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.

I’m 67 and don’t notice my floaters any more

I'm just going to park this here as advice to anyone reading this, who has developed floaters and blurred vision and not had it checked yet. Please do see an optician ASAP as whilst most floaters are benign, they can be caused by a retinal detachment, or if they develop over time, by an inflammatory condition called uveitis (which can cause pain, but not always). Both of these do need urgent attention. Obviously the OP has been seen by a consultant and these have been ruled out but I always hate to think of someone not getting checked (had to drag my mum to the hospital as she thought she 'just had a few new ones'- retinal detachment as it turned out).

As for floaters, I think they fade a bit, and some sink a bit, although I find the pressure changes involved in flying mean they seem to get shaken up a bit- always annoying on holiday. I also discovered rollercoasters shake them up from the bottom (which is my excuse for not taking my daughter on them). If anybody finds them really annoying on computers, you can switch your mode to vision impaired mode which will convert everything to yellow text on a black or blue background. There's probably other PC tricks but I've not used them for a while.

@Fez12 I’ve had floaters in both eyes for about 20 years. Most of the time I don’t notice them, I only do if I consciously decide to follow them. Eg now I’m reading a thread about them I just decided to track one! But 99.9% of the time I go about my daily life and forget I have them.

OP I really feel for you as I have health anxiety.
I've had floaters for many decades, I think they go along with short sight. They started to bother me at one point but I found I could completely habituate to them. Youre seeing them because you're perceiving them as a threat, you need to train your brain to know they are safe (they are!!!) and you won't notice them any more than occasionally.
Try this. When you notice them, say to yourself "I'm noticing them right now but I'm safe" and then divert your attention to something else. Watch for "I'll never be free of this, my whole life is ruined " type thoughts and repeat "I'm noticing them right now but im safe". Repeat over and over. I think you'll find this helps.

@Fez12 I’ve had floaters in both eyes for about 20 years. Most of the time I don’t notice them, I only do if I consciously decide to follow them. Eg now I’m reading a thread about them I just decided to track one! But 99.9% of the time I go about my daily life and forget I have them.

I have loads since my 40s. I was seen every 6 months for over 20s by opthalmic dept in hospital for high occular pressure (turns out i have thick corneas that give false readings) and none of the doctors or consultants were every worried about them.
They are annoying in bright lights but most of the time my brain tunes them out,

I suddenly had lots of floaters and flashing lights and phoned 111. They sent me to a&e where I was transferred to the ward for all eye related conditions. I had tests on equipment the had which wasn't available in a&e. They said my retina had partly peeled and caused it but it wasn't actually detached. I went home but told if it happened again to go straight back. The flashing lights stopped very quickly but the floaters took months to clear.

If you are worried maybe call 111.

I had a few but they got worse all of a sudden. All checked out and it was caused by PVD which apparently is very common. The symptoms for a detached retina were explained to me and should that happen go to A&E. I have astygmatism and wear glasses.

I experienced floaters and flashes of light in my mid thirties. I was diagnosed eith a posterior vitreous detachment, which i had some laser treatment for about a year later.

20 years on, there’s been no reocuurence.

There’s posts on MN going back decades about this very topic - a lot by the same poster I believe

I am minus 8 in both eyes and floaters come with that territory. You can train your brain not to notice them - in fact, I just looked at a pale wall to conjure mine up 🤣

they are literally a nothing ( in the overwhelming amount of cases and once you’ve had everything else ruled out which you have)

I don’t know how you move past it as this is clearly an overall health anxiety issue so there where you need to channel your energies.

it’s far too easy for me to say ‘ just bloody ignore them’ but honestly - you need to forget about them

I've had these on and off since I was 19!

On and off meaning they were there absolutely all the time for a while, then at some point I realised they were something I "used to" have, then they re- appeared after my first baby was born in my 30s, then at some point I noticed again that I "used to" have them rather than still having them...
They reappeared for years at around your age actually, but reading your post made me realise that I never noticed when they went away, but I haven't had them in years (in my 50s now).

