Eye/Vision Problems with Certain Medications?

[Starburst]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 5-year-old son who has been taking different medications for seizures since he was just a few days old. Over the past year or so, he has been having trouble with his eyes. This has changed a bit over the past several months and now includes:

Left eye veering off to the side.
Extreme sensitivity to light.
Apparent sudden/stabbing pain in the left eye.
Sudden bouts of green/yellow substance coming out of eyes.

The last symptom seems to be an infection, perhaps independent of the other symptoms (although I am not sure). He takes prescription drops for this problem, which work temporarily, but the substance always returns after we stop the drops. Unfortunately, the drops contain steroids, so I don't feel very comfortable using them too often.

In any case, I was wondering if anyone has experienced similar symptoms while taking epilepsy medications. I currently do not know if this is an "eye" problem independent of epilepsy, an "epilepsy" problem that involves the eyes, a problem caused by taking various medications, or something else.

I am about to do another round with the doctors so I am gathering thoughts and information before our appointments. My son currently takes both Keppra and Depakene.

Thank you in advance to anyone who may have insights to share.

 

[masterjen]

The only issue that sounds like it could be medication is the light sensitivity. This is a possible side effect with some medications.

The left eye veering off to the side sounds similar to a "lazy eye" issue, and should be dealt with by an opthamologist.

The stabbing pain and oozing could both be infection-related, or maybe even allergies. As much as you can make sure your son doesn't rub or touch his eyes - this may have become something he frequently does due to the light sensitivity and/or pain. Perhaps he is continually getting infections from his hands. Just the same, since you haven't had success with drops completely clearing this, then this again warrants a visit to an opthamologist.

 

[Nakamova]

The article at this link http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059131103000827 discusses potential visual problems that are associated with different AEDs -- Keppra and Depakote don't get flagged in particular for the ones you describe. Which doesn't rule out causation for the side effects, but suggests that they would be categorized as rare or less common.

Some of the seizure medications can cause dry or itchy eyes, which can in turn make infections more common. So perhaps the Keppra or Depakote could be indirect causes of some of your son's eye issues.

 

[seagull]

I did not know dry eye I use artificial tear drops again not consistent thing.
in the case of your little boy have they done proper cultures to get correct anti biotic

 

[Starburst]

Thanks to everyone who shared thoughts and information. Nakamova's link is really informative. We went to the eye doctor and he said that my son has lazy eye. He will need to wear glasses and a patch for at least a few years. He also prescribed different drops for the other problem.

 

[Starburst]

He also said that his eyes were extremely dry.

 

[Starburst]

Update

After my son started wearing glasses, we went to the neurologist for his regular check-up, which included an EEG.

The results showed abnormal activity in the occipital lobe.

Does anyone know if lazy eye and pain in the eye are associated with epilepsy originating in the occipital lobe?

What (if any) eye symptoms do people with this type of epilepsy typically experience?

 

[Nakamova]

Complex visual auras (hallucinations/illusions) are associated with the border between the temporal and occipital lobes. And one-sided visual auras tend to originate in the occipital lobe of the opposite side of the brain. But if your son's seizures tend to be photosensitive trigger, then he may have "Idiopathic Photosensitive Occipital Lobe Epilepsy," which can feature less common eye-related symptoms such as "deviation of the eyes and head, eyelid fluttering and orbital pain".

I'm getting this stuff from this article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2596/ Scroll down for the relevant section -- there's a lot of interesting info on it that may line up with what your son has experienced.