I thought I was going blind...

[Flipperk]

I have floaters in my eyes ( http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/spotsfloats.htm ) to start off, and for those who have these as well you will know exactly what im talking about.

So I just bought Grand Theft Auto 4 last friday, and I played in on my 19" HD TV, since the screen is small i usually sit close to the screen. Well the way GTA4 is made it looks like it should be HD graphics, but alot of the lighting in the game makes it look blurry and hard to focus on. So about 2 hours later (this where the floater guys will know what it looks like) it looked like some of my floaters where stuck in the middle of my vision, so i stopped playing and walked around to let my eyes rest. The area in which the floaters were stuck grew and spread all the way up and down the left side of eyes (both eyes), it looked like a huge semi circle of a thick floater that would not move.

Once I noticed this in both my eyes I knew it had to be a brain problem. I head over to my eye doctor and by that time the weird phenomenon had gone away( about 20 minutes) and my eyes felt like they were just stabbed with hot needles. The eye doctor told me that my eyes were perfectly healthy, and that what i described to him fit the description of the optic nerve spasing out and the lack of blood to the eyes would cause weird shapes in my vision just as i described. He said that it usually happens with people who are stressed out or putting alot of strain on their eyes, such as the video game. Its not the eyes but the center of vision in your brain.

I thought I had a brain tumor!!   

Found a link with the symptoms on this site: http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/ocular-migraine.htm

On the flash player on the second link, if you cover the right side of the screen thats exactly how it looked.


Anyone else experience this?

[batch]

every once in a while I get similar symptoms.......... only difference is mine are not opaque

usually the zigzag lines such as appear in that image on the link are randomly rotating colors......... sorta looks red/blue/green bands of electricity moving around

I still see the moving patterns even if my eyes are closed and everything is out of focus in that area of my vision

my doctor has told me pretty much the same thing as on the link......... its just stress related in the visual cortex of the brain..........

harmless and random

his only advise was to take a break from whatever I was doing to allow the optic nerves to relax a bit and pretty much ignore it

[eagl]

I've had them.  They're a pain (literally and figuratively) but mine go away after 10-20 min.  I usually get a low grade headache for a day afterwards.  Fish seems to be a trigger for me.  Migraines often occur from "triggers", but people often don't know what they are so their daily activities or diet could cause repeated ones.  The migraine doesn't always happen immediately, so it's hard to find a cause/effect.  I'm just lucky I figured it out, so now I avoid eating very much fish or products with fish oil, and I don't get them anymore.

Some red wines are a regular headache trigger for me, but the only ocular trigger I have identified is fish.

[batch]

Some red wines are a regular headache trigger for me, but the only ocular trigger I have identified is fish.

some red wines are a regular headache trigger for me also, but only after 5 or 6 bottles 

[Kermit de frog]

I've had them.  They're a pain (literally and figuratively) but mine go away after 10-20 min.  I usually get a low grade headache for a day afterwards.  Fish seems to be a trigger for me.  Migraines often occur from "triggers", but people often don't know what they are so their daily activities or diet could cause repeated ones.  The migraine doesn't always happen immediately, so it's hard to find a cause/effect.  I'm just lucky I figured it out, so now I avoid eating very much fish or products with fish oil, and I don't get them anymore.

Some red wines are a regular headache trigger for me, but the only ocular trigger I have identified is fish.

Hmm, I have the same thing happen to me every few years.  Didn't realize what it was until now.  This used to occur very frequently as a kid, but are becoming more infrequent as I get older.

[Chalenge]

These are the floaters:

http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/spotsfloats.htm

I get the stringy kind if I get a deficiency in magnesium or vitamin D oddly enough. You can imagine what its like operating a car or airplane and having the stringy type floaters flashing in your vision! Fortunately my wife feeds me a lot of Tuna Salmon and Mackerel (not to mention Grouper) and so I have not seen a floater in over a decade.

[Sandman]

Vitrious floaters. Yep... got em.

[Reschke]

Get the same things happening in my eyes as well. When it happens though I usually get or am having a headache and also a few other symptoms generally related to things that I believer are food allergies for me now.

[john9001]

every once in a while I get similar symptoms.......... only difference is mine are not opaque

usually the zigzag lines such as appear in that image on the link are randomly rotating colors......... sorta looks red/blue/green bands of electricity moving around

i occasionally get those. They don't last long and don't hurt.

[Hungry]

Same thing I call them lighting bolts, I used to think that they were caused by MSG in food primarily because of the low grade migrane I get afterword, but after talking to the lady at the eye clinic so many things can cause them.  From eye strain to sudden bright light to MSG Food alergys. 

Sometimes I get them once a month other times its daily when its really acting up.

Good luck to all who suffer from this, if you find a cure that works for you even though it may not work for others post it back here.

[OOZ662]

GTA4 does indeed have VERY strange lighting effects. I don't have floaters, but that game does quickly make my eyes feel like they're about to implode.

[Plawranc]

I get a kind of swirling vortex in my eyes, and sometimes light spots when I close them and even some stringy ones on occasion.

[expat]

floaters to some one in the uk are the things that dont flush easily .......pretty sure i dont want em in my eye's 

[Enker]

I did when I was seven and got Super Smash Bros. on the N64. I played for 14 hours straight fairly close to the giant tv. My eyes felt like dirt had been thrown in them, and I saw little things floating around.

[Hungry]

Had it again this morning, more headache than usual.  Had a pretty bland diet the last couple of days so I think Im finally going to rule out food.  Stress related for me.  Probably doesnt help that I smoke.