Pupillary Dysfunction?

[Jwarrior77]

The other day I was looking at my eyes in the mirror and noticed to my dismay that my pupils weren't acting right. They kept constricting and dilating or "going in and out" for lack of a better word. It wasn't too dramatic in size however pretty noticeable and definitely not normal. This was in regular lighting conditions. If I held up a light to my pupil it would constrict however it wouldn't keep steady and started to go in and out again. It's like my pupils are trying to constantly keep homeostasis yet it's failing to do so properly. 

Seeing this caused a lot of worry thinking that I may have something wrong with my eyes or there is a neurological problem going on. My eyesight is generally pretty good and not blurry or fuzzy. My eyes are really sensitive to light and I get afterimages to almost any light I look at. I also periodically get flashes of purple light in my peripheral vision however "flashing" isn't really the right term. It's more like it just appears suddenly and stays there for a little bit then disappears. It also moves when I move my eye. I always thought it had something to do with floaters reflecting light but maybe not. 

Anyways I need to schedule an appointment with an optometrist now to see if something potentially dangerous is going on. I've been scheduled to see a neurologist for the longest time now but January is taking forever to come.

I know people here have problems with their pupils staying dilated or have Anisocoria but haven't heard people experiencing this. Since pupil function is controlled by the ANS I hope it's just another weird dysautonomia symptom instead of something too major. Any advice would be welcomed thanks. 

 

[Random-Symptom Man]

@Jwarrior77 - I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Do you have pain associated with either light or this oscillating dilation? Are your eyes dry?

My eyes have definitely acted up recently. Eye changes can be scary. Sometimes I have light sensitivity that is very painful, after-images and oscillating dilation, I don’t get the purple flash symptom you describe. When my eyes “flare up” I also get halos and spindly rays around bright lights and blurry vision. Most of the time my vision is 20/20. Other times I can’t make out what’s on the TV.

I have noticed that my eyes will act up more when they are dry. I don’t know if this is related or not. Using saline tears helps with the dry eyes, but it takes a while for the dysfunction to go away.

Good luck. Please report back if you learn more. 

[Pistol]

6 hours ago, Jwarrior77 said:

Seeing this caused a lot of worry thinking that I may have something wrong with my eyes or there is a neurological problem going on.

Hi @Jwarrior77. Sorry you are having these issues. Neurological problems usually cause a difference in pupil reaction in ONE eye, as long a they both react the same ( however randomly ) is good. I am glad you are seeing an optometrist and neurologist soon. Best wishes!!!

[Jwarrior77]

@Random-Symptom Man I don't have pain with the oscillating dilation which is a good thing I suppose. My eyes have definitely been drier especially right when I wake up. My eyelids seem to stick to my eyeballs sometimes right when I wake up because they are so dry. It usually gets better after that however. My light sensitivity can be sometimes painful when I look at bright lights although it seems some days are worse than others.

So I did more digging around on what this oscillation could be and I'm pretty sure I found what it is. It's called Hippus and there are a couple videos online showing what it looks like. They say it can come from Aconite root poisoning but I haven't ingested any of that. Aconite is also anticholinergic which is feeding into my theory that I might have a problem with that. Whether it be autoimmune or something idk.

I'll update so see what the eye test shows.

@Pistol Thanks so much Pistol much appreciated!

 

[Jwarrior77]

Update: I just got back from the optometrist and my eyes came back totally normal. I explained to him about the extreme light sensitivity, flashing lights, dry eye, and abnormal pupil dilation but he didn't think much of it and tried to explain it away which is understandable. 

I came back with 20/20 vision which I expected as I've had that my whole life. Strangely though he still wanted me to get glasses and said that I was far sighted. He admitted that I had good far and near sight yet still pushed for it. It was kind of strange but I have the prescription for it now and can get them whenever I want. I'm probably not as I honestly don't see a need for it. 

Anyways the symptoms are still troubling but a basic eye exam showed nothing wrong physically. Hopefully seeing the nuerologist next month might provide some more insight.

[Pistol]

Good news!!! Thank you for sharing. 

[MTRJ75]

Had my normal 3 month trip to the eye doctor today, but since I said things had been a bit more difficult since the weather turned, he did a bit more than he usually does. The good news is that vision is still fine and nothing looked off to him, but he's never dilated me before today. It wasn't until I started driving the few blocks home that I realized that I was experiencing a slightly exaggerated version of the vision issues I've been trying to explain to everyone all along. 

It's nothing that I noticed looking in the mirror or anything, but my eyes must be dilating more than they're supposed to all along. Have the neurologist up Thursday and will bring it up with him next, although I don't know if there's anything he can do about it and it's probably not even one of my top priorities right now as long as there's no progressive damage going on.