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    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    danzibr's Avatar

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    Default Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Today I was swimming in salty water. Floated on my back, looked up. Quite cloudy, didn’t have to squint or anything.

    Then I saw a million little things swimming in my vision, like tadpoles darting about. But they were white on the cloudy white background. I looked at them for a while, watched them move about. Then I closed my eyes, moved them around, thought that’d make the tadpoles go away. But when I opened them, nope, still there.

    Anyone else experience this? I’ve gone swimming a good few times, but not in saltwater. I’m not exactly sure what caused this. Could be a fluke.

    Edit: btw I’m not looking for medical advice, and I did some googling but didn’t get anything relevant.
    Last edited by danzibr; 2019-10-28 at 12:09 PM.

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    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Sounds kinda like "floaters" to me. Not actual animals, but little bits of eye stuff that can get loose. A lot of them suddenly can mean something is wrong -- though it doesn't necessarily mean that -- so I'd recommend seeing an eye doctor just to make sure.

    If you're hesitant, try Googling floaters in some sort of eyeball context.

    I first got or noticed mine in elementary school, or maybe middle school, and thought it was something in my eye and rubbed them raw trying to get them out. I usually don't notice them unless I think about them or do something like dart my eyes around suddenly.

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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    I’ve seen those half a dozen times in my life, always when I was falling or otherwise had a rush of blood to the head with dizziness. Unless they come back in the same couple of months I wouldn’t worry about it. Said the man with no medical training whatsoever.
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    danzibr's Avatar

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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Thanks for the responses!

    Yeah, looks like floaters alright. Granted, not quite as google images depicts them (though I have seen those to...), but I imagine they’re similar enough. Huh, had no idea they were called that.
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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Floaters, as in microscopic bits that are physically present and tend to drift about in your naturally produced ocular lubricant (ie. tears) are common and probably nothing to worry about unless they're dangerous amoeba that you picked up from the water. The common stuff does tend to be made particularly noticeable in diffuse sunlight, IME.

    On the other hand, if your "tadpoles" were more brilliant, faster moving, and especially noticeable with you eyes closed, they may have been a marker associated with migraine headache or bloodrush. I dunno, something to do with capillaries or nerve endings, what have you, but I tend to get them more frequently as my stress level rises.

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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Quote Originally Posted by Imbalance View Post
    Floaters, as in microscopic bits that are physically present and tend to drift about in your naturally produced ocular lubricant (ie. tears) are common and probably nothing to worry about unless they're dangerous amoeba that you picked up from the water. The common stuff does tend to be made particularly noticeable in diffuse sunlight, IME.
    Actually floaters tend to be debris that's floating in the vitreous humour, ie inside your eyeball. Generally harmless, but a large sudden multiplication of them may be an indication of seeking professional medical advice.

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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Quote Originally Posted by Brother Oni View Post
    Actually floaters tend to be debris that's floating in the vitreous humour, ie inside your eyeball. Generally harmless, but a large sudden multiplication of them may be an indication of seeking professional medical advice.
    Mine are more often external, as allergies tend to keep my tear ducts active. Just from personal experience, I can usually wipe them away from my field of view.

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    Titan in the Playground
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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Quote Originally Posted by Imbalance View Post
    On the other hand, if your "tadpoles" were more brilliant, faster moving, and especially noticeable with you eyes closed, they may have been a marker associated with migraine headache or bloodrush. I dunno, something to do with capillaries or nerve endings, what have you, but I tend to get them more frequently as my stress level rises.
    Those aren't called floaters, they're called auras. They're markers of migraines (though only about half of people with migraines report them...I do get migraines but do not get auras) but also seizures and even some panic attack related symptoms.

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    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    I see floaters nearly constantly.

    Quote Originally Posted by Razade View Post
    Those aren't called floaters, they're called auras. They're markers of migraines (though only about half of people with migraines report them...I do get migraines but do not get auras) but also seizures and even some panic attack related symptoms.
    Up until the last 5 years or so I only got the aura and felt dizzy as anything, but not the pain. With my mother, sister, and many aunts suffering from migraines and getting the crippling pain, it took me years to understand I got migraines too, though thankfully less intense than my family.

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    Kobold

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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Quote Originally Posted by danzibr View Post
    Today I was swimming in salty water. Floated on my back, looked up. Quite cloudy, didn’t have to squint or anything.

    Then I saw a million little things swimming in my vision, like tadpoles darting about. But they were white on the cloudy white background. I looked at them for a while, watched them move about. Then I closed my eyes, moved them around, thought that’d make the tadpoles go away. But when I opened them, nope, still there.

    Anyone else experience this? I’ve gone swimming a good few times, but not in saltwater. I’m not exactly sure what caused this. Could be a fluke.

    Edit: btw I’m not looking for medical advice, and I did some googling but didn’t get anything relevant.
    These are white blood cells swimming through your retina blood vessels. They are more noticable in the wavelengths of the daylight sky. Your brain actually filters out your red blood, but not the white cells because they are too irregular.

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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Quote Originally Posted by Rydiro View Post
    These are white blood cells swimming through your retina blood vessels. They are more noticable in the wavelengths of the daylight sky. Your brain actually filters out your red blood, but not the white cells because they are too irregular.
    I came here to say this ^^^

    Had a similar experience looking at the daylit sky years ago and looked it up online, found a billion things about floaters but somewhere someone brought up the blood cell thing and it fit what I was seeing better.

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    Surgebinder in the Playground Moderator
     
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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Quote Originally Posted by Rydiro View Post
    These are white blood cells swimming through your retina blood vessels. They are more noticable in the wavelengths of the daylight sky. Your brain actually filters out your red blood, but not the white cells because they are too irregular.
    Yeah, this. If they're actively moving around, you're seeing some of your blood cells at super-ultra-close range. Floaters are mostly fixed and, well, floating.
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    Default Re: Weird vision experience, anyone have something similar?

    Well, dang. I used to see similar things, also when swimming. Probably because swimming is when I look up at the sky a lot. I assumed they were microbes of some kind and I had somehow gained microscopic vision into the drops of water on my goggles. The white blood cell thing makes more sense lol.
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