odd sensation with eye movement

i apologize if this has been covered in another forum but right now forum trolling is out of the question.

for about a week now i have been getting a very strange tingling sensation upon moving my eyes horizontally. the sensation travels faintly through my face, picks up in my lower neck/shoulder area, and extends to my chest and towards my armpits. feels like a nearly dead 9 volt on your tongue. making me extremely dizzy without the nausea. and on severe occurrences my heart seems to be skipping a beat. this all happened very suddenly but has not gotten any worse since the onset.

26 yr old caucasian male,  mild case of vitiligo on my left cheek since high school, smoking half a pack a day, and have been taking sertraline hcl for nearly 5 months now. otherwise in good physical health.

[Neuro Forum]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.

Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

i apologize if this has been covered in another forum but right now forum trolling is out of the question.

I am not sure what you mean by the term dizziness. When some people use the term dizziness, they often mean vertigo, or room-spinning. Others mean a light-headed, whoozy feeling. If by dizziness you mean vertigo (room-spinning), causes could be either related to the inner ear or the brain. When dizziness occurs after eye or head movement, this is often due to an inner ear problem, with several possibilities including benign positional vertigo (BPPV), which is due to small particle in the inner ear that moves out of place, Meniere's disease (if there is hearing loss) or commonly in someone your age, just following or during a viral illness. These inner ear disorders are best diagnosed by an ENT.

Vertigo can also be due to problems in the brain, but typically the vertigo does not only occur with eye/head movement but rather without these triggers. The most common cause of vertigo due to brain problems is a benign tumor called a schwanoma (also called acoustic neuroma). This is diagnosed by MRI of the brain. Multiple sclerosis can cause vertigo, but often, other symptoms are present as well (please understand I am not trying to imply I think you have MS, only that MS can cause vertigo with associated symptoms). There are several other potential causes, each evaluable based on the history and examination.

Thyroid problems can also lead to vertigo.

Evaluation by your general practitioner (internist, family physician) is recommended, with further testing and referral to a specialist (ENT or neurologist) as deemed necessary by him/her.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.