Nasty Eye Floaters After Getting Tinnitus

[Chad Lawton]

So, going on 3.5 months since I acquired tinnitus via loud noise exposure/drug toxicity.

At about the 2 month mark I started to notice my eye floaters a little more than normal, I've always had them since I was a kid and I distinctly remember being able to look up at the sky and see them, never worried or bothered me in the slightest and I could only see them if I tried. I never really saw them in day to day life. They were always the clear squiggly ones.

Today, I can't step foot outside without seeing them everywhere I look, even on an overcast day. Not only are the clear ones there but now I have a few black ones that are even worse. They are drifting across my vision as I type this.... As if this hell couldn't get any worse...anyone else experience this?

I find it hard to believe it doesn't have something to do with the brains sensory processing area after getting tinnitus. Got an appointment with the eye doc tomorrow to get it checked out.

 

[Chad Lawton]

I went to the eye doctor today; everything checked out fine. Those drops really messed me up, though; I have pretty excellent vision, so it's weird to have the vision of a 65-year-old for a few hours. Lol.

This suggests that it is a brain issue. I'm surprised there isn't more research on the correlation between eye floaters and tinnitus. Hopefully, I can learn to re-tune these out like they were before tinnitus. Otherwise, I will swat at gnats for the rest of my life.

 

[dayma]

I've had floaters for 20 years or so. There are fleks in your eyes that are there since birth. They usually start at the top of the eye. As we age the liquid/gel in our eyes become thinner. When this happens the fleks at the top of the eye start to float down...

In case anyone cares

 

[Chad Lawton]

I've had floaters for 20 years or so. There are fleks in your eyes that are there since birth. They usually start at the top of the eye. As we age the liquid/gel in our eyes become thinner. When this happens the fleks at the top of the eye start to float down...

Yes, I get that. I've always had floaters since I was a kid; they were always the clear squiggly kind, and I could only see them when I looked up at the sky. Now that I've had tinnitus for 3.5 months, they've started to show up in lower lighting conditions, and now I'm seeing black ones as well, and I can see them everywhere. I don't find it hard to believe that since tinnitus has been shown to affect the entire brain, it could affect our sensory processing.

 

[Gman]

I developed a big wormy eye floater after getting tinnitus too. Also had some things like little whizzing atoms, flashes and trippy ocular migraines (without pain). Ophthalmologist said everything was fine...

 

[dpdx]

Black eye floaters.

 

[AliasM]

I started developing eye floaters in my left eye about 6 months before tinnitus, but I only noticed them at night when on my computer.

I am now 4 months into tinnitus and when I go outside the floaters are so bad I feel unsteady on my feet. I have clear ones and black ones. The left eye is really bad. I have 1 black floater in my right eye which isn't troublesome. My left side is also worse for tinnitus. The whole left side of my brain has a somatosensory pulsatile static. This is scaring me.

My tinnitus baseline gets worse by the week and so do the floaters.

What next?

 

[Ava Lugo]

I started developing eye floaters in my left eye about 6 months before tinnitus, but I only noticed them at night when on my computer.

I am now 4 months into tinnitus and when I go outside the floaters are so bad I feel unsteady on my feet. I have clear ones and black ones. The left eye is really bad. I have 1 black floater in my right eye which isn't troublesome. My left side is also worse for tinnitus. The whole left side of my brain has a somatosensory pulsatile static. This is scaring me.

My tinnitus baseline gets worse by the week and so do the floaters.

What next?

Hey sorry to hear this. I have horrible floaters too. I don't have to look for them to see them and it almost feels like I'm in a snow globe outside.

I got my prescription sunglasses yesterday. I was hoping they would really help but unfortunately they kind of just take the edge off. I mean I still see a couple of my bothersome dark ones, it's a little less bad so far but I can still unfortunately see them, it just looks like I have a little less but I only took them outside once for like 20 minutes so we will see when I go camping or something.

I think there are no sunglasses that can completely hide floaters when it's severe enough.

My quality of life feels extremely bad now. Intrusive severe tinnitus and horrible floaters on top of it.

I meant to reply when you asked in another post how long it took my severe tinnitus to become less severe. I meant to answer but I got busy. My tinnitus is still severe but other people with tinnitus can get better with time because that's what I read.

 

[kingsfan]

I had floaters long before tinnitus and continue to have them after developing tinnitus.

 

[Tau]

I saw an increase in the number of floaters in my left eye. My left ear is the one that got damaged more, so I don't think it's a coincidence.

 

[CRGC]

I got a sudden increase in eye floaters a few months before my tinnitus onset. Still present and bothersome, in addition to my tinnitus and hyperacusis. Wondering if the appearance of floaters was a sign and/or related to the ear problems that came afterwards...

 

[Jordan F]

I too started seeing my floaters after tinnitus, about a month after. It has to be something in the brain having a hard time figuring things out.

 

[Juliane]

I went to the eye doctor today; everything checked out fine. Those drops really messed me up, though; I have pretty excellent vision, so it's weird to have the vision of a 65-year-old for a few hours. Lol.

This suggests that it is a brain issue. I'm surprised there isn't more research on the correlation between eye floaters and tinnitus. Hopefully, I can learn to re-tune these out like they were before tinnitus. Otherwise, I will swat at gnats for the rest of my life.

Chad, I am going through the same. I remember eye floaters from before, but they never bothered me and weren't noticeable. Now, one and a half years after my tinnitus worsened, I have a significant number of bothersome eye floaters. It is so scary that this is happening to our senses.

Are your eye floaters fewer/better today?

 

[Mary-Lou]

I'm experiencing the same issue as you. I started noticing eye floaters about 10 years ago, especially when I was outside in daylight. Shortly after that, I began hearing electrical noises (tinnitus) coming from my head. My optometrist ran some tests and found everything to be fine with my eyes, except that I have dry eye syndrome, possibly due to a lack of certain vitamins and Omega-3s.

My audiologist also conducted tests and found slight hearing loss in my left ear. However, she mentioned that this hearing loss might improve over time. I, too, believe there could be a connection between the onset of floaters and tinnitus. I'm planning to research this topic further and will keep everyone updated.

 

[momus]

Tinnitus often makes people more aware of their body and its sensations. Floaters typically come and go on their own, and they may disappear as quickly as they appeared.

 

[2049v]

I started developing eye floaters in my left eye about 6 months before tinnitus, but I only noticed them at night when on my computer.

I am now 4 months into tinnitus and when I go outside the floaters are so bad I feel unsteady on my feet. I have clear ones and black ones. The left eye is really bad. I have 1 black floater in my right eye which isn't troublesome. My left side is also worse for tinnitus. The whole left side of my brain has a somatosensory pulsatile static. This is scaring me.

My tinnitus baseline gets worse by the week and so do the floaters.

What next?

I had floaters a year before my tinnitus started, but my tinnitus was caused by headphones.