Eye pain [Archive] - Dry Eye Talk

Gaye

19-Apr-2005, 08:26

The opthalmalogist/neurologist that I see told me that the cornea is linked to the trigeminal nerve and if the cornea gets dry and starts burning, it sends those signals to the trigeminal nerve and that is when all that other stuff kicks in. He put me on Trileptal, which is an anti-seizure medicine and that has helped tremendously. It is just a small dose, but the results are amazing. Mine would usually start in the evening after being on the computer all day and nothing would help it. This stuff has really helped the pain. My eyes are still dry, but at least it is now more managable.

Lucy

19-Apr-2005, 23:43

I tried an anti-seizure med too. My GP put me on Tegretol. I quit after a week as it made me terribly sick.

At least it sounds like your ophth-neuro knows what he/she is talking about. I had to figure out what was wrong myself. My lasik doc just looks at me in disgust/denial as if I'm imagining it.

Gaye

20-Apr-2005, 16:59

He tried me on Neurontin first and it made me sick and jumpy. Then he tried the Trileptal 300 mg per day 1 hour before bedtime and it shuts that nerve irritation down for the next 24 hours. For me it truly was a miracle. He told me that there are so many of these drugs and there is no right one for everyone. You kind of just have to try a few until you find the one that works. I had thought I was going crazy too, because no one knew what I was going through and though it sounded a little weird. My original doctor (who I have dumped) basically told me it was all in my head. But my G.P. listened to me and referred me to the Opthalmalogist/Neurologist who told me that my case was classic - not as severe as some people, but very definitely Trigeminal Neuralgia - caused by the irritation of the dry eye. If I am not careful to keep my eyes moist, it will flare up even worse. If your eye doctor doesn't listen, talk to your family doctor and explain all of this. Maybe they will listen. The neurologist said that many patients with dry eye will end up with this.

binanut

22-Apr-2005, 19:26

I would also use adjectives like aching and throbbing but not burning. My eye pain actually feels like muscle spasms. I actually have found some relief from taking a q-tip and applying pressure along the orbital crease. Then I use the q-tip to massage the muscle. It is about the only thing I have found that helps... I don't know if this in the long term will cause damage to any other structures. I also was put on neurotin but I found little benefit. Tried acupuncture :(
I also get good relief from cranialsacral therapy.

Lucy

23-Apr-2005, 01:33

I would like to say that the majority of eye pain complaints after lasik surgery are not taken seriously. Just how does one explain the very thing they deny?

After all, they corrected (!?) our eyesight didn't they? If you notice the side effects, pain is never mentioned as severe, disabling pain.

Once again, we learn from each other. I think Ive had more understanding from my GP about post-op probkems. The lasik guy made all the $ but has little explanation.

Lucy

23-Apr-2005, 01:35

I was on neurontin 2 years ago for a brief time, but it made the dryness worse.

Lucy

23-Apr-2005, 01:36

Is your pain in one eye or both?

binanut

23-Apr-2005, 12:33

my pain is in both eyes but much worse in the left. I have been getting relief with cranialsacral therapy. Both therapist said that they believe the damage is to the optic nerve. At first I blew off this assumption but, it is starting to make more sense to me. The optic nerve attaches into the thalamus. The thalamus is a pain control center. When the lasik doctor's put the suction cup on the eye to make the corneal flap... maybe they apply an upward pressure which irritate/inflames/stretches the optic nerve? I DO have dry eyes...but that pain is different....

Lucy

23-Apr-2005, 13:36

I DO have dry eyes...but that pain is different....

Me too. The really bad pain is in one eye and surrounding area. I believe is trigeminal neuralgia. It was made worse after cataract surgery a few months ago. I have done some acupuncture......jury is still out on that. The drugs they prescribe sometimes are worse than the pain.

Vicodin helps. Ice helps. I also massage the area sometimes when nothing seems to help. Will continue acupuncture awhile longer.

It's a shame we have to chase to the ends of the earth for answers.