When I had them at 19 it didn't even occur to me to see a doctor or optician about them, I just joked about them with my friends! Mind you I don't think I ever went to a doctor except the family planning clinic where I got the prescription for the pill and my smear test! Odd because I religiously attended dental checkups...

When I got them in my 30s I did mention them to the optician as I had glasses by then (late developer in terms of short sight). The optician was largely uninterested and did check my eyes but said they're just one of those things.

I lived in a different country in my 40s where I went to an opthalmologist (specialist eye doctor) as was normal there - more extensive check ups, same result with the additional comment that it was my age 😝 but they might go.

Actually the opthalmologist didn't say they'd always been there, but that they form and disappear (crystallise from normal fluid maybe? It was a long time ago) and of course are vastly smaller than you think, some people have them and don't notice, once you've noticed it's hard to ignore but all normal and nothing to worry about as long as you've had an eye health check.

@RollyPollyBatFace I’m not sure if you are saying the same poster who has been posting for decades is me? This is my first time posting on Mumsnet or any forum. Apologies if I have misunderstood you!

You might have a weiss ring. I have one.

It's a type of floater and the white flashes when you go from light to dark is one of the symptoms. I get a tiny firework display in my side vision for a second. I think it's also called a posterior vitreous detachment.

It's been around 6 months since I got mine. I hardly notice it now but I'd definitely see the floater in a bright room with white walls.

Unfortunately it's apparently just the eye aging and there's not much that can be done.

@Lindy2 I’m not sure but I don’t think it is a Weiss ring, I have one most prominent floater which looks like a long grey thread with a little curve at the bottom end. I also have lots of other grey thread and dot type floaters, also some transparent ones.
As far as I understand Weiss rings usually appear when the PVD has completed, my scans didn’t show a complete PVD.

As we age, everyone's vitreous will get less solid and pulls away from the back of the eye - as it does it usually creates a floater and there is always a chance that it will create a hole or a tear. So it's always a good idea to see your optometrist if you see a new floater at any time as there is a potential for a new hole or tear in the retina if that happens.

I have had many patients over the years who find floaters very debilitating and they generally all have an anxiety disorder.
Yoga helps, if you're not taking meds for an anxiety/depressive anxiety disorder - taking them can help too.
I've shown a few of them how to visualise mine on a retinoscope - as I have about 50. Other people have found it easier if they name their most annoying floater - mine is called my MIL's name.

I have them, I just ignore them.

I had PVD in my left eye two years ago - I’m 52. It was the weirdest thing, I’m a lecturer and saw a flash of light as I was teaching, thought a bulb had gone in the room or a student had taken a photo! I felt my eye was “off” all day, and actually ran into my manager on the stairs and said to him my contact lens was sitting funny and I needed to put drops in. I thought I had mascara on it. I went to the optician as an emergency appointment the next day where they used the drops and then a machine to look at the back of my eye. I had to go back in six weeks, and now get the drops/machine at my annual checkup as standard.

I was really upset by it and felt like my vision was distorted, but the optician was right and my brain started to filter them out - she likened it to you not seeing your own nose. I get them still if I am very tired, or go from dim to bright light, and now I’m typing this of course I can see them! A few weeks ago I having a one to one meeting with a student and thought it was suddenly really bad, until he started flapping his hands and saying there was a little fly buzzing round us despite the fact it was December and flies should not be a thing…

Hi op, hope you are ok. Fellow anxiety sufferer here especially health anxiety. I’ve been short sighted with astigmatism since I was a young kid and wear glasses/ contacts, I first noticed floaters in my 20s. The optician says normal. I do notice them more on bright days and I’ve had periods where my anxiety focuses on them and I get obsessed. When I’m not focussed on them, I barely notice them. I think it’s one of those things which your brain can ignore sometimes but can also magnify. Solidarity!