tears

I was just put upper plugs in my eyes in addition to the lower ones I had for my dry eyes at my request because all other failed me.  My eye doctor said to continue with the Restesis one drop  in each eye AM and PM but now I have to many tears, and I also have to drain the tears out because it doen't always drain out and when I look down  it blures my vision and it herts around the eye.  When I tried the over the counter drops that my doctor gave me instead the resthesis, I don't get exxessive tears but I wake up with dry eyes.  Now with the upper plugs, I don't have to use any eye drops in between.
Do I need to get on other Rx drops insted of the Resthesis?
P.S I suffer from Hashimoto's and my meds, Syntroid makes my dry eyes worse and I know that because when I was off the meds, I hardly used any drops.  My over the counter drops seems to work for a period of time and than it stop working and than I switch .  I have pretty much tried them all.  Though Tears Again 0.9% seem to work the best but now only available via online order, they havefish oil in them so I take fish oil now too.

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

Yes I would suggest you continue the restasis. It's more likely that restasis is contributing to your success than not.


Additional things that can help include a diet rich in fatty fish (eg salmon, sardines, etc). Fish oil taken by mouth usually 2 to 4/day has been show to help some patients. In addition there are non-prescription pills for dry eyes available at most major drug stores or by direct order from the companies. Thera-tears is probably the most widely used. You can use any search engine to pull up the websites of the companies that see these.

In dry eyes associated with corneal damage, moisture retaining goggles are used for sleeping. Be absolutely certain you do not sleep under a fan, heating outlet or situation where air moves over your face during sleep. Make certain you home is humidified in the winter, put a humidity gage in the bedroom. If you cannot maintain a 50-60% humidity put a room humidifier in the bedroom.

If you are menopausal or post-menopausal be sure you and your gynecologist maintain optimal hormonal balance. (Many women with dry eyes have dry mouth and dry vaginal canal). If you have joint pain have that evaluated to be sure you don't have Sjorgren's syndrome. Many medications eg antihistamines can make dry eye worse. You might review your medications with your ophthalmologist.

If you reach a point of exhausting all the above see an ophthalmologist that specializes in "Cornea and External Disease". This is their special area of expertise.

Keep digging and moving forward. I suspect you have not exhausted all the ways you can be helped.

JCH III MD Eye MD