OT: Eye floaters and flashes of light

Pugsy wrote: Now if I wake up blind in my eye tomorrow...you can tell me "I told you so".

But you won't be able to read it. Sooo...(in advance) They Told You So!!

archangle wrote:By the way, if you ever temporarily lose vision in one or both eyes or in part of the visual field, there's a good chance it's a stroke. Google up on how to check for a stroke.

My older sister went to bed one night a few years back and woke up the next morning blind in one eye. She had a stroke in her left eye during the night while she was sleeping. It was in the part of her eye where they couldn't do anything for it. My wife had a stroke in her eye but it was in the lower white area of her eye and didn't effect her sight. Went to the doctor immediately and he fixed it by lasering it.

squid13 wrote:My older sister went to bed one night a few years back and woke up the next morning blind in one eye. She had a stroke in her left eye during the night while she was sleeping. It was in the part of her eye where they couldn't do anything for it. My wife had a stroke in her eye but it was in the lower white area of her eye and didn't effect her sight. Went to the doctor immediately and he fixed it by lasering it.

Strokes are in the brain, not the eye. Sudden or temporary blindness or difficulty seeing is one warning sign of stroke, including blind spots and other "weird" visual problems.

You need to get to the emergency room right away. The person who told me this went right to the hospital, but died anyway.

[Edit - You need to get to the emergency room right away if you have sudden blindness, even if it goes away. It could be the warning signs of stroke. As the national stroke association says, SUDDEN trouble seeing in one or both eyes.

I lost a family member who had sudden temporary vision problems in one eye and didn't go to the emergency room until a few hours later. They had a stroke right after they got to the emergency room while getting undressed. ]

archangle wrote:Strokes are in the brain, not the eye.

Well I beg to differ with you but her ophthalmologist and her retina doctor both called it a stroke. Here is some reading http://www.allaboutvision.com/condition ... usions.htm

I know little about this topic, but trust your judgment and wish you the best, Pugsy. Please keep us posted.

Get it checked out. When I was a kid back in 1980, I complained to my mom that I had floaters and flashes of light. After seeing the eye doctor and several specialists later - Toxoplasmosis in my eye! We did not even have a cat. I now have a scar and lost about 30% all peripheral vison in that eye. I am now very vigilant about seeing the eye doctor every year and the retinaologist every two years.

eyes are nothing to mess around with.

I am alive and still have 2 good eyes.
My internet was out earlier today and I got home way late last night so haven't been online till recently.

Yes, I know that people in the medical field make the worst patients. I have said that about me all my life. I know enough to be dangerous. Hey, I am what I am...stubborn and bullheaded to boot. It is not in my nature to panic about anything.

There is no retinal damage per optometrist I saw yesterday. The floaters can't be seen by me now and it just now turned dark here and I get a very rare flash of light with eye movement. So they continue to abate.

Plan is to still call my PCP tomorrow morning and get a referral for an exam by opthamologist. I would just feel better having the specialist available just in case something bad does happen later. Then I would have someone to call.
So I will get another exam by the specialist to make sure (not that I don't trust optometrists but I just feel better with MD in this case) that things are okay and then I will already be an established patient. That way I won't ever have it happen again because I will have someone readily available...Murphy's law and all. Have it and not need it thing.

Thank you all for your concern and well wishes.

[quote="Pugsy"]
There is no retinal damage per optometrist I saw yesterday. The floaters can't be seen by me now and it just now turned dark here and I get a very rare flash of light with eye movement. So they continue to abate.

Plan is to still call my PCP tomorrow morning and get a referral for an exam by opthamologist. /quote]

Good for you.
Actually they say floaters don't actually go away but your brain gets used to them and starts ignoring them.

I had floaters from an MRI scan of my sinuses and it took months for them to "go away". I get sparkles as part of ocular migraines.

