OT: Eye floaters and flashes of light

[archangle]

Someone got really POed at me because I mentioned floaters to them and told them what they were. She started looking around during our conversation and said, "Oh, yeah, I see them." She had never noticed them before. They started to really bother her after that, and she blamed me.

[Pugsy]

They started to really bother her after that, and she blamed me.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Other than rare intermittent very tiny flashes of light I don't really notice the floaters now. Maybe once in a while I might see a "dot or 2" floating around. No where near the long green seaweed thing I wanted to pick out of thin air in 3D. Now that was totally weird to see. To have that present all the time would be extremely annoying.

Side note. The armadillo has won round 2. He attacked the other flower bed that has only potting soil in it. No dirt. I thought it was safe because without the dirt less chance of it having bugs, grubs and worms in it for him to feed upon. So I removed all those plants (found a bunch of nice fat earthworms) and put them in containers for now. Hubby is gone working. When he comes home the plan is to fix chicken wire that I can place over the plants and keep him out of that bed. It is built within a sandstone wall so will be easy to lay chicken wire over it and not touch the plants.

[chunkyfrog]

My brother-in-law put lattice on top of the soil in the flower pots to prevent the cat from. . .
Looks pretty, too.

[Pugsy]

My brother-in-law put lattice on top of the soil in the flower pots to prevent the cat from. . .

Thanks, that would be a great idea. A little more costly than cheap chicken wire but much easier for me to handle. The plan was to cover at night and remove in the AM anyway. It would lay on top of the rock wall and not squish the plants and be easy to put on and off. Wouldn't take but a couple of heavy rocks placed on top of the part resting on the rock wall to deter the little bugger from moving it. I hadn't even thought of that. The plants aren't tall at all. Mostly they spread out.
Looks like a trip to Lowe's is needed.

[avi123]

Here is another email from my sister about her eye:

(translated)

Thank you for the part you sent (Pugsy's situation). Very similar to what I have experienced. Only, with me, a doctor decided that it was a tear. In fact I was checked by four doctors at Ziv hospital! They have not reached a consensus (one said that he does not see a tear). So I was sent to Rambam hospital where a retina specialist said that there was a tear and fixed it with laser beams. There are several names given to those threads that I saw in my eye. This lady doctor gave it a new name: sea grass. It is really similar to grass . All those doctors were very intelligent and nice with their description of what happens to the eye. Also, a few of them got pity on me by telling me that it will be absorbed in the body over time and my brain will stop paying attention to it. But from what I read on the Internet, it's not going any where and we have no choice but to get used to it. Luckily we don't live for ever with all these annoying diseases. [including Tinnitus]

[debdam56]

Was there ever a correlation between the CPAP and the eye problems? I am experiencing the same problems everytime I try to resume use of my CPAP machine.

[Pugsy]

Was there ever a correlation between the CPAP and the eye problems? I am experiencing the same problems everytime I try to resume use of my CPAP machine.

Not that I am aware of. Nothing that I have ever read about points to CPAP being a causative factor in floaters.
I have them during the day and night. Night time is when I notice the flashes of light more. During the day little bits and pieces of floaters sometimes but nothing like it was initially.
I still see them now. The eye doctor knew about cpap use and didn't mention it as being a factor. He just said it happens as we get older and just something we deal with.

If you are having concerns then you need to talk to your doctor about it and be evaluated by an eye doctor if you haven't already. Ask the eye doctor specifically if he thinks that cpap use is part of the problem.
I don't see how it could be from a physiology stand point though. People who don't use a cpap machine get floaters also.
Now dry eyes from air leaks going to the eyes..yeah...but that is something totally different from floaters inside the eyeball itself.

[Denial Dave]

here is what my eye doctor told me about floaters;

"Floaters appear when tiny pieces of the eye's gel-like vitreous break loose within the inner back portion of the eye.

When we are born and throughout our youth, the vitreous has a gel-like consistency. But as we age, the vitreous begins to dissolve and liquefy to create a watery center.

Some undissolved gel particles occasionally will float around in the more liquid center of the vitreous. These particles can take on many shapes and sizes to become what we refer to as "floaters."

He told me that as long as I don't see floaters and bright flashes of light at the same time, there is nothing to worry about.

[chunkyfrog]

As we age, sometimes the gel inside the eye begins to liquefy and the remaining gel parts pull loose from the back of the eye, to be replaced by clear liquid. I had this earlier this year, and my opthalmologist looked at it.
In bright light, I could see threads, and even a thin horseshoe-shaped structure, along with dark specks.
My doctor could see the floaters; and said in my case it was not indicative of anything outside of a temporary annoyance.
Bear in mind that anything out of the ordinary needs inspection by an eye doctor--ASAP!
Your sight is worth a lot more than the eye doctor could ever charge you.
---As for CPAP, nothing more than coincidence--got it from the horse's mouth!

