hello, i came across your post after searching and searching for something like it on the internet. I have the same sensation, as if my eyes are moving back and forth very rapidly and i feel like i'm spinning at the same time. It lasts anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes. Sometimes it happens when i'm watching TV or on the computer or with no apparent visual stimulation, but always when i'm lying down or sitting. Its never happend when I was standing or driving. I've been to a few Dr.'s and a neurologist, had a CAT scan, an MRI and an EEG, and no one could give me an answer. I was told it could be seizures or migraines or possibly something else. You're the first person I've ever come across with the same symptoms, and even the doctors said they'd never heard of anything like this before. Have you learned anything more about your condition? If you have, i would love some insight.
Thanks

Hi ne1. I haven't been on this site for a litttle while but I am a member. I go by coolcat46. I have epilepsy. Ever since I had my first tonic clonic back in my early 20's my warning side would always be with my eyes. The very first time before my first seizure I was living at home at the time and was looking a a mag or book. All of a sudden the words were all jumbled, and I couldn't make out any words at all. I went and lied down and then I had a seixure apparently. Had a mri docs said I had a small lesion at the back of the right side of my head where the optic nerve is,. It isn't a tumour just likea abnormal blood vessel. I started off on dillantin which worked well for a long time. then too cut a long story short went on keppra as dillantin became immune and keppra worked until dosage increase in december07 then started getting bad physcosis and hallucinaations. Anyway I no longer had tonic clonics but the eyes would still play up especially around that time of the month, but the symptoms were different. Sometimes when I would be watching TV they would all of a sudden feel like they wouldn't focus and they were just moving from side to side. I sometimes get colours or the first number or letter would be blinding so I could not see it. Like the sun or aa bright light is shining on it and you cannot see the letter or word. I am now back on dillantin, too go off keppra which I am now off. But I still have the funny things with the eyes but thats it doesn't go further. They are part of what the docs or neuros say, a complex partial. Usually before or after I will have a pain in my eye. Sometimews it will happen when I am on computer too long. It lasts a minute or so. Since being basck on dillantin 230mgs, I do not get the eyes playing up much except at that time of the month for us women. Sorry I raved on. I am waiting for newer anti epileptic drugs,(AEDS) too come out then I might go on something else. Dillantin seem to be going okay again at the moment. Thanks hope thaqt I have helped.

I have had this happening for years it is SO comforting to know I am not the only one in the world! I have had epilepsy for 34 years and currently on Lamitcal and Topamax(aweful med UGH!) like the lamictal so far not on a strong enough dose though. Anyways i'm rambling, mine is the same thing eyes move to the left side and then back and forth, it really annoying, but a few times 2-3 maybe it has made go into a grand mal seizure. So you can see that when it happens to me it bring out anxiety and panic beyond belief. It scared the crap out of me everytime and I never know what to do. my dr says he will prescribe xanax but I do not want to become dependent on it and around my monthly I would have to take more than I would be comfortable taking. Monthly issues are terrible, my gyn tells me possible peri-menopause and w/ starting lamictal you can not start hormons at all until you have reached your max level of the meds. stinks for me huh? So I am living this day to day. Will see my neuro in a couple weeks and tell him how the last 3 months have stunk and see if he will raise my meds AGAIN and tell me there is nothing I can do abount the hormonal aspect. :< Wish me well everyone middle age is hell on eplileptics that suffer with the hormonal issues.

Finally I've found people who seem to have a similar problem like me.
Basically, I started getting "eye shakes" about two years ago, at the age of 20, usually while sitting down at the computer or reading a book. (Especially reading from the computer). They last a variable number of minutes to seconds, and are in-frequent. First one occurred during a very stressful period at university when I was under immense pressure.
I'm usually reluctant to visit the doctor and so have not seen anyone about it.
I don't have epilepsy but I have a family history of it (cousin died from it my great grandfather)
I've had about four "attacks" in the past year, but they seem to be getting less severe (I've been taking omega-3 fish oil supplements - as I heard they are good for reducing epileptic fits) and it seems to have helped. I do tend to "feel" them coming on. Its a weird kind of spinning feeling plus my head seems strange. Come to think, I've not had my eyes shake at all since taking the oils, I just get the weird headache/feeling.
I wish everyone the best with their eye issues

Glad to find this site. I am on Topamax for migraines. I am 50 and having eye shaking. I am not epileptic. I wonder if the problem is a side effect of the medicine, a problem with migraines, hormones, or neurological. I am glad to see I am not alone but this does raise more questions as to the causes.

