I've developed these in one eye. Had both eyes thoroughly checked yesterday as I was getting flashes of light in the corner of the eye  like my very own meteorite storm. All ok, no detached retina, same vision and prescription as when i got new glasses a couple of months ago. Optician said the floaters are more of a nuisance factor than anything and nothing can be done. Usually the brain trains itself to ignore them over time.
Anyone else had this?

I only get it when I'm over tired.

I've got some floaters and you do get used to them being there. As for your meteorite storm, could it possibly be migraine? Don't know if you are getting headaches as well?

I wondered about a migraine but don't have a headache atm. According to a leaflet I picked up floaters and flashes are common and are usually harmless but if there is an increase in either it needs checking out.

There is a sort of migraine you can get which doesn't give headaches. My mother has often reported getting bright zigzaggy lights, sometimes in a C shape. Thinking back, I remember she used to get them years ago.... but it worries her more now and can set off her anxiety.

I thought they might indicate she was overtired, dehydrated or needed a sugar boost, but looked them up online and they are a form of painless migraine, with their own name, which escapes me right now.

As there is no known cause, or much you can do to relieve it, I'll carry on offering her a drink and a sweet biscuit, which always seems to settle her, but you may want to look into it further, if only to double check it's the same thing.

Two years ago my doctor sent me to the ophthalmic hospital ER as I was having the flashing,flickering in my peripheral vision.He said it could be the retina detaching. When  I got there a tired,rather bored doctor said it was probably due to aging...I was still in my 50s, talk about adding insult to injury lol....he said the retina gets pulled as the optic gel,in the back  of  eye dries out with "old age". he reckoned it would all settle down in two to three months.If it got worse I should go back to get lazer treatment to stop the retina detaching.
....... in the end it did pass.I used simple eye drops to help my tired eyes,wore my glasses a bit more often and hoped for the best. I hope this is the case for you too.

I have occasionally had this and doctor told me it was visual migraine and not to worry

My nan has been having similar issues, she got checked at the optician and hospital but was told it was likely to be 'old age' but she is 80 so 30 years older than you Bellamia!

High Blood pressure?? Might be worth checking.

I have had them in both eyes for a couple of years and it is normally when I am tired.

I had had them checked out and got the all clear.

I did have a very funny episode a few months ago where I lost some of my sight in my right eye. It was like a fog had defended.

I went to the eye hospital and had loads of test including eye scans and nothing was found and the eye went back to normal after a few hours.

I didn't know about the painless migraines.

Today I've have a slight fog as if my glasses are misted up or dirty but when my eyes were retested on Thurs my eyesight was normal. I have got another condition called pigment dispersion syndrome where bits fall off the back which predisposes me to glaucoma &/or detached retina, this presented no symptoms until an optician picked it up, and in 2010 I found I had bits missing in my vision which the specialist said was epiretinal membrane (same eye) and this resolved itself. 

It's good to know others experiences and that it is mostly a nuisance, thanks all. 

> Anyone else had this?

Yes - my optician remarked on it too.  The brain does train itself not to notice them but I am aware of them if a large plain area is in front of me - like the sky.  Now I have thought of it I can see them as I look back and forwards across the screen.  A nuisance - but you do get used to it.

> I didn't know about the painless migraines.

Mum had another one of these this afternoon, and it panicked her (everything panicks her). Made her a cup of tea and gave her an almond finger cake and she was right as rain within half an hour. Maybe they can be triggered by low blood sugar levels or dehydration.. or stress.... (and everything stresses her). Vascular dementia is ridiculously cruel.

Yes - I have had eye floaters for a few years now ... still waiting to get used to them. Its not nice on bright sunny days they are really noticeable,so much I feel I cant enjoy the view - but with sunglasses on I hardly notice them.

Not wishing to worry anyone but it's important to take eye problems seriously - don't be fobbed off by GPs who are not specialists.  My sister thought she was getting the best treatment at her local medical centre when she developed blurred vision and pain in her left eye.  She has now all but lost the vision in that eye and is currently undergoing daily sessions of radiotherapy at a specialist hospital to keep the sight in her other eye - she has been told that if she'd been referred earlier, the problem could have been diagnosed and treated effectively.

