving me some hope that it may not always be like this.
The green penguin comment did make me chuckle

Hi guys -
Eyes are bad at the moment as this lovely sunny weather sets in.
Spoke to a consultant in London yesterday about treatment for eye floaters and he has advised me that unless my eye floaters are fairly static (which they are not! They are very very mobile!) I will not become adapted to them!
Feeling very despondent now x

Hi guys! Anyone still keeping up on this? I started to have an annoying floater in my left eye about 2 months ago, it's like a think black line with a few dots on it, and it's usually on the left side of my vision. It's so annoying and I always seem to make myself have so much anxiety over it, always thinking that there is something much worse wrong with me. I've always struggled with health anxiety but have always been fairly healthy. So when something this constant and annoying comes along, my hypochondriac behaviors come and make me believe that I have a brain tumor! Anyone else deal with this? Ugh. Anxiety is the worst. Hope you're doing better OP :)

I get them all the time and have done for years.

Always worse in bright sunlight and when I'm dehydrated, because when I haven't drunk enough water, the "jelly" inside my eyes is a bit thicker and it shows them up more than usual, and bright light does the same. (Summer = bright sunlight and dehydration!)

My optician explained it to me: they are just absolutely normal "cell debris" shed by healthy eyes (a bit like how we shed skin cells constantly). Normally we don't see many of them in one go as they're not very visible and our eyes are good at ignoring them, but you see them more when you're thinking about them (I.e anxious about them!) and the aforementioned bright light/dehydration.

• when I say I have done for years, I mean: on and off, and they don't bother me any more. I used to worry about them a lot and get pre-occupied by seeing them. Now I barely notice them.

Floaters are more common if you are short sighted and cause I am extremely short sighted I have experienced these pretty much all my life. They come and go, sometimes more noticeable other times less so, they are not related to anymore serious eye problems and there is nothing you can do about them. I see an optician regularly, and used to go to a specialist eye hospital as a child and they all told me floaters were nothing to worry about. Your brain does filter them out I don't notice mine so much at work but a few weeks ago I had an exceptionally large one and while watching TV at night I kept thinking a large black mouse was running across my carpet I hadn't realised that I now longer was seeing it til I read this thread. I've gone through mad cleaning sessions in the past when I have had lots of small floaters and thought work tops etc were dirty. Try not to worry.

Hi, just wondering how you're getting on as I am in the same boat! Hoping that you are coping a lot better now.

Just wondering how you are managing now. I am not managing at all but I am keeping trying!