Am I going blind

[Sam1998]

Hello Doctor!
I recently saw an increase in my myopia which entered from the moderate level to high myopia level and after some days I saw a sudden appearance of floaters in my vision, although they were not many but still they triggered a visit to the retinal specialist for a detailed IDO and he said that my eyes are perfectly normal, also a few days prior to my retinal exam I also started noticing that I was seeing increased afterimages of things in contrasting backgrounds, my floaters from past four five weeks have appeared to be stable ( in the sense that they have not increased in number over a month) but during this period I have noticed that my sensitivity to afterimages and other entoptic phenomenon has significantly increased.. I know afterimages are considered to be benign but can you please tell that can increased sensitivity to afterimages be a symptom of an eye problem which may in future pose a problem to my vision or cause floaters or other regional problems.
I know you can not give personal diagnosis but it would be a great favor of yours if you could relate that have you ever got across a case involving afterimages and other retinal diseases which might have been indicated by the afterimages..
I am 18 years!

[JohnHaganMD]

Use the search feature and archives and read the many posts about blepharitis and dry eyes. The two conditions often occur together.

JCH MD

[Sam1998]

Sir, I have tried preservative free tear drops for about 5 days but still my condition is not improving, as I am constantly feeling my eyes dry. Along with this condition I noticed that my left eye's lower eye lid appers to be swollen, but not much (hardly noticeable).. this symptom is present since a month but I  didn't pay any attention towards it because no one noticed it except me.. can you tell me is this Blepharitis , or what you think might be the case. I have taken an appointment for the eye doctor but it's not until next week.. can you please provide some information over the issue till then. I am having halos and glare in vision since past 10 days at night and day resp with gritty eyes ask the time ( increases when I do continuous reading)

Thank you doctor

[JohnHaganMD]

You are welcome JCH MD

[Sam1998]

Thank you very much doctor, for a prompt and informative reply ☺

[JohnHaganMD]

The eyes feeling gritty and have some matter in them may relate to dry eyes and you might want to use artificial tears before bed, upon arising rinse with warm water and put in another set of artificial tears. Be sure you do not sleep under a fan or have air blowing on you at night.

floaters/vitreous opacities should not cause halos. Use the search feature and read the many informative posts about floaters. In a young person halos often come from uncorrected refractive error especially astigmatism.

JCH MD

[Sam1998]

Doctor I have one more query, actually from the past week I am experiencing halos around street light (not rainbow type), also since a month my eyes are a bit gritty and there is something in my eye when I wake up in the morning which makes my vision a bit blurry, my doctor recommended eye drops earlier but I didn't use it as it increased my eye irritation and not served its purpose.. Also on the last two visits my IOP was also normal and my last visit came about 3 months ago, what I want to ask you is that can you please tell that in your opinion what sort eye problem I may be going through? Can floaters and other vitreous opacities cause halos? Are they a sign of anything serious? Although I have my eye test pending next week and I would be pushing these questions there also but can you shed some light over the issue with your vast knowledge and experience.. Thank you doctor.

[JohnHaganMD]

1. Floaters would not increase entopic phenomena only making you more aware of those that pre-existed before you started keying in on your eyes and vision.
2. Most patients with high myopia retain good vision all their life.
3. Ask for some reassurance from your ophthalmologist also

JCH MD