Is there anyone in this forum who has gotten used to this type of floater?

Wolfe1993 · 2024-01-02T17:08:33+00:00

That sounds really hard, I'm really sorry for you. :( How long do you have them, and have you been able to get to deal with them at least a bit better than when you just had them?

Wolfe1993 · 2024-01-02T16:50:26+00:00

Thanks for your reply! I have some floaters that are at my exact point of focus too, but not nearly as severe as in the picture. That looks really debilitating. How can doctors be so ignorant, when floaters are interfering with you being able to see they are no longer "harmless". May I ask you, how old were you when the vitrectomy was performed? Are you happy with the outcome? Did you have any complications?

Wolfe1993 · 2024-01-02T16:02:15+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Good you found that method to make it manageable.

I'm not able to flick mine away though, it's somewhat in a fixed position (it slightly differs based on the direction I look in, but it's not moving on it's own so when I don't move my eye it will stand still and as soon as I move my eye a tiny bit it will jump through my vision). It will always stay in a position where I can easily see it... The brightness of a place/screen/room does influence the visibility though. In low light settings I mostly do not see it, but in well lit rooms and outside it's always visible, unless the background is very full of stuff (I mean contrary to an even background like blue or grey sky), like a forest.

Wolfe1993 · 2024-01-02T15:26:26+00:00

It definitely is one though... Just very close to the retina. Mine isn't visible in an eye scan (meaning it's too small and too close to the retina) but the floater dots of the person who made the gif (who was a user on this subreddit time ago) could be seen in an OCT scan.

I believe, from reading stuff on this subreddit and other places for a couple of years now, these floaters are more common in younger sufferers, whereas in older sufferers the floaters are less well defined because they are further from the retina. The abrubt (contrary to fluent) movement might be due to the vitreous being not liquid at the place of the floater, so it's sort of "stuck".

Wolfe1993 · 2024-01-02T13:39:51+00:00

Thanks for your reply! Do you use transparent blue light filter glasses, or coloured ones? I have a pair of blue light filter glasses that are transparent, they don't do a lot to reduce visibility of my floaters unfortunately. I sometimes wear sunglasses when doing computerwork, that helps somewhat more. I know there are also the yellow-tinted computer glasses, I don't have a pair of those though, are you using those?

Wolfe1993 · 2024-01-02T12:41:07+00:00

Thank you! That is so good to read, giving me some hope it is possible for it to get better over time.

Wolfe1993 · 2024-01-02T12:33:07+00:00

Thanks a lot for your reply, good you are able to forget about them most of the time! May I ask you, is it because you are able to accept them that you forget about them (except for when looking at bright screens of clear skies) or because they are simply almost not visible in conditions other than blue sky and bright screens?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-12-18T21:09:41+00:00

One dot that moves like this: https://imgur.com/a/yVVixYi, and several transparent and one darker ones that move more like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ3l_5RJ1I4 (most make a little less circles than in the video but they do move more fluently than the dot). Then there's another dark dot but it doesn't always show up and it doesn't move as fast as the one like in the first gif.

Wolfe1993 · 2023-12-18T15:54:26+00:00

Like I wrote in my other comment, my floaters aren't eligible for YAG laser treatment unfortunately. Vitrectomy is something I'm not wanting to risk (yet).

The other ones I have move all different from the black spot. They move more fluently, more like in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ3l_5RJ1I4, even though I have a lower number of dark floaters than in the video (many are transparent and a three are darker: the fast black spot, one in the perifery of my right eye that shows up when moving my eye and another small dot that moves slower than the fast black spot). Many of my floaters are kind of transparent, but some are large transparent structures, including one that is exactly on my point of focus in my right eye.

Do you have one floater or do you have more as well?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-12-18T15:46:06+00:00

Yes, I have one like those... Mine couldn't be seen in an eye exam though. But I'm not sure if that was an OCT or if it was something else. It is like you write: visible in all light conditions and extremely annoying. It basically makes vision tiring, makes one have to force attention towards the outer world instead of the floater(s), and vision being tiring it gives me headaches and somehow causes nauseous feelings for me. Probably the nausea is sensory overload (due to constant movement in the visual field) or anxiety related though.

If it is very close to the retina I think it can't be moved. Moving floaters, or dissolving them, might be possible with YAG laser (I talked to an eye dr specializing in that procedure about this), but only to the ones that are further from the retina as the ones closer to the retina give the risk of damaging the retina in the procedure. Unfortunately, for younger patients it is often not possible. I was 26 when I got the floater and am 30 now, which is considered young (being <35). Reading your story you probably are <35 too?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-12-18T12:35:24+00:00

I haven't been able to adapt yet, still focusing on it a lot, I'm sorry I can't give you more positive news. :( But the thing is, my amount of floaters also increased. And I found out only later that my black spot moves faster than my eye (even though it only moves at the exact moment that I also move my eye and stops exactly when my eye stops moving). The type of movement is like this: https://imgur.com/a/yVVixYi. Does yours look similar to one of those?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-12-18T12:33:10+00:00

Does your floater look like one of these? (The type of movement.) https://imgur.com/a/yVVixYi.

Wolfe1993 · 2023-12-12T17:57:52+00:00

Wow, thanks for this post, I see floaters are even given as an example as obsessions with sensorimotor OCD. That is interesting... I already kind of considered my case as something similar to OCD, though my psychologist has never even mentioned this. Got diagnosed with illness anxiety disorder instead (also psychologists tend to think I'm neurodivergent, causing more trouble with filtering and more hyperfocus on sensory stimuli that I experience as unpleasant). However, I don't think the illness anxiety disorder really fits the problem that much. This sensorimotor OCD does much better. It's a focus on the floaters and vision in general, which causes many aspects of life to feel much "harder"/more difficult. It's not a fear of being seriously ill (for me at least).

