Why not on GOY much at moment.

My friend's husband has the same thing. No bending, no driving, no airplanes etc. Very annoying.

Oh Jen thats sounds quite horrible, I sincerely hope it does clear up for you, the sooner the better, constant headaches are hard to deal with so fully understand you not wanting to make the condition worse than it already is. Take care and hope to see you fighting fit and back with us soon....

Oh Jen sorry to hear about this,hope it gets better soon,take care.

Thank you all. I am still using computer just in very small doses. I was told at the eye hospital that I will get used to it and try and ignore it but at the same time be aware that this can cause my retina to detach and so focus on it every now and then to check that there aren't any of the signs that is happening.

Linda, your poor friends husband. Don't think mine is that bad as I was most surprised but they said I could still drive! It is just the headaches at moment which get worse when I focus on things like screens.

So sorry, Jen. Take care.

Sorry to hear about your eye problem. Hope it soon settles down Jen.

Oh dear,that's sounds awful. I had a 'fly' in my eye a couple of years ago...it all turned out I'd torn my retina. Do make sure you don't lift anything heavy as that can add to the strain. I hope you're feeling better soon.

Oh ..you are all making Me squirm in my chair...can't stand the thought of eye diseases...ugh...so sorry Jen...hope it gets better in time...horrid.

Sorry to hear that jen, hope it clears soon

Sorry to hear about your eye sight. Don't worry about commenting or even looking if it makes your eyes worse. Your health comes first.
I hope there will be an improvement soon.

Hope this improves soon, anything with the eyes is so scarey.

Thank you all, I will still be looking In as I would miss seeing what you all are up to. It's stopping me getting so bored lol.

How horrid for you Waddy, that must have been so scary for you as I now know there is such a short time frame for it to be treated before it is too late. Hope all is ok now.

Jen

You have my sympathy - it happened to me in one of my eyes about three years ago, but when it happened, I kept seeing what I thought was a golden hair at the outer corner of my vision, and after a few hours of that, I saw what looked like someone drawing a zigzag temperature graph across my eyeball, a black biro, zigzag line. And that's when it finally detached, luckily leaving the retina undamaged. But it does leave this sort of blob, its like a circle of broken elastic with a bit of a tail. Occasionally, its right in the centre of my vision and light reflects off it, making driving difficult and night driving impossible, and forcing me to spend all day rolling and flicking the eye rapidly to try to shift it out of the way, other days I barely notice it, or don't notice it at all.

I was told it wasn't uncommon in older people, but I never heard of anyone this happened to. Actually, what the doctor said, when I asked why it had happened, was 'time, it's just time'... after a lot of puzzled questioning on my part, I fell in and said oh I see, what you're really saying is its cos I'm old... and he said he'd been trying to avoid saying that. That seems completely bonkers to me, what's the point in saying something that makes no sense in order to avoid saying something that refers to your age, what a load of nonsense. I said that to him as well...

If its any comfort, you do stop seeing it most of the time after a few weeks.

Thank you so much Bamboo. In the paperwork I was given at the hospital, it said it happened to 2 out of 3 people but like you I had never heard of it. It also said more common in over 50s, I'm only 51. I had only just been to a new opticians a couple of months ago for new glasses, they had a scheme that if I joins I got money off so I did but it also covered emergency treatment which I thought I would never need but as soon as it happened hubby made me phone them and they told me to get there straight away. Did about 8 scans on the eye and phoned the eye hospital to get me seen. They where very good. Later they even phoned me to see how I was.

It is all very well being told by the hospital that I will get used to it but hearing from you that I will is so much more reassuring so thank you! I had wondered how I would cope with night driving, luckly I don't really have to do much but you have confirmed my suspicions. Thought the glare of oncoming headlights would make it worse.

It is just over a week since it happened and there are now parts of the day that I don't see it so I am getting there :-)

Thanks again.

You do definitely stop noticing it - the brain screens it out, cos its normal, that's why you stop seeing floaters after a few weeks. They're still there, but your brain ignores them... you only notice when new ones arrive, until your brain screens those out too. For a few months before it happened, I kept getting lots of floaters - it was obviously the jelly stuff just starting to come away. Luckily, I can just hop on the tube and go to the Western Eye Hospital 24 hour casualty department...