Glad to hear you still have two good eyes....I was worried about you. I hope everything works out in the best possible way Pugsy.

squid13 wrote:

archangle wrote:Strokes are in the brain, not the eye.

Well I beg to differ with you but her ophthalmologist and her retina doctor both called it a stroke. Here is some reading http://www.allaboutvision.com/condition ... usions.htm

Thanks, I never heard of blood blockage in the eye being called a "stroke" before. I hate it when they use the same term for an immediate life and death problem and a lesser problem.

I was talking about the immediate life threatening blood blockage or bleeding in the brain kind of "stroke." A cerebrovascular accident (CVA) that kills people or leaves them bedridden wearing diapers for the rest of their life. They're a common complication of apnea, and often show up as a sudden loss of vision.

Check out this warning signs page.

Pugsy wrote:I am alive and still have 2 good eyes.
My internet was out earlier today and I got home way late last night so haven't been online till recently.

Yes, I know that people in the medical field make the worst patients. I have said that about me all my life. I know enough to be dangerous. Hey, I am what I am...stubborn and bullheaded to boot. It is not in my nature to panic about anything.

There is no retinal damage per optometrist I saw yesterday. The floaters can't be seen by me now and it just now turned dark here and I get a very rare flash of light with eye movement. So they continue to abate.

Plan is to still call my PCP tomorrow morning and get a referral for an exam by opthamologist. I would just feel better having the specialist available just in case something bad does happen later. Then I would have someone to call.
So I will get another exam by the specialist to make sure (not that I don't trust optometrists but I just feel better with MD in this case) that things are okay and then I will already be an established patient. That way I won't ever have it happen again because I will have someone readily available...Murphy's law and all. Have it and not need it thing.

Thank you all for your concern and well wishes.

Hi Pugsy. I've been following this thread but not commenting as I trust your judgement but please do take the precautions as others have suggested and as per your plan to continue to have this checked out further.

I have an appointment with one of the best opthamologists in the state (maybe even the whole country) tomorrow morning.
No more large pieces of green seaweed. Very minor tiny dots floating on the peripheral vision area seen rarely.
Flashes of light still and still pretty much unchanged...very rare and minor and only at night with eye movement. Doesn't happen all the time even at night.

So I am good. The girl in my PCP office probably thought I was a bitch though. Don't really care. At first she wanted to "work me in" on July 30 for them to see me and then do the referral. Doesn't have a clue.... Normal procedure is for doctor to see a patient and make referral but he can't do the eye exam needed so no need to see him. Duh....
Anyway I told her to just ask him what he wanted to do before putting this off for a week...she didn't want to ask him but I pushed. Lazy idiot. No sense in me driving an hour to see him only to be told can't do eye dilation and need a specialist. Waste of time and money.

Several months ago, I had a large, ring-shaped floater, and self referred myself directly to my eye doctor.
It was on the weekend, and his associate saw me on Saturday.
My own ophthalmologist saw me the following Tuesday.
They agreed that it was benign/age related; and had already begun to "fade".
I was relieved that my insurance covered both visits--an HMO probably would not have.
--but I would have willingly sucked it up to ensure my sight.
(I was extremely nearsighted when I got my first pair of glasses--limited sight profoundly affected my formative years:
--I never could play softball--I cover my face instead of trying to catch)

Pugsy wrote:I have an appointment with one of the best opthamologists in the state (maybe even the whole country) tomorrow morning.

I'm glad you and your eyes will be in good hands.

chunkyfrog wrote:I was relieved that my insurance covered both visits--an HMO probably would not have.

My HMO covered the following, with a $25 co-pay per visit, total $75:

1. An examination of new floaters by an ophthalmologist that showed no problem.

2. A examination of a subsequent new floater that showed a small retina tear, followed immediately by examination and laser treatment by a retina specialist.

3. A follow-up visit with the retina specialist for him to check his laser spot-welding handiwork.

For the first two visits, I was seen the day I called by an on-call ophthalmologist.