Aneurysm fear! Please please help!

[Helen1973]

I sincerely apologise if this post upsets anyone or is all over the place.

I have a pain in my right eye, actually it's more over it; as if its the eyelid that is aching. It started 11 days ago when I came home from shopping with a head ache and an ach in this same eye. I very rarely suffer with headaches, but I got the same thing on the following Tuesday. However, that was it for the headaches, but I had recurring eye ache until Saturday when I went to the opticians for an eye test.

She did all the sight tests (including shining a light into my eyes and taking a good look). I'm short-sighted and have been since I was twelve and for the first time she told me that my prescription lenses needed reducing slightly and put this phenomenen down to the fact that I was diagnosed with overactive thyroid over a year ago which could have scewed my last results. I haven't changed my glasses yet because of the cost.

Anyway, the eye ache went away almost immedately (I presumed because I'd stopped worrying about it). Until today, or tonight rather as it has come back very strongly.

On Monday we found out that a wonderful lady who was the mother of one of my daughter's friends was found dead by her family on Friday apparantly through having 'a cut on her brain'---as explained to the children. I was very upset because this lady was such a nice person and so young at only 29.

Then today I go into work and get told that my boss (who is in his late thirties) is sad because his best friend had a brain aneurysm over the weekend and is on life support and not expected to live.

Being a HA person I came here to find out why my eye might be aching and found some posts suggesting that eye pain etc can be linked!

I'm very distressed right now because of sympathy for these people and their families, guilt for tying this into myself, and a terror over this eye ache.

Please, please help me. Does anyone know much about aneuryms??

I am refusing to google! I'm trying to convince myself that this is linked into anxiety because once I was reassured by the optician it went away until I started thinking about it today.:weep:

[ladybird64]

Hi Helen

I don't suffer from HA but know a little about aneurysms so wanted to try and reassure you.
The main thing is that you would not be having an eye "ache" that comes and goes and you have mentioned yourself that the discomfort went away and came back with a vengeance tonight.
I'm sure your hunch is right, this is linked to anxiety particularly as you have heard of these other two sad situations this week, try and calm yourself down and congratulate yourself for not giving into the temptation of Google!
If you are really worried and the ache is still there tomorrow, why don't you give NHS Direct a call for their advice?

[NervousNellie]

Hi Helen!

I'm not sure if you know this, but when you have an eye exam done, it gives you a pretty good idea of your general health, including your heart and brain function. It's amazing what they have done with modern medicine! So I think that you can rest assured that it isn't something serious. I would recommend getting new glasses. As a contact lens/glasses wearer myself, I have had this eye pain before and it was directly related to my prescription. It was too strong and it was causing the eye pain (stabbing pain) and headaches. This also happened to my sister. As soon as we had the prescription changed, we felt almost as if our eyes were "tired" and weak. After about a week of adjusting to the new prescription, the pain went away for both of us.

Just to give you an idea of how helpful eye exams are, my grandmother had leukemia and was in remission. She had cataract surgery and when she went in for her follow up eye exam 2 weeks after the surgery, the doctor was confident that her leukemia had relapsed - and he was right! Unfortunately she chose not to seek treatment for it again (she was 75 years old), so she passed away. The whole point is that the eye doctor knew. And since you were cleared by your eye doctor, you should feel confident that you may just need a new prescription to make your symptoms go away!

And please don't worry about those 2 young people with those unfortunate events. Chances are, they had a medical condition that they were born with. Situations like that are extremely rare. I have a hard time listening to things like that and it only makes my HA worse. But you have to learn that those people are not you! If you have a clean bill of health, you can relax! Hope this helps....at least a little bit!

[jm007]

I sincerely apologise if this post upsets anyone or is all over the place.

I have a pain in my right eye, actually it's more over it; as if its the eyelid that is aching. It started 11 days ago when I came home from shopping with a head ache and an ach in this same eye. I very rarely suffer with headaches, but I got the same thing on the following Tuesday. However, that was it for the headaches, but I had recurring eye ache until Saturday when I went to the opticians for an eye test.

She did all the sight tests (including shining a light into my eyes and taking a good look). I'm short-sighted and have been since I was twelve and for the first time she told me that my prescription lenses needed reducing slightly and put this phenomenen down to the fact that I was diagnosed with overactive thyroid over a year ago which could have scewed my last results. I haven't changed my glasses yet because of the cost.

Anyway, the eye ache went away almost immedately (I presumed because I'd stopped worrying about it). Until today, or tonight rather as it has come back very strongly.

