SCIATICA has Changed, and Droopy/Closing Right Eye from PD

        Today I went out to breakfast with my friend Amy.  Her kids were in all of the music programs with my older kids so we were band and orchestra and choir parents. Amy is such a nice and good person.  She recently lost her husband.I feel so bad for her, she and her husband were such a loving couple. Amy lost her mom when she was only 15 years old. And now she again is grief stricken. I had made cookies for my friends for Christmas but I didn't get to see Amy so I froze some of the dough and made a few cookies for her yesterday. While we were eating and chatting, I once again forgot all about my Sciatica pain and that I have PD!

  This may not sound like big news to others BUT I COULD STAND in the SHOWER for the first time since April 2018!!!  I have had Sciatica since April 2018, almost two years!! I don't know why or how but things are less painful. I have a shower chair that I have used everyday since the end of April 2018 and I had bars installed on the walls. I still needed to use the bars for balance because of my Parkinson's Disease. I still have pain but I can manage this sciatica pain and I can live with it. I am so HOPING that it stays like this or gets better.

        I have noticed in the last few weeks that my right eye seems to close and i don't even realize it for a bit.  I can just be sitting reading or watching TV and I'll realize that my right eye is closed without a conscious decision on my part to close it. I googled info about PD and droopy eyelids.  I see a retina specialist on a regular basis because I have age related macular degeneration. I will have to talk to him about my droopy eyelid. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I have to force my eyes open. They use to just open automatically when I woke up.

Uncommon Vision Conditions

It is not common for people with PD to experience involuntary closure of the eyes, but it does occur in some cases. This phenomenon is known as blepharospas. Blepharo refers to the eyelid, and spasm is defined as an uncontrollable muscle contraction. 

There are many conditions that can cause involuntary eye closure. These conditions are not related to PD. They include:

• An inflammatory eye condition due to an infection or an allergy
• Dry eyes
• Damage to the surface of the eye
• Ptosis (when a person's eyelid appears to be drooping). It can be caused by muscle weakness, nerve damage or looseness of the eyelid skin, as in normal aging.
• Other conditions

If the ophthalmologist determines that the conditions above do not account for the eye closure, the next step is to see your neurologist to determine if the problem is related to your PD medications.

If eyelid closure remains a problem after medications have been optimized (optimizing your medications refers to a process in which you and your doctor work to find the medication regimen from which you derive the greatest benefit), then injection of botulinum toxin (Botox®) every three to four months in the muscles around the eyelids has been found to be effective. 

I don't think that I would ever get botox because I know of people who have died after getting one injection.

• Double vision can occur due to medications or because the eyes have trouble working together, (convergence insufficiency). Special prism glasses can correct this.
• PD can cause dry eyes and decreased blinking.
• PD medication, especially anticholinergics, can cause blurry vision. There is a relationship between anticholinergic medication (trihexyphenidyl ― formerly Artane® or benzotropine ― Cogentin®) and dementia.
• Trouble reading, because eye movements necessary to follow the lines of a page are slowed and have trouble starting (similar to gait freezing in the legs).
• Blinking to change eye position. Levodopa can help.
• Trouble voluntarily opening the eyes, known as apraxia (treated with "lid crutches" or botulinum toxin injections).

Some people with PD notice as the disease progresses their vision loses sharpness. Difficulties related to the eyes and vision often progress alongside other PD symptoms.