Floatbusters - Who ya gonna call?

Super quick post - alive and well in 2009 :D

2009-08-25T08:04:00.003+12:00

Hey everyone, thanks again for checking out my humble page on conquering the easily conquerable!! :D

I've just replied to a few long overdue emails and will again be regular at helping anyone out who needs a chat as I believe sometimes the best solution is simply to talk about it! :D (Ahhhh put the jug on and tell me all your problems)

Like we all know - the problem stems from having an issue that is completely normal (but acceptably annoying sometimes :P hey your only human don't be so hard on yourself :P ). Personally I found going to opthalmogist not very cool at all, it's like they kind of made you feel bad for being concerned about something. Truth is I think it is quite common but it's the stress than can get out of control really gives this issue some unwanted power against you.

But never fear, for the good guys (and gals) always win. The human body is amazing at filtering things out, think of sounds and other things you can seemingly blank out (mother in law calling for example :D) ... i.e you can do the same for our friends the floaters :D But you have to take charge of which direction to go in, it's easier than you think.

I'm really glad that this blog has been able to complete destroy the isolation (no more notes in bottles) associated with having an issue but feeling like you've come to the end of the line. The most exciting truth is that the power is in your hands, and as much we like to give it over to people, eye people, surgeons - politicians haha! You are the captain of your own ship, and no body else knows the fine detail that you know of your own ships steering wheel ... right down to the when you've got a headache stop trying to steer the ship and get some painkillers already!! :D

You'll show 'em all !!!!!
Paul
(email me if anyone wants to talk about floaters - I can put them into perspective for you as I've received so many emails from people in similar boats (no pun intended) from around the world. Hey we're part of a global revolution (whos making the t-shirts)

Until next time!!! :D :D :D

5 Months since my last post!! Sorry for being slack!

2008-02-29T19:07:00.013+13:00

Again! I've left it a while but I hope everyone that has needed this site has been able to benefit from my previous posts and will continue to benefit for as long as you want!! :D

My recent dealings with our friends the spots\floaters have been mainly positive, but I must admit that even knowing all I\we know, even the best seasoned floatbusters can lose their footing every once and a while. Me definitely included!! :D ... I still think an amazing tool is talking to people about it, sometimes I find friends and family may not understand completely. So it's best to talk to someone who knows what you are talking about, me!! and the regular pals that email me with their stories. It's so vital I believe to have a site like this, and just like I'm doing now - it's important to once and a while remind yourself "hey, I'm not alone in this - there are people I can talk to, just to say whats on my mind". If you can't talk to someone, and you are tired of emailing me!! haha, why not write it down. Because i know how sometimes spots\floaters can not trouble you for hours\days\months in the slightest. Then right out of the blue, a headache comes on, or some other stressor appears and it's hard not to feel that , by worrying you have let yourself down.
Don't be too hard on yourself!! haha, and I'm speaking from experience - I think sometimes its hard to tell the forest from the trees (not quite sure what that quote means fully but it felt appropriate :P ) Here's an example that popped into my mind the other day.

Scenario A: Just say you are at home, its a cold night, you've got your heater on - you are wrapped out all toasty, and then there is a pesky fly buzzing around your room. Now depending on your current state, you will always notice the fly - thats just how humans are, we sense motion and then interpret whether this is something we should be concerned about or not... lets say on this occasion you had a great day, you're looking forward to a new video game (me!) or some event thats coming up. I'd say the effect this fly will have on you, will be massively reduced... after a while you may not even notice it! haha, take that pesky fly, you don't bother me :D

Scenario B!! :D ... today its boiling hot, you have your fan on - its not making any difference, in the back of you're mind theres that thing you HAVE to do that you are not looking forward too, you are running low on money etc ... now lets get that fly back in the scenario buzzing around. The fact that there are many aspects of your life that you are not comfortable with, and lets say that you have limited control over - are going to massively enhance the threat response to any stimuli! ...you're in the same room, its the same brightness, you are still the same person :P - but more obviously is the radically different state that you are in. I would predict that as opposed to trying to adapt to the fly which is just one more thing you don't want to deal with, the likely scenario is probably a blurred version of you throwing wild punches in the air.

It may seem like an odd observation - but it just goes to show how current mood\pain levels affect you ability to tolerate extra situations. I know this for a fact, Christmas eve just been I was soooo excited about Christmas, I went for a run that 9 months ago I would have hated - I loved every minute of it. I had toleration to burn, spots\floaters were an after thought, and although they could probably be slightly observed (like the fly in the scenarios) ... my interpretation by my brain was that this was insignificant and posed no threat.... WOW!! Scenario A rocks!!

