Bleed behind eye

[Jeans1234]

I have been on Apixaban for about 8 months, 5mg twice daily. I am a 68 yr old woman diagnosed with persistent AF in January 2020, had 1 cardioversion, in sinus rhythm 10 seconds. In January this year I had what I thought were black floaters in right eye, took 1 month to disappear. This Wednesday the floater came back suddenly like a cobweb of dots impairing my vision. I went to Eye A&E and was advised I had suffered bleeding behind the eye. Possible causes could be torn retina, diabetes or possibly taking anticoagulants. The cobwebs are still there and I will need to have laser removal. I don't have diabetes and I don't think the retina is torn. What can I do?

[Hidden]

I had a partial unilateral vitreous detachment in my early days on warfarin. This is often a simple age related phenomenon apparently.

columbiaeye.org/eye-library...

In your position, I would seek a consultant opinion as soon as possible, if you haven’t already had one, even if you have to pay for it. An experienced optician with state of the art equipment would facilitate this.

Err on the side of caution and don’t delay. Any deterioration, go straight back. What did they say about the apixaban?

[Jeans1234 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Badger2021, I saw 2 eye doctors at the hospital, they said it was blood and that there was a lot. They used scanning equipment, but was difficult to see whether retina was torn without an operation.They said they thought it could be due to taking anticoagulants. They will look at eye again in 4 days time to see if any blood has cleared and hopefully remove clots by laser. If retina is torn they will repair. However, yesterday I think I had another episode when I saw red.

[Hidden in reply to Jeans1234]

I’m not a doctor but I don’t think apixaban causes bleeding. It prolongs the coagulation process, but there has to be a site of bleeding first, then apixaban like any anticoagulant, will for a period make the bleeding worse. You have stopped it presumably?

I wouldn’t be satisfied without having seen a consultant, particularly since it sounds like you are describing further bleeding. If it was me, I would go back tonight. My father had complete sequential bilateral retinal detachments in the days before laser treatment. Surgery was unsuccessful.

[Jeans1234 in reply to Hidden]

I think I will take your advice and book to see a specialist privately, many thanks

[Desanthony]

My wife had this just over a year ago. Woke up with a huge floater that looked like a large fly in her right eye. Thought it would disappear so waited all morning - it was a Saturday and then called Specsavers. They said to come in straight away and examined the eye in great detail. Said if it got worse to contact them. It did the next day changed colour from black to brown to bluey green but didn't get any smaller. Went back to Specsavers and they rang the hospital and made an appointment with the eye clinic for the next day. Luckily although they could see a tear it slowly got better over the following month - she went back to the eye clinic about twice a week for that month to have it examined and check her sight and it cleared up no treatment needed. She had a spot on the back of the eye - which they gave a name to but can't remember now but last year at her normal checkup couldn't even see where the spot was so it has completely cleared up. Hope your treatment goes well and your eye clears up too. Mention this to your cardiologist and/or EP too. Never let things like this go on too long with your eyes as it can lead to permanent damage so the sooner the eye is examined and kept under observation the better.

[Jeans1234 in reply to Desanthony]

Thank you, I will see a specialist asap

[djmnet]

Please see a retina specialist ASAP. My brother suffered torn retinas in both eyes (in different years) and needed a repair by a specialist (not an optometrist, but an opthalmologist who specializes in retinas). You vision can be salvaged, but please act promptly.

[Jeans1234 in reply to djmnet]

Thanks, I have asked my GP for an urgent referral