Flashes in periphery and anxiety
Posted , 7 users are following.
I was wondering if anyone else ever gets flashes in their periphery due to anxiety? My problem is I can’t tell if they are actual flashes or just my mind playing tricks on me. I had retinal tear in my right eye and have had laser surgery to prevent full detachment. I just had a full eye exam with dilation a week ago and all turned out fine. I still think I get flashes in the corner of left eye, I’m just not sure if it’s actually flashes or anxiety 
and my mind playing tricks on me
Thanks
0 likes, 16 replies
frazzled doug75871
Posted
Hi doug: I get those flashes occasionally and even think I see something running across the floor that really isn't there. Since you had your eyes/vision check recently; along with the retinal check, it's probably anxiety or mini startle response. Or it may be your eyes still adjusting to the surgery. Flashing might be something that happens while the eye is healing.
I've suffered with panic disorder/attacks for over 30 years and have experienced that many many times. I also have a lot of floaters in my eyes which may contribute to the flash. If it continues tho, I'd see the retinal specialist again.
Peach104839 doug75871
Posted
I have this too
It makes me feel like i'm going crazy because I am just hyper- aware of everything going on around me so I can't tell if maybe I'm just seeing things or if something is actually there for a second. It could be related to your eye, but for me I just have bad anxiety and I get this too. hang in there, I'm right there with you!
jan34534 doug75871
Posted
Doug, I also had a retinal tear with laser surgery. Every now and then I do get a flash in the bottom corner of my eye . It is actually a flash , your mind is not playing tricks on you. The doctor that treated me said not to worry about the flashes he said they may go on for quite some time.
as long as you are getting your check ups it's nothing to worry about.
if you get the flashes that go all around your eye or like half of your eye, then go get rechecked, within 12 hours. That happened to me a couple of times and I had laser.
everything is fine now and in time the flashes should disappear. 😃
doug75871 jan34534
Posted
So you got flashes and then went to doc any they found tear? I have a blind spot near me nasal and it flickers like crazy. The flash I think I see is in corner of non treated eye. Honestly, when I’m busy I don’t see it. So since it’s in my eye without tear I am assuming it’s anxiety bc it is not constant and I only see it when I think or focus on it, there again I’m not even sure it’s a flash, it’s more like a something moved by corner of eye. What did flashes look like for you?
jan34534 doug75871
Posted
Yes. The flashes when I get them are in the bottom right corner of my right eye. Those flashes started after my laser treatment but I was told it's perfectly normal. The first time I ever noticed flashing was when I walked into my dark bedroom, my right I had flashes all around the entire Eye, so I freaked out. I couldn't get into see anyone until the next day even at the ER they did not have a doctor that specializes in that. So I went the next day and had the laser treatment. Like I said, after that treatment I would get those flashes in my right eye. They just look like sudden little bursts of light. Almost like lightning.A lot of the time I get them when I suddenly look to the right but not always.
The thing that moves in the corner of your eye does it look like a black floater at all? Sounds like you said it was more of a flash right? Did the doctor check out your left eye? I started to get that in my left eye also after I had my right eye treated and he wasn't positive I had a tear but he saw some little thing in there so he treated it anyway to be on the safe side. Maybe you could have it looked at just to play safe.
jan34534 doug75871
Posted
FYI. I was told by the ophthalmologist that we have either 12 or 24 hours window to get treatment if there is a detachment. I can't remember but to be safe I'm going to say 12 hours. That's if you get flashes that are going around the eye or around half the eye like I had.
doug75871 jan34534
Posted
I had optimap and full exam with dilation on both eyes . I emailed my ophthalmologist Monday and she said both eyes looked stable with no signs of tears (she did the exam 10 days ago). My anxiety is so bad after laser surgery that I obsess over it and almost look for these things. What I see is very subtle and like I see something out of corner of my eye. Again when I’m distracted reading, playing with kids I never notice it
jan34534 doug75871
Posted
You should be fine then. Your doctor looked at both eyes and said there's no sign of tears. Anxiety can definitely play a role in this. Try to keep yourself busy because the more you think about it the more you will notice things. If it's just a tiny flash or whatever, you should be ok.
i'm still getting them and everything is great. ??😁
doug75871 jan34534
Posted
Thanks so much for all your help and comfort
jan34534 doug75871
Posted
I actually Doug, everything started with one very huge floater in my left eye. I thought there was a giant fly going by. I went to the eye doctor and he said as we age, the eyeball can pull away a little bit from the back of the eye. Apparently that is what caused that huge floater but I did not have retinal detachment in that Eye. But yes, I had an increase in floaters after the right eye detachment. But I do have to say I've always had floaters since my 20s when my anxiety symptoms began. For some reason they are very common with anxiety also. The ophthalmologist said you can completely ignore the floaters because they are harmless. I hardly get them now but if I do I don't worry about it as long as I'm not getting huge flashes around my whole Eye .
feel free to ask anything you'd like! 😁
jan34534 doug75871
Posted
doug75871 jan34534
Posted
Thanks
So if I understand correctly. You got intense flashes and floaters and then went to ER but they sent you to Eye doc and they said you had tear? Do you have a detachment in one eye and tear in other? Sorry if I’m confusing 😆
jan34534 doug75871
Posted
Yes Intense flashes and floaters in the right eye. When I got examine they found A tear in the right eye with a slight detachment. They did the laser treatment.
The left eye happened approximately three months after the right eye andthe doctor wasn't sure if it was a tear but I was getting major flashes. So he did laser to be on the safe side and my left eye has been fine since then. This all happened beginning June 2016 with the right eye.
today everything is good but once in a great while I'll still get that little flash on the bottom right corner of my right eye. But nothing more than that.
doug75871 jan34534
Posted
mellobali jan34534
Posted
hey there @jan34534 i had my right eye lasered 11 days ago and now i'm having a flickering flashes on top of my vision, it's mostly happens when i'm in the bright area.
i'm currently having a major depression because of it and i'm really scared that i might have to live with this side effect for the rest of my life. the doctor also didn't say anything about the side effects, she said it's perfectly safe procedure. expect "no side effects" but here i am having a flickering flashes on top of my vision...
i've seen a lot of discussion in 'Patient' and a lot of people having the exact same side effect as mine, but the thing that makes me even more depressed is that there's some people said that their flickering flashes symptoms will fade or even completely gone in couple of weeks/months/year but there's also people saying that it will never goes away, i'm still trying to be positive and hoping that my flickering flash on top of my vision will go away very soon.
for my central/main vision, it's still perfect as before. no blurry or anything, it's just that the flickering flashes is really annoying me alot at the moment.
i'm turning 25 years old this year. i have high myopia eyes, left -11, right -10. and actually have a plan to do LASIK in the next 2-3 years (currently saving money) but then everything come to a halt because of my retinal thinning.
got any tips man? i know this is an old discussion but i feel like i can trust your words, thanks in advance!
mellobali
Posted
and i also going to get a follow-up checkup in the next 2 days to see the result of the laser treatment...i'm just hoping i can get answers from all of my side effects issues.