Jumping out of bed one morning I happened to catch my reflection as I passed by my dresser mirror. What I saw had me stop in my tracks. I leaned in over the dresser to get a better look. My left eye wasn’t open. “What’s up with that!” I thought as I continued on my way. Within seconds the eye slowly opened and I ventured down the stairs, shaking my head, in search of coffee.
The next morning, immediately on awakening, I checked and sure enough..my left eye again was closed. Was it just having trouble waking up? I must admit I looked a little strange, one eye open, one eye shut. I have had previous cataract surgery on both of my eyes, the last one being over a year ago. Could the muscles in that eye have been injured? I started to wonder.
This all began way back in early May. Today my eye is still shut every single morning, the time frame for it to open is now over 5 minutes. The eyelid is not stuck.. it is just shut. Recently I have been experiencing the same occurrence after a good long nap.
So far I have had it checked by my optometrist, family doctor and most recently, an ophthalmologist. No one has any answers. The ophthalmologist does not feel there is anything wrong with my eyes or the eye muscles. An appointment has now been arranged for me to see a neuro-ophthalmologist . Apparently there is only one such physician in Manitoba and I will be seeing her in early October.
Funny.. it is not a big thing.. just an eye that is a little slow in getting going in the morning, but I can not help but ponder on the why of it.
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Hm, that is odd. There’s no other muscle affected.
Funny, but I had a similar experience with my left eye about 10 years ago. Mine was not totally shut…it would only open half way. This was when I was still wearing contacts and I was seeing okay out of the eye…but when I looked in the mirror there I was with a lid that wouldn’t go up all the way. Went to the doctor and that’s when I discovered that I had an extremely bad case of “dry eye syndrome.” I was told that I had to go back to wearing glasses and I would have to start using eye drops on a daily basis. My eyes are fine now and since my cataract surgery seem healthier than ever. (And no more glasses!) I sure hope you find that your little eye problem is nothing serious and easily remedied!
Hi Colleen–Could this be Bell’s Palsy–or a limited version of it? I know several people who’ve had it. Usually one side of the face is affected and it gradually goes away on its own. Not sure if it’s viral. I hope you can get to the bottom of it–or that it passes! Take care.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that. My mom had cataract surgery and she has to use the moistening drops often too.
Ah, the strange things that befall us, especially as we pass certain age thresholds.
At least, it doesn’t last long…
Colleen: Your eye staying shut like that just does not seem normal. Keep on checking and don’t let the doctors brush you off so easily. What about a neurologist ?
Colleen I must have missed the part of your post about your follow up visit with the neuro-ophthalmologist. That is a wise choice.. Good luck
Strange. If its only when you first wake up, its probably not anything serious. But if it were me, I’d be awful curious to get an answer!
I hope you find out soon what the problem is with your eye.
And there is no goo right? I have mine closed from allergies sometimes but yours is just your own nerve and muscles? odd. But I hope certainly nothing to be alarmed over. Maybe it is like people who sleep with an eye open. It never seems to bother them in the day.
Coll,
I hope eveything goes OK at the doctor’s, keep us informed – we all care about you :-)
Well, Let’s just hope your eyelid is a bit lazy and that’s all there is to it.
Cas
good luck
I hope the neuro-opthalmologist discovers the source of the problem and is able to help you. We do tend to get a little raggedy around the edges as we age.
I have a few things to add to this. I believe that you should see a neurologist. This could be a sign of brain disease. I have some links that will help explain this and if you have any of the symptoms then you should see a neurologist soon to get checked out.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/psp/detail_psp.htm
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/120/10/1877.pdf#search=%22eyelid%20motility%22
did you find out what was causing it. I am having the same symptoms. I woke up one day and my left eye didn’t open. it happen a couple weeks straight, and now it happens one or two times a week. mostly in the morning, but once or twice in the evening it shuts on its own. by anychance are you taking migraine medicine. that is the only thing I have changed recently.
I have the same symptom. Often, not every day, when I wake up, my left eyelid does not open. I have to exert effort to cause it to open; there is no goo, I can easily open it with my finger, ad it does not happen at other times, only upon firts waking up. This has been going on since appx 10 June. A week or so before it began, I had fluid collecting within eyelid, and below left eye (major bag blow eye). Saw opthamologist, but the bags were pretty much gone, and he saw no problem. A few days later is when the sluggish opening began.
I have it, too, but it’s my right eye, and it seems to come and go! Sometimes I go for months and months without any symptoms. Right now, I am in the middle of a stretch of about two weeks. With me, the eye is most difficult to open right after I close my eyes for the night. Like the others who have posted on this subject, I do not have any noticeable “goo” in my eyes, and I am able to open it with my finger, and it stays open. I take Ortho Tri-Cyclen (birth control), multi-vitamins, and recently started on a statin drug for high cholesterol. I am 49, female, and am in pretty good shape otherwise.