It helps me to think of those scenarios - and if spots\floaters are bothering you - then think of that fly scenario and think, which scenario am I in. Was everything going perfect until the fly came along, or was I in scenario B whereby the fly became the scapegoat that every single problem got associated with ... have a think and see if you can apply that to your life, I will too! :D

Everyone is doing amazing, and as always - if you find yourself in that B scenario - where you have too many factors outside of your control, thats where the 'floaterproof vest' comes in handy from my previous blogs. I think psychologically it gives you an advantage, because it is a relaxation technique where you can make nothing matter - leave the world for ten-twenty minutes. Thats when you realise that, to know you can't always control how you will feel in situations, but you can everyday put yourself in a situation that you will have control over (the relaxation place). The biggest suit of armor you can own is the simple fact that "maybe I can't control this current situation , but you know what - in two hours I'll be home, in my relaxation place and nothing can touch me then, or first thing tomorrow I'll be relaxed and steering my own ship thank you very much! I am in control of my life, and nothing else!!" ... feel the power from that situation B slip away :D!!

I did that just now as i got home from work, and i guarantee you'll always be in the state of mind I am "nahh, I don't need to do that" or "that won't make a difference' ... but ten times out of ten, and its a dramatic improvement and feeling like i've got hold of the steering wheel in my life!! ... I forget everytime, everyday how good it is afterwards, but I'm getting better.

Hope this helped in someway, and as always feel free to email me if you just need someone to talk to about this all!! Together we'll put this issues into the history books!!

Take care
Paul

How has it been two months!! haha! great news!

2007-10-26T18:54:00.001+13:00

Hey all!! Thanks for keeping on reading this blog, I've had some great emails recently and am really pleased that we've got a place to talk about this stuff and to get some helping tips to sort this out for good! I was recently in the United States hence my lack of updates but now I am home I thought I would post some new tips and things I've figured out!!

More and more I've been having more good days than bad days - I've really been trying to get to the core of why they are such a hassle and they way I see it ... is that is can become quite a vicious cycle ... the fact you have these eye occupants, can get you down, and then because you are down, they bother you more, and they fact that they are bothering you ... ... ... ... etc etc until you do what i do is either hit a wall or enter a comfortable blind rage!! Doh!!! :D

One silly thought came into my head the other day, we all have super vision!! How incredible that our vision is so amazing we can see tiny paricles on a cellular level, what an achievement!! hahah .. anyway thats not my big news tip but it made me laugh, next time someone says whats your deal, say hey I'm doing great with this supervision!! haha!

Anyhow, the revolution came for me really when i was in America, I kept thinking all these thoughts before I went over, how much they were going to bother me, how if I went over the grand canyon in a helicoptor they would take away all my enjoyment ... talk about working myself into a state - but you know what, if i was to say the impact they had on me over there for the whole three weeks, amazing it probably clocked in a 0.65% impact.... this really had me curious.

You know what the difference was, over there i was looking forward to reading USA today, looking forward to the late night shows, looking forward to trying great burgers, looking forward to trying some new ice creams, doing what I wanted to do!

I was in such a positive frame of mind, its like the floaters and everything didn't even register - now Im not saying they were not there. I'm saying that the sting had been taking out of them, I remember at one point noticing them and my reaction was 'WeeeeEEeee' ... i mean serously, what a turn around.

Coming home however i seemed to fall back into old habits, I was insanely curious. Had I just found the cure to taking the sting out of them??? could being in a different state of mind and knowing that this constant barrage would be basically dis-armed - I mean that is seriously cool! ... and I know you can do it as much as I can.

But you know what I had to do, was to stop thinking about operations, seeing other people, basically putting my life in other peoples hands, my happyness. It mine to do whatever i want with it, and if I start going down that worry path then the simplest answer is i need to do something I love, i need to get excited about something, because thats what will block the hit, thats what will take out the sting.

Not to be morbid but no one is going to have this challenge, we will all be six feet under one day - probably in another place getting our scorecards read to us - so this is not a forever kind of thing, and I think getting out of that forever thinking frees you to replace is with some good ol' fashion fun!! some great times ... even when I've received emails from people, I detect a way of writing that seems a bit down, I mean all you have to do is look at my earlier posts to see what that is like. Talk to someone who has found out the key to dealing with these and they will probably have a lot more jokes in there, and some humour! ... the magic is\way is that human beings are the ultimate adaptable animal. We can adapt to anything, out brains and a million times more powerful than what they get used for, there is a simple program we can run to get us out of a bad space, and its worth a shot !! :D

Look its just a thought\theory Ive had recently and good and bad days come along, and when your in a bad space, you just have to acknowledge it , but don't let it suck ya down , if you look around there will be a life presever floating (no pun intended!) in the water right next to ya, but if ya keep looking down you'll never see it! I'm trying to get back to my thinking in America, where seriously I was so damn excited about everything, I was so amped that nothing could break through that feeling, it was too strong... if I can do it, you can do it!

