Dodged a bullet today

I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with
sudden increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this
morning I was seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision.
These are two of three of the major symptoms of a detached
retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that obscures part of the
visual field (which I was not experiencing).

I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in
town was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous,
a common and mostly benign condition. The retina is still
attached. That is a relief!

I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) -
it happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from
its fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It
generally doesn't lead to loss of vision, just an annoying
increase in floaters, although there is a slightly increased risk
of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI, here's a link in
case any of you want to follow up:
http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp

It's just one of those features of increasing age...

FurPaw
--
My family values don't involve depleted uranium.

To reply, unleash the dog.

"FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with
> sudden increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this
> morning I was seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision.
> These are two of three of the major symptoms of a detached
> retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that obscures part of the
> visual field (which I was not experiencing).
>
> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in
> town was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous,
> a common and mostly benign condition. The retina is still
> attached. That is a relief!
>
> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) -
> it happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from
> its fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It
> generally doesn't lead to loss of vision, just an annoying
> increase in floaters, although there is a slightly increased risk
> of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI, here's a link in
> case any of you want to follow up:
> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
There is one other symptom that can happen with the detached vitreous that
was really terrifying for me. I totally lost the vision in the center of my
eye (I could still see around the edges). Over the course of a couple of
days my vision returned, but there was a red haze in the area for several
weeks. Apparently, when one of the "moorings" breaks loose, a little drop
of blood can escape and block light from reaching the retina. Over time,
the blood is absorbed back into the vitreous and the vision returns to
normal.

This happened to me the first time when I was 36 and it's happened a couple
of more times since (not as abruptly nor as severely as the first time).

On Mar 9, 8:10 pm, FurPaw <furrealpaw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with
> sudden increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this
> morning I was seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision.
> These are two of three of the major symptoms of a detached
> retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that obscures part of the
> visual field (which I was not experiencing).
>
> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in
> town was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous,
> a common and mostly benign condition. The retina is still
> attached. That is a relief!
>
> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) -
> it happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from
> its fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It
> generally doesn't lead to loss of vision, just an annoying
> increase in floaters, although there is a slightly increased risk
> of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI, here's a link in
> case any of you want to follow up:http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
> It's just one of those features of increasing age...

Thanks for this heads-up - I didn't know about it. (But being over 50
& near-signhted, might well do so...)

Glad that's all it was!

Cathy



>
> FurPaw

On Mar 9, 6:20 pm, c...@adelphia.net wrote:
> On Mar 9, 8:10 pm, FurPaw <furrealpaw...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with
> > sudden increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this
> > morning I was seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision.
> > These are two of three of the major symptoms of a detached
> > retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that obscures part of the
> > visual field (which I was not experiencing).
>
> > I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in
> > town was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous,
> > a common and mostly benign condition. The retina is still
> > attached. That is a relief!
>
> > I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) -
> > it happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from
> > its fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It
> > generally doesn't lead to loss of vision, just an annoying
> > increase in floaters, although there is a slightly increased risk
> > of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI, here's a link in
> > case any of you want to follow up:http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
> > It's just one of those features of increasing age...
>
> Thanks for this heads-up - I didn't know about it. (But being over 50
> & near-signhted, might well do so...)
>
> Glad that's all it was!
>
> Cathy

Does the fun ever end???????????????????????

I had to go hypothyroid for my (first) annual thyroid cancer follow
up. 4 weeks without synthroid and a low iodine diet. I said to my
husband the other day, "I"m so mad, I can feel my vision worsening as
the days pass; I totally need new glasses." Then I just read in my
online thyroid cancer group: blurry vision is common when hypo. Did
you know that a side effect (can be) of going thyroid is having a
deeper voice???? My voice has sounded like a man for the last week.
It's just crazy.

I could make a full time job out of trying to figure out what my side
effects are symptoms of. And most can be attributed to menopause,
heart attack AND depression. I'll throw in thyroid for extra
measure :-)

My mom used to tell me, "as long as you have your health...." and I"d
mimick her. Sheesh, she was right about that!

FurPaw...glad you caught it in time!

"FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with sudden increase
>in floaters over the past few days, and then this morning I was seeing
>streaks of light in my peripheral vision. These are two of three of the
>major symptoms of a detached retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that
>obscures part of the visual field (which I was not experiencing).
>
> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in town was
> out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous, a common and
> mostly benign condition. The retina is still attached. That is a relief!
>
> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) - it happens
> when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from its fibrous
> moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It generally doesn't lead to
> loss of vision, just an annoying increase in floaters, although there is a
> slightly increased risk of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI,
> here's a link in case any of you want to follow up:
> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
> It's just one of those features of increasing age...
>
> FurPaw
> --

OMG, how frightening! Are you very nearsighted? That's one of the
predisposing factors for retinal detachment. I would occasionally get zigzag
flashes and floaters.Optometrist said those are somewhat benign due to the
vitreous coming off but the real red flag is the feeling of a curtain coming
down across your vision.

I wonder what it feels like to be one of those people who are blessed with
little or or health issues till 80's and beyond? My health crap started at
13 yrs and on & on we continue...

Roseanne

FurPaw wrote:
> I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with sudden
> increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this morning I was
> seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision. These are two of three
> of the major symptoms of a detached retina; the third is a "dark
> curtain" that obscures part of the visual field (which I was not
> experiencing).
>
> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in town
> was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous, a common
> and mostly benign condition. The retina is still attached. That is a
> relief!
>
> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) - it
> happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from its
> fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It generally doesn't
> lead to loss of vision, just an annoying increase in floaters, although
> there is a slightly increased risk of it being followed by a detached
> retina. FYI, here's a link in case any of you want to follow up:
> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
> It's just one of those features of increasing age...
>
> FurPaw



Yow! Scary. DH had this exact same event/advice about 6 months ago.
I'd never even heard of this additional Joy of Aging, but apparently it
usually has no major bad effects. If you get past the initial WTF?! stress!

--
pax,
ruth


Save trees AND money! Buy used books!
http://stores.ebay.com/Noir-and-More-Books-and-Trains

suzilem wrote:
> "FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com. ..

>> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>>
> There is one other symptom that can happen with the detached vitreous that
> was really terrifying for me. I totally lost the vision in the center of my
> eye (I could still see around the edges). Over the course of a couple of
> days my vision returned, but there was a red haze in the area for several
> weeks. Apparently, when one of the "moorings" breaks loose, a little drop
> of blood can escape and block light from reaching the retina. Over time,
> the blood is absorbed back into the vitreous and the vision returns to
> normal.

Wow, yeah, that would have scared the crap out of me! I just had
the more "normal" symptoms and they were frightening enough.
(I'm very twitchy about my vision.)

> This happened to me the first time when I was 36 and it's happened a couple
> of more times since (not as abruptly nor as severely as the first time).

Same eye or different eye? I'm "looking forward" to it happening
in my left eye now...

FurPaw


--
My family values don't involve depleted uranium.

To reply, unleash the dog.

whirrledpeas wrote:

>
> Does the fun ever end???????????????????????
>
> I had to go hypothyroid for my (first) annual thyroid cancer follow
> up. 4 weeks without synthroid and a low iodine diet. I said to my
> husband the other day, "I"m so mad, I can feel my vision worsening as
> the days pass; I totally need new glasses." Then I just read in my
> online thyroid cancer group: blurry vision is common when hypo. Did
> you know that a side effect (can be) of going thyroid is having a
> deeper voice???? My voice has sounded like a man for the last week.
> It's just crazy.

Oh, my. What a pain to have to deal with. Are you back to
"normal" yet? I assume that you had to go hypo to try to detect
any traces of cancer, but did they explain why this would be so?
Just curious.

> I could make a full time job out of trying to figure out what my side
> effects are symptoms of. And most can be attributed to menopause,
> heart attack AND depression. I'll throw in thyroid for extra
> measure :-)

Yeah, lots of overlap in those symptoms. It's enuf to drive ya nuts.

> My mom used to tell me, "as long as you have your health...." and I"d
> mimick her. Sheesh, she was right about that!

Yeah. My folks also commented on how misplaced the Golden Years
are - more like pre-50s.

> FurPaw...glad you caught it in time!

Thanks! There's nothing to do about it, though, except keep an
eye on it, so to speak. I have to be rechecked in a month, then
yearly.

FurPaw


--
My family values don't involve depleted uranium.

