Eye strain and twitch

[Cynkevtay]

I have constant what feels like strained throbbing eyes. They are also very dry upon waking. Does anyone else have the symptom?

[Ojibajo]

Just an Update:

I did mention the eye spasm thing to nurse at my neurologist's office when she called about something else and she talked to the doctor and they ended up moving my next appointment up a month. I think they are thinking that it might be acquired Nastagmous. (spelling?).

I have noticed that since I got the glasses with the rose tint that the issue has decreased substantially. I also get fewer migraines. I have only had one migraine in the past 2-3 weeks. I normally have AT LEAST one each week, but usually more. The Spasm/Twitch flared up for a few days last week, but it seems to have calmed down again.

[michelleric]

I would make an appointment with an ophthalmologist, not an optometrist. (Ophthalmologists are medical doctors.).

A neuro-ophthalmologist is even better, if there are any suspected neurological issues.

You can call your primary care physician for some names, I would imagine.

Michelle

[Cynkevtay]

I am getting a lot of muscle pain and neuropathy on my left side fingers and thigh and a weird buzzing in left foot. Do any of you get these symptoms?

[toughchick]

I had the same symptoms for a long time before I was diagnosis.    Mention it to yr doctor. if yr eye sight gets blurry or u loose yr vision for a short time it is definitely from the MS.  This has happened to me too.  but my eyesight always returns. Resting your eyes may help.

[Cynkevtay]

Thanks for your reply. My eye issues does feel like an actual eyeball twitch then an eyelid one. It comes and goes. I also feel more light sensitive. Do ou guys suggest an ophthalmologist or optometrist?

[Ojibajo]

A few weeks ago I was hit in the eye with a zip tie and cut my cornea. I have 20/15 uncorrected vision. About a week later I had an eye appt. My first in about 7 years. They detected a light prescription in my right eye. I told her, "That's funny, prior to cutting my eye, I could see just fine."  The only other problem I had been having was what felt like a muscle spasm in my eye, not my eyelid but my eye. I assumed it was related to my eye being cut since it started after it was cut.

She didn't think either were related and thought the twitch was myokimia (which usually refers to the eyelid twitching) and said it was unrelated to the injury and it would resolve itself in a few days or so.

Once my glasses came in (actually prescription sunglasses, as I am SEVERELY light sensitive) I realized immediately the the right lens was too strong. So back I went and, yep I was right. The cut had completely healed and I was measuring 20/20 in both eyes. So they re-ordered the new lens with no prescription reassessed the muscle spasm. She didn't think it was Nystagmus since I could actually feel the eye move and she said people generally can't feel Nystagmus.

I did finally end up speaking with the nurse at my neuros office. They moved up my appt. I think that they my suspect unilateral Nystagmus.

I do now have special rose tinted  glasses for inside to filter out the florescent lights and the glare of the computer screen. They also have glare resistance on them to help with the glare when driving at night. I also have the very heavily tinted pair of polarized sunglasses that I wear outside. Neither pair have corrective lenses in them, just tints.  Since I started wearing my "inside" glasses. I have notice the the eye spasming/twitching or whatever you want to call it has reduced significantly and I have only had ONE migraine this week on Monday and I was able to quickly get rid of it with only one dose of medication. I was getting several migraines a week.

I do also use moisturizing eye drops in that eye, as it seems to be more dry and irritated that the other one. I think I tend to blink more when the eye spasms.

I hope some of what we have tried give you some ideas of things that you may be able to try to get some relief.

[PastorDan]

I was more annoyed with the eye drops than the symptoms that they were supposed to address.

I have experienced deep and often constant pain in the back side of the eyeballs, i.e., within the eye sockets.  I also have double vision, nonstop, in both eyes.  Prism lenses help with the double vision.  Eye drops were supposed to address "dry" eyes.  From an experiential standpoint, they made whatever symptoms I had worse.

My eye pain is never throbbing, though, and never seems to coincide with my bouts of severe fatigue.  The only thing that's helped my pain is gabapentin, I'm now taking 2400mg/day (3x800).

[Cynkevtay]

Thanks for your response Kyle. I too stare at a computer for prolonged periods of time. I also do too much research on my Ipad at night. I use alot of eye drops to help with the dryness and irratation. Helps but its just so annoying.

[kwarendorf]

Hi Cynk - welcome to out little coffee klatch :-)

Our eyes are one of MS's favorite targets. A lot of us have some kind of eye issues. They are not always related to the optic nerve, but can still be a pain.

I started wearing glasses full time about 6 months ago because my eyes seemed to get tired half way through the day. I stare at a computer screen all day which probably doesn't help, but a year ago I don't remember the tired feeling.

I also have nystagmus, which is related to the muscles that control my eyes. They don't track together because they are getting garbled messages conveyed over damaged nerves. For the first couple of minutes everyday I have double vision. I suspect that after I'm fully awake and the double vision clears, the remaining asynchronous tracking adds to the tired feeling.

There is nothing wrong with my "Optics", yet MS still has an impact on my eyes. Others will add their eye tales :-)

Welcome,
Kyle