Thursday, January 25, 2007

Twitching eyelid

My right eyelid has begun to twitch in an uncontrollable and repetitive manner. It feels like a mosquito couple having violent but tender sex between the silky linen of my eyelashes. This is very distracting for me because for one, there are some things you just do not want to visualize, such as a pair of fornicating mosquitoes, plus the concern whether they are practicing safe sex, but primarily, it is a problem because it causes disruptions in my field of vision.

Since I consider myself to be an average person, living an average person's diseased life, I assumed that there would be hundreds, if not millions of people in this world who would be similarly afflicted by this malady of mine. And so, I climbed on to The Google to search for these folks and cry on their shoulder. Alas, I found merely one blog post. This guy. What was funny about this blog post is that some time in the distant past, the guy had written a blog post somewhat like mine, where he had complained about his eyelid twitching. And then after The Google found his post, he got a large number of hits from people who wished to learn more on the topic. But sadly for these people, the post contained not an iota of useful information either on eyelids or their twitching other than the author's documented history of eyelid twitching.

So then, compassionate person that he was, he decided to compile a post on eyelid twitching that would actually provide some rudimentary information on the condition. Kind of like the time I wrote an exhaustive post meant for the dissemination of goose-related knowledge to the throngs of goose-knowledge seekers that happen upon this blog everyday. But the guy's post appears to be a huge success, as seeing by the five hundred comments he subsequently received, all from people saying "wow I thought I was the only person who had a twitching eyelid". Talk about the ego on these guys.To be fair, there were also some people in the comments section expressing disappointment because as it turns out they actually had a twitching eyeball, which, again, is not something one would want to visualize if given a choice, but these were few and far between.

But coming back to the topic in question, it appears that eyelid twitching is called myokymia and it is a common condition caused due to excessive caffeine, lack of sleep, lack of vitamins or mosquitoes having violent sex amidst your eyelashes. I am not a coffee person, I take vitamins everyday, I slather myself with mosquito repellent and I sleep a solid seven hours every day. And seven more at night. So what could account for these twitches?

Then, compassionate guy goes on to tell me that my twitching could also be due to brainstem neoplasms, the treatment of which involves "lumbar puncture with examination of cerebrospinal fluid". I like the sound of that even though it sounds terrifying.

So anyways, I have decided to take two vitamins a day now. I don't think I will puncture my lumbar because frankly, I did a cost-benefit analysis and the results concluded that at this point in my life, a twitching eyelid would be preferable to a punctured lumbar.

14 comments:

ggop said...

Apparently just before Sita was abducted in the Ramayana, her right eyelid twitched and so she knew something bad would happen. Ah those superstitions :-)
gg

Anonymous said...

You did say that you were bar hopping, so perhaps your nutrition isn't quite right?

I've had a twitching eyelid too due to lack of sleep and stress.

Anonymous said...

Apart from all the reasons up there, eye twitchin can also be coz of eye strain...it happens when i work hrs and hrs on the pc...wht u need to do is just relax ur eyes..place some cotton pads soaked in cold water over ur eyes for a while...

gawker said...

ggop : what are you saying, that the future holds an agnipariksha for me?

mumbaigirl : But I thought french fries and beer provide all the nutrients a body needs. Are you telling me they don't?

chips : I will do that right now. And since I'm at work I'll probably have to paint a couple of fake eyes on top of the cotton pads to show that I'm working.

Patrix said...

What 'goose egg' is for you is 'nerve endings' and 'morgellans'(even compiled a list of links for this one) is for me.

ggop said...

Gawker,
Didn't you say your better half was in India? Yeah shall we do an agnipariksha for you when she gets back? ;-)
gg

Anonymous said...

Perhaps you could start making spinach soup again-didn't I see a recipe here for something spinach related a long time ago?

My husband ate an entire tin of rasgullas in one go when I went to India. An otherwise sane man and a good cook.

gawker said...

patrix : i am surprised your conscience hasnt forced you to write that post yet.

ggop : yes, i would like to have that agnipariksha. it is currently so goddamn cold here that fire would seem luke warm in comparison.

MG : yes, i did write a recipe here once. i haven't done that for a while. i think its because we had that spinach scare in the US.

i dont see anything irrational about eating a canful of rasgullas. if it is accessible and if it is edible we men will eat it. its why my leather sofa has numerous bitemarks on it.

Sujatha Bagal said...

Gawker and patrix: Mine are

1. "anagram of swine that means a body part" (and yes, I did write a post), all searches emanating from Australia and New Zealand; and

2. "pretty legs".

MG: I've been known to eat a who can of rasagullas too. I'll go for days without feeling the slightest craving for bengali sweets and then bam!

Anonymous said...

You are so right about the ego part. I thought I was the only one with twitching eyelids. And for a long time I was influenced by the superstition that if your right twitched it was bad (if you were a woman) and so on...
Now that the twitch is an integral part of my eyes, it does not even bother me !

Unknown said...

Everything you need to know is covered here: Eye Twitching, Eyelid Twitching, Eye Spasms - What Causes Eye Twitches and How To Stop Them

Anonymous said...

I always had twitching eyelids when it comes close to the exam period, but they usually disappears after the tests are over. I think its mostly related to stress and (excess) caffeine and nothing really to worry about.

Not too sure about the whole mosquitoes having sex on the eyelashes bit. lol. Btw, nice blog. I like your sense of humor :)

Kesh said...

So far, I have only heard that something bad happens when your left eye twitches. My right eye has been twitching ever since yesterday and yea, so did I came to check the forum.

Was it really Sita's right eye which twitched before she was abducted by Ravana?

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!