Bright lines in vision - retinal detachment?

SeaSoul

I had the strangest thing happen this morning...a bright vertical line appeared in my central vision in my right eye.  Similar to if I had been exposed to a bright light, but I hadn't, and it didn't go away in the amount of time you'd expect.  Then another line appeared that met the original one to form a sideways V.  Then both lines got longer, so they affected my vision more, and then they floated off to the periphery and eventually went away.  Lasted 10-15 minutes.  I have had "floaters" for years and this was much different.  Called my eye dr. and they are having me come in and will be dilating my eye to check for possible retinal detachment.  Awesome.  I remember my dr. telling me in the past to make sure I call if I saw bright flashes, for that very reason.  Of course, Cal was having a very fussy morning while this was happening and all I could do was think about my eye - totally ignoring him.  Bad Mommy!  Anyway, now I'm freaked out.

DavezWife

GL! I've heard some scary things about RD, and from what I remember, it does not go away? (like it lasts longer than 10-15 minutes) so maybe it's something more benign?

let us know.

SeaSoul

DavezWife:

GL! I've heard some scary things about RD, and from what I remember, it does not go away? (like it lasts longer than 10-15 minutes) so maybe it's something more benign?

I friGGin' hope so!!!!  Freaking out a bit here...  The little bit I read said that RD becomes does more permanent damage if you ignore the symptoms and don't get it taken care of right away.  If it's taken care of immediately, you're usually all set. 

I actually just read something about an "ophthalmic migraine" with the same symptoms, but caused by a spasm of blood vessels in the brain.  Hmph.  Think I'll stop googling now.

DavezWife

Dr. Google is bad bad bad ;-)

SeaSoul

DavezWife:

Dr. Google is bad bad bad ;-)

Agreed.  At least in this case he made me feel better - would much rather have an ophthalmic migraine than a retina detachment!

somethingchangd

Yikes!  Glad you're going in.  Keep us posted.

madhatter2003

GO IN NOW.

I had a retinal detatchment last year. My 'flashers' came and went at first, then the next day stayed. I had emergency surgery that night but still have a partial blind spot.

GO NOW and get checked. Hopefully it's nothing, but if you reattach it ASAP you'll save more vision.

madhatter2003

When you look at something dark and straight (like the top of the computer monitor against a lighter wall) is it curved at all?

SeaSoul

madhatter2003:

GO IN NOW.

I had a retinal detatchment last year. My 'flashers' came and went at first, then the next day stayed. I had emergency surgery that night but still have a partial blind spot.

GO NOW and get checked. Hopefully it's nothing, but if you reattach it ASAP you'll save more vision.

Yikes!!  I already have an appt. scheduled for this afternoon - forgot to mention that.  Could you describe your symptoms a little further - what were the flashes like, how long did they last, how often did they come and when did you finally get it checked out?  What was the surgery like? 

madhatter2003

SeaSoul:

madhatter2003:

GO IN NOW.

I had a retinal detatchment last year. My 'flashers' came and went at first, then the next day stayed. I had emergency surgery that night but still have a partial blind spot.

GO NOW and get checked. Hopefully it's nothing, but if you reattach it ASAP you'll save more vision.

Yeah, I saw that you had an appointment, that's good. I'd eat a light lunch just in case, they had to push my surgery back because I'd eaten a huge lunch that day (of course, I was pg on top of it).

I had noticed the flashers sort of going in a 'line'...almost like railroad cars for a lack of a better way to describe them. They'd start on the left side and sort of move along a line across my vision. They'd come and go that first day. The next day I woke up and saw a 'shadow' across the upper portion of my vision. i also noticed a HUGE change in my prescription...like I couldn't even read the alarm clock anymore with my glasses in just that eye.  Then when I called they said to look at something dark and straight and see if it was curved, and it was. That meant the detachment had reached my central vision (that was also the cause of the shadow.

There are two options for surgery and it'll depend on the type of detachment and location.  One is a gas bubble which is less invasive. I had the much more invasive buckle placed around my eye, but my detached was pretty major.  It's normally done under general anthes, but I elected to have it done under local due to the fact I was 19 w pregnant with DS at the time. Needless to say I was a 'special' case.  It sucked, but I lived through it.  It's fine now, but I do have a 'blind spot' in the upper part of my right eye vision where it was detatched the longest that will never come back.

Yikes!!  I already have an appt. scheduled for this afternoon - forgot to mention that.  Could you describe your symptoms a little further - what were the flashes like, how long did they last, how often did they come and when did you finally get it checked out?  What was the surgery like? 

SeaSoul

madhatter2003:

When you look at something dark and straight (like the top of the computer monitor against a lighter wall) is it curved at all?

No.  My vision is back to normal after this morning's 15-minute (or so) episode...  Or did you mean was it like that while I was experiencing the bright flashes?  I don't really know...I didn't notice.

madhatter2003

If it's a detachment the vision changes stayed, at least they did for me. And they were pretty drastic. I knew immediately something was up.

Hopefully yours is just the ocular migrane....sounds like it's gone away which is good.

SeaSoul

madhatter2003:

I had noticed the flashers sort of going in a 'line'...almost like railroad cars for a lack of a better way to describe them. They'd start on the left side and sort of move along a line across my vision. They'd come and go that first day. The next day I woke up and saw a 'shadow' across the upper portion of my vision. i also noticed a HUGE change in my prescription...like I couldn't even read the alarm clock anymore with my glasses in just that eye.  Then when I called they said to look at something dark and straight and see if it was curved, and it was. That meant the detachment had reached my central vision (that was also the cause of the shadow.

At this point it's been 3 hours since my one and only episode.  Were yours happening more frequently than that on the 1st day?  I'm really hoping it's this "ophthalmic migraine" I just I read about.

madhatter2003:

There are two options for surgery and it'll depend on the type of detachment and location.  One is a gas bubble which is less invasive. I had the much more invasive buckle placed around my eye, but my detached was pretty major.  It's normally done under general anthes, but I elected to have it done under local due to the fact I was 19 w pregnant with DS at the time. Needless to say I was a 'special' case.  It sucked, but I lived through it.  It's fine now, but I do have a 'blind spot' in the upper part of my right eye vision where it was detatched the longest that will never come back.

Ugh, how long was the surgery itself, and recovery?

emmyloustu

Yikes! Hope everything is ok. Keep us posted!

madhatter2003

The surgery itself was about 2 hours....they had to put me under briefly to numb me up, then woke me up for most of it. Then I had a panic attack on the Op table and they knocked me back out briefly, then finished up. I was in recovery for a few hours while they monitored the baby mainly and then I went home. I think normally it only takes about an hour when it's a 'normal' procedure.

The recovery took about 2 weeks, but part of that was due to thinking I'd need the second gas bubble surgery on top of the first one...but luckily it all worked out and I didn't need it.  I probably could have gone back to work after 1 week, but I was bruised as heck. I seriously looked like I'd lost a bar fight, my eye was swollen, huge, and bruised for several weeks.  I looked a state having a huge black eye and being pg LOL.