Eyelid twitch

[Silas Sparkhammer]

For the past five days, my lower right eyelid has been twitching. Not the eyelid, per se, but the loose pouch under the eye -- the "bags under your eyes" bag. Just a little muscular twitch, about one-and-a-half times as fast as my pulse rate. (At first I thought it was just a vein pulsing, but it isn't.)

Doesn't hurt. In fact, I can't even feel it, just see it in the mirror. But -- it hasn't stopped in five days! Shouldn't the muscles have gotten tired out by now? What causes such a thing?

(I'm worried going out in public, lest someone think I'm winking!)

Silas (of all the silly things!)

[Latiam]

Originally Posted by Silas Sparkhammer

For the past five days, my lower right eyelid has been twitching. Not the eyelid, per se, but the loose pouch under the eye -- the "bags under your eyes" bag. Just a little muscular twitch, about one-and-a-half times as fast as my pulse rate. (At first I thought it was just a vein pulsing, but it isn't.)

Doesn't hurt. In fact, I can't even feel it, just see it in the mirror. But -- it hasn't stopped in five days! Shouldn't the muscles have gotten tired out by now? What causes such a thing?

(I'm worried going out in public, lest someone think I'm winking!)

Silas (of all the silly things!)

Mine used to do that sometimes, and the doctor said it was an indication I was under stress or not getting enough sleep.

If that makes sense to you resolve that issue and it should go away. If not, see your doctor.

I never had it for five days though. The first thing you should do is take a nap and see if that helps. If you can't take a nap, you're probably stressed out.

[Lachrymose]

I've had muscle tics that have lasted for years.

Yeah, you read that right. Years. Pretty much nonstop.

Seems to be a symptom of my narcolepsy.

Annoying thing is, there doesn't seem to be a moment in time where something on my body isn't twitching. And, unlike you, I can actually feel them and they irritate the hell out of me.

Except for some. Some feel neater than others.

[MooseMacD]

Just to echo what Latiam said - about 10-12 years ago I had an eyelid twitch just above my left eye. After about 3 days a migrane came on so I went to a doctor.

He said it was probably stress and asked how I had been sleeping (which was badly). After crashing at my folks for a night (to get away from the roommate stress at my place), everything returned to normal.

Hope it goes away for you soon Silas!

[CSGirl]

Try drinking lots of water, and get some potassium, those can help with muscle twitches. I tend to not drink enough, and sometimes I get muscle twitches (including eyelids) when that happens.

ETA: Also- DH's grandfather has something just like that. I can't remember what it's called, but I know he has to get botox injections to help treat it. So if it doesn't stop soon I'd see a doctor.

[Salamander]

Yup... I'll also add to the "had an eye twitch that went on for days/weeks" crowd. Stress, poor sleep and low potassium are all contributors towards the twitch. As others have said, try to avoid whatever is likely causing it -- find the time to relax, get some extra sleep or eat a banana or two (or take a potassium supplement).

[Dear Babby]

I've had it too. It was a long time ago but I think it lasted a matter of days. I didn't know about the potassium and i didn't do anything special to make it stop but it eventually did.