overuse of artificial tear drops

My mother has multiple problems with her eyes..glaucoma, non age related mac degen, severely nearsighted, plus vision loss from a recent stroke. She is nearly blind now. She is seing a new doctor and he also said her corneas were very dry and told her to use artificial ear drops every 2 hours. She's been using the artificial tears for a little over a week and the last few days her eyesight is even worse--she can hardly see at all. Since the artificial tears is the only new thing she is using lately, I am wondering if it is somehow having an adverse effect.  Has anyone else had this problem?

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

I doubt it.  Rarely, the preservative can cause a problem.  Take her to the doctor.

Dr. O.

[sally987]

I just saw my opthalmologist yesterday and was asking her about artificial tears.  She said not to use more than 4-5 preservative drops a day, After that, switch to preservative free.  Said it was fine to mix them (or alternate them) or just use preservative free drops if I am having a bad dry eye day.  I use optive for both.

[ferret5]

Thanks for the info on the artificial tears. I've been researching and I did find a few things about the possibility of the preservatives causing a problem, including adding to the dryness.