Eye pressure?

[[mo...]]

Does anyone get pressure in one or both eyes?  I've had it since yesterday....pressure in my right eye.  I get regular eye exams and this might be more tied to a migraine or something, but I woke up and I still have it today.  It's only in my right eye.  Feels like my eye could explode...

 

Thanks,

 

moto joe

[[De...]]

Hi there,

 

I've had the eye pressure and I've read many other posts where this symptom is discussed. In actual fact I came across a thread a few days ago where eye symptoms are being discussed and there's a very informative post written by one of the members who subscribed to this thread, I'll copy it here for you.

 

Quote from older thread

 

 

 

Vision information from my optometrist.

 

I asked my optometrist about some phenomena that people are reporting here. About the floater, she said there were three types of floater, so one type is the random noise from the wall of the retina. She said that if nerves were firing randomly, people could see the black spots, especially when looking at a white wall, or at a high contrast background where they would be more noticeable. The other type of floaters, are because of the blood vessels that are located in front of the retina. Again, it is the same idea, in that light goes through the blood vessels before hitting the retina, and so we see swirly patterns like blood vessels, and if we were firing signals at a faster rate as in withdrawal, these would be more easily seen.  The third type of floaters, are the ones in the vitreous humor of the eyes, where the gelatin starts to break down at certain areas. She said that the first two types could go away if it was a question of nerves firing to easily. The third type of floaters, the one in the gelatinous part would not go away.

 

I also asked her about some of the pain that people are reporting around the eyes. Again, she said there could be three causes. He said that benzodiazepines can cause the eyes to become dry. She said that when this happens, people report this as eye pressure. She said that eyedrops, like fake tears could relieve that. She suggested one drop in each eye before going to bed. Another type of eye pain has to do with the sinuses. Because of the rebound effect on the sinuses when people come up benzodiazepines, the sinuses can become inflamed and put pressure on the eyes. Finally, she said that the least common cause could be the nerve in the back of the eyes called the trigeminal nerve. She said that this nerves seems to be implicated in migraines, and that if it is too sensitive it can cause pain felt as if it's coming from behind the eyes or even around the eyes. So people who have a predisposition to migraines may get this. She said that people who have fibromyalgia also get this.

 

She also said that she thought benzodiazepines should be outlawed except for “one-of” type procedures.  I told her that I would post this on the support group, she seemed pleased.

 

[[mo...]]

Thank you, Deborah...

 

I find this information very interesting.  I have had migraines for the last 6 years.  However, they were never very intense....just throbbing pain behind my right eye and always on the right side of my head.  I would get about 1 every month.  I had just started on Ativan about a year ago, when I suffered a complex migraine event.  I was having trouble pronouncing words, my left side felt numb, so they checked me out for stroke (was only 35 at the time).  All came back fine, they said I could stop my Ativan (I had been taking 0.5 mg x 3 times a day for about 1-1/2 weeks).  It wasn't until 2 days afterwards that I had my first panic attack (likely from cold turkeying the Ativan, but I didn't know this at the time).  Then I was put on Xanax, then switched to Clonazepam and tapered off of it.  8 months total on benzos.  I've been completely off for almost 2-1/2 months now.

 

I am starting to feel more anxiety/panic come back, but I never had this before benzos.  I really feel like any anxiety/panic that isn't being driven by benzos is maybe being driven by migraines.  Since tapering the benzos, my migraines have gotten more frequent.  I didn't really feel the eye pressure before, but sometimes my temples throb and flex, I get really tired, my body feels really twitchy, leading up to it.  I don't take anything for migraines other than Advil at times. 

 

I just feel like a real mess these days and can just hope and pray that most of it is due to withdrawal.  In some ways I definitely feel better that I am off the benzos.  But, I do have some concern in the back of my mind that the anxiety/panic is going to come back...

 

Thanks,

 

moto joe