On Monday we found out that a wonderful lady who was the mother of one of my daughter's friends was found dead by her family on Friday apparantly through having 'a cut on her brain'---as explained to the children. I was very upset because this lady was such a nice person and so young at only 29.

Then today I go into work and get told that my boss (who is in his late thirties) is sad because his best friend had a brain aneurysm over the weekend and is on life support and not expected to live.

Being a HA person I came here to find out why my eye might be aching and found some posts suggesting that eye pain etc can be linked!

I'm very distressed right now because of sympathy for these people and their families, guilt for tying this into myself, and a terror over this eye ache.

Please, please help me. Does anyone know much about aneuryms??

I am refusing to google! I'm trying to convince myself that this is linked into anxiety because once I was reassured by the optician it went away until I started thinking about it today.:weep:

Hi Helen

Have you suffered from any type of mental health problem in the past?? depression, anxiety, PTSD etc...
has anyone in your family or distant relative had anything to do with aneurysm especially when you were a child?
Are these thoughts about aneursym persistent??
Do you have any symptoms of anxiety or depression?..you seem to feel guilty about what has happened... If you don't know them please check the previous forum questions... if not I am more than happy to give you valuable informations...

If the opticians reassurance helped you then the reassurance from here will help you too... which means you might not even visit here for a few weeks..

It does not appear to be aneurysm... especially when your eye sight is good and the examinations were normal..Sometimes tension headache could give similiar symptoms such as eye ache, ear ache etc which are stress related and are helped by relaxation etc...


These might be an early stage of hypochondriacal disorder which can be seen as part of many mental health problem especially depression and anxiety, in your case an adjustment disorder... That's why I asked you whether there are other symptoms....

These can spontaneously disappear when the cause or contributing factor disappears...

The important things at the moment is to keep yourself distracted with other things..activities...x'mas... and not ask for reassurance as they unconsciously reinforces that reassurance in any form is important...this usually starts with asking friends and family ...but can go on to serious stuffs such as demanding hospital check ups and admissions...

The good thing is you have looked for help at the right time.... As I said 1. distractions
2. avoid asking for reassurances 3. Try to see what is causing stresses and try reducing them through support etc..

See how it goes... If there are other symptoms such as discharge from eye, redness, blurred vision, severe eye ache other than what you have described then contact gp...


Hope it helps...Do let us know if you ahve any concerns...

J

[Helen1973]

ladybird64 Thank you so much, I really appreciate the reply. I am trying to convince myself that going three days without the eye ache, and then oh-so-typically having it come back just when I start to worry afresh over it, is pretty indicative of anxiety. Unfortunately, I haven't quite won the battle yet. :blush: Also, I just had to mention that I love the statement in your signature. :)

NervousNellie Thank you so much for the detailed reply and you have certainly helped me a lot. I agree that I'm going to have to splash out on those new specs. Sometimes I am so ashamed of the way HA has turned me. Originally I was just feeling dreadful for these two people and their families, and am now feeling dreadful for making this about me. *sigh* So much for 'do not seek so much to be consoled as console':blush:

jm007 Hi there! Yes, I have been referred for HA but have had the counselling interrupted and pretty much halted because the lady in question left the surgery I'm in. Unfortunately I'm perfectly capable (as I know from past experience) of 'producing' the symptoms of an illness that I'm anxious over. I believe, although I haven't checked with my dad, that my grandad died of a brain aneurysm, or certainly something to do with the brain.

Can I ask what those symptoms regarding the eye are in relation to? I had read when I was trying to be rational that blurred vision can be attributed to eye strain also.:unsure: As well as red and watery eyes. Ack!:ohmy: Although, happily I have only the ache so far.

[Jo3016]

Hi

I am having problems with my left eye at the moment, with blurriness and pain around it. I posted yesterday as I was worried about having a brain tumor.

I have had my eyes tested. He spent a long time with me and even took a photo of the back of both my eyes and showed me that everything was healthy. He said that you can see signs of early ms, diabetes, hypertension and any sort of pressure on the optic nerve and I have none. Opticians can see a lot and you were fine too.

My doctor reassured me the same today and as I have suffered a lot from conjestion, sinus problems, glue ear and tinnitus for a while, he attributed this latest problem as part of the same thing. Maybe you should visit your GP and tell them your worries.

I do find that when I have an unusual ailment, I fixate on it and can't think of anything else. That in itself makes it worse.

Please take comfort in your eye test results. I hope you are feeling better soon

xx

[Helen1973]

Jo3016 Hi Jo! :hugs: Thank you and I hope you're feeling better soon too. I probably will go and see my GP if can't get this out of my head or the ache won't go away. Although he will probably just tell me to go and get those new glasses.:blush: