My eye is going to pop right out!

[wadeheather]

This is not really a question, just a venting session!  My eye has felt like it's simply going to pop out of my head all day!  It's been on and off like that for a couple of weeks, almost daily. It's not the first time just my current complaint. My right side feels like it's going numb. I've been getting shakey.  I've been told recently that I had silent migraine or migraine variant. These are all symptoms of that - and ms - and other things. I'm so tired of limbo land!

I have a sleep study next week because I literally kick my husband right out of bed at night. Maybe that will help answer my horrifying fatigue. Maybe it will lead to help with other things????  

I'm glad you all are here. Thanks for listening.
Heather

[Deb61]

I have MS and migraines.  I've also had optic neuritis.  The pain from the ON is completely different from a migraine.  The ON pain, for me, was more like a dull ache in or behind my eyeball.  I had lots of visual problems with ON (double vision, dull red color, pupil size differences, blurry vaseline vision, darkening, stars when moving my eyes, etc.).  The migraine pain maybe situated above the eye, but for me, it wasn't the same kind of eye ache in the eyeball.  

Have you tried looking at a red pen, covering one eye at a time to see if there's a color difference?  Do you have any of the symptoms mention above?  

What medicine are you taking to prevent migraines?  I take propanolol which has helped decrease the number of migraines and the severity of them.  I know there's other medicines, but they haven't worked.  Topamax made me a zombie, and I could never work up to the full strength.  I went to a neurologist that only sees patients with headaches for a while, and he made a huge difference for me.  I would recommend this highly.  He can rule in or out migraines, and give you a treatment, if you have migraines,  that will work for you.  

[cainer]

  hi!!     i tried 2 e-mail u  withh message  it got lost i think--  well anyway  sounds like something i went through-- thought it was going to pop out-- i think the eyelid spasumed -dont know if eye can do that gotta look it up,,   didnt like that feeling at all!!! r u on any muscle relaxers--  i know- i thought is was legs arms and all to spasum  - your eye lid can too!!   wish u the best!!    tick!!    hope its gone!!

[Udkas]

Hi,
the one that my General Dr has prescribed is Atenonol and things I have read about it don't give it a good report for helping with migraine, I am under the impression there are better meds out there, also my GP said it may not help.. but when I read about it in can cause bloodpressure and heart problems etc., and this scared me, it's like is the problem worse than the med?  Mind you my migraines are off the wall, I constantly have symptoms but now I know I am menopausal i reckon it's the hormone change and I am still having difficulty establishing which is migraine and which is Transverse Myelitis..as it's not typical migraine that I have!

When I go back to my neuro (which is not until March) I will make sure I talk to him in depth about migraine so I can work out a plan and see what med he recommends, at the moment the neurontin has made a massive difference to my eye symptoms.

Take care,
Udkas...
My migraine med was meant to a preventive medicine that I needed to be on for 3mths to see if it would work, at the moment I am contemplating adding amitryptiline to my mix for the burning pain I am still experiencing...

[wadeheather]

I am on a new migraine med (not helping!) after trying dozens over the past few years. Why are you to chicken to try them?

[Udkas]

It's interesting that you said the neurontin has helped with your eye pain as I was off it for a bit and went back on it and it has made a huge difference to my eye symptoms...
I have decided that you don't know how good something works until you are without it.

I don't think I will go off the Gabapentin again... but I am too chicken to try the migraine meds at the moment...

[Udkas]

Hi there,
I know some don't wear the migraine thing and I do agree you can't blame everything on migraines but however you could have migraines and MS as many of the population suffer from migraines.

It does sound like an occular migraine, and yes they can last for up to a month at a time.  I get them all the time, they make my eye numb, I also feel like I get pressure like my eye is going to pop out of my head, sometimes I get the twitching.

If you have not been checked by an eye Dr get it checked out, just in case you have glaucoma or some other underlying cause but It does sound very much like an eye migraine, you get these without the headache usually.

Good luck with it all.
Udkas.

[wadeheather]

Thanks for listening everyone.  I actually went to the eye doctor last time this happened (almost exactly a year ago - minus some less painful episodes in between) and his report stated neuralgia possibly migraine, barring anything that could be seen on imaging. So, here I sit. In the land of Migraine BS!

In my next life, I want to be a pirate! Arg...

[Lulu54]

Heather,
I too have had problems with my right eye, just like you are describing.  When I went to the opthamologist two weeks ago, and after lots of testing, we finally discovered I suffer from dry eye (read my journal for details).  I share this because you want to be sure that you're not blaming everything on MS when it can be something else.

the eye drops, the duct plugs and now restasis are all making it feel somewhat better, but it still feels like my eye could pop out sometimes!  :-)

Whatever your cause, I hope it feels better soon, I know it is miserable.

be well,
Lulu

[PastorDan]

The two biggest reasons that I don't believe my ongoing eye pain nor the other symptoms are from migraine (atypical, variant, ocular, silent, or whatever else they want to call it) are the months-long duration and the fact that this is nothing at all like the migraines I experienced in 1997, which fit the classic definitions of migraine.

FWIW, my only sleep studies showed obstructive sleep apnea; they put me on CPAP & I've had no further sleeping issues... except not being able to get there early enough or stay there late enough.

I am as convinced as ever that neuros consciously decide to call various and sundry things migraine because they can't seem to prove or disprove that they might be something else.  The definition of migraine seems to have expanded to include whatever the neuro can't otherwise explain.  The NP who did my LP on Tuesday came very close to saying the same thing.

Neurontin helped me with the eye pain, but [insert all the warnings & disclaimers here].  I hope you find relief from something.

[rendean]

My migraine presents as right eye pain where I would swear it should be popped out of my eye laying on the pillow next to me. My MS neuro sent me to a neuro-opthalmologist as he suspected ON. Either way , if your migraines cause that kind of pain perhaps a second opinion by a neuro-opth would help.

For the record, the neuro-opth I saw, who had JUST finished his Fellowship 2 weeks prior, toled me I had migraines and NOT MS even though I already had my MS dx and am on Copaxone. Still it would be good to check oput the source of pain which is why my MS neuro sent me.

I hope your eye feels better. I truly know what it feels like as it is my atypical migraine, too.

Hugs,
ren

[AmishErin]

I have had ongoing eye issues with my MS.  I think that out  of all MS symptoms that I have had my eye issues were the worst.
Hugs and sincere hopes that your questions get answered soon
Erin