Annie

23-May-2005, 21:11

I have noticed that most of you talk about eye pain and I was wondering what types of pain everyone was experiencing. Most of my eye pain is burning. But when my eyes get particularly dry, it extends to my trigeminal nerve and that is a whole different story. Then it is throbbing, burning, aching, tingling, and creepy crawly on the right side of my face.Hi, I have burning, itching, foreign object in my eye. Primarily my pain and discomfort is in my left eye. There are times when nothing works, then I do hot compresses, use erythromycin ointment and close my eyes. I will even take medicine for migraines to help the pain. I am interested in the pain medicine you spoke about. I can't remember it now. I have had some truly desperate moments. I work at a computer all day too and right now I am experiencing some pain. Well, thanks for the info, it was very interesting, Annie

Gaye

24-May-2005, 09:05

The medication the opthalmalogist/neurologist put me on is called Trileptal.
I take 300mg about an hour before bed. It has helped the weird pain around my eye - the aching, burning, etc. Truly, for me it has been an incredible help. It is an anti-seizure medicine, but they use it for facial pain as well, and has helped alot of people with eye pain. I don't think I could function without it and the only side effects I experience is that it makes me sleepy, which is great at night. No residual sleepiness in the morning and I feel great. My doctor said that it can be prescribed as a mood elevator, which helps the depression so many dry eye patients have. Works for me!

Geri

06-Aug-2005, 10:24

Gale, I have been on neurontin for two weeks now. It is helping the pain but it is causing more dry eye irritation. Does the Trileptal do the same?

Gaye

07-Aug-2005, 19:33

Hello Geri - no, the Trileptal does not cause (for me at least) more dry eye. I am not sure if that would be a side effect ever, but my neurologist works very closely with me about my dry eye problem. He is very careful about what he gives me. We tried Neurontin first, but that made me very jumpy and I could not sleep with it.

Gaye

Gogo

17-Aug-2005, 14:32

Gaye

17-Aug-2005, 20:17

That is basically where it is. You can have pain on the right or left side. Mine is on the right. My Ophthalmologist/Neurologist told me that when my eyes get dry, the nerves in the cornea send that signal to the Trigeminal Nerve, as they are directly linked. For me, this will be a flare up and I try not to let it get that far. Again, only a Neurologist can diagnose this. Many times it comes on after dental surgery, but eye surgery could possible cause it. Mine definitely came around the time I was diagnosed with Dry Eye Syndrome.

There are many sites on the internet that explain what the Trigeminal Nerve is. From everything I have read, it is one of the largest facial nerves we have. This site has some interesting information about it.

http://www.trigeminalneuralgia.us/what.htm

fernellen

08-May-2006, 08:38

I have looked through a lot of the discussions trying to find similar descriptions of eye pain and solutions. Most people use warm compresses to ease their pain. For me, it is ice, but then I am out of commission for a good three or four hours. The area below my eye (the one that was operated on) swells and becomes painful way before my eye starts burning.

This all leads to head ache, upset stomach, all that lovely stuff associated with pain.

Any thoughts on quicker recovery?

Gaye

08-May-2006, 21:42

A shot of Tequila maybe (just kidding!)?

kitty

09-May-2006, 07:56

I can best describe my eye pain as a constant burning in both eyes. It varies in intensity. I also get aching pain when my eyes are really inflammed. When the pain is at its worst, I cannot stand to keep my eyes open.

Vicki In Oregon

28-Aug-2006, 23:39

what is erythromycin ointment ? Annie your pain sounds like mine. I have burning and tired soar achy eyes but the foreign object is the worst for me, regardless of how bad the other 2 pains get. I cant stand it. If you think about it, before this whole thng began for us, if we had so much as an eyelash in our eye we wont do ANYTHING before we remove it. We wont go work out, eat lunch, go to the store and then say "wait! I forgot to remove my eyelash!" yet it feels like sooo much more than just an eyelash but MANY eye lashes or a pebble and/or sand. Hate it so much.

