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The joys of aging: eye doctor interlude — 20 Comments

  1. Gets to the point that, when you see one, you hope to hear thunder, and you wish people would quit taking flash pictures unless they tell you first.
    Sunlight flare off a car….

  2. I had almost identical symptoms about 8 years ago in both eyes (after having floaters since childhood). I went to an eye clinic on an emergency basis the next morning, and I received the same diagnosis you did. After several months everything calmed down, except that every once in a while there is another lightning bolt, and nothing but thumbs up with every subsequent eye examination.

  3. neo exclaims, “What did I do? I . . . went home and Googled it, that’s what I did.”

    This reminds me of a recent exchange between my wife, who was concerned about a certain physical condition, and her doctor. Said wife waxed loquacious on what she’d been learning about said condition on the internet, and said doctor reproachfully but jocularly asked if she’d been consulting with Dr. Google again.

  4. I had a similar occurrence 3 years ago but my lights were individual “stars” starting at 12:00 and going to the 3:00 position (if you imagine your visual area as a clock). This would happen when I blinked. Same diagnosis as you. Yes, I have lots of floaters, one big dark one in my right eye that scoots across my vision as I move my eyes. I have a trouble reading because of the proliferation of floaters in my right eye.

  5. This happened to me last year and was definitely one of the scariest incidents of my life. I have been warned for many years to look for symptoms of a detached retina. I am extremely nearsighted and have had a condition called “lattice degeneration” for over 20 years. It is a thinning of the retina that is stretched due to the shape of a myopic eye. I had no idea there was such a thing as a PVD so I freaked when I saw that lightning bolt. I was sure my retina had finally detached but thankfully, it had not. I have had floaters most of my life but the PVD cause a very large one in my left eye that is still a distraction. Perhaps that first doctor saw the lattice condition that was pre-PVD? Glad you’re ok.

  6. I hope your health continues to be fine. The internet can make you think your condition is worse than it actually is. I’m currently training for a half-marathon but that distance will most likely chance to a 10K due me being diagnosed with tendonitis in my left foot. At first I thought it was a stress fracture; thank goodness it wasn’t.

    On a more serious health note a month ago I had mono double vision which carried on for a few days – this is more serious, but I think it was due to serious eye strain. I google my health scare and I got some scary results. To make it even worse I experienced vertigo for a few hours once the double vision subsided on separate occasions. I received a text from the eye doctor to come in for my yearly eye exam since last year I took in October. I’ll take this as a sign to finally get some professional word on my condition. I hope it’s just some serious eye strain which can be fixed by rest because any neurological disease would be devastating.

  7. GRA:

    Thanks for the good wishes.

    In this case, however, I already knew I might have a retinal detachment before I Googled it. I also knew I might have a PVD, although I didn’t think that was possible since I’d been told I already had had one. However, the Googling made me think the less serious event was more likely than the more serious one. So it had the effect of calming me down somewhat.

  8. I’ve got a floater or two and am mildly diabetic with various other occasional and fleeting ailments. But hearing of other’s more serious conditions leads me to a deeper appreciation of just how lucky I am.

  9. Hey Neo…I had the exact same thing about a year ago too…i also had some eye irritation, just in the beginning, in addition to the flashing phenomena…after several visits to a retinal specialist all is well
    Hope you are too…enjoy following your blog

  10. Detached retinas do not just happen to old people. I was diagnosed with detached retinas in both eyes when I was 18 and needed immediate surgery to correct it, scleral buckles. I was in college with three weeks left in the semester and asked if I could finish the term and was told “NO”.

  11. Sorry to hear about this eye issue, Neo. I hope it works out successfully.

    I’m on my last week (8 weeks in total) of eye drop protocol after having my cataracts removed and lenses put in. The first two weeks were distressing because my first eye wasn’t getting better (hazy vision) after the surgery. The doctor diagnosed it as my being allergic to the eye drops. They replaced three different eye drops with a single drop of some other solution. It certainly made a dramatic difference. My eye improved almost immediately. I was very distressed during that first two weeks. We don’t realize how precious our sight is until something like that occurs.

    I also have dry age related macular degeneration (ARMD), but have been taking Bausch and Lomb AREDS vitamin supplement for that. It has not gotten worse for the seven years since it was first diagnosed. Those vitamins have apparently worked quite well.

  12. J.J.:

    Glad you’re feeling better.

    I also have developing cataracts, much as anyone my age usually does, but it freaks me out because it’s related to my concept of “old,” and I can also see some of the effects now. I have a feeling that cataract surgery is in my not-all-that-distant future.

  13. You are not alone, Neo. I’ve got “flashers” & “floaters” and rarely bothersome early cataracts. Also “pigment dispersion” and nearly lifelong nearsightedness. Welcome to our generation, Kiddo!!

  14. Not sure how much anyone wants to hear about my medical history but as long as we’re discussing cataracts I have had the operation in both eyes, the first a long time ago when I was in my mid-40s, an unusually early age for it. It may be related to my early retinal surgery. After both cataract operations I needed a follow-up procedure with a laser to eliminate a defect. Apparently the lens implant sometimes leaves behind an air pocket that interferes with your vision and the laser takes care of that. It takes about one second.

  15. “nearly lifelong nearsightedness”

    Me too, I was wearing coke-bottle eyeglasses from the time I was 5 or 6. That likely was related to my later eye problems. The interesting thing is that since the two cataract surgeries, performed 10 years apart by different doctors, I have been able to go most of the time without glasses. When you get the implant they check your eyes to try to have the implant correct whatever vision impairment you have. One eye was “tuned” for close-up i. e. reading while the other was corrected for distance vision. Now I rarely wear glasses except while driving.

  16. FOAF: Forgot one other problem of recent years: High Pressure in both eyes. Adopt Drops helped for awhile until they “turned” on me. He switched me over to Dorzolimide Drops a.m.& p.m. and they’ve been perfect, Thank God.

    Been wearing B & L Aviators since 1969.

    Aaahhhh…As my late Uncle Burke used to say: “Old Man… Old Age ain’t for Sissies.” I’m in amazing good health, but I’m sure seeing that the early seventies sure ain’t quite like the early sixties!!

  17. About a month ago I noticed lots of things floating in my left eye. The doctor said it was a torn retina and did some laser and cryo surgery on the eye. When he triggered that laser into my eye it was the brightest flash I ever saw. It didn’t hurt, but I was sure glad when he finished the laser part. The hurt part was when he put the cryo probe into the eye socket. I was ecstatic when he said all finished. The whole procedure couldn’t have taken over 15 minutes but at the time it seemed like it was going on forever. The next day my eyeball was blood red and looked like it was hemorrhaging. The doctor told me if I saw any flashes in my eye to call immediately because this was a symptom of a detached retina.

    Be glad you didn’t require surgical intervention because that’s no fun.

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