Eye Floaters - again!

[echops]

Hello - I already posted here about my problem with eye floaters and some of you kindly gave me very positive stories. However, I just wanted to know if anybody has the very long thread type floaters, as well as the black dots? I have lots of long threads in my eyes and I can't believe I'll ever be able to ignore them as they move all together and are very very visible. Has anybody got experience of these thread/hair like floaters and are they possible to eventually ignore?
Again, I'd welcome only positive stories please as I'm really really struggling trying to ignore this rubbish in my eyes.

I have long threads sometimes. My eyesite is quite bad (but then it always has been) and when I very reluctantly raised the subject at a check up (assuming they would tell me my retina was coming off) they said it's just one of those things and not to worry unless you get showers of dots, IYSWIM. I'm sure you'll be fine.

Mine are practically all threads. Probably 6-7 in each eye. I get the move together thing as well, it looks like worms swimming about in front of my eyes.

Usually I can't see them. You've just reminded me of them though

I can't think what to suggest that might make things easier for you. I never see them when I have to look at moving things so try going to the cinema or something similar so that you a) won't see them as its dark and moving b) have your mind distracted from thinking about them.

Hi ant3nna. I think my problem is that it's so sunny at the mo I see them whenever I go out. They are also very recent and just so bloomin' visible. I know people get the dots but nobody I spoke to understood what I meant about the long threadlike hairs. Really tried hard all day to not think of them . . . I must sound bonkers as they're upsetting me so much which is a vicious circle as that must be making me see them more. Can you go outside in the sun without always seeing them?

I was scared sick when mine started. but it was nearly 4 years ago, my eyesight hasn't deteriorated in that time and sometimes I don't notice them. But yes, on days like today it is more obvious. But you get used to them. I don't know if there's a cure for it? (I don't really know what they are, and I never like to delve too far into things like this in case it gives me a heart attack.)

go to an optician and get it checked out.

I get days where I can and days where I can't. If I stay in ILs house I can always see them in the morning because they have thin curtains but when I get up and start doing things they go away. Its a shame that the weather hasn't been worse in a way.

I guess that I'm just more practised at ignoring them - I've had them for about 8 years I suppose so if I see them it doesn't really bother me because I know they'll go away.

I really want this to get better for you, I can't imagine how worried you must be that you'll be seeing them forever.

Yes, threadlike ones are normal too! I have loads but only see them if it's very bright.

I noticed the threadlike floaters in my early 20s and was told by the optician that they were just some old blood vessels, nothing to worry about. He said that they had always been there, but I find it hard to believe that it took me 20 years to see them! Now I don't see them that often, mostly just when I'm looking at a bright surface or sky.

They can be there for years but until they start actually moving around you don't notice them.

I can't remember NOT having floaters! And yes mine are a mixture of spots and lots of long threads that look like hairs. I wear contact lenses so regularly get my eyes checked by an optician and the last time they had a locum optician there and she mentioned my floaters, said that I had a LOT which worried me but she said that floaters are only problematic if you also see flashes of light, as that can mean they are too close to the retina and are attaching to it and pulling it. She said that floaters are annoying but totaly harmless EXCEPT if you have the flashes of light occasionally. She then went on to say that they can operate in severe cases to effectively suck all the fluid out of your eye ball and replace it with clean fluid if the floaters are causing the pulling on the retina. Yuk!!! Really hope my many, many floaters never start causing problems as not sure I would have the courage to have my eyes operated on! I see them whenever I look at blank walls or ceilings and at the sky mainly but if I actually think about them I can see them all he time!

Hi Ladies - thanks for your messages - you must all think I'm nuts as I'm so incredibly depressed by them. The floaters are just so numerous, with most very black and quite long. When looking at the sky all I see are black threads and dots swirling about. I see them in the day time too (particularly the very large one I have in my right eye). Wouldn't be so bad if they didn't swish about so much. I still can't believe I'll ever get to a point where I can ignore them but I'll just have to really try harder and become more relaxed about them. If anybody else has anything positive to say about their experience I'd be more than happy to hear it! Thank you all again. It really does help hearing from others.

I am seeing all my floaters now looking at a bright screen in a dark room, but it's the first time I've noticed them today. I first got mine when I was about 18, I am now 38, so 20 years ago. It does seem to be worse in the summer, must be to do with the quality of light. You will get used to it in time I'm sure.

It's not the actual floaters that attach to the retina. Floaters are very wispy and wouldn't have much pulling power! It is actually the bulk of the vitreous humour itself that can become detached from the retina. This ( a posterior vitreous detachment) is harmless unless a part of the vitreous doesn't detach cleanly and pulls a bit of the retina with it resulting in a hole which can lead to a detachment.
this animation explains it nicely.

I have lots of threads. I have started seeing them more since your last thread! [shakes fist]. Just give it time, they will go

Chipmonkey, I like the animation! Very informative (and will possibly scare ECHOPS half to death!)...Something else my optician said to me was that floaters can be caused by a knock to the head! She asked me if I'd had lots of knocks to the head as a child!! And maybe there is some truth in that as when I was 2 I was knocked unconscious and had concussion because I got hit in the head by a swing!
Looking at this white screen is making me see nothing but floaters...!!

I have a pvd in my left eye, have you been checked out for this? A normal optician can see it. Apparently I am very young to have this (32 ).

