Why do my eyes feel weird looking at certain objects?

[mark1001]

Recently, I have discovered this new feeling related to my eyes. The feeling is hard to discribe but its quite strange.

When I look at certain objects such as trees, spears or anything pointy/sharp, I get this feeling within my eyes. This feeling forces me to look away from the object. I wouldnt call the feeling pain its more discomfort.

Sounds really weird but I dont have a clue what it could be related too. If I had to discribe the feeling, imagin someone holding a pin to your eye and slowing moving it forward, your reaction would be to look away, thats the best I can discribe it.

Hope you can help.

Mark

[pacificson]

Hello

Having a first experience with this at just under 10 years old really took me by surprise too. In 20012 or 13 was the first time I ever found a person on the internet who had a similar thing... I am 31. I have had problems with windshield wipers, store shelves, white lights at night, passing trees on the road -you name it.

I am generally active but only the last few years. I think it helps but that may be obvious! My Right eye is weaker than the left. I also have had some back pain on the right side and muscle tension down the right side which I think may be related. I I have a few questions from reading the forum if people can tell me their experience!

Has anyone seen symptoms improve and what has done it?

Has anyone done any of the left eye, right eye dominance tests? If some people can do them with the eye they have to close when they feel the pain and cover the other eye I really wanna know how they feel? they are easy to find in app stores. anyones experience would be nice to hear.

Also has anyone had someone do a pen test to see how each eye responds to movement and tracking, and if its smooth? together both eyes and apart?

-My right eye is harder to control watching the pen. it is less smooth. when i get better at that the pain comes less for me.

Does anyone here meditate or do yoga and do they feel it helps? I do!

if anyone can respond it would be really awesome. thanks

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[pacificson]

Dr. Hagan what is (=)?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

It means I've read the question but don't have any response to make. This is not something I have any experience with. I have never had a patient come in with the complaints that this discussion thread is making. Sorry just nothing to add.

[pacificson]

Dr Hagan

Could this be a kind of Binocular Vision Disfunction causing headaches and dizziness? Possibly could be from both eyes not tracking together and having trouble telling the brain about bright, pointy, or moving objects?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I have said many times I don't have a problem with saying "I don't know" when I have no experience or don't have a clue about something. I have never had a patient come in with these complaints so I have nothing to draw on. If you want to push it to the limits then see a neuro-ophthalmologist at a well known, respected medical center.

[ryveit]

Its been a couple of years since I posted here. I think I want to try to pursue fixing this Visual Looming Syndrome again. I noticed a few people on here mentioned allergies being the cause. I used to be on an allergy pill and nasal spray, and as far as I remember, my symptoms were relieved temporarily. I have seasonal allergies which cause intense sneezing (worse in the spring and summer months). Also nasal dryness which causes me to sniff, sometimes with pain, leaving me with tenderness inside my nostrils. I do notice a temporary intensity of symptoms after a dry sniff. I was also recently diagnosed with a deviated septum. I think I may look into getting back on allergy pills and maybe getting my septum realigned.

My symptoms recently got worse when I began taking a pill called Sertaline for anxiety. I stopped taking the pill and am beginning to see my symptoms return to less intensity. There are a few pills which have increased the severity of my symptoms.

Does anyone else here have allergies which cause dry nostrils?

[ryveit]

Another mention: My left eye has been having muscle spasms on the upper eyelid for about a month. It isn't constant, but it is frequent.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[Adambrian]

According to me, you must go to Eyecare Specialist as soon as possible. Then doctors will suggest you what you can do or which type of medicines you will take. Please wash your eye daily & contact eyecare enter which near by you.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[Brett85]

Hi, I have the same issue and don't take any medication whatsoever. I find issues with looking at hooks in a shop, pens in peoples hands, bugs on the car windscreen, focusing on telephone cords (coiled type on an old style phone), I also have difficulty focusing on black chalk boards with white chalk writing and struggle with focusing on bright lights at night time. I'm 32 and would say i've had this issue since i was a teenager, lately i feel it's getting worse and becoming more noticeable to people who aren't aware of my "strange eye thing". I probably could do with wearing glasses but keep putting it off. Has anyone found this helps? I know i have a mild astigmatism in one eye so thinking this could be the issue.

[x_Aria_x]

Hey there, so sorry to hear you have this too!  It seems like there are quite a few possible causes to this issue.  Do you ever wear contacts?  I'm nearsighted.  I have an astigmatism (apparently at an odd angle) in one eye & a little bit of one in the other.  I've only really started wearing contacts / glasses for the past 2 years.  I started wearing one regular contact and one toric one for the astigmatism - was ehh, okay.  I went to another eye doctor who pointed out that - since my astigmatism is at the odd angle - I only had a few choices of contacts (so...conflicting information).  I ended up not doing well with contacts & switched to glasses.  I've found that sometimes, when weird eye thing is bothering me, I feel better taking the glasses off for a while.  That might be because I stare at computers, numbers, & spreadsheets all day though.  Aside from my eyes, I get a weird feeling around the bridge of my nose, so I prefer metal glasses & don't have them too tight around my nose.  Just a thought, but if you can wear contacts instead of glasses, it might be a better idea?  This wiki page is probably the most detailed information (not a lot) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_looming_syndrome    - but it does mention astigmatism as a possibility.  I'd say going to an ophthalmologist wouldn't hurt - it could help, either way you say you've been putting it off  :)   My eye doctor looked at the nerves in my eyes & said they seemed fine, that was good to hear.  I do think my issue is antidepressant-related, so I can't really say that glasses helped - but they could very well help you.  That wiki site says this is a "neurological and muscular state" & that things like being tired, drinking - I guess that might affect the muscles.  I have horrible allergies, so sometimes I take sudafed (with pseudoephedrine) - it seems to loosen up the muscles & give some relief.  Maybe not a long-term solution, but it's a cheap thing to try (I am NOT a doctor!).  Hope you keep us all updated.  The ophthalmologist on this thread, John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO, will hopefully chime in.

[x_Aria_x]

   Hey, I bookmarked this article years ago & am just looking back into it.  My issue is a little different - it's not so much pointy things that bother my eyes, more like sharp angles - corner of a ceiling, corner of a computer where I X out a screen, too many bars on a birdcage sort of thing.  It's generalized at the bridge of my nose / behind my eyes.  My brother remembers having the pointy issue.  After trial & error, I know why this happens to me & my brother - for us it's a side effect of antidepressants.  Pain pills don't help, the one migraine med I tried didn't help - Klonopin makes this go away for me.  It's not something people like to prescribe much anymore, but my dad is a psychiatrist so we tried it.
   I started on antidepressants in 3rd grade for obsessive compulsive disorder, and need them for depression.  Before ever taking Klonopin, I'd been on and off different antidepressants to find the best one.  Every time I went off one, the weird eye discomfort would go away.
   I've recently been trying to find something else - benzos are very stigmatized.  I started on Klonopin when I was 18 and I'm 34 now.  I've been tapering down the Klonopin to see if I can do a lower dose without the eye craziness, but it's coming back.  I've also notices twinges of OCD when angles are bothering me.
   The only other thing I've found that has given *some* comfort is sudafed with pseudoephedrine.  Sounds weird, but this eye thing is weird too.  If anyone wants to talk more, I'm checking the boxes to be notified of new activity on this / joining the community.
   I did go to a neurologist recently, but they tried to tell me it was neck related and wanted me to do physical therapy (I know for me it's a side effect, I may try a new neurologist, that seems ridiculous to me).  People have tried to blame this on lifestyle, exercise, eating healthy, drinking, smoking - I never did anything bad in grade school, so I believe I've ruled all of that out!
   Anyone else on an antidepressant or have any OCD?
~*~*~ Aria ~*~*~

[x_Aria_x]

This is interesting (found it reading up) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_looming_syndrome  ......I do have an astigmatism set at a strange angle in one eye, and a little bit of an astigmatism in the other eye.  According to my eye doctor, the nerves in my eyes look perfectly healthy.  There are only certain brands of toric contact lenses for an astigmatism at the angle mine is at (I wear glasses, but they drive me crazy).  Has anyone been to a Neuro-ophthalmologist?    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-ophthalmology        .....seems like something to try.
I'm sure you're not all just on antidepressants  :)

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Sorry, never had a patient complain of this and have no experience with it at all.

[AmaRus56]

Hello Aria,
My 13 yr old son has recently been complaining of these symptoms and is taking Lexapro for anxiety.  I would be interested in learning more about your experience.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[x_Aria_x]

I sent you a ridiculously long message  :)   If anyone else would like more info. from me, I'd be happy to send you one too.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[x_Aria_x]

Small update - I ended up going to a neurologist & having a brain MRI (it came out with nooo issues!).  I didn't originally go for eye reasons - I was having really horrible muscle pain in my neck & shoulders, which eventually lead to tingling in my hands/arms (plus my mom has MS, so I wanted to rule that out).  The neurologist had no suggestions (I figured, but I didn't know if there was maybe some sort of migraine med or something to try *shrugs*).  His advice to me was to stick with the meds I'm on if they're working.  He also said that if I wanted to really get my eyes checked out, I should go to a neuro ophthalmologist (at this point, I'm not planning on it).  I started a biologic for plaque psoriasis, thinking it would just help my skin - it turns out it got rid of all of the neck & shoulder tightness as well.  So I likely have psoriatic arthritis (which causes inflammation).  I'm adding this because the wiki page says this is a neurological & muscular thing.  My eyes are no different, but it just had me thinking that there are a lot of things that can cause inflammation on your face, even if you're not really aware that it's happening.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Thanks for the update and I'm happy you are feeling better.

[Fangs129]

I tried researching for treatments but their are none as of now.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to treat this.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=