What puzzles me a bit is why I'm aware of it sometimes - I do have a bit of a problem with raised pressure in the eyes at times, so I wonder if its when the pressure's up that's the cause of me noticing it again. Anyway, don't worry about it - just be grateful it didn't damage the retina when it did detach, that would be much, much worse!

I'm fine now thanks Jen. I had the tear sealed with a laser light. It sounds far worse than it is. I now keep seeing the odd 'floater' from time to time, but nothing serious. Thanks for asking.

Glad that you are ok Waddy, though the floaters are a pain.

Bamboo, that is where you are lucky living in London, our eye hospital is only open office hours. You are probably right about eye pressure to do with seeing them more but I don't really, like you understand it. They did say at the hospital that the gel hadn't fully detached yet so that is why they told me to be aware of the signs but I'm sure I will be fine and just get used to it.

Oh yea, I'd forgotten - that incident with the zigzag line was most of it detaching, and a few months later, I suddenly got a rash of floaters, so I went back (as instructed) and the rest had finally come off, that's what the floaters were, again without damage to the retina. Luckily, cos that's the only eye that works properly, sod's law that, it happens in the good eye and not in the bad. The floaters were a right pain for about six weeks - every time I looked up, I''d think it was a flock of birds in the distance... but it passed.

It's weird, just after I replied to you, my eye was like looking through a dust cloud. Phoned the eye hospital and they told me to come In at 2.30. The long and short of it, the gel is now fully detached and with no damage to my retina. Thankfully, they did say things should calm down now. God, it is Sod's law that it was your good eye.

Ah, well I'm glad its all detached now, means you don't have to worry about it - you just have to wait for the brain to stop seeing the rubbish floating around in your eye, around 2-6 weeks hopefully.

If this happens to 2 out 3 people, how come I've never heard anyone in my whole life mention it happening to them, except for you? And I'm older than you are, you'd think I'd have come across someone else its happened to. Or is it one of those items on the list of 'things people just don't talk about', I find it really odd that you never hear it mentioned.

Have just got back from the opticians. Have ordered some prescription sunglasses as everything I have read says they should help. The only sunglasses I have are normal ones that I wear when wearing my contact lenses. These new ones are anti glare ones so should help when driving stopping the bright light reflecting off the floaters. When the hospital told me the one in three bit I was surprised, never heard of it before. Maybe, like you say, people just don't talk about it. They also told me at the opticians that now I have it in one eye, it was a sure thing that I will get it at some point in the other eye but could be years. Something to do with how short sighted I am.

What a horrible condition to have - thanks for posting about it though as now I'll know what it is if it turns up in my eye.
Hope it is getting manageable for you, Jen, & not causing you too much trouble.

Thank you Green finger, it is getting much better, getting more lengh of time in day that I don't notice it. Wearing sunglasses a lot more which is helping lol. They said it is more common In people who are fairly short sighted which I am. The other signs they said to look out for was flashing lights in the eye and a curtain effect but I've not had any of those. Just my money spider and the new one last week. if you are worried about it, there is information about it on Google, sorry, I don't know how to post links. You can look it up by just typing in PVD of the eye.

Hi Jen

I am so sorry to hear about your problems and worries about your eyes but am glad to hear that things may be improving for you.

All that and losing your beloved auntie very recently; life can throw us just too many things to contend with at once and it seems to be your turn at the moment unfortunately.

It's nice to know you have caring friends on here to share with....

Thanks, Jen, I'm happy to say I don't have the PVD problem, the thing I do get are migraines, these cause significant problems & if I get one I just have to stop everything & head for bed.

I found that 'flashing lights' thing tedious, having to go back every time it happened after the detachment - I ended up at the hospital every other day about 3 years ago for a few weeks, until they finally said that what I'm getting is optical (now called aura) migraine, rather than activity or damage to the retina. Since then, I've realised it comes in bouts - maybe twice a day or more for a couple of months in spring, then it recedes, with just the odd one here and there, until autumn, when it resurges, but not so bad as in the spring. Makes driving a bit hairy - each episode lasts around 40 minutes from start to finish, so if it starts while I'm driving somewhere, I've got about 10 minutes max to find somewhere to pull in and wait it out. I hate driving on dual carriageways or 3/4 lane roads, its difficult to find somewhere to pull in, so I avoid those now wherever possible.

