Bleeding blood vessel in eye

[Blessedbethefruitcakes]

Hi, I had a routine eye test at the end of February and was told that I had a bleeding blood vessel in my eye which showed up when the optician looked at my eye. She said she was referring me on the 2 week pathway. I also had a visual field test which was ok but apparently I clicked more than I should have when there was no light!

The optician said my bleeding blood vessel could be diabetes or high blood pressure. I've also read that it could be due to the fact I have migraines (and seem to be more prone to them recently).

I rang up my local eye hospital last week as I hadn't heard anything. They said that was due to delays and my case had been marked as semi-urgent. The lady I spoke to booked me in for another visual field test at my local hospital. I had that today and it went ok, the nurse couldn't tell me much other than I did ok on the test but one eye was better than the other.

I've now got to wait 6-8 weeks for a consultant appointment at the main hospital where the consultant is based.

Should I be worried? If they think I have diabetes or high blood pressure why haven't they just asked me to get them checked at my GP? Is the 6-8 week wait to see the consultant because I'm not seen as urgent anymore or is it likely just due to the back log after covid?

I think my blood pressure is ok as I've tested it a few times at home and it's always been fine. I had a hba1c test about 18 months ago due to tiredness and it was 39 mmol which I was told was ok?

Has anyone been through this? If so, what did you end up being diagnosed with?

Thanks in advance 😀

They really should has contacted the GP and requested a blood test too.
In your shoes I would contact the surgery and request bloods to check whilst waiting for the eye clinic.

Thank you @TwitTwooTooYou I'll get in touch with my surgery and ask them to do that. I had some B12 injections last year as my levels were really low and I've been feeling very tired again so was going to contact my surgery about that anyway-maybe they can do all the bloods at once! 😂

Hopeful bump 😀
Has anyone else been referred to the eye hospital for a bleeding blood vessel? If you were, what did it turn out to be? Xx

Hi there

Just wondered if you found out what it turned out to be?

thanks

Another bump from me. I have just been told pretty much the same thing by an optician today. I have a referral letter for bloods with GP and have been referred to ophthalmology at the local hospital.

Did you find out what was causing your bleed @Blessedbethefruitcakes?

I've had something similar. They don't know if it's a bleed but something caused a swelling on the retina. I've been tested for loads of things and they can't find a cause. They don't seem bothered but I'm really anxious about it.

Hi anyone else going through the same thing and had any updates? I’ve been referred after and oct scan x

I've had even more tests than this time last year and they still can't find any cause for it. I've had two swellings on the retina in the same place, happening 6 months apart. They think it might have been caused by a bleed but can't see any evidence of the bleed other than the retina swelling, which they called a "cotton wool spot". I have a patch of dodgy vision in that eye.

It's scary not knowing why it has happened and whether it will happen again but I've had all the tests they can offer and they can't find a problem.

@Luno sorry to hear that! Is it causing you any issues? What tests did do for it? They were quite vague with me as to the potential causes. First they said to me a leaking blood vessel then it was artifact. No tests as of yet x

I've had lots of OCR scans, a fluroscein (sp?) scan looking at blood flow to the back of my eye, loads of blood tests looking for infection or autoimmune diseases, and 3 hours of neurophysiology tests at Moorfields! Also a brain MRI. They couldn't find any cause.

I have a patch of blurred vision in my right eye. It's more annoying than anything else but causes me a lot of anxiety as it's ALWAYS THERE and makes me anxious, including whether it will happen again and affect more of my vision and what is wrong with me that it happened in the first place. I seem to be a medical mystery which is a stressful and anxiety-inducing place to be!

I mean OCT scans

Sorry to hear that. I know exactly what you’re going through with anxiety it’s awful as it’s really hard to get under control. Are they keeping you under review? If you want to chat about anything im happy to listen x

Thanks. Yes I'm being seen at the eye clinic every few months although that also increases my anxiety as they don't seem to think about what they're saying and will say scary stuff like "well we haven't found anything wrong with you yet but maybe this is just the start of something and you'll get more symptoms in time" which scares me so much. They're never reassuring!

Have you looked at a second opinion? Or experts in the field elsewhere that could help? X

Annoyingly the retina does sometimes get inflammation for no reason (as does other eye tissue).
it’s termed idiopathic…sometimes it does turn out to be caused by something tangible other times not.
Apart from not smoking, staying a healthy weight and eating a god diet, there isn’t much you can do.
But look out for any sudden increase in floaters.

How interesting.

I have also been going through similar and told how rare it is. A routine eye test picked u what was termed rubeosis Iridis… After getting home and googling I started panicking !!
I was referred to a consultant who wants to see me again in a few months and seemed unsure as to what it was but could confirm blood vessels on the iris but everything else was in order.

I was wondering if it had anything to do with Covid.

Covid plays havoc with our bodies in many ways and I remember getting awful eye pain the first time I had it. There again, might be nothing to do with it!

I have a lot of floaters in the affected eye as well but they've been there for years.

Can it still be idiopathic if it has happened in the same area twice 6 months apart? It does seem odd.

I've seen 4 different consultants now who have all had their own theory on the cause, which doesn't help. One is convinced it's high blood pressure despite me never in my life having a single measure of high blood pressure - it is always very very low. Another thought it was cat scratch disease because I have a cat (but tested negative and none of the classic symptoms). Another thought that the membrane at the back of my eye had pulled away and caused a blood vessel bleed. And another thought that it was caused by a bleed as I have an artery that crosses a vein in the place where it happened. But none of the scans have shown any sign of bleeding, just the cotton wool spot.

Bumping as had “ prepapillary vascular loop “ found by optometrist yesterday who explained it’s often associated with diabetes or high blood pressure (like poster above mine has always been very very low)
and referred me to opthomologist. Sounds like no one ever had a firm diagnosis? I’ve had a period of very high stress and wonder if that could be relevant!
but sounds from posts above that its hard to find any underlying issues and just “one of those things”

I'm still no further with a diagnosis and the eye clinic keep cancelling my appointments. I'm meant to be seen every 3 months but by the time of my next appointment it will have been 8 months - unless they cancel again.

In the meantime I've had a couple of retinal migraines so I'm wondering if there is a link somewhere there.