Again to re-iterate, i really think we can do this on our own, and we don't have to put outselves as people on a shelf until someone comes out with some kind of physical cure - a mental frame of mind will do the trick!
What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger right - I think we are probably all body builders by now!!! hahaha!!

Anyway everyone, please let me know how ya get on!!! and if you need a vent, then thats ok too!!
Your awesome!

Paul

Another tool we can all use!

2007-08-24T23:41:00.000+12:00

I received a great email, and it was that same question that we all ask sometimes! Haha, how come our good friends spots and floaters didn't bother me for the last day\week\month\year\life!!! and how come yesterday was so great and they didn't bother me but today quite frankly they are really testing my patience.

I wish I knew!!! hahah, but I there is something extra I do know and it came to me while replying to a email from a fellow chosen one. The key factor here is stress will really wear down your armour, and if you are not constantly topping it up daily (which again I still struggle to do but am trying!! :) yes its my own fault I know!!!) then it really makes this great gift we all have to not so easy to see for what it is.

One thing I'm particularily good at is- if I get stressed out about any little thing, I tend to think of spots and floaters as the root of all my problems. Which I know they are not, but sometimes I can doubt myself if I'm run down or really worked up. E.g At the moment i've got a really annoying cough and generally feeling a bit sick, I had this killer headache - i was wondering why I felt so lousy and the thought popped into my head "spots\floaters - theres your answer right there" haha I mean you have to laugh because I know that they are not the explanation to why I feel lously at the moment, but when you are in one of those negative states - it can be quiet hard to try and come back with a convincing argument.

Unless!!! Unless you have some backup up your sleve - hoping that you won't need this step because you are scheduling daily ten minutes of relaxation - I thought about it more and then something else occured to me and I thought wow I could really use this in my life and hopefully your guys\gals can too.

If I have something else to keep my mind on, thinking about organizing an event or planning things to do for the day, it can
provide a nice distraction anytime. I've found that it really is only possible to concentrate on one thinking item at a time, so when the spots\floaters 'woe is me' record starts playing, put the needle through it and put that jukebox on shuffle!! :D Almost like one of those old movies when you are confronted with something you don't really like but you get to yell out "whats that over there!" and then sneak into a side alley!

My way of saying "whats that over there" when you start getting worked up about your eyes - and I've done it plenty of times that downward spiral, you really gotta cut it off - suddenly your thinking that the world hunger wouldn't exist without spots and floaters - say "Hey whats that over there!" ... well you don't actually have to say that (you can if you want too!!) haha, but
this is where you need to creat a diversion, and getting back to my original question - at X time I felt great, well I can almost guarantee that at X time, you were probably looking forward to something, you were engrossed in something and basically you were zoned out. Because sometimes I think the frustrating thing with spots and floaters is not being able to lose yourself in the moment sometimes, its like you feel like your've drawn the short straw and your pulling a double shift "hey I just want to relax here" ... thats why if you are going through a stressful time or whatever your circumstances are - book in some time in your day to do a hobby, play music, play a sport, anything that involves some problem solving, teamwork, repitition.

Something you can loose yourself in, because it is so important in life, not to be 'here' for every second of everyday - theres nothing wrong with it, but hey time flyes when your having fun - and if you are worked up then times going to drag!! Book that event, go for that walk, read that paper, hit the beach - all these things that sound sometimes a bit scary to be honest, seriously it has never once been as bad as I felt it in my mind. Whats that great quote by that person "I've lived through some terrbile events in my life ... and some of them actually happened!"

Hope that makes sense somehow, because it is possible to be in that frame of mind like you were in when spots and floaters were exactly the same, but it didn't worry you. Therefore when you think of that time when things were so great, ask yourself ... what great things were happening then, what was I involved in, were there things in my day that I completely got in the zone and lost myself. Secondly, lets scedule some of those things today!!

Anyhow!! I've waffled on again, but to recap in my previous blogs and todays - the following is essesential.
Getting out of your comfort zone, scheduling daily relaxation, zoning out through an activity\event, realising that there are always good and bad days - and on the bad days to really treat yourself and reward yourself for being such a soldier!

Until next time, I'm going to be trying this stuff out too, so any question\comment or ya just wanna have a catch up then please email me at floatbusters@gmail.com

Floaters schmoaters! :P
Paul

Gotta have that soft place to fall!

2007-08-02T10:41:00.000+12:00

Wow, things have been going well on my contract - its currently finished up so I am on the look out again. Getting out of my comfort zone REALLY helps, so much so that i couldn't really believe. I guess its great to have parts of your day when you haven't got tooo much time to think about things. This got me onto another thought I've had, and people that email me have experienced it also. Why do some days spots\floaters bother you and then the next day they dont?? Haha, far out if I knew this - I wish I could figure it out, I guess its just like everyone has good and bad days, some days you wake up with the feeling "This is going be an amazing day woohoo!!" and then some other days everything seems to go wrong and you think "this is not going to be an amazing day!!" haha. Anyhow, today being one of those days for me, I guess a biggie for me is that certainty factor. this is a thought I had that helped me and I hope can help everyone reading this too.

