Eye floaters at 45 – feeling desperate and consumed by anxiety. Anyone else?

[Fez12]

Hi everyone. I’m hoping for some reassurance or to hear from others who have been through this.
I’m 45 and recently started seeing eye floaters. It began after I woke up with out-of-focus vision one day around 4 months ago. I went to the optician to get an eye test and whilst there I noticed a very long thread floating in my central vision. The optician told me that my astigmatism had fallen into the boderline moderate range and that I would need to start wearing glasses, especially for driving and seeing distant faces clearly and reading road signs from a distance. The optician said that the floaters were normal and they were probably already there but I had probably just never noticed them before. I don’t believe this as I see them in most lighting conditions and I have white walls and bright lights at home, so I’m sure I would have noticed them if there were already present. The vision change did make me feel very stressed and panicky so I’m wondering if the anxiety made me see floaters for the first time.
I also get flashes of lights on the edges of my eyes when I go into a dark room or sometimes when in look down.
I went to see an ophthalmologist who did a range of tests but everything came back clear. He said I have vitreous syneresis which commonly happens as we age. The strange thing is that no one I know personally not even my parents or older relatives says they have them. It makes me feel very isolated.
I know floaters are "normal" but I am struggling immensely. I have children and a loving husband but it feels like the floaters are taking over my life and making me feel very down. I’m waking up in the early hours every morning thinking about the floaters and feel panicked about them. I see the long thread floater in almost all lighting conditions apart from the dark, and I can’t seem to move on or accept the floaters.
I am currently having CBT to help with the anxiety, but so far, it’s not making a difference.
Has anyone else felt this level of despair over floaters? Does the brain ever truly learn to filter them out when they are right in the middle of your vision? I’d be so grateful for any success stories or advice on how to stop hyper-fixating.

You were right to get it checked out OP. But having had specialist opinions you now need to learn to live with them. It sounds like they are - literally - a focus for underlying health anxiety.

I’ve got a massive lot after a recent (fixed) retinal tear. I’m hoping they fade (they should do), they’re rather fascinating as well. I’m just grateful I’ve got my eye sight. More generally I’ve had them since I was at least 11 when I first noticed them on a snowy holiday, the brain tunes them out for me unless it’s particularly bright or white walls.

Iv got floaters, in both eyes, i see more in the right eye
Almost appeared over night.
Emergency opitican appoitment
I could see them on the scan, Strange!
Optician said there was much more in the left which was weird
Said all was normal, my brain would adapt over time.
And its true, i still see them but not as much and im not as bothered by them as i once was

@bibbadee Thats great that your flashes eventually settled, mine are quite consistent but hope they will settle soon too!
I’ve had episodes of tinnitus before lasting on and off for months which eventually stopped, but for some reason it didn’t induce any anxiety.

IME you need to train yourself and your brain to look beyond them, look at something in the distance, put distracting music/radio on, go out for a walk. As soon as you notice a floater look elsewhere and tell yourself repeatedly it is nothing worth bothering about. I have floaters and tinnitus and believe me the tinnitus is infinitely worse to tune out. There is no point giving yourself a mini MH crisis over something normal.

@Fez12 Yes it took a few weeks once I’d chatted through my anxiety with the optician. But nowadays if I notice them I dismiss them straight away.

@MyChristmasCheerHasBuggeredOff I have floaters in both eyes which appeared overnight too, threads and dots, but the most prominent long thread type is in my right eye. The fact that you see more in the right eye but the optician said there’s more in the left might be something to do with eye dominance, maybe you are able to see more floaters in the dominant eye?
Good to know that you adapted and see them less now, gives me some hope!

I’ve had two retinal detachments repaired surgically and currently have a partial macular hole in one of my repaired eyes. The repair for a PMH would be a vitrectomy but my surgeon’s current assessment is that there’s more risk of harm than benefit despite my vision being affected, as vitrectomy carries risk of reducing/impairing vision. He mentioned that some ophthalmic surgeons are doing vitrectomies for floaters and he considers it to be unethical because of the risks. Like a pp there’s no way I’d undergo a vitrectomy for something as trivial as floaters. The recovery is significant and the inert gas used also causes cataracts. My surgeon does private and NHS work, so it’s not an NHS rationing issue.

Sorry OP I got floaters when I was 39. I had a small accident with my eyes (getting something in them) which I think caused it but the optician said no.

