LEFT EYEBALL - i'm scared!

for the past 10 days, my left eyeball has been "twitching" - at first i thought it was my eyeLID (which is common and happens to everyone).  but after 2 days, i looked in magnifying mirror and saw it was my eyeball that was "pulsating".  it comes and goes ALL DAY LONG - intermittently.  i have been to opthamologist - he says nothing is wrong.  i have been to regular doctor for annual checkup - they aren't concerned either.  BUT - it WILL NOT STOP.  happens at least once an hour.  very annoying - but my main concern - is it stroke?  something serious?  if not, how can i make it stop?

i am 56 years, female, good health - i smoke, cholesterol 239 (the bad stuff) - i eat healthy and exercise 4-5 times a week (the good stuff)

please advise - thank you.

j.c.

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

You would need to better describe you mean by your eye twitching or pulsating.  What does that mean?  Perhaps you are describing nystagmus or back and forth movement of eyes or superior oblique myokymia which causes the eye to rotate back and forth clockwise and counterclockwise.  Also oscillopsia (sp) can cause eye to randomly move and cause dizziness, double vision and imbalance.  I have had patients with carotid/caveronous fistula notice they can hear swishing noises in eye and hear their pulse in their head and can have a bulging and redness of eye.  Consider a second opinion.  I really don't know what  you have from your description but these are a couple of thoughts that entered my head.

MJK MD

[loanwitch]

thank you SO much for your quick response.  my eye doctor asked the same questions you did, and the answer is "no" to all. it is a very quick pulsating, only in left eye, and feels EXACTLY like the eyelid twitching, which happens maybe once every 1-2 years.  i THOUGHT it was my lower lid for 2-3 days - but when it wouldn't stop, i finally looked in the mirror and pulled my lower eyelid down.  the movement is ON the eyeball, near the bottom lid - but ON the "white" part of the eyeball.  

maybe it really is the lower lid and is moving so strongly that the eyeball is affected?

i don't know - but i'm comforted (i guess) that my condition matches NONE of your scenarios!  i don't know what else to tell you - but again, i SO appreciate your help.

if you think of anything else, please let me know.

judi c.

[Charlie427]

A related discussion, Eyeball twitching was started.