[pats]

here is what my eye doctor told me about floaters;

"Floaters appear when tiny pieces of the eye's gel-like vitreous break loose within the inner back portion of the eye.

When we are born and throughout our youth, the vitreous has a gel-like consistency. But as we age, the vitreous begins to dissolve and liquefy to create a watery center.

Some undissolved gel particles occasionally will float around in the more liquid center of the vitreous. These particles can take on many shapes and sizes to become what we refer to as "floaters."

He told me that as long as I don't see floaters and bright flashes of light at the same time, there is nothing to worry about.

I'm not so sure about that. I got a dark black squiggly floater, with no flashes, and on examination the eye doctor found a small tear in my retina. The on-call retina specialist treated it with a laser. They told me that they wanted to treat it immediately because it had potential to turn into a larger tear that would affect my vision. I had been advised to call the ophthalmology clinic any time I see new floaters. I tell them the symptoms I'm experiencing and the clinic decides whether I need to be examined by an ophthalmologist.

[archangle]

It's been said before, but flashing should be checked because it could be a detached retina or other retina problem.

If you ever have an unexplained loss of vision in one or both eyes, even if it comes back, there's a good chance it's a stroke. Get to the ER. http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=symp

[Pugsy]

I was told to expect the flashes of light to continue until the floater was completely detached and settled to the bottom of the eyeball and thus would be out of sight.
He said that the flashes of light is from the slight tugging on the wall by the connection of the floater to the retina wall.
Nerve impulses perceived by the brain as flashes of light.
He said it might take 2 years or 20 years and as long as I don't notice an area of decreased vision...just live with it.
For new floaters or marked increase in the flashes of light or vision changes...see him immediately to make sure that the retina hasn't been damaged.
I have a floater in my right eye that has never given me any symptoms at all. Found it when evaluating the left eye where my symptoms were obvious because they routinely check both eyes anyway. I have no idea at all how long the right eye has had the floater.

I still see the flashes of light. Mainly at night. Only with certain eye movements like when driving...annoying but that is it. No vision changes and the flashes are tiny and brief.

[debdam56]

The reason I am asking is that this same problem happened to me. I was using my CPAP for a bit then I got a head cold and stopped using it for several months just because I got out of the habit and got lazy. I resumed using it and after about a week the gel like substance in my right eye broke away and was tugging on the retina. I went to see the opthamologist and I had to keep going back to make sure the retina did not become detached or tear. The symptoms were the flashing arc of light when moving my head and floaters. About a month ago they said everything was all clear and just be aware if anything got worse. I stopped using the CPAP again for a few months as it was aggravating my skin during the summer months. Two weeks ago I resumed using the CPAP again and now I am getting the same symptoms in the other eye (left eye)... seems like a big coincidence to me. And I never thought of a correlation between the tow until it happened again when I resumed using the CPAP. I never mentioned it to the opthamologist the first time about the CPAP use cause I never thought there would be a connection but now that it happened again during the CPAP use I will definetly mention it this time. What worries me is that the doctors themselves don't know about these side effects until many people start reporting them and studies are done. I also was getting vertigo off and on and was told that could be related to the CPAP also because of the pressure in the ears and throat.

[archangle]

If you get flashes of light, you do need to be checked out by a good eye doctor. Flashes of light are often the first sign of very serious medical problems.

In terms of CPAP causing flashes of light, if you press on the back or side of your eyeball, you'll flex the retina and see lights. Try closing your eye, looking to the right and gently pushing on the corner of your eyelid. You'll tend to see a little circle of light.

If your sinuses or nasal tissue swells or inflates, it might cause some bumps on the back of the eye socket that might cause flashes when you move your eye. There is also a duct between the nose and the corner of your eye. If air bubbled through that, it might cause some bubbles of air in the eye socket that would similarly stimulate your retina.

I wouldn't be too worried about this once you've been checked out by a doctor, but I haven't heard of any medical discussion about my "bump" theory.

[purple]

Flashes of light are usually an extremely important symptom to see the eye doc about. I now take a lady to see an Opthalmological surgeon who specializes in retina issues. As I sit in the waiting room other tell me that the first sign they had of vision problems were, "flashes of light." This is often a sign that there is a serious problem with the retina, the good news is that if you to the eye doc early, then you will not lose sight. Wait very long at all and suddenly the world can go dark.

Pugsy has already seen an eye doc, do not transfer her diagnosis onto your 'flashes of light."