The point is that on these bad days, you NEED to have a place where you can go and put down the sword, take off the armour and just be yourself. Its somewhere if your at work or college - things may be getting a bit rough, and if your like me your feeling frustrated and you start to get in that endless loop. Thats when you hit back with the secret weapon, not sure if you have seen Happy Gilmore, but thats when its time to go to your "happy place" :D.

And it can't just be somewhere in your head, it has to be somewhere - either when you get home, or some other place that it is certain will be tranquil, and you've done it before so just the thought that you will be there, can disarm the current situation no matter how bad it seems.

For me, and I guess it will differ for everyone - Get Cosy!! its amazing how much the way you physically feel effects your mind state, so number one get cosy!!! I'm talking slippers, track pants, hot water bottle, comfy sweater! The works, really go all out. Then I will sit down somewhere, normally on the floor - with a sleeping bag on the floor or something similar. Then put on some good background music, now this sounds crazy but my favorite DVD to put on for the music is "The Princess Bridge" ... Ol' Mark Knopfler at his best!! ... seriously put that on in the background and I find daily life slips away!! ... and then just quiet your mind and breathing for around ten minutes. I've covered the whole relaxation thing in an earlier blog but thats the basic concept. I really have noticed that something amazing happens, just to have that place, and whenever you are out on the battlefield just to think about it when your having a bad day\ rough time with it. I find that when I'm out and about, just the thought that I "am" going to be there later, gives me a great feeling of re-assurance. Give it a whirl!! :D

Also while we are on the princess bride, sometimes when ya out and about - the thought of that home happy place is great but you just need a bit of an edge while you are there ... theres a great bit in that movie when he keeps repeating that phrase "My name is eneego mentoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" ... I really love that scene so sometimes i will say to myself "spots and floaters affect my life ni, they are irrelevant" .. or something along those lines! So make sure you have a quick fire phrase to say to yourself if you need it, that can tie you over until you can recharge in your happy place!!

hahah, ok well I hope that makes sense - just a few thoughts I had which I'm using and I hope can make a difference to someone out there, really appreciate you taking the time out to read this. And always feel free to email me if ya need someone to talk to! Thanks again and get working on your Happy Gilmore "Happy Place!" hehe :D

A day on autopilot!

2007-07-13T16:56:00.000+12:00

Wow! Today was seriously the first day in a long time that I was on the autopilot again, and I'm really trying to put in down in words so that I can do it again, and so you guys\gals can try it! Its really has been a great week, I started a new contract for two weeks, and I'm wondering if that had something to do with it. On Wednesday I had the first day, which since recent times really took me out of my comfort zone, and I think that could be a key. So for the last few days I have been meeting new people, and performing some pretty complex tasks at work.

Today was such a revelation for me, I mean seriously - I got up early, jumped on the bus and headed to work. What has activated the autopilot, I'd be really interested to know if you guys\gals have always had issues with the eye pals, or was it a recent event that really stirred up the hornets nest. Me personally, for years they never bothered me, but I do recall at times of a super high level of stress - they became in-tolerable. Probably for the last 9 months for me I have been under so many changes in my life, so much stress that again they became in-tolerable. Today however is seriously the first day since how long that I felt like I was back on the autopilot. I am really curious, I wonder if putting myself in situations that I am uncomfortable in, somehow reduces that fear.

Its almost like fear cancels out fear maybe, today I was so busy thinking about my tasks at work, my environment and being on the alert - that I has some amazing periods in the day where i was simply observing my eye pals and not being afraid or frustrated by them. It felt a lot like the relaxation I do per day (which I had forgot yesterday) - where thoughts enter but you simply acknowledge them and move on. I am seriously excited by today, and the crazy thing is that today was all blue sky! It was so light everywhere, at work, walking around town - and I didn't even need my sun glasses. What the hell, I mean they were still there - they hadn't reduced in anyway - but it was a bit like the other day after I had my run and the car honked at me - seriously I felt nothing! how cool is that!!! I'm using myself as a bit of a guinea pig, but i would have to say that I think putting myself into a situation with some limited fear\stress - has somehow drained some fear\stress. Almost like I remember when I was working my first job, getting a lift there made the work environment itself seem a lot more intense than say if I took the bus there. Maybe its because on the bus - you leave your comfort zone the second you leave the front door - and that adaption time - leaves you not as affected by the out of comfort zone environment at work.