Floaters aren't a problem unless you've had recent surgery, ie. cataracts as this can be a sign of detached retina or bleeding at the back of the eye.  Also the light doesn't sound very good either, can you drop into A&E at your local Eye Hospital just to be double sure?  Eyes are something you can't take chances with?  They will take pictures and scan the back of your eyes, hopefully nothing wrong and it will put your mind at ease.

I use to get them ages ago, can't rember the last time I saw a floater.
I use to occupy myself by moving my eyes about realy fast to make them dance about. Or chase it about trying to look at it. Apparently you can't directly look at them.

Update:
I went back to the Optician last week as I was getting more and more worked up about it. He said both eyes were unchanged since the last test, I had 20/20 vision (with glasses) and that was a requirement to be a fighter pilot.  My ocular pressures were 13/17.  He took more photos of the back of my eye and said all ok, it was a really big floater and 'live with it'. He couldn't explain why I'm getting light flashes at night though. According to one newspaper article laser treatment IS available IF the floater is more than a couple of mm from the retina. My friend sent me some Eyewise tablets from Lamberts so I started on them and at the same time had to take AB's & soluble aspirin because of violent toothache.  I drove to Richmond show on Saturday ok and made sure I kept my sunglasses and cap on as it was very bright.  When I got home I took both off & realised the big floater wasn't quite as bad. Still got a bit of misty-ness from that eye and spidery like floaters but maybe the big floater has broken up (which can happen) or my brain has got used to it. Whatever, I'm slightly relieved as its not as bad as it was but I'm aware they could return.

What are the tablets hun?

I have lots of days when I can't bare mine - similar thing, so called 20/20 with my glasses,

Have just found this thread. I had a vitreous detachment in my left eye several years ago.This resulted in very large 'floaters' which seemed to interfere with my vision. I am very myopic being -9 in my left eye and -7 in my right eye and such detachments tend to occur more frequently in high degrees of myopia. Anyway, the 'floaters' were terrifyingly large at first and I was very pessimistic  about the outcome but was assured by an opthalmologist that they would gradually reduce in significance. I guess he meant that they would still be there but that I wouldn't notice them. Well. whatever he meant I don't notice them at all most of the time  -just certain lighting situations. A good optician will be able to reassure you that there is no retinal tear and the advice you've had is good .

Piratebear
The tablets I started were sent by my friend who had a vitamin business for many years. They were 'Eyewise' by Lamberts. Coincidentally I'd just ordered Retinex and Bilberry from Healthspan, containing the same sort of thing, mainly Lutein which is important for the eyes. I wouldnt say it was these that worked miraculously but I will keep on taking them anyway to help with my eye health. I do feel for you as it's a truly frightening thing to have happen and I got quite depressed and I just wanted to claw my eye out to get rid.

> There is a sort of migraine you can get which doesn't give headaches. My mother has often reported getting bright zigzaggy lights, sometimes in a C shape. Thinking back, I remember she used to get them years ago.... but it worries her more now and can set off her anxiety.

Just wanted to comment on this, in case anyone's reading it and wondering about them :-)  These are visual or optical migraines, I've also seen them referred to as aura migraines.  They aren't always painless but a lot of people do have painless ones, myself included - I get a small spot of moving/flashing zigzags off-centre in my field of vision, this then slowly expands in a ring with the middle being not-quite-blank (I can't see but I can, it's kind of hard to explain) and keeps going until the zigzags just go off the edges of my vision and that's the end of it.

I get no other symptoms, just the visual but some people get nausea, headaches, pains elsewhere or it's one of the symptoms of a full-blown migraine.  It's harmless though, and like normal migraines it can have a specific trigger - mine don't, they just hit randomly 2 or 3 times a year.  They don't stop me doing anything and last 10 or 20 minutes.  I did have to stop last time I had one - I was doing something with numbers and although I can sort of 'see' while one is going, small details like figures on a page were a bit too much that time :-)

That's exactly how my mother describes them, Nikita :)