Severe dry eye problems at a young age

I am only 27 and I am suffering from severe dry eye.  I've had a dry eye test done and I have been on restasis since I was 23 years old.  I also have permanent punctal plugs in my eyes.  I have been suffering from this problem since I was 19 years old.  I also switched to wearing glasses and no contacts.  I'm worried that this is a sign of something more severe.  I also have some dry mouth problems and I also feel dehydrated a lot.  I have seen a specialist in the past and it was expensive and they didn't seem to think there was anything they could do except keep me on restasis (this was 4 years ago).  Could my symptoms be a sign of something more serious?  Is there anything else I can try besides restasis and using non-preservative eye drops during the day.  

[MagicMadcap]

If you have dry mouth and dry eyes you might want to ask your doctor about Sjogren's Syndrome.

[kjelltp]

Sounds like a systemic issue, not occular since you also experiencing dry mouth.  I used to have dry mouth and always woke up with a cotton mouth like nothing else (like when when badly hungover..) as well as dry eyes (no more dry mouth, but eyes still fairly dry in the AM)    You need to look for underlying issues, and perhaps look into natural healing approaches..it could be an unbalance in your body, not neccessarely autoimmune like suggested.  It is a possibility however...

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Use the search feature and archives to read the many posts about dry eyes. Stay on the restasis twice/day. Also consider going on enteric coated fish-oil (omega 3s) three/day. Start out with one/day with dinner and add a second one for breakfast after 2 weeks and a two for dinner 2 weeks after thatn (3/day) It wil take about 4 months for the omega 3 to be helpful

Yes dry eyes in a young person can sometimes be the first sign of a systemic problem such as thyroid disease or rheumatoid arthritis or autoimmune disease.

JCH MD