swelling around the eye

[lilmissposey8088]

Hello Forum Friends!
     This may not be related to AD at all but can't help but wonder? For the past three weeks my left eye has had swelling around it. Its not itchy or red nor does it hurt. It just starts swelling out of no where and it stays swollen for 3 or four days. Looks kinda like periorbital edema but in only the one eye. It started swelling again yesterday and woke up this morning and could hardly open my eye it was so bad. It has happened three time in three weeks but this time being the worst. I went to my reg doc three weeks ago and he thought it was a clogged tear duct leaking into the skin and sent me to the optomitrist and he said it was probably an allergic reaction and gave me cream to put on it. But i'm having a hard time believing that I'm having an allergic reaction in the same place three times. Plus the no itching or redness. Has this ever happened to any one here or has any one heard of it?

[Kavbear]

I don''t know if this is related but I used to wear contacts and had to stop because even brand new ones felt like I was rubbing sandy salt water in my eyes.  My eyes were also swelling and getting dark underneath (not sleeping well could be why they got dark)
Before I was diagnosed I just thought I was laying down too much keeping my eyes closed and they were dry (but watery...gotta love that)
Dry eye or eye issues (at least eye ball) can be a AD symptom.

Maybe wearing your contacts is just not ok right now and one eye is more sensitive then the other.

Lastly I know many medications can cause eye issues, have you had any medication changes even going back a month before you started having this issue?

[Heiferly]

I didn't see anything.  The only other thought that crossed my mind is something I know *very* little about so it's a stab in the dark.  Lymphatic system?  I know that can go awry unilaterally.  I was thinking lymphedema is normally seen in the legs, but my trusty google says it CAN be an eye thing:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=ophthalmic+lymphedema&hl=en&btnG=Search&as_sdt=100000000001&as_sdtp=on

I don't know that that would have any autonomic connection, but it could be another avenue to explore with your doctor??  

[lilmissposey8088]

That would be awesome if you can find something! Let me know one way or another. I'm going to pick my PC doc's brain about it also and as I said earlier as soon as it flares up again I'm going back to the opto.

[Heiferly]

If I have some spare time this weekend, I'll try slogging through a few of my autonomic textbooks to see if I can find anything that would provide a hint.  There are a couple of them where I've skipped around in my reading and haven't covered every chapter, so maybe there could be something relevant ... ??  Off the top of my head, though, the only eye-related stuff I know of in the autonomic texts is on pupillary dysfunction.  Can't hurt to double-check though.

[lilmissposey8088]

Wow thought I was the only one out there with this symptom. I have no idea why it is happening even though I have spent hours reading and searching for some kind of logic answer but I always come up blank. I'm going back to the optmologist as soon as it swells up again! If I get any answers I'll let you know!

Marie- Not pregnant. I don't understand how pregnancy could cause such an odd symptom. Maybe if I figure that out then I can get to the underlying problem!!! LOL I think researching this AD stuff has me questioning to many things! To much time trying to figure out what was wrong with me and questioning to many docs. This stuff can turn any layman into a medical researcher! :P

[lovemydowncomforter]

i've had this for over a month now! it started with one eye and now it's both. it's worst if i wear my contacts too long. i've worn contacts for years though and never had anything like this happen. i don't know what it's from. my eyelids get swollen and my eyes start to hurt, they won't start tearing though, no matter how much i rub them. they hurt worse when i take my contact OUT after they've started hurting.

[mtgardner]

You have stumped us!  I haven't heard of this symptom coupled with AD.  

I put the periorbital edema in a symptom checker and got three possible causes: allergic reaction, anaphylactic shock or pregnancy!  Yikes!!  Then as the 2nd symptom I put in autonomic dysfunction and it gave me the dx of pregnancy.  No explanation was given.   Perhaps the AD is not a factor and the problem is a recurring virus or injury?  I would think tho you would have other symptoms with a virus like an irritated eye and the same with injury.

When one of our children was younger they woke up with a swollen eye.  Turned out to be a spider bite.  They had a reaction to it.  That of course you probably don't have if it doesn't itch and isn't red.  Quite a mystery...Let us know if you figure it out.  Marie

[lilmissposey8088]

    That's all I could come up with also. I shouldn't have edema in just one eye, makes no sense but it is still there. The closest thing I could come up with was Chagas or Graves. But I haven't been anywhere close to Mexico and my thyriod tests are normal. Thanks for at trying to come up with something. I guess I will ask my doc again. I think he's clueless also though. If anyone come up with a brilliant idea I'd love to hear it.

[evo123]

The only time I have seen swelling around the eyes due to fluid retention was when my daughter was a toddler.  She was an inpatient and on IV fluids, and they overestimated the amount of fluid she needed and hence she swelled!!  But this occured around both eyes.  She does have some kindney issues but I don't think this contributed to this.  But this occured around both eyes.

From what I know fluid generally begins first around the extremeties as Heiferley has said, but in the weird and wonderful world of Dysautonomia....who knows...

[Heiferly]

I'm stumped.  Maybe something will come to me if I sleep on it.  

We do have a tendency for third-spacing of fluids (or at least some of us do), but it would go toward dependent limbs and down toward gravity, not up.  So somewhere on your head ... and just around one eye ... trying to explain edema there is going to take me some more thought ???  Things that make you go hmmmm....