So, my question is - how many people reading this are actively getting out of their comfort zone - e.g either playing a sport, working a job where you are on your toes. Hmmmm, i think another big thing for me, especially getting this job was that I really regained a strong sense of independence, how this affects my thinking towards my eye pals is beyond me. But for me this is some really exciting stuff, just to think that I don't have to rely on an operation, some stupid opthomoligst, putting of happyness now in the hope of some future op\technique. To think that all of us going through this - could actually have a say in this! Make it so the impact on your own life is completely cut down to size - well words really can't describe how happy this makes me. So its back to the drawing board, Im going to test this out and see if I can figure out exactly what needs to happen to get this autopilot on. Try it yaself and please email me and tell me how ya get on. Sounds there is something we can do :D

Relaxation method for a floaterproof vest

2007-07-03T17:45:00.000+12:00

After reading a few emails, I thought i would just post my thoughts on some relaxation techniques you can do.
Also in regards to people feeling a bit anxious about eye floaters - I'd say far out, its completely acceptable and make sure that you are not too hard on yourself. If you think about it, everyone gets anxiety about certain things in life - that is because as human beings we all have this important survival tool. If you are on the alert then you are less likely to get eaten by a tiger! But also on the flipside it can be hard not to be stirred up your pals the floats!

I remember reading that humans have this fight or flight response but we are also capable of a relaxation response which can counteract the feelings\effects of stress. Woohoo! Its interesting because stress means "physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension" and relaxation means "to release or bring relief from the effects of tension, anxiety".

So from a simple stand point, if you are stressed about Eye Floaters, then the logical thing to do is to relax. However from my personal experience it is easier said than done. It really is hard to command yourself to relax under pressure. So I think it is best to have done the relaxation prior to the stressful situation so you can lessen\remove the impact. Think of it like wearing a bulletproof vest ... or ... *drumroll* ... a floaterproof vest :P There is a real positive snowball effect when you put yourself in this relaxed state on a regular basis, we all know this from the negative snowball effect that can occur from daily stress.

Anyhow!! Haha, enough of me waffling on about stuff, heres what I have found works for me! It really is so simple and easy - theres no excuse not to do it everyday!

Paul's Relaxation method - (The ol' Ten)
Set aside ten minutes a day for youself. Go somewhere where you won't be disturbed - I find it feels better when I sit on the floor with my legs crossed, and close my eyes. If you have any relaxing music to drown out any background noise then that is helpful! (Currently I've had the main menu sounds of the Nintendo Wii in the background, haha its good seriously!) Then I concentrate on my breathing, not trying to control my breathing - just freefalling a bit and letting it do its thing. When thoughts come into your head, don't worry - just tell acknowledge them and go back to your breathing. Some people like to focus on a word when they breathe out. Sometimes I will say "your ok" . Let this go on for a while and then I will think about all the things in my life I am greatful for. Followed by being greatful for the the future, then at the end sometimes I think about the end of rocky - you know when he's won the fight and the musics building up towards that freeze frame in the air shot. Then I will normally do a fist in the air! Hahah ok that could sound a bit lame, but it works for me. Try and see what works for you, I think if it makes you feel good then who cares if you look a bit funny!

Thats it! I've also tried to add exercise into my day when I'm feeling wound up - and also some fun! Because some days you won't feel like doing it - but if you have a reward for doing it, then it becomes much easier!

Well hope that makes sense, let me know how ya get on! Email me anytime as well at the above address!!
Thanks again - Paul

Floatbusters on Youtube!

2007-07-02T17:14:00.000+12:00

Hey all!
Just a quick post to say that I've received some great emails and I will be getting back to ya all soon! Man I really appreciate people taking the time out to email me. I've been added to the links page on the popular site
www.eye-floaters.com If you haven't had a chance to check out Darren's site - then I recommend you do, its an excellent site with brilliant content.

The latest update for me an the ol' triad! Well I was a bit slack in the weekend, but I have really noticed a difference setting aside the relaxation time, physical activity and then some scheduled enjoyment! Doing that each day, really can see a positive snowball effect happening. (and it probably would have a lot more impact if I 'did' do it everyday) Haha hey but I'm trying!

Time for some fun - below is the video for Youtube I created with a bit of music and some black coffee! - see what ya think, it was a bit of a 2am special. Anyhow I'm trying to remember to take it one day at a time -Thanks! Paul

Late in the night!

2007-06-29T01:19:00.000+12:00

Wow its a bit late in the night, but I just wanted to post something recently that I found has helped! Definitely making sure I have a daily triad has been great, I make sure to do ten minutes of relaxation in the morning, and then some physical activity (Ok I've only done this a few times) and then some reward time - like playing video games or something!
I really think that the relaxation\exercise is a key - the double whammy! Because the relaxation is more for the mind, and then the exercise lets you vent frustrations and other things out through running\walking!

An interesting example was yesterday I went for a run\walk ... I was listening to my ipod and then as I was about to start walking home, I really starting sprinting for all it was worth! There was a great song playing, and I just started running like there was no tomorrow, pretty much until I almost collapsed. It was great!! Well once I could breathe again, I had almost 20 minutes of feeling quite light headed!! Im not that fit, but I remember walking along the road and this car behind me honked - now normally I would have got a small fright - but I distinictly remember it not phasing me. I then went into the supermarket and the feeling lasted for about half an hour. Spots and floaters were definitely not annoying me!

