What could be causing my eyeballs to spasm uncontrollably?

March 8, 2007 3:08 PM

What can cause random eyeball spasms when brain abnormalities and eye disorders have been ruled out?

It is not my eyelids twitching, it is the eyes themselves. It happens randomly, sometimes once every few minutes, other times maybe once an hour or even every few hours. The eyes appear to dart back and forth rapidly, just once.

I have been to my general practitioner, who sent me for a head CT, blood tests, and an eye exam. All tests and exams came back normal. I then went back to my doctor, who essentially gave up.

I am glad nothing serious has shown up on the exams so far, but this situation is severely annoying and slightly scary. This has been happening since mid-February.

I do not seem to be having any vision problems such as blurriness or double vision. What on earth could be causing this? I am willing to investigate all possibilities. I just want this to stop.

posted by christie to health & fitness (14 comments total)

Are you getting enough sleep? This can happen to me sometimes when I'm tired.
posted by Dasein at 3:50 PM on March 8, 2007

Try cutting out visual stimulus one thing at a time for a week. Laptop, television or anything else you spend time focussing on.
posted by fire&wings at 3:55 PM on March 8, 2007

According the NIH, twitches are usually caused by fatigue, stress, or caffeine.

Have you experienced any recent increases in the first two or in the case of the third have you started ingesting more?

Check the site for more info - it says that in severe cases Botox can help.
posted by jourman2 at 4:06 PM on March 8, 2007

This happens to me when I am sleep deprived for several days in a row.
posted by tastybrains at 4:11 PM on March 8, 2007

My bad - I misread your question. Here's the info you really want (also from the NIH).

It seems the situation is pretty complex - there's no one underlying cause for all eye twitching.
posted by jourman2 at 4:12 PM on March 8, 2007

until you've had a full MRI of the head and upper spine, noway can they rule out any neurological cause, and even then MRIs don't show everything.
posted by complience at 4:40 PM on March 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

i have little insight to offer, but i believe this condition is called nystagmus; perhaps that will help you search for info?
posted by twistofrhyme at 7:17 PM on March 8, 2007

I've had a problem like this before - not to such an extent that it's really bothered me, but enough that I wondered if it was never going away. My friend told me it was a Potassium deficiency, so make sure you're taking vitamins, and make sure you're getting plenty of sleep and not drinking too much coffee. Other than that....
How long has it been going on? Mine went away after about a week and a half.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 8:23 PM on March 8, 2007

I have this. My neurologist told me that it was common in people with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (like me). It's worse if I'm drunk or tired. How old are you?
posted by popechunk at 8:34 PM on March 8, 2007

until you've had a full MRI of the head and upper spine, noway can they rule out any neurological cause, and even then MRIs don't show everything.

Yeah, just because nothing shows up on the pictures, that doesn't mean you're out of the woods, brain-wise. There are lots of exciting wiring problems you can have that don't show up in the pictures.
posted by popechunk at 8:39 PM on March 8, 2007

Going to second the complexities of this. There are many possible causes of nystagmus -- IANA doctor (just a medical school student), but if it continues to occur, it seems to me that a little more investigation would be prudent. A neurologist can do all kinds of tests that a run-of-the-mill eye exam doesn't cover. But the most likely causes are fatigue and stress.
posted by sappidus at 9:14 PM on March 8, 2007

A combination of stress, allergies and caffine does this to me from time to time. I take an anti-allergy medciation to relieve that part of it.
posted by SpecialK at 10:38 PM on March 8, 2007

It is possible that acupuncture could address this for you. They have a model that would neatly fit your symptoms.
posted by pointilist at 10:37 PM on March 9, 2007

I get this when I use the computer for reading too much (eye fatigue). I always thought it just felt funny until I happened to look hte mirror while it was happening- my eyeballs were visibly twitching left-right about 4 mm.

I take more eye-breaks on the computer now.
posted by Four Flavors at 12:24 PM on March 12, 2007