Eye pain

[Gaye]

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.

[Lucy]

other side

What you said, except mine's on the left side.

[Gaye]

To Lucy about eye pain

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]

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]

To Lucy

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]

my eye pain

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]

pain mostly ignored

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]

neurontin

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

[Lucy]

binanut

Is your pain in one eye or both?

[binanut]

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]

amen to that

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]

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]

To Annie re: med. for eye pain

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]

Trileptac

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]

Eye Pain

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