Sudden eye issue

[Medievalist]

I was sat at my pc this afternoon. And suddenly started seeing flashes of light around the outside of my left eye.

An hour or so later I had a dark vertical line across the field of vision in the same eye. I've now got literally hundreds of tiny bubble like floaters in the same eye, about 3 or 4 bigger black ones that look like small flies, and a squiggly one like a fine thread scrunched up.

I've had what I thought was the odd floater before. But there are so many of these and they look like they're about 4 or 5 feet in front of me.

I've got an appointment at the optician in the morning. But I wondered if anyone had any idea what might have caused this. Feeling quite freaked out!

That’s good they are watching & waiting. It must be frustrating to be in a holding pattern, but good they are taking time to consider the best route for you.

@Medievalist hope they find it for you when you go back this week.

my situation was somewhat different in that they uhmmed and ahhed for 25 years 😂 I have a rare-ish thing called a colaboma made a bit rarer by the fact mine is on my optic disc right next to the nerve so all my life it was letting some fluid in behind my macula then it would recede, then build, then recede so it was a constant detachment risk but not a big enough risk to fix. Then one day whoosh, bye bye retina and all of a sudden I'm in surgery and by the time it was fixed I'd lost a decent whack of the vision and couldn't get it back.

Hi Op, how did you get on this week? I've been following your story. Great advice you have had. I hope all has went well

I went to the hospital eye clinic yesterday and the dr there said my eye is fine and she can't see any pigment. I've still got an awful lot of floaters in my left eye but she said they should sink over time. Good news of course, but slightly confusing as she seemed a bit perfunctory whereas the dr I saw on Saturday was very concerned and spent longer examining my eye. She did say I might find the same thing happens in the other eye!

If they don't settle, go back and ask to be seen again!

It could be that you have just had a PVD and bits of vitreous creating floaters, and that there is no tear; it was just flashes of lights etc as the vitreous detached, and then once it's completely done, you are fine. And if that's the case, that's good.

But given how hard some of them are to find - I had several doctors insist I didn't have one until one finally found it - I would still be a little wary, and potentially want to go back and have it checked again.

Apparently there is a greater risk of it happening in the other eye once you've had one. If you are particularly short-sighted, that increases the risk at an earlier age. My first eye had it when I was fairly young for that, and so far the other eye still has the vitreous firmly attached (according to the optician) but they said to expect it will happen to that too, and to watch carefully for tears and go straight to an A&E or eye hospital if I can.

I’d echo what PeppermintMocha says. Some tears can be very hard to spot. With my first detachment the consultant was huffing about my optician wasting his time with a referral to eye A&E and was still grumbling as he sent me across the waiting room for the special pulsed ultrasound. That showed a definitive tear but in a hard to see spot. Even with that information it still took him a while to find it when he reexamined me, but it was a detachment and I had surgery later that day. Also some PVDs need sticking back down (laser or cryotherapy) to stop them from progressing to a full tear.

Keep an eye on your symptoms. If you notice any change, for an example an uptick in your floaters or more flashes, or have any concerns get seen right away and don’t be fobbed off. As you’ve seen, an optician can dilate your pupil and have a good look so it doesn’t necessarily mean hours in A&E. Where I live there is an emergency appointments scheme for high street opticians which is covered by the NHS, so you don’t even have to pay for the appointment.

@SezziBaybee - kind of you to ask. Just the same really. Still got a big floater in my eye which is a bit distracting. I've got an appointment in a couple of weeks with the optician who identified the possible tear just for a check up.

@Medievalist

How did you get on?

Kind of you to ask Glitter!

I did have an eye appointment last week and coincidentally, the evening before, I started getting light flashes and big floaters in my other eye. The optician the following day confirmed another pvd with a small haemorrhage. But this time he did a scan of both eyes which I had to pay for (£80) but which he said would form a useful baseline.

It showed their was no retinal damage in either eye. It also showed that the macular was healthy which was good to know as macular degeneration runs in my family

So now I'm trying to get used to the big floaters I'm left with in each eye!