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Spasticity, face and eyes

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    Spasticity, face and eyes

    I see my doctor in a couple of days and will have trouble describing my latest symptom. I described it on here in another forum, and some good responses helped me to see that it is most likely spasticity. But it seems to involve my left eye a little bit, and I wonder if that is possible. I mean does spasticity affect the eye, not just the facial muscles that control the eye lids?

    A short description of what happens is: a wave of mild to not so mild warm, ache and slight numbness passes through the left side of my body. Mostly it affects my face, neck, and arm. I have dropped things when it happens. It makes the left side of my mouth kind of tighten up. I almost feel light-headed when it happens. It only lasts a few seconds each time, and it tends to happen shortly after initiating movement or when I am thinking about moving or some activity. My vision gets a little blurry, but I don't know if it's the eye or my eye lids interfering with my vision. Does spasticity affect the eyes?
    Portia

    #2
    Eyes are pretty complicated so I suppose that all kinds of things are possible. But irregular movements of the eye muscles aren't usually considered to be spasticity.

    What makes more sense about what you told us is that you might be having a twitch or spasm of your eyelids and not the actual eye muscles because the same nerve that controls the side of your mouth also controls your eyelids. As the side of your mouth tightens up your eyelids could also be getting the same signal to tighten up.

    The eye muscles work off of different nerves. And the more different nerves and muscles it takes to get everything to spasm at exactly the same time, the less likely it is to happen. So it's more likely that you are having facial spasms, which includes your eyelids, than it is to have eye muscles, that aren't normally known for spasms, also tightening at the same time as your facial muscles.

    The only way to know what's happening is for somebody to actually see what's going on. Maybe your doctor will be able to see it happen and will be able to give you an idea of what's going on.

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      #3
      Thanks for the input. I do hope it happens at the doctor's office on Thursday. Everything seems to work better while I'm there though, like when you take your car to the shop and it won't do whatever it is that has been causing problems.
      Portia

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        #4
        Eye weirdness

        I routinely have what I call a spasm in my eye, but it's really called "nystagmus"...it's super annoying. My eye (usually one at time, thank goodness) literally twitches uncontrollably and I can't control it. Not only does it affect my vision with this occurs, it's so prominent, others can see it twitching.

        Probably not what you have, but maybe google it and see if it's similar.

        I just deal with it and don't take anything for it, although I do take baclofen for regular spasms.

        Good luck!

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          #5
          Have you considered making a short video clip of the 'episode' for your doc?

          If you have a smart phone, it would be easy to record and play back for your doc to observe during the next neuro visit.

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            #6
            Oh, and I do remember those mornings getting ready for work, between my jumpy lips and shakey hands applying lipstick was not a pretty sight.

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              #7
              Update

              I did take a picture of my face that shows my left eye less open than the right, and it shows that my lips are drawn in or compressed on the left. My neurologist doesn't think the episodes are very typical for MS, since it affects my face, neck, and arm on the same side, and also something about it being a new symptom that manifests as brief (3 to 10 seconds) episodes. I didn't really understand what he was saying on that.

              But anyway, he is worried that I might be having seizures so I had an EEG. As luck would have it, I experienced one of the episodes during the EEG. Not sure when the results will be ready, as they are read by a different doctor. We'll see!
              Portia

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                #8
                I'm not sure I understand your MS doc's explanition either, but that's why he's practicing medicine and we'r not. Maybe?

                Luck you to have an episode during the EEG. That just never, ever happens.

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