I don't think its connected with the PVD at all, its just one of those things I get that's got worse as I've got older. Like everything does!

Thanks Hollyduff, will admit I was a little bit freaked out about my eye for 1st few days but then things calmed down and the headaches started getting better, I gave myself a talking too lol. At least I still have sight in it and I still can drive. Wearing sunglasses a lot more so going for the mysterious look :-). They help with blocking the floaters out when outside or sitting in conservatory as I can only get our wirfi in conservatory as the unit is in workshop. It was upsetting losing my Auntie but she had been ill for a long time and the last few years had dementia. I used to be a psychiatric nurse for the elderly so I know it was in a way a relief for her son that she didn't have to suffer anymore.

Poor you Green fingers, I have never suffered with them, thank god. At least with my eye I will and am getting used to it but with migraines it must be so much worse with nothing to do but as you say, go to bed and wait for them to pass. I do feel for you.

They sound awful Bamboo! So sorry. It's sounds like all the symptoms I've heard people get with a migraine , what with the flashing lights just not the head hurting. Weird how they are worse in colder months. This growing older thing is hard. When we are young, we spend all our time waiting till we are old enough to do something or other and normally don't have any common sense, then we get to a certain age and our body's start to let us down. Saying that, I can't complain, ok I got this PVD but it could have been worse.

Oh, it could always be worse - I just count my blessings for the things I didn't get throughout my life! Sometimes I get a mild headache after an episode, if I have three in a day, I might feel quite ill for a couple of hours, but I don't get the typical migraine headache for three days, sickness and having to lie in a darkened room thing.

Still not nice. I'm like you and count my blessing. One of my sisters gets or has all the big things that when she goes into hospital, they have to put 2 wrist bands on her just to write down all the things she has got, she never complains and just gets on with it. I admire her so much.

sounds like one of my sisters - she's had two heart attacks but is a complete stoic, never likes to mention health in any way, hates any discussion involving it. I'm beginning to wonder if her lack of expression regarding pain and illness is precisely why she's had two heart attacks, all that bottling up...

You could be right, they do say a trouble shared and all that. My sister does talk about it just not in complaining way. Wish sometimes she would complain. Few years back, during one of her operations, they nicked her bowel and then it went undetected for nearly a month. They had to rush her in and do an emergency op which she nearly didn't pull through and we all got called In to say goodbye but she pulled through. It has lefted her with a damaged heart as she had gone into organ failure. We wanted her to put in a complaint but she wouldn't. She is a Midwife, my other sister is a physiotherapist and I was a nurse so we talk about her health and treatments for this and her other conditions.

Migraines are strange things. Mine started when I was a young teen, they were really bad then, the distorted vision & flashes would last about 4 days, the thumping head would go on for a week. First signs were pins & needles in my throat & fingers & I would feel total panic as I knew I had to get home before the sickness started.
I grew out of them in my mid 20's.
They started again in my mid 50's but they are milder by comparison, I just get the flashes, zig-zags & distortion (aura). Things like Migraleve are useless.
My doctor prescribed Sumatriptan, it is an enormous help but it must be taken at the first signs as once the aura comes all stomach action ceases.
The triptans are a med for epilepsy but have been found to also help with migraines.
So now I only need to lie in darkened room for about an hour, I still get the headache & feel fuzzy but not so bad for just a day, I also have some memory loss immediately after but it comes back gradually.

They do sound horrid and the memory loss must be scary. Glad that they are bit better then when you were younger and the meds help. I have read somewhere that hormones can effect them, with what you said about them when you were younger makes sense. As I've said before, luckily I've never had them and the headaches I was getting due to this eye are getting much much better. So sorry you have them. I do feel for you.