Its interesting isn't it, I mean they were still there! But that impact, that kindof a bit scary feeling wasn't there. How crazy is it, that its more that scary feeling that is the culprit, its the stress you feel when they are bugging you that really hurts you. Wouldn't it be great to have that off all the time.... hmmm well when I know, you will know! But it was a nice breakthrough, also I advise anyone to create your own blog! I'll link it from here, just another way to have an outlet when you cant run, or cant relax!

One extra thing that i'm trying to remind myself, was when I was watching doctor Phil the other day, I remember him saying something to someone - along the lines of (and I related to myself feeling frustated with spots and floaters) ... he said to say to yourself "well you know what, I'm just going to have to freefall for a bit - the guy upstairs has got to have a plan for me" ... not sure why but that really hit home for me, and I've been saying that to myself.

Also included is the fact that it is ok to find this stuff frustrating, its alright to feel a bit lost with this sometimes, because hey its not my fault, it wasn't my decision to get this stuff - but I think I always have a choice - on how much impact I let it have on my life. Whether thats a conscious choice or an unconscious one - haha well that sounds great writing it, I might try and see if I can put that thought into practise to better myself!

Anyway thanks for reading!! Will post again soon!
Paul

Floatbusters!

2007-06-22T00:19:00.000+12:00

Hey all, hmm I wonder if anyone has read this blog yet? Hehe!
Well anyway last night I couldn't really get to sleep, and the idea hit me to also co-headline this blog\site as floatbusters.com. As in Ghostbusters, hmm maybe it was 2am humour but I awoke this morning with the registration domain receipt and everything!! What a laugh!

Anyhow - my latest update with my dealing with spots and floaters. Well its strange, I've definitely been finding it still frustrating sometimes, but I've been trying my best to add in daily that ten minutes of relaxation in the morning. I think that I'm starting to feel some of the benefits of the snowball effect from doing a small bit of that relaxation\meditation each day, so things are feeling great!

Also I've been trying to incorporate some exercise into my day too, thats right! It hit me the other day, that it is probably best to try and hit this from both angles. Do the meditation for the mind, and then try and do a quick jog or walk for the body. That way you get to let out any frustration too! Anyhow things are going well, up days and down days are all a given, I'm still just taking things one day at a time! ... Oh and another thing I remember, to complete the triad, I'm trying to remember to also add a third part to the day which is fun! ... treating\rewarding yourself, so that you really recognise your efforts for dealing with this issue on a daily basis. Saying to yourself that all your hard work is noticed, it is appreciated and to show your gratitude for yourself "this ones for you!"

Man I'm almost cringing at the end of this, just have a feeling my next post could be me really frustrated with my eyes! haha, well lets see what happens *drumroll* ... who knows, but right know I'm and really greatful for everything in my life! Write again soon!

Hope is a good thing!

2007-06-05T17:21:00.000+12:00

Just a new update - An interesting analogy of when spots and floaters bother you, I thought of it a bit like when you get cramp. If you suddenly tense up, that just makes things worse - pity its the normal reaction. You learn from experience when you get cramp, that relaxing makes you feel alot better than tensing up. Hmmm, well I'm trying that! :D
Easier said than done, also I've noticed a couple of videos on youtube in regards to spots and floaters, do a search on youtube and have a look - very interesting - who knows - they could be a very simple solution on the way soon! Woohoo!

Another resource I found which was brilliant - is www.eye-floaters.com ... everything I saw on there was extremely informative and just what I was after. Seriously if you look at all the sites out there, 95% of them are really un-original and don't say anything support at all, in fact they probably make you feel worse about the issue. Thats why I found www.eye-floaters.com so cool!

Check it out if you get a second, things I have been trying at the moment is definitely having a bit of relaxation time. It sounds pretty annoying, I'm a bit like "man my friends don't have to do this" but you know what, it always makes me feel better!! It doesn't cost, its simple, it helps me deal with spots and floaters, and yet sometimes I can't be bothered doing it - haha go figure! Who'd be a human being?? .

Anyone I think I covered this in a separate post - but if I could put it to you, setting aside 10 minutes a day, once in the morning, and again in the evening. Put on some relaxing music, or sit it silence - and clear your mind. Think about all the things you are greatful for, and experience what it will be like when the spots and floaters are gone (which they will be!) It makes me feel great, and its almost like that old saying - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure ! ( I use the metric system but I still get it :D )

Trying to think what else has been useful recently, I had a pretty bad day with this stuff yesterday and my girlfriend had to put up with me having a bit of a rant! I think its healthy to do it, but I might have crossed the line. I was saying some pretty good lines though - stuff like (This is awesome, I ask for help - go to an opthomogist and they say "yeah sorry kid theres nothing we can do, good luck with that though!" ... "I was like F**k" what a waste of time!! this sucks ... etc!! I'm sure you've been there, and its great! But I went a bit overboard, and the important thing is to remember there IS control you can have, there are things you can do!
Whether it's relaxation, or controlling another aspect of your life - there are breakthroughs in medicine all the time, and its only a matter of time until 'putting up with floaters' is a thing of the past!!