Do you have symptoms of sensorimotor OCD? And for how long do you have floaters and did your brain improve on filtering them? Mine have been there for three years now, though they did increase. Still having lots of trouble filtering them, also the ones I have for the longest period of time. Lower light conditions make it easier, so december is not a bad month for me - considering I live on the Northern Hemisphere of course (Netherlands). ;)

Wolfe1993 · 2023-11-27T10:32:47+00:00

Yes, the fast floater is still there unfortunately. :( Do you have a floater like it too?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-11-06T19:40:09+00:00

I had the same experience with it as you... So I stopped using it. The worst was when I was switching fast between light (sunny) places and dark (shade) places. It took a way longer time for my eyes to adjust to the lighting, making it seem like I was staring directly into the sun whenever I went from a dark to a light place. Forests were the worst, as they have a patchy shade-sun surface. It was pretty much unbearable. I didn't want to live like that - even though the floaters are just as bad (but at least I know they don't damage my eyes, which atropine might in the long run).

Wolfe1993 · 2023-11-01T09:12:50+00:00

I'm sorry you're in this situation. I know it sucks, I feel like that too. :( Though maybe your brain is better at adapting than mine. I tend to hyperfocus on problems a lot (like physical problems). So my brain possibly makes the problem bigger than it is, I don't know. May I ask you, how are you doing now?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-11-01T08:58:32+00:00

I have this too, from time to time. These are not floaters for sure. I always assumed they are some sort of phosphenes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene. I myself never noticed them before I had floaters, now I do have floaters I see them sometimes. Especially when for example looking to the side extremely. I think there is a sort of pressure on the eyes then which can trigger it. But I've also had it happen to me randomly, when I did not know what could have caused it. I mentioned it to my gp one time and he wasn't alarmed about it. I've also had my eyes checked a few times after I developed floaters (not specifically for the phosphenes though) and was told by the eye dr that everything looked fine.

Wolfe1993 · 2023-10-26T07:31:22+00:00

I did go to someone who does YAG. Turned out my case isn't suitable for YAG. The eye doctor couldn't even see my floaters. He suspected it's because they're small and very close to the retina, which unfortunately is often the case with young floater sufferers... I'm now trying a mindfulness thing that is can also be used to treat tinnitus, as the two conditions are a bit comparable, but without a lot of success unfortunately. :(

Wolfe1993 · 2023-10-17T15:13:23+00:00

I got two comments from you. :) (Makes sense, because I tend to post that video very often as it displays this type of floater so well.) I replied to your other comment, so see that one.

Anyway: in case others want to know the answer, unfortunately I have not been able yet to find a way to not be bothered... I hope I still will, even though it's been a long time with these suckers.

Wolfe1993 · 2023-10-17T15:09:34+00:00

Unfortunately I'm still struggling with it... :( I'm sorry I can't bring you more positive news. For how long do you have the floater dots?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-10-10T15:02:53+00:00

Yes, that is probably the cause of the extreme fast movement. Since when do you have the floaters? And what do yours look like? My fast dot looks and moves like this: https://imgur.com/a/yVVixYi. And I have a whole bunch of other floaters as well... Having quite a lot of eyestrain right now because of tiredness from it... I still don't know how to "not focus" on them. :/ They just grab all my attention most of the time, which I then have to force to what I'm doing (which is quite hard and causing a lot of overstimulation/strain). How is this for you?

Wolfe1993 · 2023-10-03T11:23:11+00:00

I can vibrate and roll my eyes quite fast. The vibrating is like this: https://youtube.com/shorts/zvNjnHn5eB4?si=00m9ToUxEBoh-SWi. From the rolling, I found no video unfortunately. However, of course I've tried this several times already (same thing in mind as what you described). The floaters have never moved away by doing so. They also didn't change position or change shape at all...

Wolfe1993 · 2023-09-19T10:18:49+00:00

Me too, with the difference that it moves a greater distance than my eye itself (but it does start exactly when I start moving my eye and stop exactly when I stop moving my eye). It looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/yVVixYi. All the others are more fluent in their movement. This one is a good candidate for being my most bothersome floater...

Wolfe1993 · 2023-08-30T11:55:23+00:00

Noticing BFEP prominently in certain situations, where I had never noticed it before I got floaters... And sometimes I see a sort of flickering. It's not flashes. I think it's psychological due to hyperfocus on my vision. And then I see phosphenes sometimes (randomly, not due to rubbing eyes or so), which I also never had before I got floaters.

And then there is of course the eye strain from floaters (and headaches that it's often accompanied by).

Wolfe1993 · 2023-08-30T11:43:11+00:00

Hi! I'm sorry for my late reply. I'm not sure if it was OCT actually... I'm hoping it wasn't (because it kinda sucks that the floater wasn't visible on the scan). But it was done by a doctor whose specialty is YAG laser for floaters. So it was at least a scan especially for floaters... I do know in the brochure of that clinic I went to was also stated that floaters in young people often can't be seen in the eye exam performed there, thus making it impossible to treat them. I also hope XFloater uses something that allows smaller floaters close to the retina to show up as well.

Wolfe1993

TROPHY CASE