To reply, unleash the dog.

nickelshrink wrote:

> Yow! Scary. DH had this exact same event/advice about 6 months ago.
> I'd never even heard of this additional Joy of Aging, but apparently it
> usually has no major bad effects. If you get past the initial WTF?! stress!

Yeah. Odd that vitreous detachment isn't well known, since it's
so common. The optometrist said that it accounts for about 2/3
of the "emergency" visits to her office.

I guess it's wise to treat it as an emergency, since it shares
symptoms with retinal detachment, and afaik, the only ways to
tell the difference are (a) an intraocular exam and (b) if it
doesn't get worse, it's probably not retinal detachment... but
one doesn't want to take that risk.

FurPaw

--
My family values don't involve depleted uranium.

To reply, unleash the dog.

foggydoggy wrote:

> OMG, how frightening! Are you very nearsighted? That's one of the
> predisposing factors for retinal detachment.

Yes - 3.5 and 5.5 diopters R and L, respectively, starting at
about age 8. I knew that was a risk factor for RD, so I was a
bit sensitized to the possibility.

> I would occasionally get zigzag
> flashes and floaters.Optometrist said those are somewhat benign due to the
> vitreous coming off but the real red flag is the feeling of a curtain coming
> down across your vision.

I've had floaters since I was a little kid - I remember telling
my folks I was seeing spaceships when I looked at a clear sky.
Mostly I ignored them, but these are different, sudden, new,
large, dark and plentiful. I understand that they will probably
sink to the bottom of my eye, in a few months. Right now I'm
trying not to "swat the gnats" that keep flying in front of my
eye. <G>

> I wonder what it feels like to be one of those people who are blessed with
> little or or health issues till 80's and beyond? My health crap started at
> 13 yrs and on & on we continue...

It must be nice, but I wouldn't know either.

FurPaw
--
My family values don't involve depleted uranium.

To reply, unleash the dog.

In article <luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com>,
FurPaw <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote:

> I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with
> sudden increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this
> morning I was seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision.
> These are two of three of the major symptoms of a detached
> retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that obscures part of the
> visual field (which I was not experiencing).
>
> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in
> town was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous,
> a common and mostly benign condition. The retina is still
> attached. That is a relief!
>
> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) -
> it happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from
> its fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It
> generally doesn't lead to loss of vision, just an annoying
> increase in floaters, although there is a slightly increased risk
> of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI, here's a link in
> case any of you want to follow up:
> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
> It's just one of those features of increasing age...

Oh joy, oh bliss... :-( I'm glad you dodged the bigger one.

Priscilla

"FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with sudden
>increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this morning I
>was seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision. These are two of
>three of the major symptoms of a detached retina; the third is a
>"dark curtain" that obscures part of the visual field (which I was
>not experiencing).
>
> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in
> town was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous, a
> common and mostly benign condition. The retina is still attached.
> That is a relief!
>
> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) - it
> happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from its
> fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It generally
> doesn't lead to loss of vision, just an annoying increase in
> floaters, although there is a slightly increased risk of it being
> followed by a detached retina. FYI, here's a link in case any of
> you want to follow up:
> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
> It's just one of those features of increasing age...

This is what I'm hoping will happen to me, at the moment it is still
firmly stuck. If it doesn't detatch properly there is a danger of a
macular hole developing. I'm glad you dodged the bullet. :-)


--
Shirley
http://community.webshots.com/user/shirleycatuk

>
> FurPaw
> --
> My family values don't involve depleted uranium.
>
> To reply, unleash the dog.

Shirley wrote:

> This is what I'm hoping will happen to me, at the moment it is still
> firmly stuck. If it doesn't detatch properly there is a danger of a
> macular hole developing. I'm glad you dodged the bullet. :-)

I didn't realize that your macular hole was related to a detached
vitreous - or am I misunderstanding? I gather that in some cases
when the vitreous detaches it can pull the retina with it, or at
least destabilize it.

I had sufficient anxiety over this for a couple of days... I
can't imagine what you must be going through!

FurPaw
--
My family values don't involve depleted uranium.

To reply, unleash the dog.

"FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:v7-dnRFdnq5qJ27YnZ2dnUVZ_v_inZ2d@comcast.com...
> Shirley wrote:
>
>> This is what I'm hoping will happen to me, at the moment it is
>> still firmly stuck. If it doesn't detatch properly there is a
>> danger of a macular hole developing. I'm glad you dodged the
>> bullet. :-)
>
> I didn't realize that your macular hole was related to a detached
> vitreous - or am I misunderstanding? I gather that in some cases
> when the vitreous detaches it can pull the retina with it, or at
> least destabilize it.

