Weird peripheral vision question

[LovelyDear]

It's the vision that's weird, not the question. I have mentioned this to the gp and on her advice the optician, who couldn't see anything unusual in my eye and left it at that.

This is the thing: for the last 2/3 weeks I've noticed a white shape drifting quickly down in the left corner of my left eye. It happens a few times a day, more often if i'm out and chatty/buzzy and possibly related to drink, though I tend to only have one or two glasses of wine at most (dieting...). Twice it's drifted down to the midline and then kind of bounced off it's mirror image and both shapes have sprung back the way they came. when that happens it's so dramatic it stops me in my tracks. there's no physical sensation associated with it.

i've had migraines with the visual disturbances since i was 8. it's nothing at all like that.

anyone had anything like this? i'm thinking it's to do with the brain/optic nerve rather than the eyeball. i'm not frightened, i know it's probably nothing....

No idea, sorry, but probably worth going back to the GP if it persists and asking for more advice or a referral to a neurologist. Opticians aren't much cop when it comes to optic nerves.

i will, i think. thanks.

It sounds like it might be a floater. There is some information here. They are irritating but harmless. I have loads of them and they drive me mad sometimes.

hmm i don't think so. i have loads of floaters (!). I find it hard to describe but whereas it's clear to me that the floaters are physical things, equally i can say that this phenomenon is not tangible, it's a perception thing.

It souinds like similar to my flashes. I get a transient white line/ partial arc flash in the farthest outer periphery of my eye. First began in one eye years back then the other took over. It moves quickly (down/around) and is only there for a second. ( I also get migraine auras which are different).
Mine is called a 'flash' but is not really perceived like a flsh of light quite to me more a fast moving white slightly shiny line. It is caused by stimulation of the retina when the vitreous gel pulls against its most peripheral attachment (the bit where it is stuck down behind the iris). My gel has shrunk a bit ( as it does in some) so can flop about slightly with head/ eye movement except where it is stuck down.

You mentioned floaters - have you had a lot of new ones recently? The retina should be examined carefully ( dilated) to be sure there is no retinal tear when new flashes occur especially if there is an increase in floaters. HTH

thanks magso - that sounds exactly right. no, i haven't had an increase in floaters. so there's no need to do anything? have you had any optician advice/medical advice about shrinking fluid? could it be i'm not drinking enough liquid poss, as i've changed my diet a lot recently?

posterior vitreous detachment - i googled it. that's exactly what it is! thanks so much magso.

Go and see an ophthalmologist - the opticians I saw with eye sight problems were really dismissive. If they can't solve it with glasses they seem to draw a blank!

I hope you are ok and they help soon!

Sorry had to go out.
Yes a posterior vitreous detachment- PVD. I got a thorough examination with each eye - as you should (by a competent optometrist or ophthalmologist if not done already) to rule out any retinal change. The danger is that IF there is a retinal tear (rarely the vitreous can pull at the retina and tear it when it first shinks back) it can cause the retina to detach - a rare but potential serious complication of a PVD when it first happens. It is best if you have new flashes (as you have) to get an eye specialist to check your retina promptly - via eye casualty is the common path. They are used to seeing lots of inocent flashes and floaters to pick up the rare one that needs treatment! The symptoms of a retinal detachment are ( one or more) increase in flashing, increase in floaters, change in vision such as distortion or a curtain affect. You have probably googled that retinal detachment requires urgent (same day) assessment. No change or sudden increase in floaters is reassuring but I would still get it checked. And I hope I have not scared you!!

I was told PVD was a natural change - happens to shortsighted folks/myopes younger than others. Its one of those things I think. I've got used to the occasional flash now - it comes and goes. Hanging out the washing (bending down for the clothes then stretching up) is when I tend to notice it! As long as thats all it is there is no need for treatment.
Hope all is well!

optometrist here, have to run out now but agree with everything magso said!

wow the power of mumsnet! Thanks both of you. I'll go along tomorrow (my daughter's dodgy guts permitting...) but no, i'm not scared by what you've told me. It all makes perfect sense.

Thanks again

I had similar earlier this year- the eye hospital investigated and found no problems, and put it down to hormonal changes (I had a baby back in february). It suddenly cleared up after 6 months about 4 weeks ago.
I was referred by my optician to the eye specialists btw.
Good Luck.

Well. The optician spent 1.5 hrs looking into my eyes, but said, nah it's not PVD. But I think she's wrong. She said if it was, it would have been over in a day or two, not persisting for 3 weeks. Which is contrary to what Google tells me . Anyway, she's referring me to my GP for further tests, and when i said well what is it then, she just said, casually, oh it's something neurological.

Was this an optician Lovely ? If so, as she seems to have just added to your concern could you go to A & E who will probably get you in to see a consultant in the Eye clinic.

I phoned my optician when I noticed a massive new floater and they said go straight to A & E as it could be a retinal detachment and I got referred from there to the Eye clinic.

My optician is excellent but he can't do the same sort of tests that they can at the hospital.

it was a vision express optician. she did do loads and loads of tests, they have all sorts of machinery. But I will go to the GP and ask for a referral to the eye hospital, I think. I don't think i'm an eye emergency, there are no new big floaters. and i had this in 2005 as well.

update. grrrrrrr. today i had to take a day off work to go to the eye clinic at the hospital. i was bundled around from one room to another to take various tests (the same as the ones the optician did) and only after two hours did a doctor see me. she unsurprisingly came to the same conclusion as the optician - no retinal problems. i said, well what then, and she said i'll refer you back to your gp. i said - but the gp referred me to the eye hospital to get this investigated. is there not a branch of eye medicine which interacts with neural/vascular stuff? she said, oh ok, yes, then tried to get me an appt with the consultant, in 5 months time. eventually the bloody sodding receptionist had to tell her who the neuro-opthalmologist (??) was and that he would get me an appt in 3 weeks. gahhhhh.

i mean lovely receptionist, but sodding bloody useless situation.

Interesting to read your own posts a year later... this eye thing hasn't gone away, hasn't got any worse, but i finally had my appt with the neuro-opthalmologist this week. she wants me to have a brain scan and an eeg. on the booking form she wrote ? pituitary compression of optic nerve. i still think it's posterior vitreous detatchment but you can't keep telling experts what you read on a mums' forum can you...

Anyone had anything like this?

brain scan tomorrow. have been googling (dangerous) but have found a good description for what i experience. They are movement phosephenes, and they are commonly associated with optic neuritis, which in turn is often associated with ms. However, the MS type ones are usually painful, and mine aren't. So i'm keeping an open mind... I'm really hating the fact that the appointments are so spread out. i want to talk to someone about the things i've been reading, and i want to make sure the scan tomorrow will answer the worries i'm having but i can't tell the technician what to look for, and i have to wait til march for the follow up appt. yuck.

i mean phosphenes.

What did you have that cleared after 6 months?

Was it MS?