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Eye pain and twitching

My right eye has been twitching on and off for the last 3 days. Today the eye is still twitching but I also have eye pain when closing the eye and with any other movement, especially to the side. It feels like someone punched me in the eye. I have been struggling with a cold for a 3 months that does not go away. Is this linked and what can be done.
Extra notes: I do wear glasses. Last eye test (6 months ago) the right eye is weaker than the left where they use to be the same with my previous test 3 years ago.


This discussion is related to eye pain/twitching.
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I have the same exact thing happen to me, on and off, every 30 to 60 days, sometimes more. I begin to feel eye twitches and tugs and if I squint my eye hard, it hurts like a bruise. For the past year, I have been keeping a diary of what I ate and what I was doing when the eye problems started. So far, the only commonality is that I ate chicken and I ate salad, but I eat that all of the time, so likely not a cause of any sort.

It only happens to my right eye. It gets sore, twitches, and swells. My eye is not red and my vision is not affected. It only hurts when I squint hard or press on my eye with my finger - it feels like a bruise or an infection, if I had to try to describe the pain. Usually it is my right eye, and on the outside of my eye. Today, it is more along the top and inside of my right eye, which is the first time it has ever felt that way.

Usually lasts for 3 days then goes away.

Last month, as soon as I started feeling an episode of twitching and soreness come on, I went to an eye doc and I had my blood tested for HLA B27, by request of my eye doc. My eyes are perfectly normal and health. HLA B27 came back negative.

I am a physically active, 39 yr old male, in great health (6' 2" 170 lbs BMI of 21.0, Body Fat 13%, etc.) and I have no family history of any eye problems or any eye-specific disease.

THINGS I AM RESEARCHING:
1. A possible connection between digestive system and eye twitches/pain - apparently the lining of your eye and intestines are made of the same things
2. Dental-related connections, although my teeth are fine - never had a cavity or any tooth problems.
3. I run and cycle a lot, and I sweat a lot in the summer heat. Sweat does get in my eye, so perhaps it irritates my eye, BUT why only the right one?
4. Allergies? Eye doc ruled them out, saying that if it were allergies, both eyes would be affected.
5. Sleep/Stress -  Could sleep more, but I usually get at least 6 hours each night, although I am a bit stressed, but nothing really - no problems related to stress.
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14 Comments
The most common cause by far would by myokymia  see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myokymia   This is something that is ultra common, ultra annoying and every week I see two or three people with it.  While it usually goes away in days/weeks it often re-occurs and I have seen one case (an ophthalmic tech in our office) where it lasted almost 6 months.  It is not the same as superior oblique myokymia which is an eye muscle problem with totally different symptoms.   A disease that can cause the eyelids to jerk (winking the eye) is blepharospam and a more severe for is facial spasm where whole face jerks. These require work up by neurologist or neuro-ophthalmologist and are often treated with Botox injections.
Thank you for the reply. I'm looking into Myokymia; most of what I see is twitching, but not pain or swelling. is pain and swelling commonly associate with Myokymia?

Since posting this, I've not had a relapse, but I have had a few twitches randomly, suspecting that my eye would become sore and swell up. So far, it has not.
A few lifestyle notes regarding the past few symptom-free months:
1. I've consumed less alcohol
2. I went on vacation and got to relax a bit
3. Screen time, exercise and diet have been the same as before
No pain is not a part of myokymia.  This problem is so common in today's clinic I saw two patients that came in with this complaint.  Less alcohol, vacation/relations all good.
It is always swollen and always sore to the touch, and includes twitching. When pressing on my eye, it feels like a bruise, or like an infection would feel - dull pain. This leads me to believe that it is not Myokymia, but something else.

The pain begins first, then gets worse as swelling increases. The twitching seems to be triggered by the swelling - as if a single nerve is being pressed in in my bottom-right eye lid. The swelling is in my lower eye lid only.
This can only be diagnosed by an Eye MD that can examine your eye.
I went to an eye doc, and had a full exam, as well as a blood test to check for HLA B27. The eye doc had no diagnosis he could give and the test came back negative.

From initial post comment:
"Last month, as soon as I started feeling an episode of twitching and soreness come on, I went to an eye doc and I had my blood tested for HLA B27, by request of my eye doc. My eyes are perfectly normal and health. HLA B27 came back negative."
Sorry I've taken it as far as I can on internet forum. you can always consider 2nd opinions
In case anyone is following along, or encounters anything similar in the future, I will provide updates every few months, if/as needed.

I continue to experience the sore, swollen, twitching eye, each month, right around the 20th of the month. There is nothing that I am aware of that occurs alongside my eye condition, other than a moon cycle maybe? So far, there is no explanation as to what is going on with my eye.

Here is a look at the past 7 months of onset dates:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
March 20 - 23, 2018 - Had sore, swollen, twitching right eye
April - no incident (no idea why)
May 21 - 23, 2018 - Had sore, swollen, twitching right eye
June 19 - 21, 2018 - Had sore, swollen, twitching right eye
July 14 - 16, 2018 - Had sore, swollen, twitching right eye
August 21 - 23, 2018 - Had sore, swollen, twitching right eye
September 20 - 22 - Had sore, swollen, twitching right eye

There is a definite pattern in incidents and duration, but no known cause yet.
=
OCTOBER UPDATE:
Like clockwork, there was a relapse, almost exactly one month later. I tried a few things to reduce the pain and swelling this time with no luck. This was the worst that it has gotten to date - the most pain and most swelling. I did see the swelling start from a small spot and spread to the entire under-eye area. I cannot see any pattern or activity that causes this eery month, it has to be related to some 30-day human male cycle I am not aware of?

DETAILS:
10/24 – eye felt a bit swollen, but not sore, not twitching, felt like it was gunky, but it wasn’t.

10/25 – eye is sore, swollen in the right corner lower lid, the size of a bee sting, perhaps a hair follicle is infected? Twitching a little. Not as swollen as usual. Full eye swollen by evening, the most swollen it has been and the most sore. Had a slight burning feeling to it this time.

10/26 eye very swollen and twitching last night and this AM. Took Ibuprofen this AM, did not have any affect. Took Allegra at work, around 10:15 AM, no noticeable affect, but swelling is going down today as it normally would by this time.

THINGS I TRIED:
• Not responsive to an antihistamine (Allegra).
• Not responsive to anti-inflammatory (Advil).
=
UPDATE:
October 2018 was the worst my eye has been.

November 2018:
On Nov 4-9 I had slight twitching. Barely sore and barely swollen on Nov 25.

December 26-30, 2018:
Same as previous months. Twitching started in lower eye lid, then got sore, then swollen.

January 2019:
No swelling or twitching at all in January. Nothing special about this month, nothing different in diet. Slightly less exercise due to resting an injury.

No idea what is going on still.

February 12, 2019:
Eye twitching and getting sore today. Will be swollen tomorrow and sore to squint or touch. Same exact thing as previous months.
FROM A PREVIOUS POSTING: A disease that can cause the eyelids to jerk (winking the eye) is blepharospam and a more severe for is facial spasm where whole face jerks. These require work up by neurologist or neuro-ophthalmologist and are often treated with Botox injections.    SUGGEST you see neuro-ophthalmologist.
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