# My eye keeps twitching. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663 "2005-05-26T21:03:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![whatsittoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@whatsittoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatsittoya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/21 "2005-05-28T03:02:37Z")
I second the bananas. when I was a teen I had this happen every once in a while. My friends mother told me to eat some bananas and it cleared it right up. Every since that is what I have done and it has solved the problem, but I can’t seem to actually dig up a cite on it so take it for what its worth. ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/22 "2005-05-28T04:24:16Z")
This has happened a few times to me too, always at stressful/sleep deprived times. Usually lasted anything from a few days to a few weeks. It’ll go away, just stop thinking about it. Thinking about your twitchy eyelid will make your eyelid twitchy. :rolleyes: See a doc and all that if it doesn’t go away. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/23 "2005-05-28T04:26:59Z")
Oh yeah, the potassium thing is a good idea. I get restless legs, too, and I find that bananas and vitamin C both help with this. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/24 "2005-05-28T04:46:35Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > 2 weeks ago my left eye started twitching. More specifically, the muscles in my upper lid spontaneously go into spasms dozens of times a day. It’s very noticeable and bothersome. > > Anyone have this problem, and if so, did you do anything that seemed to help? Yay! Facial tics! You may want to see a doctor to rule out Especially Nasty Things. Meanwhile, see if you can find a trigger- caffiene, medications (psych meds and amphetamines can have this result, among others), stress, eye allergies, small tickling eye elves, whatever. I find pressing the closed eye gently or massaging it helps. Same with a warm compress. ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/25 "2005-05-28T07:08:17Z")
I’ve had similar [problems](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=132481), and taking more calcium seemed to help (and IANAD, maybe it was all just some odd coincidence, what the hey…) And I nth stress - I knew a computer engineer whose pinky finger would twitch, as if pressing an invisible mouse button, when he was overworked/ overcaffeinated/ underslept. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/26 "2005-05-28T16:25:08Z")
So, your ideal twitch-stopping meal is a banana and an orange, washed down with a glass of milk. Give it a try - it certainly won’t hurt. (Unless you’re allergic to any of those.) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/27 "2005-05-28T18:59:24Z")
A daily dose of calcium-magnesium and a drink of tonic water in the evening should settle it down. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/28 "2005-05-29T10:43:32Z")
This started happening to me yesterday. The stress diagnosis makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/29 "2005-05-29T11:31:00Z")
I’ve had it on-and-off for the last year or so (never more than a few weeks at a time), and it’s ALWAYS been stress-related. Once I cleared off my plate, it went away. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/30 "2005-05-31T00:16:45Z")
Okay, I’ve been eating bananas and drinking my o.j. and my eye is still twitching. I’m scheduled to go on vacation in 11 days and I’m starting to feel that it is indeed stress related. My husband said to me today, “Why are you so stressed out from a vacation?” This from the guy who didn’t have to find someone to feed the fish, watch the the dog, mow the lawn and water the damn plants; stop the mail, stop the paper, buy summer clothes for picky teens who grew two sizes in one year, buy a bathing suit that doesn’t make me look too fat, make hotel reservations, change the oil in the van… DO I LOOK STRESSED?? ::Twitch, twitch:: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/31 "2005-05-31T01:01:45Z")
Have you tried the conscious relaxation at all? You know, tensing your muscles then releasing them gradually throughout your body - it works wonders for stress. See, when we get stressed, we just bunch up our bodies and get tighter and tighter until it’s a wonder we don’t squeak. Maybe you could see if you can find a guided relaxation tape, with someone telling you which muscles to tighten, and when to relax them. When I was using a tape like that, I almost never heard the end of the tape, what with being in a deep sleep and all. And the best part about teaching your body to relax, is that it doesn’t just go away if you don’t use the tape. My body has learned a new thing now, and it _likes_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/32 "2005-05-31T01:33:00Z")
I get the eyelid twitches from time to time, usually when I don’t get enough sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/33 "2005-05-31T05:13:55Z")
My Mother and I both have the twitch when we’re stressed, and it always feels as if it is visible ten feet away (externally it’s a subtle thing you would need to be looking for). I find that it goes away when the stress does. Next time I’ll try a banana or three to see if that helps. [Ya learn somethin’ new ev’ryday] -DF ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/34 "2005-05-31T05:40:52Z")
y’know there IS comfort in knowing that others experience the uncontrollable eye-twitching syndrome too! Sorry!! I got great advice form my opthamologist: “try to keep your eye lid closed for as long as you can and apply cool packs” works every time! ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663/35 "2005-05-31T07:02:16Z")
I find asking someone to look at it makes it go away instantly. But only while they look at it. If they look away it comes back. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-eye-keeps-twitching/305663.md?page=1)