eyes and nausea

[essdipity]

Yesterday I was watching something on TV that seemed to have very jerky movements. Why I don't know, since it was just a segment about decorating on the HG channel. After a bit I began to feel nauseated, and that got much worse till I turned off the TV. I sat with my eyes closed a while and felt somewhat better, though very tired. I had to lie down.

This is not the first time something like that has happened, but it's been extremely rare for me. One time I was at an avant-garde movie with weird-moving camera angles and I had to leave because I felt sick. Another time, maybe 100 years ago or so it seems, I was at Disneyland in that huge 360-degree movie thing. That time I got very sick indeed, after which I got the mother of all migraines.

I don't know if this is just an odd variation of motion sickness, but at no time was I actually moving. It was just my eyes that couldn't stand it. No one else has been slightly bothered by what affects me so profoundly.

This is probably not even a central nervous system thing, but I'm wondering if anyone else here can tell me the mechanics of it.

Thanks,
ess

[Momzilla]

~

These crazy kids and their funny names for things.  Kids these days....

Google schmoogle.  Schmucks, all of them.  Well,  not really.  They're nice kids, these.

Anyhow.  I hope you're feeling better with the eyes, dahling.  A little nystagmus never hurt anybody....A little vertigo thrown in fah good measure.  Oh, now I'm all fahklempt.

*

[CtResident]

Yeah, that too!!! I was going to mention them but I couldn't remember the name.

All I get is news ink on my face.

lol

Suzanne

[CtResident]

Yeah, that too!!! I was going to mention them but I couldn't remember the name.

All I get is newsink on my face.

lol

Suzanne

[jensequitur]

They just don't work on me.  Don't know why.  I have the same problem with the Magic Eye things... I just can't see the image, no matter how I try.

[CtResident]

re: Pulfrich's effect

Wikipedia had an article on it. It mentioned 3-D glasses. I canNOT, for the life of me, use those things. Ughhh.

Anyone else have that problem?

Suzanne

[jensequitur]

That's because I'm insane!  Bwuahhahhahahah...  No, my brain is full of fluff, just like Pooh bear.

The phenomenon is called Pulfrich's effect.  

[essdipity]

My right eye was abnormal on VEP, but I've never had demonstrable ON or any serious eye problem. My vision didn't feel wiggly or wavy when I was sick. I figured it was my eyes because I couldn't think of any other possibilty. Jen suggests 'Pulfritt's' but I can't find this thru Google.

ess

[doublevision1]

Like Zilla, I was thinking nystagmus as well when I was reading your post.  Has this or other eye issues been a problem for you?

Apparently I have/had nystagmus according to my last neuro report.  He did not mention this to me during my neuro exam but wrote about it on my report.  I mentioned it to my orthoptist and she said she had never detected it.  So I will be asking him about it next visit.  However if I do have it, it is so far going unnoticed by me; I don't have the wiggly wavey vision or nausea that some people talk about.  

Hopefully for you it was just one of those fluke things and does not surface often.  It does not sound very pleasant at all.

db1

[essdipity]

Very interesting, Jen. Thanks. I'm quite okay today. Just have to watch what I watch.

ess

[jensequitur]

I have this problem to some degree - not nausea, but definitely feel weird and disoriented.  What you're experiencing is called Pulfritt's... When you get damage to the optic nerve, it transmits information slower.  So one eye is getting the information sooner than the other, and it makes the brain crazy.  The next time this happens, close one eye and see if things get better.

[Momzilla]

~
Feeling all right today?

*

[Momzilla]

Hi!

You've got to be kidding!  You've got some sort of wacky vertigo, ess.  Welcome to my planet.  And it sounds like you may have some nystagmus creeping up, too.

No, I don't understand the mechanics at all.  I would love to have them explained.  Of course I get the idea that the tiny crystals can come free inside the inner ear and wreak all kinds of havoc, but other than that, I haven't a clue.  And yours could indeed be central in cause, too.

I have come to appreciate my vertigo for the extra bang for my buck I seem to be getting.  I can just be sitting there, at my desk or in my car, minding my own business (mostly) and VOOM!  the seat seems to fall out from beneath me.  Or I turn my head a certain way, and my computer spins farther than it should.

Also, whenever I turn over to the left in bed, I get pretty dizzy.  In a fun way lately, not a sick way anymore.  And if I am laying at JUST the right angle with my eyes closed flat on my back, I do bedspins.  I don't have to even have a nice glass of Pinot and worry about the calories.

All that fun, and no one even knows I'm having it.  All that fun, and I don't have to leave my chair.  All that fun, and it doesn't cost me a penny.  Sometimes I vomit, but sometimes fun can make you do that. (Just happy it's not from being pregnant!)   Lately, it's just fun.  A mild mini-break from my mundane.

It sounds like yours isn't fun, though.  You need to have an ENG done.  Tell your neuro about all this business.  Mostly because he needs to know and to find out if it's related to your MS.  And, too, so he can treat you.  There are meds to take which help if you're having a long bad run of fun.

Feel better!

*

[wingnut19]

Hi Ess!
I can't tell you the mechanics of what you've experienced, only that I have some similar feelings at times...
For instance, if I'm driving in the car and am stopped by a train, I definitely cannot watch the train going by without feeling like I'm going to be sick....I know exactly what you mean by it's "in the eyes"....My eyes can't seem to handle that motion.
I also can't watch car chases or races on TV for the very same reason...Any kind of moving assembly line makes me sick too!
Funny thing is though, I can drive my own car like a maniac and it doesn't bother me whatsoever....LOL
I hope someone else can explain it for you!
Tammy
PS--I do find it rather odd that it happened while you were just watching a decorating program....Doesn't have much 'action', does it??