Crikey, that sounds awful, Greenfinger... I know the only drug treatment available is actually the drugs they use for epilepsy. The odd thing is, one of my sons had a massive febrile epileptic fit at 5 years old, and since, gets odd 'episodes' which they've classified as epilepsy because they don't know what the problem is, but the epilepsy drugs make no difference, in fact, some make it worse. He doesn't take anything now (he's in his thirties), and just accepts that, about once a month, he might feel somewhat strange for a day or a few hours. And from all the reading I did a while back, I discovered there may well be a connection between my aura migraine and his episodes - possibly a similar neurological malfunction presenting itself differently. Strange thing, the brain... and its amazing how many people suffer these things

Jen, glad to hear your eye PVD & headaches are setting down. Yes, the memory loss was scary, you start to worry thinking dementia onset but I'm used to it now & know it is temporary.

Bamboo, you are so right - the brain is complex. Sounds like there is def a connection & a neurological hiccup going on with your son.
Finding out about the stomach connection was a revelation to me. For the longest time I've tried to discover what is the trigger, some people say chocolate, coffee or cheese but for me it is not diet related. The sun through the trees flashing by when driving can do it or black / white stripes or going from bright sunshine into a room indoors ... so basically it's strong contrasts that bring them on for me.

Jen, I am a great believer in the power of the mind and you state that you count your blessings. I reckon this positive attitude will help you overcome your eye problem. As Bamboo states, the brain is "a strange thing" and it can work for one. I know that!

Greenfinger: I imagine you have tried everything for migraine, but have you tried feverfew (Tenacetum parthenium)? My husband used to visit an art shop and the owner one day looked really ill. She had one of her migraine attacks and told us nothing seemed to work for her. I mentioned Feverfew and she was interested. The next time we visited the shop she told me she had bought some of the tablets from her local health shop and they had really helped.
Maybe someone here has tried them?

Oh, Greenfinger, that's all too familiar - glinting sunlight on cars I find troublesome, some (usually small and dense) patterns, narrow light and dark lines,nightmare going to the NHS physio, they've got this large area of striped carpet that swims before my very eyes whenever I'm there in the waiting area, these are all things that might trigger it for me, even the escalator in the tube bothers me at particular times of year, all those shiny lines. And I think the sudden onset during March is because the sun's higher in the sky and its much brighter, otherwise, what explanation is there for lots of attacks between March and early June?

Not much you can do about light - sunglasses, visor, I wear both of those indoors in spring, when I sit at the table where the sun streams in...

It's recently been described to me that I've got a 'migrainous brain' - seems like its not that uncommon, though we're obviously all experiencing various things with it.

Eirlys - my problem's not a headache, its just visual disturbance sometimes accompanied by dizziness, so no, I've not tried feverfew. Its on the banned list for anyone on blood thinners though, along with most herbal remedies, sadly. Definitely worth a try for those who experience severe headache symptoms, if they can take it.

This is all really interesting, hearing about someone else with similar problems, thanks for posting this Jen, sorry its been taken over somewhat!

Thank you Eirlys, as I have got older feel that too much time can be wasted on feeling sorry for myself. Probably when I was working as a nurse helped with that and also my sister. Years ago she had problems with her back. They told her she probably would never walk again. To her that was like a red rag, and within 2 months she walked back onto the ward and handed back the zimmer frame they had given her. She has so many medical problems but she always says it could have been worse. My other sister is having treatment at the moment for grade 4 breast cancer so who am I to complain.

I do feel for both of you Bamboo and Greenfinger. Your triggers sound a nightmare, it's not as if they are something you can advoid. The brain in an amazing thing but a lot more fragile then we give it credit for.
From what you say Bamboo and from what I read, glad that my new sunglasses have got the ani glare on them. Got bigger frames then I would have normally to cut out light getting around them. Was sorry to read about your son's condition, glad that it seems to have lessened and he doesn't have to rely on meds. Don't worry about this going off on a tangent, I'm not. Any good conversation does :-).

Eirlys, feverfew was no help & tasted awful. I made a diffusion of it, as I explained about the stomach, it has to be a liquid to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Soluble aspirin is about the only thing recommended but not for me.