It's sort of related. In my case it seems the vitreous is attached at
the fovea (part of the macular) and is pulling it away from it's base
as it shrinks. A macular hole is a type of retinal detachment.

I'm at what is classed as stage 1a. Impending Macular Hole and there
is about a 50% chance of a spontaneous vitreous detachment which if it
happens would (hopefully) mean it wouldn't progress to either a
partial hole (stages 1 and 2), or a full thickness hole (stage 3), and
the need for surgery.

>
> I had sufficient anxiety over this for a couple of days... I can't
> imagine what you must be going through!

You get used to it after a while. :-) I know if there are any
significant changes in my vision I can contact my surgeon straight
away.

--
Shirley
http://community.webshots.com/user/shirleycatuk

"FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with sudden increase
>in floaters over the past few days, and then this morning I was seeing
>streaks of light in my peripheral vision. These are two of three of the
>major symptoms of a detached retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that
>obscures part of the visual field (which I was not experiencing).
>
> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in town was
> out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous, a common and
> mostly benign condition. The retina is still attached. That is a relief!
>
> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) - it happens
> when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from its fibrous
> moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It generally doesn't lead to
> loss of vision, just an annoying increase in floaters, although there is a
> slightly increased risk of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI,
> here's a link in case any of you want to follow up:
> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>
> It's just one of those features of increasing age...
>
> FurPaw
> --
>

The same thing happened to my mother. Scared the dickens out of us.

"FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:fcmdnfOF9aAilG7YnZ2dnUVZ_tninZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> suzilem wrote:
> > "FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>
> >> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
> >>
>
> > This happened to me the first time when I was 36 and it's happened a
couple
> > of more times since (not as abruptly nor as severely as the first time).
>
> Same eye or different eye? I'm "looking forward" to it happening
> in my left eye now...
>
Same eye, but the "recurrences" weren't near as frightening. Just a little
grey spot in my vision that resolved over the course of a few days. It
hasn't happened again (knock wood) in well over 10 years.

suzilem wrote:
> "FurPaw" <furrealpawdog@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:luSdndXHmsnmmG_YnZ2dnUVZ_qemnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>
>> I thought I was getting a detached retina. It started with
>> sudden increase in floaters over the past few days, and then this
>> morning I was seeing streaks of light in my peripheral vision.
>> These are two of three of the major symptoms of a detached
>> retina; the third is a "dark curtain" that obscures part of the
>> visual field (which I was not experiencing).
>>
>> I got in to see an optometrist today (the one ophthalmologist in
>> town was out of town), and she diagnosed it as detached vitreous,
>> a common and mostly benign condition. The retina is still
>> attached. That is a relief!
>>
>> I'd never heard of the condition (or paid attention if I had) -
>> it happens when the sack of gel inside your eyeball detaches from
>> its fibrous moorings and starts to collapse on itself. It
>> generally doesn't lead to loss of vision, just an annoying
>> increase in floaters, although there is a slightly increased risk
>> of it being followed by a detached retina. FYI, here's a link in
>> case any of you want to follow up:
>> http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/vitreous/index.asp
>>
>>
> There is one other symptom that can happen with the detached vitreous that
> was really terrifying for me. I totally lost the vision in the center of my
> eye (I could still see around the edges). Over the course of a couple of
> days my vision returned, but there was a red haze in the area for several
> weeks. Apparently, when one of the "moorings" breaks loose, a little drop
> of blood can escape and block light from reaching the retina. Over time,
> the blood is absorbed back into the vitreous and the vision returns to
> normal.
>
> This happened to me the first time when I was 36 and it's happened a couple
> of more times since (not as abruptly nor as severely as the first time).
>
>
>
I had the same terrifying thing happen to me last year! I was 45. I
panicked and thought I was going blind! I seen an eye doctor a few days
later and he told me what it was, but I can't remember the name of it.
He told me he's never seen this happen to someone my age and it usually
happens to someone in their 50's. Well, I guess he was wrong because it
DOES happen sooner. The other scary part is, he said this WILL happen
again, but told me not to panic, yeah right! I'll panic, you can bet on it!