Anyway I was literally fine and then the next day at work i started seeing 'flies' flying about in front of me and kept trying to swipe them away. Then I realised there was nothing there and it was black dots with tails in my eyes.

I worked on spreadsheets alot (white background) and so it was incredibly distracting and the floaters would dance over the numbers and make my job very difficult. In fact i would go so far as to say it had a huge detrimental effect on my career as I could no longer concentrate on huge complicated spreadsheets with lots of numbers. It did cause me alot of problems and anxiety for a few years till I 'adjusted'.

I eventually had to change jobs to a much easier one where spreadsheets were a small part of it and so yes you could say it impacted my earnings.

I also developed really dry eyes and now have to put in eye drops day and night (well the night stuff is ointment). 15 years later the dry eyes still bother me and I am pretty sure my huge eye bags are due to the constant fiddling with my eyes getting the drops in.

However the floaters stopped bothering me after a couple of years. I did change jobs as I said but they used to bother me in bright sunshine when driving (in fact I nearly had an accident when I first got them in bright sunshine when driving). Now I literally NEVER see them. I do look at spreadsheet occassionally now (more home use) and I don't see them doing this either.

I am a terrible worrier with high anxiety and poor MH and honestly for me when it happened it was like a 'crisis'. Now I literally don't even remember i have them. If I try to see them then I can make myself see them (so they are still there) but if I don't then I honestly don't see them.

The dry eyes have given me much more bother as the years went on.

So I am not minimising your experience at all. For me it was a 'devastating' event which really had quite a big impact on my life and career. I was angry at the opticians for not being able to fix them.

I promise you if I have forgotten all about mine you will get over yours too. I promise you in a few years you will have adjusted and your brain will compensate for them. Don't ask me how it works, it just does. The optician told me this would happen and I thought what a load of 'bollocks' but it was actually true.

I hope that helps you and I completely understand your panic/distress just now.

I’ve got one large floater, I think it appeared when I was 48 or 49, and I found it incredibly distressing. The optician was very kind about it but I couldn’t believe that I’d have to put up with this thing in my vision for the rest of my life!
I paid for an appointment with a Consultant Opthalmologist and they reassured me it wasn’t anything to worry about and that it would be very unwise to try to have it removed.

Four years later I’m almost used to it, and like others have already mentioned it’s worse when tired or driving in sunlight. The joys of ageing.

Were your pupils dilated (with drops) so that your retinas could be properly checked for tears or detachment?

I've always had floaters but if there's a sudden change it's best to get a proper full eye check, at an eye hospital, where your pupils are dilated. I've had a retinal tear, noticeable due to sudden flashing in one eye, easily fixed with a laser.

The guidance is if there's a sudden increase in floaters or flashes, in one eye, it could be a tear so best to put yourself at ease.

I've had them since late childhood (a very, very long time ago!), with a few more joining them since. All properly checked, nothing wrong,I'm just prone to them. I don't notice them for the most part, but if I stop and think about them I can see them. Your brain is very clever and it does adjust to changes in your body - it will adjust to this too. As someone said upthread, the trick is to look through the, not at them, and you could try noticing the small details of things you see rather than the floaters, which will help redirect your thoughts. If you're very anxious about tgem could you try some CBT or anti anxiety meds for a short time while you're adjusting?

I have a lot of sympathy for you and I totally understand how distressing they are. I got my first "greasy splodges" earlier on this year in 1 eye and now I have one in the other. I went through a terribly down phase with it all. My eyes felt swollen even though that couldn't possibly be the floater causing it. Opticians can do nothing other than confirm it is nothing serious and give you that bit of reassurance. I looked for a surgical solution but there is no "golden bullet". Vitrectomy works for some people and others it does nothing or makes it worse. I'm keeping that option in reserve in case it gets unbearable and is worth the risk. The flashing is a symptom of PVD - the vitreous gel is detaching and causing the floaters.
My advice (and you are not going to like it), is to try and learn to live with it. I try and not focus on it now and just accept it as an annoyance. Some days I can go the whole day without really thinking about it. That is getting more common now but it's taken several months. I tell myself that I'm otherwise healthy and if this is the cross I have to bear, then it is preferable to the trials some of my friends have had to go through with cancer.
I joined an eye floater support group on Facebook. I don't really contribute, but it made me realise that many people have them much much worse than me, which I tried to re-frame as a positive for me.
Make sure you have not got dry eyes as well as that makes you much more conscious of your eyes. I use carbomer now and that makes me less conscious of them.
Sending you a hug - it will get better even though it doesn't feel like it now.

