Off Topic (sort of) about Migranes

[Zacksmomi]

I just got back from the neuro who thinks my eye issues are migranes.  I am going to an opthomologist in Jan but for now I am trying to find out more about what is going on.  Unfortunatley no other forums on here are as awesome as this one.

Can anyone tell me where I can get good info on occular migranes.

Thanks
D

[wadeheather]

I have gone done the migraine road many times, but was finally told that I do not have migraine because none of the 80 migraine meds worked.  I get a feeling in my right eye like it is being stabbed right down the middle and it is going to pop right out of my head! It hurts like mad. Luckily I have never lost my vision, just gotten very blurry. The optometrist said my eyes are fine and it is probably a neuralgia, but it happens quite often. I've also had the twitch - for months at a time.

I am undx and have no real answer for you, I'm sorry. But you are not alone in the pain!

[PastorDan]

My neuro-ophthalmologist just prescribed a prism to try to fool my brain into thinking I'm not seeing double, I guess.  I have been having two images of everything, overlapping each other.  The eerie part, which I don't understand, is that it doesn't matter if I close one eye or the other; the double edges are still there on every object upon which I attempt to focus.  When the doc put his test prism in front of my left eye, some of the more distant objects at which I was told to look were a little more clear, albeit not dramatically.

I haven't heard how long it will take to get the prism; I hope to make a call on that topic this morning.  I also have no clue whether or not it's covered by insurance, or how much it will cost.

So far, this doc and my current neuro (#4) aren't fully convinced that my problems are ocular migraine, but they haven't ruled out that possibility, either.  However, I've tried multiple migraine meds, none of which have done anything except make other symptoms worse, especially balance.

I will continue to pray that you find the help you need, D.

[StormyRenee]

Hi,
I get somthing like  occular migraines from time to time. I have not lost vision but I have pressure and pain in my eye.I also have weird eye movment like twitching.My face will droop too.I had evoked potentiel tests done and my optic nerve was funtioning normal.But my neuro refered me to a Neuro/opthamolgists. I have not seen him yet.....My neuro said that I need to see a neuro  opthamologists because they are familure with TM/MS...

[Quixotic1]

Optometrists are not qualified to treat the kind of neurological thing you are describing.  They are essentially technicians who have studied a little more about eye diseases, but NOT NEARLY to the extent that ophthalmologists have.

Any difficulty with vision can cause muscle twitching because when we aren't seeing an image clearly - for whatever reason - we squint and strain.  It's that stress on the facial muscles around the eye (actually not ocular muscles) that cause the twitches.

Fasiculations - which is what these twitches are - are ALWAYS a problem of the peripheral nervous system and not the CNS.  They are often caused by muscle irritation or fatigue.

Q

[Zacksmomi]

I do have a lagging muscle in my left eye in the up down direction.  That is why the prism.
It has is benefits and its problems.  
I have had them for 3 weeks and I can still feel my eye trying to adjust like new glasses.  
there is a really wierd reflective glare on them too.  Gonna give em another couple weeks and see what the opthomologist says.

Thanks for your info.
D

[summerluvr]

do you have a crossed eye? or eye muscle problems?  the prism lense is to fix that.  I have strabismus (born with a crossed eye turning inward) and the prism is the test they use to get the eye to straighten so you see better, or if you are seeign double it sometimes help to get rid of that.  It isn't something they would use for migraine or twitches as far as I know.  As a result of the strabismus I have nystagmus (shakey eye) but I don't notice it but other people can see it shake, I think prism can help this too.  At the moment I have regular glasses but might get multifocal lenses to help with reading.

[Zacksmomi]

I am gonna try patching my eye here soon.  

I went to an optomotrist and he put a prism in my lenses which is driving me nuts.  Going to a specialist soon. I have a slight astigmatism and my old glasses are almost better except for the small rx change

I am dx'd with MS for going on a year now officially. Started Rebif in March.  Who knows how long I have had it.  I was quick to give up on Drs as a kid as most sx's went away.  

Now I am having obvious attacks with residual side effects and constant new sx's.  

The eye issues started with an eye lid twitch in Jan 09 which everyone said was stress.
By May I started these migranes which I know are supposed to be seperate issues but my eye probs went away for a few months after solumedrol.  

They started again in Sept and got worse until last month when I got my prism.  That helped for a while but I have had 2 occurances in the last week with the glasses on.

Makes it fun to tell what sx's are what?!?

[Udkas]

Hi there,
I have the same issue and get lots of occular migraines.  Sometimes my eye twitches for weeks and weeks on end, like a camera shutter and it actually distorts my vision it is so bad!  Drives me insane.  I also get numbness around my eye and sometimes a feeling of pressure at the back of my eye.  This pain was different from what I felt when I had Optic Neuritis.

I googled occular migraines and I come up with some very good sites but I can't remember them now.  I have done heaps of reading on migraine as I think that most of my symptoms at the moment are migraine related and not TM or MS.  I am like Alex I have lost my vision too but only for a short period of time. Sometimes my vision is just blurry.  

You should be evaluated by an eye specialist just to make sure nothing else is going on, as Glaucoma can cause eye pressure etc.  There are migraine meds as well that might help, I haven't taken them yet but will talk to my neuro in depth about it more this visit.  My neuro thinks my migraines are part of my TM, and he also thinks hormone related (I am peri menopausal), either way I think that the migraines make my other neuro symptoms worse.  They make the whole diagnosis thing muddy. You can suffer migraines and have MS and sometimes migraines can be the presenting symptom of MS.  I have migraines daily of some type!

Are you diagnosed?  I have forgotten. Good luck with your exploring Occular migraines if you find anything of interest msg me and let me know as it is a huge problem for me.

Cheers,
Udkas.

[HVAC]

Since a week ago Wednesday I have been having the same issues with my left eye. I am thinking it is migraine with change of season cold fronts and allergies. But usually when I have these issues it goes away when I take migraine medicine. My occular migraines usually do not hurt I just lose vision.

This time the pain and twitching which is different from any other eye pain is still there. Who knows? I just patch my eye.