Woman's Eyes Randomly Shut For Days
Natalie Adler, 21, of Australia, has a bizarre and mysterious medical condition that cause her eyes to swell shut for several days each week. Physicians at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital have no idea what's causing the condition that has affected Adler since she was 17. The doctors had temporary success treating her with Botox. Their next step is to try electrical stimulation. From ABC News:
"She's a one-off and we don't have a diagnosis," said Professor Justin O'Day of the hospital's neuro-ophthalmology department..."Woman unable to open eyes 3 days a week" (via Fortean Times)
Ms Adler plans her life around her condition, but still misses some important dates.
"On my 18th birthday, my eyes were closed, but on my 21st they were open, so I had a party," she said.
"Not being able to go to the football or seeing my friends as much is what I miss the most."
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My eyes are closed for at least six hours out of every day! I call it 'sleep'.
And I know some people whose eyes are closed, but you can't tell by looking at them. At least this poor woman knows when her eyes are closed.
She must have played too much Virtual Boy as a Kid.
My eyes are still bleeding, but I am sure there are other side effects (not being able to open eyes being one of them).
Paging Dr. House...
@#3: "It's Lupus!!!"
Oh noes! She can't see what you did there!
Eyelids swell up when having an allergic reaction, right? Maybe she's allergic to the air :)
But seriously, if the eyelids are the problem, why don't they just remove them?
@#4: It's never lupus.
@ #7 That's what lupus wants you to think.
Autoimmune disorder based on something in her biorhythms? Have they tried some kind of steroid?
Damn, somebody's already taken all the lupus lines....
But seriously, if the eyelids are the problem, why don't they just remove them?
I think it might be more inconvenient to have to use eyedrops every minute than to have your eyes shut half the time.
I had a dream just a few nights ago that I couldn't open my eyes, and this story is freaking my shit out a little.
#4, #7: Maybe it's sarcoidosis.
Duh, try some Benadryl.
The internet cannot diagnose with out pictures.
#4/#7
It's always diagnosed as lupus, but ends up being some combination of neuromuscular disorder, a blood clot, and a rare std.
Chlamydia seems to be a fan fave.
It's a form of angioedema, and may even be heriditary angioedema. Highly likely it's related to the immune system.
http://www.haea.org/index.php
If you have angioedema, which this appears to be, then it could be lupus either causing it *or* it is associated it with it, as they both relate to the same part of the immune system.
Clearly she's allergic to something she does with her eyes. She does it until they swell shut. Then she's forced to stop doing it.
She's had the problem since she was *17*. We don't know her current age. Is it possible she's only had this problem SINCE THE INTERNET APPEARED?
Send a couple of assistants to have a close look at what she's got in her closet. This is not just psychosomatic.
Wow. Funny someone mentioned HAE. My mother, brother, and sister have that disease. This sounds very different.... more like Torsion Dystonia of the eye-lids.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_dystonia
But I'm only a second year medical student.