Do any of you have floaters. . .

[Uhdenied]

that move around to which your eye moves? like if you look up, the floater goes one way or if you look down, it goes another way?

[Uhdenied]

Apparently that's.. what floaters are period. I googled it, lol.

;x

[pauly j]

I have had floaters since childhood!  I never really knew what it was, but it never really caused any concerns for me!  It fascinates me to watch this floater move all around wherever I look, when I close, then open my eyes its still there, same shape and size!  I think this is my least concerning symptom of anxiety!

pauly j

[staci18]

Just the other day while working on my computer I saw a small flicker in my right eye, it almost looked like a strobe light and disappeared after a few seconds. I have noticed it quite a few times since then. I am trying not to worry about it because I think it is due to working on the computer for 10 hours a day.

[Uhdenied]

Yeah, I haven't had them since I was... 18 or so, which is almost 6 years ago. So I kind of forgot how they work. I just have some weird back tightness near my shoulders and neck. If I shrug my shoulders, i always hear crackling noises and if I try to touch my shoulder blades together, as in, pull my arms back - it'll crack a few times down the vertebrae of my back still. I twitch sometimes, but nothing too serious. I have weird full/dull pain on my left side near my ribs and my ribs or cartilage near my ribs move? like.. if i poke near my left ribs, it feels like something adjusts.

Not sure what to do as it's been almost two months of this going on. I went to a chiro, I was 1/8th an inch out of alignment - nothing too serious. I haven't got a massage yet. My doctor gave me anti-inflammatory meds that I haven't been taking too much and some muscle relaxants which I take kind of often, but it makes me so tired the next day. ;\

Just tired of cracking everywhere and feeling uncomfortable tightness just from walking around. Any tips or advice or nice words would be appreciated. I'm tired of thinking MS, ALS, nerve damage, blah blah blah. I run 2-3 miles every day. Pushups, situps, etc. I just don't know what this could be other than anxiety, but I don't feel consciously anxious. I feel stressed about school, but no more than usual. I can't believe that once I quit smoking, I feel worse than I did while smoking the past 2 years.

[mikeeg]

I have floaters, 1 week after this whole HA thing started! is it possible to have an onset of Floaters?

[usinfantryMOS11c]

I have them also, and have had them for many years. As far as Im aware they are just broken blood vessels in the eye, and or strained ones. They really don't cause any problems unless they impair your vision, and or become distracting.

[GenSec]

Hi,

I am 25 and have plenty of floaters.

I had an eye exam near christmas time last year. My optician told me that floaters are congealed bits of gel that occur naturally in your eye and what you are seeing is their shadow floating about on your retina. He told me they were totally harmless (in my case) and my eyes were perfectly healthy. My blood vessels in my eyes were also perfect.

If however you are seeing black floaters, that can be blood - indeed, even caused by bad blood vessels. You should get black floaters checked out by an optician. It can also be a symptom of diabetes. My friend's grandfather has diabetes and he also had black floaters that interfere with his vision.

However, if they are clear floaters or just shadowy and move around, in my case (and most cases) its nothing. And as you get older, the gel inside your eyes hardens and begins to disappear, which means you are more likely to get congealed gel and hence floaters. So its a natural thing with age too.

Hope this helps someone. 

[flipskater430]

Most People have floaters but when ur anxious you are more hypervigilant so you notice EVERYTHING going on with your body whereas someone who isnt overrun with anxiety wouldnt even notice them. and yes i have them everytime im outside without sunglasses.

[Uhdenied]

I'm not really sure the difference between black floaters and shadowy floaters. . . seeing as there's no difference between shadow and black.

[realityiscliche]

I definitely have floaters. I asked my doctor about it and he said that everyone, even people without anxiety, can see floaters from time to time.
They still freak me out though, but they are completely normal. 

[GenSec]

Yes there is a big difference.

A shadow floater allows light to pass through and is slightly smokey - a black floater is totally jet back and looks "hard".

[haunted68]

I have those too - I've had them since my early 20's.  I hardly notice them anymore, except when I am looking at something white/bright like the sky.  My desk at my old job was white and they would drive me bonkers.   

