Eye pain and burning

Hi everyone,
For those of you that get migraines or any type of headache...does your eye ache, hurt, burn, have pressure? My temple pain is ok right now, but my eye is really bad today, as well as the top of my eye socket by my eye brow...sound familiar? Any ideas what to do? Thank you in advance...oh I'm trying acupuncture on Monday, please wish me luck

Mala

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26 years old, living in Chicago, Chronic abdominal wall pain due to nerve entrapment. I have IBS-D, neuropathy and now get migraines. Gall bladder removed, 2 failed exploratory nerve surgery, pancreatitis, several hospitalizations for IBS flareups. Medications: Welchol, Align, Ambien, Oxycodone, Thiamine, Zyrtec-D, Fiorict


I am a dance teacher and choreographer who loves children and cats! I am to be married on June 27, 2009 to my wonderful fiance Jon!!

yes for me, but headaches can be very individual

Hope the acupuncture worked out

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^{Forum Co-moderator - Crohn's Disease}

Hi Mala!

Quick comment coming. From what you posted it SOUNDS like there's probably not a whole lot to worry about. But that's hard to gauge. I have NDPS and very often have sore or even sometimes quite painful feelings around/behind/"in" my eyes and really most headache sufferers suffer from similar symptoms. In most cases they are a secondary symptom, a thing caused by the headache strain, not actually causing the headache or even directly linked.

HOWEVER, especially because you were somewhat vague on how bad the pain really is in your eyes (and I know it can be hard to quantify), it could be a potential cause for concern. One important question that I would like to ask is whether you experience any visual distortions, including but not limited to aura. Also, how would you describe the pain? Stabbing, burning, aching, heavy pressure, etc. ?

Again, I imagine that it's very likely that your eye pain is simply just caused by the stain of migraines. But let me give you a quick idea of some other things it could be associated with. Please remember that I have limited or no medical training and this is pure speculation, so please don't get worried that it could be something bad!

1) Cluster headache. You didn't describe what your headaches are like but if you experience cluster headaches then that would like explain the eye problems. If you need info about cluster headaches just check out this link to see if it may be what you're experiencing: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cluster-headache/DS00487 . To quote another article "the pain is lancinating or boring in quality, and is located behind the eye (periorbital) or in the temple, sometimes radiating to the neck or shoulder."

2) Ocular problems. Hopefully you've have a fully neurological exam which has included close examination of the optical nerve but using a scope close to the eye. It's important to rule that out. Also, consider getting an eye exam, whether you need glasses or not as optometrists frequently can more closely see if there are any problems in that area. One important thing that he or she may do is called something like a field of vision test. Essentially it's a comprehensive evaluation of your peripheral vision that can be very helpful.

3) Last, and almost certainly least likely is Idiopathic intracranial hypertension. This is almost always associated with visual distortions, problems in what you actually see, not what your eyes feel like. The typical way to check for this condition is lumbar puncture (a.k.a. spinal tap). It can be very serious but again it is quite unlikely. For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiopathic_intracranial_hypertension

One last thing, and I can't stress this enough: I have no sound reason to think that you might be suffering from any of these ailments. I very strongly encourage you to ONLY use this information to simply ask your neurologist whether he or she thinks that there is any reason to suspect the things that I've mentioned. I'm sure that things will work out and best of luck!

Ben

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DX: NDPH, Recovered CRPS
RX: Lamictal, Provigil, Clonazepam, Ambien CR, Emsam, Namenda, Oxycontin, Oxycodone
PRN: Haloperidol, Zyprexa, Lodine, Zofran, Skelaxin

And to add on optical problems...I do not want to cause alarm in any way. But I have had migraines for 10 years now. Recently I had the eye pain, behind eye (october). It was also swollen. Now aftter stumping my pcp clinic, who sent me to the hospital for a mri after 2 weeks of being seen and trying treetment, i go for mri and never made it out of the ER..won a hospital bed and a weeks stay. MRI showed sweelling and inflamation (perhaps a bad infection they thought). I was iv treated for infection...to no recovery. Stumped them. (go figure I now stumped a clinic and hospital)..so they sent me to the world known...OHSU hospital/Casey Eye Institute. I go there, won another week in a hospital after emergency biopsy. Results...I have rare blood diseases, and they were attacking my eye. Now, I live on a pill form of chemo. So hon, if you think something is wrong like I did and knew something was wrong....keep pushing the doctors. Nag that pcp to no end like I did. And doctors hate it when you want second opinions and know you mean business then. Either way, seek your doctor ou t.