I can totally relate to your depression about floaters, I have found it very depressing and felt desperate at times thinking that I will have to put up with looking through a mulch of stuff for the rest of my entire life. I even started researching treatment but came to the conclusion that treatment would be way too dangerous to even consider. TMI COMING UP, JUST SHOUTING A WARNING - They can 'suck out' the gel stuff (vitreous) from inside your eye and replace it with saline fluid or a gas bubble but you would have to find a pretty reckless doctor who would do this to your eye for treatment of floaters.

I know it is awful and I don't know how to help but want to support you so you know you are not alone in feeling this strongly about your floaters. My biggest floater is a massive dark spot with a smaller 'tail' of stuff behind it. It is in the way of seeing all the time, even in a darkened room and it is somewhat like a donut - a black ring with a hole in the middle that I can see through the middle of.

I spend a lot of time in the art world in lots of bright white rooms - sod's law eh?

I have found that since I started taking anti-depressants (not for the floaters) about 2-3 months ago I find that I focus much less on the floaters and that they are bothering me much less. They are still there but I'm not fixating on them all the time. And if I'm feeling down I start to focus on them again.

HTH, (((hugs))) (I know I'm not meant to)

Echops, do not look at the animation! Or at least not beyond the first 20 seconds!I think I had a Posterior vitreous detachment after getting a knock to my head off a ceiling. Luckily at 5ft2 I don't often knock my head off ceilings though.

Hi Honestybox. Thanks for writing. To say I'm struggling is an understatement. Have terrified myself
I too have a very large ugly one I see all the
time. My friend has lots and swears blind
I'll ignore them one day. Off to doctors tomorrow
in hope of getting help. Good luck.

All my floaters are long and stringlike. Some have dark spots on the end, but if I look closely enough, the spots are attached to the stringy bits! The floaty, stringy bits are not as dark as the dots, though, which is why the effect for me is of dots or spots AND floaty bits of string. It really is normal - probably the stringy effect more normal than the dots. Sorry, but I therefore think you are probably just obsessing about it, rather than having anything unusual going on. Although of course, if they really are black and therefore totally opaque (ie you can't see at all in the areas where they are in front of your vision, rather than just finding them distracting), then I guess that's not normal.

Hi rabbitstew. thanks for writing. It does help knowing othes have these. Whilst I think mine are terrible as they are in both eyes my husband does tryto convince me that others have dozens of these too and manage to cope with them. I suppose it's not going to happen overnight. Do you manage to go to the seaside without seeing them all the time? I'm just frigtened that life as I knew it is over and my new future will have this screen if rubbish infront of everything I look at.

Hi, echops. Yes, most of the time at the seaside I'm fine! Wearing sunglasses helps! I do find that if the sunlight is bright and hurting my eyes that I become more aware of them, because it makes my eyes generally uncomfortable and I start to focus on my eyes, then. Other than that, I only tend to notice them if I'm talking about them or if I'm particularly tired or stressed. In the past, I have found them irritating - eg felt they got in the way when I was reading - but haven't found them a problem now for many years. When I do notice them again, I find it interesting how I've managed not to notice them before...

Hi echops. I replied to your last thread. I am sorry that these seem to be distressing you so much.

As so many have already said, these are things that over time you will get used to, and they won't be so noticable. They are a right pain, even as I type this it is difficult to maintain looking at the screen as I have so many floating about! By the time my retinal tear was discovered I was a week away from losing my sight. Having floaters to be honest is a small price to pay for being able to see my dc's.

If it has been found that you don't have anything sinister causing the floaters I would try to 'forget' them - that way they will not be so aggravating. Your brain is concentrating on them as it 'knows' they are there - making them seem worse and causing you worry.

Best of luck.

Hi I had really bad floaters until I started taking a vitamin b supplement and then they disappeared

Hi Superfly - thanks for your message. I think the problem is I've got so many in both eyes that when I go out it's like looking through a dirty filter - this completely distresses me and makes me feel detatched from everyone / everything. I find it hard to believe that I'll ever see things clearly again. I am really trying to be positive and making myself go out despite being scared to bits by my vision. I've also booked to see a Hynotist on Friday who'll hopefully relax me and help me try and ignore them.

Can I just ask, how many do you have (cover your whole vision - do you also have any fairly large ones?). In your experience, has your brain filtered them out somewhat?

I'm also no longer searching the web about them (all I read was threads from people who wanted to kill themselves because their floaters were so bad!). The only thing my husband will let me know read is Mumsnet!

Everyone on here has been so kind and helpful - I read this thread about 3 times a day whenever I'm feeling distressed to remind myself that others have these and cope just fine.

Hi, echops. I like to think of my floaters as a veil of lace, rather than a dirty filter!!!!! When I look at them, I realise that my field of vision really is covered by them and they float around with me as I roll my eyes. There is no way I could ever count them.

I have to admit, since I've had them since I was in my teens, I haven't ever really considered why I seem to have so many. I think it's probably only a horrid shock if you get lots all at once (which can of course be a sign of something serious, so should be checked out), whereas I think mine have accumulated over many years. And I honestly am not aware of them being there at all a lot of the time, and when I am, it is seldom anything other than as a background awareness, rather than anything of major note.