Ive had eye floaters since being in my 20s.
Mine are due to migraines.

@AussieManque Yes I had my pupils dilated and checked by a retina specialist, there were no retinal tears or anything of concern found.

@EnjoyTheEatingwhileItLasts It sounds like the floaters had quite an impact on your life to have to change jobs.
I too find the floaters distracting whilst driving on sunny days and also on overcast days as they stand out more.
😄 I also had the same reaction when told by the ophthalmologist that my brain would filter them out. It’s good to know your brain eventually did adjust despite the anxiety that they initially caused.

I (41) have floaters and I’ve just found out that it’s due to Pigment Dispersion Syndrome which means the coloured pigment is quite literally rubbing off my eye and floating around in my vision.

It sounds very like Posterior Vitreous Detachment, which is very common as we get older. Mine happened about 15 years ago, when in my early 60s, and checked out at the eye hospital. Both eyes went within 6 weeks of each other, and I had floaters and flashing lights, but it has gradually settled down, and as everyone else has said, your brain will adjust. But it’s very disconcerting to begin with!

@pinkysmum The optician showed me my OCT scan imaging and mentioned that I have a partial PVD, but when I saw the retina specialist he said it’s not a PVD, it’s vitreous syneresis. Anyway they both appear to be precursors to a complete PVD.
I have seen the Facebook group you mentioned. Sometimes I surf the forums to read other people’s experiences, but it can dampen my mood as I’ve realised there are a lot of depressed or negative people on some of the forums I’ve come across.
I do also have dry eyes and have become better at keeping up with using eyedrops daily, but they don’t seem to make any difference to floater visibility for me.
Thank you, I hope it does get better for me!

I am quite good at ignoring mine nowadays but I am 5 years down the line with it. If anyone mentions it then they all come back, like reading this has made mine terrible today! My sister has it too and strangely had an upper bleph and said it has helped, she thinks maybe her excess skin was pressing on her eye and causing more to come out. I have no idea if this is a thing and it would be extreme but if mine start to bother me again I may look into getting it done too.

I have loads. Also flashes. They got worse in my 40s but it's perfectly true that you get used to them and your brain filters them out. I rarely think about them and only notice them now if I'm looking at something on a bright white background.

I'm 64 and I've had them about 15 years. They're from posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) which is caused by my short sight. I also have astigmatism. I notice them more if I'm tired or stressed but my brain has learned to ignore them and I don't see them most of the time. It's true that the more you worry about them, the more you see them! I have my eyes tested every year and the optician always says they're not dangerous. I was referred to the eye clinic the first time it happened but I was soon discharged.
Please try not to worry as they are very common.

I have loads of floaters and have had for as long as I can remember. I'm shortsighted with astigmatism and have worn glasses since i was 6.

You do learn to ignore them. I mostly notice them now if I'm rapidly looking from side to side.

As other posters have mentioned, if you do have any sudden changes or increases in floaters you should get them checked out.

Thank you all, your response have given me hope that I can adapt to having floaters. I think the anxiety is stopping me from moving on to the adaption stage, but hearing your responses makes me hopeful.
Did anyone have floaters appear alongside a change in their vision or prescription? I have never had any eye issues apart from mild astigmatism which I never needed to wear glasses for. But I find it strange that as soon as I noticed vision changes from an increase in my level of astigmatism, I also started seeing floaters at the same time.

Every time I see an optician they say I have loads of floaters, but I literally just don't see them at all.

You know how your eye actually sees an image of the world upside down, but your brain knows that can't be right so it automatically flips it the right way up for us? Brains are amazing and will filter out anything that isn't important - so like others have said, you need to give your brain the message that floaters aren't important by looking through them/not thinking about them etc and then your brain will edit them out.

I have one that started in the Summer - I immediately assumed retinal detachment so it was quite a relief that it wasn't.
For the first 3 months it bothered me hugely - I struggled when reading a book and using a computer screen. I could see it when driving. However, now it's fine - if I think about it I can see the floater but the rest of the time my brain filters it out.
When the optician told me that this would happen I really struggled to believe him but it honestly doesn't impact on me at all.