[Uhdenied]

Yes there is a big difference.

A shadow floater allows light to pass through and is slightly smokey - a black floater is totally jet back and looks "hard".

Okay, so one would be obstructing my vision to the point of not being able to walk properly or read. The other causes minor distraction. Is that.. accurate?

[AshleyRN]

I get those annoying things all the time...eye symptoms always worry me the most! 

[Blackholesun88]

I recently was hit by panic attacks and hypochondria a bit over a month ago.  One week ago I noticed a new floater, so a few days later had an eye exam where they scanned my retina.  The doc found nothing.  Because I'm now hyper-focused on my eyes (I'm guessing) I keep seeing new floaters, especially when I look up in the sky.  I hate being around during the day, because that's when I notice the floaters!

I was just googling what floaters could possibly mean if not retinal detachment, when I got curious to see if anyone here would be talking about them.  And sure enough, a post on floaters on the first page! 

[Uhdenied]

Yeah, I've had them before. It was so long ago though that it's hard to tap back into the bravery I had when I was 18. That's too long ago to recall bravery, haha.

I don't know why I'm so scared something is so wrong with me. I just ran 4 miles in 32 minutes today. If I was having some neurological disease plague me, I doubt I'd be able to run 4 miles in 32 minutes. If I had anything serious wrong with my heart or spine, I doubt I'd be running 4 miles.

I just can't stop worrying with this damn cracking in my back every time I stretch my shoulders or sit up straight after slouching. I'm sure everyone's advice is "well, don't sit on the computer that much." which is great advice! but uh, I'm a college student. I have to study and write papers and all that jazz. I can only be active and run for so long before I'm exhausted.

Anyway, hopefully these floaters I see are indeed shadowy type floaters. I get them a lot in the car when driving? I have no idea why.

[GenSec]

Okay, so one would be obstructing my vision to the point of not being able to walk properly or read. The other causes minor distraction. Is that.. accurate?

Hi undenied 

Yep, thats spot on!

I have shadowy ones. They are distracting and they move around, but my optician assured me they are harmless. I have anxiety disorder and since it getting worse last year, i seem to notice having more floaters than ever!
Floaters eventually disappear, as the congealed gel that forms them disappears by being broken down. That takes a few weeks usually.

The black ones yeah, they cause serious vision probs that stop you reading and stuff. But they are very rare and you only ever tend to get them either with diabetes and other conditions. My friends grandfather has the black floaters because of very bad diabetes and sometimes he cannot read and stuff.

If you are fit, young and healthy, your chances of having black floaters are basically... nil, lol.

[Uhdenied]

Thanks for the response. Mine are definitely shadowy, not really black. Sometimes they catch me off guard and my eyes try to follow them, but it's nothing that obstructs my vision or reading.

[reece]

i get black floaters all the time. tiny specks. tiny
been getting for as long as i can remember and i'm 46.
i see an eye dr every year(cause i'm very nearsighted)and my eyes are fine(other than my nearsightedness ;)

if black floaters or any floaters were an issue, i'd be having that issue by now and my eye dr would have noticed something wrong.

[GenSec]

I get small shadowed floaters all the time too, yes they are harmless. But they aren't black - and ideally they shouldn't be.

At the end of the day, all i am doing is relaying what my optician told me suring my own eye exam just before christmas. Thats all. 

Clear and shadowed floaters are caused by congealed gel floating in the gel inside your eye. Harmless. Black floaters are black because they are caused by blood. Gel is not naturally black.

[rubee]

I have a black eye floater sometimes, it's tiny and it's like any other floater except I notice it more.

Is it anything to worry about? I had a blood test a few months ago, that would show if I was diabetic, right?

[GenSec]

This is why i like AZ sometimes......

The stuff that optician told me obviously was not 100% accurate. I asked my mum and an uncle today about it and both said they get small black floaters sometimes, and they have no health problems and are fine. I was like "ok i ask because thats what folks online are also saying to me!"

The experts don't always seem to really grasp their own facts properly.... it makes me wonder if i actually got a good proper eye test by a competent optician, lol!