I get the eye shaking sensation every once in a while. A doctor once told me this could be the equivalent of a migraine for me (I have never had one). He believed that everyone has symptoms occassionally of migraines, but for most people they are so mild they are generally ignored. Usually these episodes last less than a minute, only once did it stretch to over an hour.

hi all
i having the same feeling also
and it is annoying
and the symptoms are the same too,
it wont happens when i moving (e.g. walking, driving)
only happens when i look at books or computers, and when i have pressure

Hi Everyone,

So I've been having the same eye moving sensationa for about two to three months now. I could be on the computer or watching tv, or even doing nothing at all and my eyes will start shaking from side to side. It's totally weird and starts giving me a headache soon after it has started. I have gone to a doctor but they were not able to offer much insight as to what it could be. I've soon got an optomolgists appointment, what do you think I could be in for?

Well, I recently started the eye shaking thing. My situation is with only one eye, The left one. It will shake from top to bottom, and sometimes just cross with the other one and I can't read anything. I start moving my eyes far to the left and right and it helps it to stop. Everyone here has both eyes shaking. This is a new one on me. VERY ANNOYING!!! I can make it stop by tilting my head down and shifting my eyes to the uppermost of my sockets.

Mine would do that if my dilantin was toxic

I am really glad i am not the only one here. I'm 17 and have been having eye shakes since i was about 12 but really rarely. Only recently they have been happening on a regular basis. It only happens sitting down or laying and mostly laying or when im reading something. It feels like my eyes are moving side to side really fast and then i close my eyes and i still feel like my head is shaking. Sometime if i do shake my head it will stop. others can last minutes and is more of a discomfort than a pain. Should I even bother going to the doctor if they dont even know what it is?

Wow, I've just joined to post something completely unrelated and then noticed this post on the home page... I've been getting this too, but only very mildly so I hadn't really taken any notice. With me it's the same as KaelixBelle, although it never lasts more than a few seconds for me.

I think it's only happened while sitting at the computer, so I thought I'd just been on it too long, plus I have quite bad eyesight anyway... but I think this has only started happening quite recently. My eyes start to sort of rapidly wobble from side to side slightly, rather than staying focused on the point I'm actually trying to look at, and if I close my eyes at that point then it feels like my head is still kinda shaking too... but I normally just look away around the room and maybe shake my head a bit, and it goes away.

I don't have any history of epilepsy, although there are quite a few other things I am worried about that I suppose I really should go to the doctor about... I do actually take fish oil capsules too though, for other reasons, and I have been forgetting/not bothering to take them quite often recently... but I really don't know if that would have coincided with any of the times when this happened, as I didn't take any notice of it before so I can't remember when it started happening.

I am so thankful to have finally found others who are having the same experiences. I have been having eye shakes since 2003. These usually happen when I am reading, on the computer, or just laying down. When they begin I can close my eyes and I seem to get so sick to my stomach because I feel like I am spinning. I am bipolar and I am currently on Topamax (very high dose) and Wellbutrin (also a very high dose). It was in 2003 when I went through a very hard time in my life and I was diagnosed as bipolar and my treatment began, they tried me on numerous medications until they found the correct combination for me. They tried 27 different meds until they tried Topamax and Wellbutrin and these worked great for me. I probably get the eye shakes once a month or so.

Sooo...what exactly should i expect when i go to the optomologist?

Hi Everyone

Again, refreshing to know others have the symptoms which I refer to as "camera shake eyes" as it's like you're watching a badly produced movie..

I saw an ophthalmologist last week. He said "it's most unusual" which is very comforting! I was just pleased that he actually got to see my eyes twitching while looking through his microscope. I think most people on this thread will agree that people are unaware you are having an eye shake episode even when they are looking you in the eye, but for us it's most disconcerting. My wife can tell though as I often move my head slightly to adjust my view of things which can help a bit.

The ophthalmologist has referred me to a neurologist and I'm awaiting an appointment date.

Wow. I thought I was crazy. I see a neurologist for my migraines, but I have never mentioned this problem to her. Recently my shaky eyes have gotten worse. Describing it like a shaky camera is very accurate. But when I am laying down I can close my eyes and still fill like my whole body is moving back and forth. It is so bad that it almost makes me sick to my stomach. Then after about 10 minutes it quits. I have suffered from migraines since I was in my twenties, but I have an 11 year old daughter who has epilepsy. Her last seizure lasted 3 hours so her condition is pretty serious. I never considered my problems of shaking back and forth possibly being a seizure.

Like others have posted, I'm glad to have found this page. I just experienced my eyes shifting rapidly from side to side, about as fast as a single blink. In looking it up, I found this page, as well as pages explaining "Nystagmus". I recently started taking Lamictal, not for seizures but as a migraine prevention medicine, and will be mentioning this eye shifting when I see my neurologist. Now for more research on Nystagmus.

Ditto here, i just had an episode and panicked and looked it up and found this site with matching synmtoms. after reading that most people get it when they are either sitting down or close to complete relaxation... i'm wondering if the body thinks its asleep... cuz dont eyes do that when you sleep? (move side to side)

Wewt good news! well for me anyways. just went to doc and he said its because of a lack of vitamins!