I just about freaked

[Aria]

Seriously, I did freak out a bit... I feel a bit bad about it now but damnit, I couldn't SEE!

I was working yesterday and I got a floater in my eye... a spec right where I was trying to read on the screen. It made it damned difficult to make out a single word. Then it started getting bigger and more diffuse, to the point that I really couldn't read anything. That was when I quietly freaked out, called my manager and told him I needed to go to the doctor NOW.

So I went to the optometrist down the road and they ran all kinds of tests, which involved eyedrops to dilate my pupils. My eyes are fine. The optometrist thought it was a migraine. Apparently, you can have migraine symptoms without any actual pain? I had no idea. Has anyone else had this?

I hope it never happens again. The rest of the evening was miserable because of the dilation drops... I couldn't see well enough to work, or be on my computer, or read a book. x_x Blag!

[pudddykat]

Yes. Its called an ocular migraine. After a long road trip I got home and was standing in the kitchen and thought there were bugs flying about and then realized it was my eyes seeing little flashes of light. They can be disconcerting for sure.

[wheeitsmee]

I have gotten what were termed "Migraine Equivalents". All of the weird side effects, none of the pain. I've lost bits of vision for about 40 minutes. I've also had other side effects.
Sensitivity to sound
Sensitivity to light
Sensitivity to smell
Nausea
Vertigo
Aphasia
Numbness in the face and hands

[eltf177]

Never heard of this, and it sounds spooky...

[notalwaysright]

A distant relative of mine has those. Except instead of how you described floaters, he says he loses sight in the bottom of his eyes. So he can see things when he looks up, but not when he looks down. It starts slowly and works its way up, and he generally has time to get home before it's too bad.

You want spooky, Alice in Wonderland syndrome. Scary.

[Nunavut Pants]

You want spooky, Alice in Wonderland syndrome. Scary.

Holy crap! So that's what it's called!! I haven't had an episode in many years, but when I was a teenager it used to happen to me with some frequency. I would have to walk from one end to the other of our apartment to reassure myself that it was the same size it had always been. And it was pretty much always as I was drifting off to sleep.

Yeah, it's not much fun, and I think I had a mild version.

[HotelMinion]

I hate floaters. I get them in my eye a lot. At first I see a black thing on the wall so I look towards it, and it disappears. I thought I was losing my mind until I realized. Sometimes if I stare at the computer screen a lot my vision blurs until I can't see anything even if I blink. It happens a lot when I wear my glasses, my eyes get strained. I thought it was the other way around? Guess I should go back to the eye dr. soon. I hate the eye dr. tho T_T

[M'oh Less]

Ok, so I'm the eye gal - I am a certified Para-Optometric, and working on my other certifications. What the OP is talking about is totally normal. As providers, we don't know that unless we look. The symptoms of an ocular migraine (A migraine with all the symptoms but the pain) are scary. We always HOPE that patients who come in with these symptoms are just migraines. The same symptoms can occur with vitreous and retinal detachments. Vitreal? No big deal, that's basically normal with age. A retinal detachment? Needs IMMEDIATE treatment to keep the patient from going blind. Better safe than sorry - Good on ya for seeing your Optometrist/ Ophthalmologist.

[MoonCat]

Yes, I had one last December! And there was one other time at work. I can see but there's distortion, zig-zaggy lines over everything. Lasted about half an hour or so and went away by itself.

[TheSHAD0W]

I started having visual migraines a few years ago. It's a lucky thing I'd had a friend with the problem who described it to me, so I figured out what it was fairly quickly. Good thing because I'd happened to try some canned octopus an hour earlier. Picture being a 911 operator and getting the call, "they put LSD in my octopus!"

Please note that there are two different syndromes that are described as "visual migraines" or "ocular migraines"; if it's a zig-zaggy blotch that slowly spreads across your vision, it's a "real" migraine and that's how you treat it. If it's a retinal migraine, you need medical help badly.

The "hallucinations" started happening more and more often, up to several times a day, until I discovered mineral supplements suppressed them entirely, yay. (YMMV)

[Food Lady]

I've had one of those painless migraines. I'd never heard of it. It was over 20 years ago, so I can't remember the exact nature of the symptoms, just that I was probably seeing weird lights or maybe blurred vision. Whatever it was, I was scared for my eyesight, enough to call my optometrist immediately. He told me to take ibuprofen and caffeine. I don't think I've had one since. Weird.

[CyberLurch]

I used to have a weird sort of event all the time in which the very center of my vision would go dark for 20-30 minutes, sometimes longer. Made using a computer, or reading, REAL fun, and driving was definitely a no-no. My vision would 'mostly' return after that, but I'd often find it difficult to focus. These were, unfortunately, just the first warning of what was to come, because within an hour or so, I would get that 'ringing' sound in my ears, almost like the squeal of a smoke detector. And shortly after THAT would come the splitting headache and the sensitivity to sound. Sometimes there would be nausea and/or dizzyness as well.

At which point, I was done for the day. I could not do anything useful. The only solution was to retreat to the bedroom and try to sleep.

The doctor diagnosed it as migraines, but told me there was nothing he could do about it. Aspirin, Tylenol, etc. were utterly useless.

My bosses thought I was faking. It did cause me to lose one job.Thankfully, these events have decreased in both severity and frequency. I still get a bad one every once in a while, though.

[Food Lady]

It did cause me to lose one job.

This makes me angry. I've suffered being reprimanded many times for medical issues I had no control over and I've known people who have lost their jobs over stuff like this. As much as I hate my job sometimes, I am grateful that doesn't happen in my current company. They value us for what we can do and make accomodations for us. I love having in-house HR.

[wheeitsmee]

Ok, so I'm the eye gal - I am a certified Para-Optometric, and working on my other certifications. What the OP is talking about is totally normal. As providers, we don't know that unless we look. The symptoms of an ocular migraine (A migraine with all the symptoms but the pain) are scary. We always HOPE that patients who come in with these symptoms are just migraines. The same symptoms can occur with vitreous and retinal detachments. Vitreal? No big deal, that's basically normal with age. A retinal detachment? Needs IMMEDIATE treatment to keep the patient from going blind. Better safe than sorry - Good on ya for seeing your Optometrist/ Ophthalmologist.

The one time my vision loss lasted more than a short time, I ended up getting a same day appointment through my HMO to have it checked out. I ended up being diagnosed with Optic Neuropathy.

[M'oh Less]

Or, Optic Neuritis. Yep, I've been through this one myself. It's basically a swelling of your optic nerve that causes the signals to get all wonky. When I had my episodes, my vision would freeze @ one focal point, and that's all I could see. It's scary when it happens, and is something that should be monitored for re-occurrence. It's actually what started my fascination with vision and why I took the job with the Optometrist when it was offered. It's been almost a decade, and I've had very few recurrences (most were within the first few years of the initial presentation). Currently, I still show no signs of degradation of the nerve - which is the long term worry.