I recently had surgery for an unruptured aneurysm and am hoping that my left eye will return to normal, but it seems to have made very little progress so far. I had been having terrible headaches for two or three weeks before the aneurysm was found and these were mainly concentrated on my left eye. On 27 Sept. I developed double vision as the eye stopped moving properly, and the eyelid would not open properly and the pupil became dilated. On October 2 I had surgery as the aneursym had been found on an MRI scan. A nurse said that usually with third nerve palsy the eye would start to recover quickly if it was going to, and so I am worried now that mine might not. She did say that the eyelid was flickering which was good, but that there was little change otherwise. I have noticed, though, on two occasions this week the eyelid opened easily (not fully, but at least it wanted to open and to stay open, which is rare.) This happened for about 20 minutes each time. But am I clutching at straws because I want it to recover? Does anyone else have experience of thurd nerve palsy and recovery time,a nd am I being too optimistic about the two occasions I mentioned?
Hi Christine...I have "3rd nerve palsy" in my right eye...my coiling was done almost 2 years ago and the 3rd nerve palsy has gotten worse, not better...when I am sick and/or have a headache...the eye will droop even more and/or be closed...I wish Doctors would suggest something...but they donot...~ if you find out anything that would help, I would do be interested...so I will follow this thread...~ Cyber~thoughts your way ~ Colleen
I have 3rd nerve palsy to my right eye. Had coiling done Aug.20, 2012. My vision is pretty good and improving. Double vision is intermittent. My eyelid is almost all the way open and looks pretty much like the left eye. It will droop some when I'm tired. I've your been blessed many times over. I hope yours improves.
Thank you for your replies.
Connie-when did your eye begin to improve? And was it a slow or quite fast process? How long was it from when you developped third nerve palsy till your operation?
Colleen-when I see the opthalmologist, I will let you know if she says anything which might help us. I am so sorry that you are suffering after almost two years.
Evy- thank you for your really kind words. I do appreciate them very much.
Liam-I have a patch over my glasses, otherwise when my eye opens a bit, the double vison would be too much to manage. It is odd to have a condition I had not even known existed a short while ago.
Thank you Christine...I am going to find out more about mine ... but I am dealing with so many issues at times...like I tell hubby ... one at a time.... but yes...whatever I am open for any and all advice... It might not be healing because the coils in my head didn't work...
Hello Christine! I just joined the club this morning and read your post. YES, in 1998 I had an aneurysm to the 3rd cranial nerve, and yes I expereinced the same symptoms of yours such as Dialated eye, no muscle control, totally cross eyed if I had both eyes open, the works. Honestly, that part of the aneurysm experience lasted a good 4 months until I could finally see with both eyes open, and I finally looked normal again--very hard to deal with! Did you have a craniotomy to have the aneurysm clipped? or did you wind up having the coil?
I;m asking which procerdure you had done for the simple reason that a craniotomy, although longer and harder to recover from, is still considered the gold standard in treating an aneurysm. The coil on the hand, is very sketchy still and has a failure rating of at least % 25 !! Thats 1 in 4 and beleive me, I know about the difficulties of each procedure as I had a craniotomy in 1998 (never a headache or problem afterward, just had to deal with the palsy /double vision, etc--which took 4 months to heal ) but in 2006 another aneurysm dropped me and put me in a coma for 6 weeks: The doctors decided to use the coil--and I had NO followup! Didn't even know I was supposed to have a followup--and one night in 2010 I dropped to the floor with the same intense pain that i'd experienced with the 2006 aneurysm. Turns out the coil had failed tremendously--(and I was fortuante enough to go to a better more sophisticated hospital in 2010, where my new neuro surgeon told me he was astonished that the previous doctors thought a coil would work for me to begin with). So in 2010 another craniotomy was performed and I've been fine ever since. No headaches, no vision hang-ups, no stiff neck and no droopy eyelid or palsy.
It bothers me greatly that you're still having so many pre-anuerysm type complaints AFTER your procedure! Something sounds wrong here, like they didn't take care of your aneurysm correctly--and I hope you take this seriously and are able to get to a decent ER for an immediate MRI...(And in reading Colleens story of her 3rd nerve palsy, Colleen PLEASE get to an ER and demand an MRI!! It sounds honestly like your coil has failed and/or another aneurysm is happening)!
Hey Colleen, PLEASE get yourself to a good ER and demand an MRI, (with contrast) It most definately sounds as if your coiling has failed!
(I've expereinced a coil that has failed (place in 2007, failed in 2010) as well as been the recipeant of two craniotomy's,( 1 in 1998 and another to fix the failed coil in 2010 .)..Turns out 1 in 4 coils fail, so the odds are not in your favor and your symptoms are classic signs of either another anuerysm or a coil failure. PLEASE get yourself to an ER !! My last Neuro was explicit when he told me when/if you have ANY changes in your vision, a palsy of which you've described, feeling pressure behind your eye sockets , one eye appears dialated while the other eye looks normal and it comes and goes, headaches, etc. than THERES A PROBLEM !
I'm sorry to sound so pushy but I'm just worried !
Ah...No Janet, I donot feel you are pushy....trust me...I have worked on so much of this with Doctors and new Doctors...and it seems that no one wants to touch me at this time...I wish I would have and could get answers, it is not without trying...somedays my health doesn't allow me to work on my own health...LOL...Does that make sense...???
What upsets me...??? I will be almost 50 by the next angio and as I get older it will only get harder to fix...Thankyou so much for your concern..you are such a dear...~ Colleen
My third nerve palsy started on a Sat. or Sun. On Monday my aneurysm ruptured and had coiling done. This was on Aug.20th, 2012. Until I found this community I didn't know coils could have so many problems. Hope things go well for you.
I am sorry I have not been here for a while.
Update on left eye. The eyelid is definitely opening a bit more than it was. After surgery it only opened a tiny bit and so I had no double vision as it wasn't open far enough. Now I am having double vision as it is open further, but the patch on my glasses helps me a lot.
I had coiling and saw the opthalmolgist three weeks ago and see her and the neurovascular nurse again in January.
I'm new to this, but what are "coils". I've had 3rd nerve palsy for 1 year now and have not heard the term "coil" in discussions with my doctor. Thank you.
Hi Rio...coil embolization is a procedure that some of us have gotten to stop our aneurysm from growing...it is an option sometimes instead of clipping which cuts the skull...please look it up to get more information...3rd nerve palsy can come to anyone who has neurological damage to the 3rd nerve palsy .. hope this helps you out ~ Colleen
Thank you Colleen. I did some checking. I got 3rd nerve palsy as a result of a car accident a year ago. My doctor recommends surgery to the damaged eye muscle. He explained that the double vision will never be fully corrected, but the surgery should help reduce some of it. Did you have this type of surgery?
No...surgery at this time...I don't think mine is as bad as your's ... I donot have double vision...just blurred at times and the eye droops (isn't as open as the other eye)...infact, mine is painful sometimes...
I have the same issue but with the excersises they gave me for my eyes in rehab and a priszm on my bad eye on non prescription glasses my vision has improved by 80% in 3 months. I still have double vision but its getting better. I go back in March for a follow up and if it doesnt improve they are going to do eye surgery to correct it. I wish you all the best.
Hi Kory,
Mine was the result of car accident 1 year ago. The doctors are pleased with the progress; one said it was more than they would have expected. Many people tell me that they can't readily tell I have 3rd nerve palsy, at least not initially. The deviation in my damaged eye is 40 (I understand the deviation can be no more than 10 for priszm). Upcoming muscle surgery will hopefully get me ready for priszms. I hope you continue to improve. Take care.
Best of luck with the surgery! :)