Sudden appearance of floaters, yet no one but me sees them?

[cacklebunny]

I'm a 36-year-old male who, last year, suddenly saw an increase in floaters following an episode of eye pain.  The floaters weren't simply the translucent kind:  these are long, stringy and dark.  They are very noticeable when I look at a computer screen or in a well-lit room...but really I see them ALL THE TIME now, including when I'm driving.

I went to a few ophthalmologists about it...they found a cataract forming outside of my field of vision...it's very small and is described as a minor "cloudiness" that I shouldn't be able to notice yet. Otherwise, they could find no problems with my eyes and, most disturbingly, they couldn't see the floaters I was talking about.

Shouldn't the doctors be able to see the floaters through an eye exam?  What possibly caused this to happen?  They guessed that it might have been a "vitreous detachment" but then another doc said he saw no evidence of that, either.  One doctor suggested a neurological issue, so I saw a neurologist --he found nothing.

Finally, is there any hope that these dark, long, stringy floaters will fade or become less bothersome?  I've put up with them for over a year.  Some are long and stringy while others look like a series of small "dots".  I also still periodically have the eye pain...and sometimes the eyes appear bloodshot during these episodes.  

Help!

[Forum-OD-MP]

NO.  dont assume that the doctor can see what you see.  if you have a "floater" that is very close to your retina, well then to you it looks very big (b/c its close to your retina).  but to the doc looking in, its TINY.

if they (ophthalmologist, neurologist) cant find anything wrong, then there's not anything wrong that can be fixed.  many, many, many people have floaters.  will they fade or not?  maybe, but you'll likely get more/different ones.

the eyepain and "bloodshot" eyes are totally unrelated to the floaters.  i dont know why you're having those symptoms....

[cacklebunny]

By the way, during these episodes of eye pain, I occasionally see flashes of light when I move my eyes.  The flashes are strange in that they appear as white "orbs" in the center of my vision that I particularly see when my eyes are closed (and I move my eyes back and forth).  This has been going on now for more than a year.

[Ag-i-doc]

sounds like it could be migraine/migraine aura (even if you dont have head pain).