... but the main thing I didn't do yesterday - was doing the relaxation twice a day! ... apparently its like a snowball effect, do the relaxation twice daily - and it will build your shields up daily,weekly,monthly! So I should do it soon (can't really be bothered!) but it will make me feel better. Will let ya know how it goes!!

Anyhow! If anyone ever needs someone to talk to about this - email me at floatbusters@gmail.com and I can always jump on ol' skype! - I think talking about this stuff, well not to quote another old saying - but I will anyway ... "a problem shared, is a problem halved!!"

Make sure you talk to someone about this - friends\family or me! :D
Paul

Remember to do whatever it takes to make you feel good!

2007-05-26T12:35:00.000+12:00

I had a bit of a revelation yesterday when talking to my brother. I didn't realise that normally if I notice them, or they came in my field of vision - I would almost have a staring contest, trying to get frustrated by them, trying to remind myself to be relaxed - but not actually doing anything about it.
As I was thinking, well I don't want to put on my dark glasses as it will be like I'm retreating, and I don't want to do that for the rest of my life. But it like that old saying people used to say when things have been tough, "I'm just taking it one day at a time"
Sometimes my left eye can be worse, so just keeping my left eye closed with my sun glasses on can make me feel so much better, and I just remind myself that this isn't forever - just take it one day at a time - do whatever you can to make yourself feel better in the moment.
Even just knowing that in a certain moment, you have a choice - thats a powerful difference between not having any choice\option :D

Great hope that helps, also I looked on Itunes under podcasts - and I was thinking I could always make this into a podcast somehow if people were after one. Otherwise in the meantime theres some great mediation\relaxation tapes on there that would help to top up the reserves :D

Thanks again!
Paul

My first post! Techniques and tips

2007-05-24T01:06:00.000+12:00

Welcome
Hey everyone! :D ... Ok, now I’ve visited a large number of other sites on eye spots and floaters. They all seem to be quite grim, very medical and not very personal or supportive.

Truth is, there seems to be a lot of technical data on the subject, but wheres the solutions?? Where is the love??? Thats what I was left asking!

Paul's Background Info
I thought I would create my own site, I’m a 26 year old guy who has had “spots and floaters” since I was about 14 – truth is that they didn’t really bother me much until I had a pretty chaotic year last, and towards the end I was really noticing them more and more. So much so that I booked the an appointments at the opthamoligsts just to make sure everything was alright as the spots and floaters seemed more intense. The checkup from their point of view was fine and I got a few great lines that were supposed to make me feel better when I was told there wasn’t a lot that could be done. “Even today I’ve seen people with a lot worse that you have” ... "Theres nothing that can be done, you'll get used to it" ....

Hmmmm, well seems it wasn’t that easy! … They just kept annoyting the hell out of me, my left eye has this kind of dark spot, and its quite hard to “not worry about it”. My left eye also includes numerous other clear dots, strands, cacti haha, you name it I think its in my left eye. My rights not as bad but it does have the largest thread ... during really bright lights all are visable, but at night time its not toooo noticable … but not un-noticable. Lucky me!

Anyhow I thought well, since I can’t wait for some kind of operation, or some kind of special cure – I started to think what other things I could do to make it not bother me!

I know that one day there will probably be a 20 min procedure which clears out these annoying eye bits and pieces, and when they do I’m going to be first in line, but until that moment it would be a real waste to let life past me\us by!

One thing I can suggest, and its not just in relation to spots and floaters - any problem that you are dealing with in your life. Try and iron out the other creases in your life – which I think means, sort out the other aspects of you life that you do have control over, as it can be quite a balancing act. You can give yourself a lot more flexability and stamina if you are not fretting about other life aspects as well as this, easier said than done I know, but give it a whirl!

I'm not sure about your story, but for me - it was a bit confusing as I had had the spots and floaters for a while and I had "got used to it" but then I suddenly "got un-used to it".
To put it in an example, I think it’s a bit like driving a car with automatic transmission – when life is going great, your body and mind and able to cope with a lot more, you can take on more responsibilities and to a certain extent more pain, but when you get enough pain, or responsibitlites – your mind\body almost say “whoa, I can’t do this automatically anymore, you need to sort out some of these big problems, and then we will get back to automatic mode – but for the mean time – this babys going to be using manual transmissions. Hence then you notice the spots and floaters a lot more, they are no longer being filtered out automatically by your brain, hmmm doesn’t sound like too much fun! And I’d know!