Vicki In Oregon

31-Aug-2006, 13:39

Oh my gosh I was wrong. Now that my eyes are burning like crazy that pain sucks too. Before they burned but not like this. Now every drop I put in stings like they never did before. The only advantage to burning is that you can put pressure on your eyes and it kinda helps but if I use pressure on my eyes with the foreign object feeling then it makes it worse. Ugh.

atta

28-Sep-2006, 12:20

hi,
I have some headache sometimes and feel tired all over my body when my eyes get too dry.
Recently I am doing a lot of foot massage to myself. Whenever I got the chance, I will do it. :)
http://www.popularmassager.com/images/leftFootLarge.jpg
The eye area is at the lower part of the second and third toes, which is dark green on the picture. It pains a lot when I massage it, its a signal for eye problems, but I enjoy it very much too. It wouldnt give a fast cure but its a healthy and safe way to release the eye problem.

brown_eyes

19-Dec-2006, 04:41

yeah, that is true. Not everyone react the same to the same treatment. The some trials that has to be done with each medications till you find the most appropriate one.
For me i first tried neurontin (http://www.drugdelivery.ca/s3287-s-NEURONTIN.aspx) but i could not take the side effects. I was sick and getting shaky.
Then i tried trileptal (http://www.bbonlinepharmacy.com/product/840/trileptal-oxcarbazepine/) and that was ok. I had no bad trip with it.
I consider that i had the chance to adapt to the second prescription because most people i know had to wait to approximately the fifth prescription to get along.

IanJ

11-Aug-2007, 15:05

Hi,

Glad I found this thread!

I get real pain in my right eye, and yes it does extend across the whole right side of my face. The only way to relieve it a bit is to go rest, some eye drops, and in a cool place. I also get burning, itching etc in both eyes but the real pain I get is different, and only in my right eye.

Definitely gonna chase up Trileptal etc...............

The pain in my right eye has been my No.1 complaint to all the eye docs I have seen. Most have simply shrugged their shoulders. My right eye developed the symptoms suddenly some 2 years ago. I remember the exact minute it happened!

Now after 2 years I feel I've found out why I get the pain. I am quad occluded now, meaning that I have plugs fitted to all 4 punctums.
My left eye does weep a bit, but my right eye never weeps and is still dry and to the point of foreign body feeling for 75% of the day.
It's being quad occluded that has led me to finally develop my own theory.

I believe that I have always had dry eyes.....due to bleph. I remember years ago and varying times in-between complaining to myself that my eyes were red/sore whilst sat at the computer. I walk around for 5 minutes and I was good to go again. However, 2 years ago I got a sudden and desperate blurred vision, and pain, in my right eye whilst sat at my computer one day and the pain triggered. It's at that point that I believe I suddenly developed lacrimal dysfunction in my right eye.
I do the lid massage thing and do put drops in all the time...but when the pain starts up there's no stopping it except from rest away in a cool place. No drops have any immediate effect.

I could easily live with dry eyes to the point of redness, and burning.....it's the pain that is so much of a discomfort.....sometimes to the point where it's hard to tell if I don't have toothache etc etc etc.

Again, thanks for the heads up......

Ian.

Marina26

12-Mar-2008, 13:02

I wanted to resurrect this thread, I think it's helpful to know what types of pain others are experiencing.

I'm amazed that I have finally found others that have pain similar to mine.

My pain is on the right side of my face around the eye. My original complaint were my contacts. I coundn't tolerate them. I'm in daily pain now and have had this problem for over a year. It basically begins as a dull ache, some burning in the eye then a deeper pain in the eye, then burning on my cheek and this tense pain on my eyebrow, then my temple throbs and i get a full blown headache. I used to also get some jabbing pains behind the eye, I don't feel these anymore since I was put on Neurotin. I like Neurotin I don't really have any side effects, except some days its a delicate balance between the pain and balance issues.

I have a lower plug on my right eye and my opthamologist put me on refresh pm ointment, which I find has made a bid difference.

