eating affects my eye? salivary glands swollen, dental problems? Thanks

Hello, has anybody ever heard of this....I've asked some people at my job who are much older and snaggle toothed and they act as if they have never experienced this.....Basically when I eat certain foods, in particular anything hard (chips, fries) or anything thats like sand (inside of cookies) my left eye gets irritated. When I eat those types of food my left eye feels stressed, heavy and gets redder than my right eye. Infact on any day I can put eye drops in both eyes and the left eye will always look more reddish. Also when i eat on my left side sometime my left ear starts feeling clogged, sometimes it feels like the food is going straight to my cheeks. My diabetes test came back good, but if I eat anything sweet on the left side of my mouth, i'll instantly get sleepy. A few months ago I had 6 teeth removed, that was suppose to get rid of all my bad teeth. On the bottom left side I basically have no teeth, but all on top. Same thing on right side. BUT, my right eye doesn't get irritated when I eat. Anybody ever heard of this, know what's the problem, solution? anything Thanks


i'm in my 20s, a little over a year ago I developed swollen lymph nodes under my chin, jaw, and back of neck. I just noticed all 5 nots basically go in a circular line-meaning I can put my finger on a swollen lymph node and basically run my finger in a circle around my head and touch all the swollen nodes without taking my finger out of line.

A few months ago a co-worker told me his glands under his chin swelled because of mouth infections. So I went to the dentist and they removed 6 teeth in one day. 2 teeth were in my gums, 2 abscess, etc.. My coworker said the swelling should go down after 2 weeks. They prescribed me penicillin after the removal of the 6 teeth. 3 months went by and swelling under my chin actually looks worse now.

So next I go to the doctor. He said it could be sinus infection and prescribed amoxicillin. After taking it for 7 days the swelling didn't appear to go down.
I went back and the Doctor took blood. Checking for HIV, lupus, leukemia, infection, etc.........Everything came back negative, the doctor said there's no strain on my immune system, my blood count looks great and he didn't believe there's an infection. He wouldn't even prescribe me anymore antibiotics, he did refer me to an ent saying it could be from sinus blockage or something.

I go to the e.n.t. (ear nose throat doctor). He confirmed my salivary glands are swollen, he stuck a tube down my throat, also checked for bumps and puss, he said everything is fine, there's no infection. He laughed and said many people get that double chin look as they get older, i told him my brother who's 4 years older and others in my family don't have this double chin, i'm in my late 20s. I do smoke cigarettes, usually 5 packs a week. I drink vodka moderately, maybe 4oz mixed with orange juice 3 or 4 times a week. I don't drink much water. Actually i've probably drunk less than 4 gallons of water in the past 2 years of my life. So the e.n.t. told me drink more water, try to stop smoking and minimize alcohol. If I did those 3 things do ya'll think my swollen glands would return to normal, I bought the patch to stop smoking I once stopped for 3 weeks and didn't see any improvement in my swollen glands. I wasn't eating healthy or drinking water.

Could the swelling in my salivary glands be because of my mouth problems? if so what's the solutions? Thanks for all the help!

[scottma]

Seeing an oral medicine specialist is advised.

[smiling2010]

thanks for your response, i went to the dentist yesterday, they couldn't really tell me anything except I have periodontal disease which can cause that.  I smoke and drink, so that can cause it, especially since there's an infection in my gums.  I'm confident that with a lifestyle change, and getting my mouth fixed my problem will be fixed soon.  I feel as if i'm seeing some small changes since i stopped drinking, smoking and started drinking water, fruits, and taking vitamins.  I've only been doing this for 4 days but the glands on my left side under chin seems to have shrunk!  My dentist also told me I have 2 cavities on the upper left side of my mouth, those are connected to my sinus, pus came out of one, so he's saying that could be the reason my eyes and ears get irritated when i eat.  

My dentist wants me to come back next week to get a deep scale cleaning on 1 side then the following week on the other side.  Then get fillings were i have 2 cavities, etc.... Do you think I should do that or go to an oral specialist.  My money is getting low, so I can only do 1 right now.  Thanks for your help