Dry Eyes

I had lasik over a year ago & one of the surgical nurses suggested 2 teaspoons of Flaxseed per day (one in a.m., one in p.m.) and to add a Fish Oil supplement (it looks like a giant vit E tab) to my daily routine. I did the restasis & systane and all that with little help with the dryness for over a month before I started the Flax & Fish oils. Within 2 weeks of starting the oils, my eyes were normalizing. I still have to use artificial tears from time to time (especially if I've taken a decongestant), but the oils really help. My MIL has chronic dry eyes and uses a steroid drop for one week of every month to stay on top of the aweful dryness that can be really debilitating (keeps her from driving, etc). Hope this helps. Best of luck!

Have you tried Flax seed oil capsules? I had them prescribed (no prescription needed) after eye surgery. It is a natural supplement and other benefits are it lubricates your joints and may fight breast cancer. Good luck.

Hi Vicki,

There are many things you can do to help this condition. Have you heard of natural healing? I am a G. of 3 beautiful girls, and almost was not here to see them. If I would have just taken the medical professions word for it, I would be dead. Here is my free teaching website. I have spend several years building this, with the help of a lot of good people. www.creeksideherbhouse.com
Please go to the theory page of that site and understand how the whole process works. Here are three books you can get at any library to help with learning: A Cure for All Disease by Dr. Hulda Clark - Todays Herbal Health Essential Reference Guide by Louise Tenney M.H. - The Calcium Factor by Robert Barefoot and Dr. Carl J Reich.
If you need more help with this, you can always contact me.

Blessings to you and Yours
J.

Hi Vicki,

Flax seed oil and fish oil (Omega 3) can help internally. If you look next to all the eye drops, etc. there is a supplement that is not cheap, but does help and you won't have to fuss with figuring out how much to take. I just ran out and cannot think of the name (Opti-something), but it's not in the vitamin section, it's with the eye stuff. These oils are, of course, excellent for your body and skin as well.

I had dry eyes after LASIK surgery last year. The Dr. put in tear duct plugs (painless). This will keep the tears you do have from draining out of your eye. They dissolve after several months. The Dr. also suggested TheraTears nutrition vitamins. I also used perscription allergy eye drops and that helped a lot.

Not sure if this will help, but when I had my eye surgery to be able to stop wearing glasses, my eyes were very dry. The doctor put some kind of stint into the corners of my eyes so that they would produce more tears. It really helped.

P.

Hello, Vicki. My mom recently went to the eye doctor with a similar eye issue. He suggested taking a good quality (from the health food store, not the discount store)flax seed oil with omega 3 (from deep water fish as they have less mercury and she's allergic to mercury). It is supposed to help the tears she does make have more of the natural oils that benefit your eyes, thus making her not have to use as many of the Endura-last (sp?) drops. She started all of this a couple of weeks ago and has noticed a remarkable improvement in her eye condition.

I don't know if it will help you, but it did her.

Vicki,

I am not a medical doctor (or nurse) but know of drugs used to treat Sjogren's syndrome that are also used for head and neck cancer patients who suffer from the similar effects, after radiation treatments. Might be worth asking the questions. If your doctor is closed to the idea, perhaps you should seek another Doctor who might be willing to try something. Alway important not to treat problem A with drug intended for problem B unless under Drs care. Would definitely would go under supervision of Dr. and not order online, etc. Thought the other replies that you received were all very reasonable, as well.

Good luck to you!

Check out: http://www.womentowomen.com/womenshealth/dryeyes.aspx
If you scroll down a ways it talks about dry eye relief. One thing it mentions is increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids - either in supplements or by eating fish or certain nuts and seeds. This does several things that benefit the eye by benefiting your entire body. For one, they have been shown to naturally moderate inflamation. They also aid in the stimulation of tear secretion and increase the oils in that secretion. Additionally, they may moderate excess estrogen production. And all of these benefits get at the root of dry eyes by providing natural lubrication rather than temporary “artificial” relief.