Alright that’s the explanation – already – here and some techniques I’ve figured out – you may need to select the one that works for your situation – and if other people have other explanations or techniques that could help everyone – then please email me and I’ll put them up with the authors name! :D

Techniques

“Shields, Acknowledge, Relax”
This is a phrase I’ve been working on, its something that you can do to make you feel like you are in control, rather than the other way around. I think of being a person a bit like being the captain of a ship, you are in command of the ship, but its individual tasks are not done by you.
Sometime I’ve tried to ignore the spots\floaters, doesn’t really work – it’s a bit like walking down the street and trying to ignore someone that you could say hello to, its an awkward feeling and you’d feel much better if you went for a wave even If they didn’t see you. So that’s why its quite important to acknowledge the floaters, hello! Hi, or acknowledge!

The shield and relax part, come in to play – because saying shields, I’m not sure why – but when ever I say that to myself, its like having some extra armour – not to suggest that what I am about to observer is dangerous, but just to say – heres a bit of extra comfort. And relax is an important part also, the relax part comes after you have put up some shields, you’ve acknowledged the spot\floater – then you can say relax – I find this valuable because sometimes I get myself in a loop – rather than then focusing\wasting energy on other worrying\ or thinking of alternate solutions, it reminds you that the objective is to be relaxed, where-ever possible. In the simple respect that it will make you feel better! And that’s what we are trying to achieve here.

"The cramp reflex"
I had this thought the other day, its a bit like when you get cramp - when you feel it coming on, what happens if you tense up ... thats right the pain radically gets worse and you could find yourself in quite a bit of pain. Its strange though isn't it, because when cramp pain starts to creep in, the last thing you want to do is relax - but yet thats exactly what you need to do.
So as soon as you notice the spots\floaters - its the hardest thing in the world to do, but at that moment you need to try and hard as you can to relax. One huge point to say is that its important to be as kind to yourself as possible, try and relax and if you can't then its alright. Treat yourself to something nice, reward yourself when you can relax and at the times you can then go easy on yourself.

“The Oscar Speech”
This is a technique that I use quite alot.
When you know all the other techniques, when you know that’s theres no danger involved, but maybe you just wake up in the morning and you have a hard time dealing with it, maybe your just feeling a but lousy and its making it a bit harder to just try and relax, then try this:

You know how at big speeches they seem to thank every person for every single thing, what I do sometimes is (a great place to do this is in the shower) – Thank yourself, for all your efforts dealing with this problem, thank yourself for being so patient, for putting up with this, dealing with something others may not understand, flood yourself with praise – this works a bit like if you were going into your bosses office to give him/her a piece of your mind, and before you start talking they say they have been meaning to thank you for all your hard work and efforts, bit hard to say anything in return!

Things to try to enhance your ability to cope

“Make sure the relaxation well is full”
Sometimes when you want to relax on cue – it can be harder than other times –that’s why sometimes it can be beneficial to have some already in your system, what do I mean. If you can set aside ten minutes a day for relaxation, or twenty if you did it twice daily, I’ve noticed it really helps my ability to cope during the day. The process is quite simple, sit somewhere quiet – and for ten minutes, focus on either your breathing – a word or phrase. If thoughts come to your mind, then simply acknowledge them, and let them pass (sounds familiar). If you can do this with thoughts during relaxation, then the better you will get at doing the same with the floaters – woohoo! Another piece of the puzzle!

“Don't loose hope”
Sometimes I can feel a bit bogged down with this, thinking well there must be a better solution, I mean why do I have to put up with all this management, when getting rid of the problem would solve everything! Well I couldn’t agree more, and when there is an easy solution then I’ll be first in-line. Who knows maybe this website could stir up some activity in the medical field, I’m not sure – but I know that soon enough – either I will get so get at these techniques that I will become oblivious to them, or they will be obliverated by some technique – either way it is a win win for me\you. So hang in there, and remember that where there is a will, theres a way.

Conclusion
Well there are a couple of techniques I've figured out - I guess some work better at times than others - if you have any techniques of your own then let me know and I will post them up here! I'm going to create a proper website soon but I was excited by the prospect of maybe being able to help other people in the same situation, and maybe you can help me too.

It can be a bit of a hard lonely road, and far out - sometimes I'll have all these techniques in mind but trying to get them to work is really hard, and I have to remember not to be too hard on myself - and its a bit like having a pet inside when theres a thunderstorm going on outside. Its hard for them to understand whats happening, you just have to be as caring and calming to yourself as possible! You can do it!

I'm always here if you need someone to talk to or email: I'll make sure I reply! Let me know your progress and who knows, maybe this can make life easier for everyone - they can have a a resource available!

Thanks for reading
Paul
floatbusters@gmail.com