Here is another droopy eyelid checking in. Mine started on June 2 and I already had an ophthalmologist appointment on July 9 for my usual glaucoma pressure check. In addition to the problem with my right eyelid not opening properly, I was having some local irritation and aching from playing my Nintendo game (good exercise for the aging brain) and looking at my computer screen for many hours every day. The eye pressure was ok. Dr. K. thought my eyes were too dry and instructed me to use Optive eye drops four times a day in both eyes in addition to the glaucoma drops. That helps the dryness a lot although I now limit the Game Boy to three games per day and try to remember to blink frequently. Still the problem with the right eyelid remains the same and is not improved with the Optive.
There seems to be no problem with vision. The right eyelid is “stuck” usually once each night, either in the middle or early in the morning. During the day it is just fine.
This is a very interesting thread, and thanks to Coll for starting it and for all the contributors.
Hi Colleen,
I got to this website when I did a search. Wish I had this dilema figured out!! Our symptoms are so much alike. When I wake up in the morning my right eye feels so heavy sometimes I have to help it open. This started about a year ago. Also it feels like I have something in my eye (like a piece of fuzz or a hair). It is not painful but sometimes annoying. I had the usual glaucoma eye exam, eye muscle exam, my opt. doctor looked over my eyeball extensively and couldn’t find anything wrong. Sooo frustrating!! Someone at this website mentioned Bells Palsy. If its a viral infection is there a test for that? Anyways…Glad I found this website.
Hi Colleen,
Thanks for your original post – I have the same problem with my left eye being slow to open. As you say, once it’s open there is no problem for the rest of the day. I am healthy 46-yr-old. I was wondering, naturally, if ithe eye thing is serious, so Googled and found your blog. Knowing others have this same situation, without serious problems, is reassuring. Ya gotta love the Internet…
Although I still wonder what might be causing this.
Fran
Colleen
Did you ever find out what this is? This exact thing has been happening to me a few times in the last couple of months. Woke up this morning at 2:30 a.m. Left eyelid didn’t open for about 30 seconds. The time it is staying shut is increasing. Pretty wierd. The only thing I can attribute it to is that I always sleep on my left side. Do you think that might have something to do with it? I also want to compliment you on this blog. It is so well organized.
Maggy
Hi, my name is Carol and I was recently diagnosed with a severe left ear infection and a rupture ear drum. After being on two different kinds of antibiotics and ear drops for a month the ear infection has seemed to clear but not the rupture ear drum. I went to an ENT and he put me on Prednisone for the inflammation. For the last several days, when waking in the am, my left eye will not open unless I use my fingers to softly lift the eyelid open. Once this is done I seem to be fine. There is not matting or discharge. I have read all the other posts in reference to this issue but was wondering if the ear infection/ruptured ear drum or meds could have triggered this?
Hi Colleen, About a year ago I kept telling doctors that my right eyelid felt heavy – they passed it off with a strange look. This past February, 2008, I awoke in the middle of the night and my right eye wouldn’t open, I couldn’t pry it open. This continued nightly so I ask my doctor who suggested dry eyes and told me to use drops. I also have low pressure glaucoma. The problem continued nightly each time I got up to go to the bathroom. Up until July, it was only the right eye but in July, one night the left eye didn’t open. Two weeks later, both eyes would not open and I went into a panic. I felt my way into the bathroom and about 5 minutes later, my eyes slowly opened, left first, then right. Been to three eye doctors, none have the answer, my medical doctor does not have the answer. I don’t know who to see as we are limited here on specialists, and I am scared as it is happening every night. Hopefully I can find someone to help US.
Hi everyone,
So glad that i am not the only weird one! I would like to fnd out what is going wrong. I have the same problem with my left eye not opening, again no gunk or pain. My problem started after an eye infection and using anti-biotic eye drops. I wondered if this was the cause of my problem. It does seem very odd that no medical reason can be found.
Hi Julie, I have to wonder if the eye infection and the drops are in any way related to your eye now not opening. Just a thought.. but have you been tested for “dry eye”.
I am happy to report that I no longer have an issue with my eye not opening. The symptom lasted for about two years… never getting better, never getting worse. No diagnosis was ever made but it was found that I do have a Vitamin B12 deficiency. I now take Vitamin B12 replacements daily and my levels have been corrected. I often speculate on whether there is a connection between the two … but no one seems to know for sure.
I have exactly the same problem with my left eye. I’m finding myself very dehydrated in the middle of the night, always keeping a bottle of water near by. Sometimes I feel as if my mouth is sealed shut. I’m wondering if my eye is dry and therefore no moisture to help it open. It does totally feel like my eyelid is paralyzed though. Let me know what your doctor has to say. Suz