Good luck,
K.

Vicki, I don't have any suggestions about the dry eye, but I did go through Lymes disease- If you want to talk about treatments- please contact me!

I had an eye dr that put tiny plugs in my tear ducts so that the "tears" or eye drops cannot drain out. Eventually the plugs fall out, but they helped for a while when I really needed it. Good luck to you!

try a humidifier in the room with you to see if that helps. Sometimes change in the weather (pollen time, dry and hot time as well) can irritate your eyes

Good Luck!

My daughter is visually impaired. She has been wearing contacts for about a year now. I use Aquify rewetting drops in her eyes and she seems to stay pretty comfortable with them. The only time her eyes really bother her is after she wakes up. Her Optomotrist recomended them and said that she uses them and that her eyes stay moist for hours at a time with them. I have only found them at Wal Mart in the contact lens area of the pharmacy. There are two differnt ones so make sure you look closely the bigger box is contact lens solution and the smaller box is rewetting drops. So you probly want to make sure you get the smaller of the two.

Vicki,
I had the same problem. I used countless eye drops, including Restasis, and had tear duct plugs, etc. Nothing helped.

During this dry eye time I also found out that I have Celiac Disease, which is caused by an intollerance to gluten (found in wheat, rye, and barley.) Once I started on a gluten free diet the dry eye problem went away.

You know, Celiac is a autoimmune disease. You can do reasearch on Celiac...on the web.

Good luck to you.

K.

I too suffered from dry eyes (was on Accutane as a teenager and seemed to have a permanent side effect of dry eyes!). I had implants (like plugs) put in my tear ducts. I had them for years and then started seeing a "natural" eye doctor. She told me to remove the implants and to start taking Borage oil tablets. She said I could also take Evening of Primose oil (instead of Borage oil) a couple times a day. I did start taking the Primose Oil and not only did it help with my dry eyes but it also helped with pms!!! I had the implants removed and have been okay as long as I take the Primose oil. Good luck!!!

HI Vicki,

I am an Opthalmic Assistant at HOuston Eye Associates. I know that there is really nothing you can do to cure Dry Eye Syndrome. However, did you ask your doctor about temporary or permanent silicone plugs? The lacrimal (tear) ducts keep tears in your eye from draining away as quickly. Called lacrimal plugs or punctal plugs, they can be inserted painlessly while you're in the eye doctor's office and are normally not felt once inserted.

Also, try when your outside, wearing sunglasses to help protect your eyes from dust and pollen. INside use a humidifier or air purifyer.

I hope I could help.

S.

My optomologist recommend that I take flaxseed oil, I believe it's 1000 mg or units per day. You might try it - I know how dry eyes can be. I tried the Restasis and I didn't notice a difference and then they plugged a tear duct on each side to help in the dry eyes - that seems to help also. However, you can't use Restasis when you have had your tear ducts plugged. I also wear contacts and it was miserable until I tried the Oasys brand - the dryness seems to have disappeared or really deminished. I don't know if any of this will help but try the flaxseed oil capsules (they're big). You might even check with your optomologist about plugging your tear ducts. And if you wear contacts I highly recommend the Oasys!!!

Good luck

Try Eye Vitamins, make sure they have lutein and bilberry
buy from a Health food store. they helped us.

Oly

I wish I knew the answer for you Vicki. I'm a 41/mom of 2 boys and now my eyes are so dry I can barely keep them open and am always trying to rub them with lids closed which offers no comfort. I've tried perscrip for if it is allergies but it didn't help. The eye dr. wants to try other stuff but he said we'd have to fight the ins. co. to pay for stuff and I'm not up for another fight with ins. and Medco yet.

Have you considered the duct procedure? That's probably what I need but you gotta fight ins for it.

God bless you and I'll be thinking of you when I'm struggling with my eyes.

D. West