One frustration I have is that my neurologist mentioned dry eye, but dismissed it quickly. I too want to find the cause of my pain and not just take a daily cocktail of meds.

I hope others will post about their pain and keep this thread going.

IanJ

05-Apr-2008, 14:08

Marina26,

Quote: "One frustration I have is that my neurologist mentioned dry eye, but dismissed it quickly. I too want to find the cause of my pain and not just take a daily cocktail of meds."

Are you saying that it's not a dry eye problem?

Ian.

shoebox

05-Apr-2008, 16:38

I hate it when doctors seem so focused on relieving symptoms in the absence of finding the reason for the issue!!
My dear husband is convinced that doctors like "House, MD" exist and he ants me to see a diagnostician who will take all of my varying symptoms that each doctor treats separately, and look at the whole picture to find out what my silly body is up to.
I was reading through this thread, and I am curious as to whether Lyrica is being studied for eye pain -- it acts similarly to Neurontin I think.

Anyway - I think my dry eye has contributed to frequent migraines.

Gaye

09-Apr-2008, 11:51

I too went through all of the same eye pain symptoms that you have and it took me down a long and winding road of doctors, dentists, eye doctors and finally an neurologist/opthalmologist who diagnosed me with Trigeminal Neuralgia. Up to that point, I was sure I had cancer, a tumor, etc., etc. He told me that dry eye symptoms and Trigeminal Neuralgia can go hand in hand because the cornea is linked to the Trigeminal nerve (dry cornea=irritated nerve). He put me on Trileptal (450mg) each evening before bed and referred me to a dry eye specialist. That doctor finally got the dryness under control with Lotemax originally and now I am on Restasis in the morning and Alrex in the evening (no pressure problems yet). I take massive doses of Omega 3's, use multitudes of drops (Dwelle and Systane especially) as well. We tried Neurontin first but I couldn't tolerate it at all. The Trileptal really works for me and now it is a generic. Interesting about the Lyrica information. Might be something to look into.

P.S. My symptoms were on the right side as well!

Good Luck!

Gaye

buntbean

08-Sep-2010, 09:25

I saw a pain specialist/neurologist 4 years ago who told me I had bilateral corneal neuralgia. My corneal specialist laughed and told me there was no such thing. Last year I went to Dr. Rosenthal in Boston at the Foundation for Sight and he also diagnosed me with corneal neuralgia. It came on suddenly 5.5 years ago. Felt like sizzling bacon or welding sparks in both eyes along the bottom lashline. Only by the grace of God I didn't kill myself. I was put on neurontin, tramadol, and cymbalta. My eyes are horribly dry and still painful (I don't work anymore and have to lay down every afternoon for about 2 hours) but the "nerve" pain is more tolerable. I've often wondered if it is a form of trigeminal neuralgia. For those of you who have been told it is trigeminal neuralgia has surgery been suggested?

buntbean

08-Sep-2010, 11:15

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000176

found this website about trileptal, side effects sound major

rooneyandfergie

17-Sep-2010, 12:28

Hi everyone,

I am a bit freaked out recently. I started experiencing facial weakness along the sides of the face and feelings of twitching and spasm in the face. For example, when i hold my smile or close one eye, i can see some twitching in the face. Without holding a smile or closing one eye, there is a feeling of weakness and 'creepy crawling' in the face. Is this normal for dry eye patients or is it a sign of a deeper problem?

buntbean

20-Sep-2010, 05:46

I have felt much of what the previous people have but I have not experienced any kind of twitching. I would certainly suggest a trip to your doctor.

God bless!

mylittlem

20-Sep-2010, 10:12

I can certainly sympathize with those of you who have trigeminal nerve pain. I was also diagnosed with this, however, I am told it is atypical because in my case it is bilateral. Typical Trigeminal Neuralgia is not constant but instead very sharp, sudden, and piercing and affects only one side and one eye primarily.

I have just started taking B-complex vitamins. I have read and been told by a pain management doctor that B1 and B12 can be helpful in treating and repairing the nerve damage and more so than just temporarily allelviating the pain.