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Eye Floaters?

TikPandora

Member
Messages
8
Location
North Platte, NE
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I've had a few eye floaters for as long as I can remember. I used to just stare into the sky and watch some of the more complex ones dance and swirl around. Of course, being a hypochondriac and having severe health anxiety these used to bother me quite a bit.

Fast forward over ten years to today and I notice a small dark spot darting around the corner of my vision when I move my eyes. Before my diagnosis four days ago I would have simply brushed this off, but now I'm wondering if perhaps it's a symptom of some sort of retinopathy. I have no idea how long it's been there, and everything else in my vision seems normal.

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When I had my normal eye test at Specsavers I mentioned a persistent floater. The optician arranged another appointment so that I could have drops and an examination with a slit lamp to check there was no damage to my retina. I said I had a retinopathy scan recently and she said that they look for different things. So I suggest consulting your optician.
 
Have you had diabetic eye screening yet? In the UK, everyone should have their first eye screening within 3 months of diabetes diagnosis.

There are different types of 'floaters'.
  • The ones that are very small, move without the eyes moving and generally only show up against a light background such as the sky are completely normal - it's due to seeing the white blood cells moving within the capillaries of the retina. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomenon
  • Other floaters occur in the jelly of the eye due to ageing. Again, this type of floater is harmless.
  • If there is an increase in floaters accompanied by a sudden appearance of flashes, this could be a symptom of retinal detachment which would need to be seen in eye casualty the same day.
  • If someone has had diabetic retinopathy for years, it can develop to a stage called proliferative retinopathy where new vessels grow in the retina. These are very fragile and bleed easily. The bleeding may be seen as floaters. This needs to be seen in ophthalmology as soon as possible - within a couple of weeks.
If you've had your first eye examination for retinopathy already and there was either no retinopathy found or only background retinopathy, it is very, very unlikely that diabetic retinopathy is the cause of a floater.

If you haven't had an eye examination since diabetes diagnosis, I would get that organised straight away. Obviously, it would be helpful if you could tell the examiner a) which eye the floater is occurring in and b) where in the visual field it is located (upper or lower, nasal or temporal side).
 
Hi @TikPandora ..
I've had a floater in my right eye for a few months .. it seems to come and go and wander round a bit. I had my retinopathy exam in June and told the optician about it .. she had a look, said nothing to worry about, most people have them from time to time and she explained it exactly as @Dark Horse has done above in the second type.
Hope this helps
 
Hi Dark Horse.

I had a screening in december and was all good, i have background in one eye but no treatment recommended.

Last few weeks ive had more floaters. Went to the optician and they found no bleeds or anything, my eye sight other wise is normal.

Any advice?
 
Hi a few years ago I was lasered and since then I have a small "floater" in my left eye but causes no problem and since I am a T1 and 72 and have had Diabetes since 1960
 
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