dry eyes

June 20, 2002

Thanks Tatezi. I'll keep it in mind when I use up the oil.

gail

From: " Tatezi " <tatezi@...>

Reply-Hepatitis C

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:18:50 -0500

Subject: Re: Dry eyes

Gail...

I agree with you whole heartedly about the Celluvisc...it has helped me

enormously. Since you are finding flaxseed oil so unpalatable, I thought I

would offer a suggestion. This is a blend I got from Dr. Cabot's

book, The Liver Cleansing Diet. I use it on almost everything I eat

(oatmeal, salads, brown rice, etc.) which gives me a good supply of flaxseed

oil without slurpping the stuff. It has a slightly sweet and nutty taste.

It's got portein, essential fatty acids, minerals and fiber...and according

to her book, is " definitely an anti-aging mixture " (that's for your vision

<g> but I haven't noticed my age related vision problems improving).

LSA (Linseeds which are flaxseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds)

1-1/2 cups flaxseeds

1 cup sunflower seeds (raw and unsalted)

1 cup almonds

Mix and grind together until fine (I use a coffee grinder and it does a

great job). Store in dark glass jar in the fridge. It's important to keep it

sealed and chilled so you don't lose the oils.

Just thought I'd pass that along....

Tatezi

Dry eyes

Just a note that might help others with the same problem. I developed

severe dry eye problems when on my last go-round of rx. The problem did

not

go away when I went off rx, although it did let up somewhat. I have had

several breakthroughs with dealing with this and figured I would share with

you guys. First was switching from the night use of ointment to Celluvisc.

Conversely, it has been found that continuous use of the ointment causes

irritation to the eyes! I guess it wasn't really formulated for those of

us

who had real problems. Anyway, the Celluvisc was the first great

improvement. The second was the discovery that eating a couple of

handfulls

of cashews each day helped too. Thirdly, I made a concerted effort to

drink two extra glasses of water each day (besides my usual daily

beverages.) Lastly, i have started taking (ugh!) flax seed oil-about

1/4tsp

twice daily. My eyes are pretty much OK now! I still use Celluvisc at

night, and regular drops immediately upon awakening, but I don't really

need

the drops during the day like I used to. Now, if I could just get rid of

this presmyopia (age-related far-sightedness.)

gail

July 1, 2002

Dear Gail, I too am having problems with eyes. It was discovered for the

first itme when I was about halfway through TX. This last visit to the

opthamologist (about 3 months ago)still showed deposits on my maculas. I

just had macular photography done the other day. My Rheumatologist would

like to put me on Plaquenil but needs an ok for the eye doc because of the

depositis. I totally believe this is all related to treatment, cuase I never

had them before. gee

June 20, 2003

Debby,

I went through a few weeks when I couldn't tolerate my contacts because my

eyes were too dry. I was on 20 mg of prednisone daily, but now I'm down to

10 and I can tolerate my contacts most of the time. I don't mind my glasses

but with my contacts I can even see in the shower and that is sooooo nice!

My sis has not been able to tolerate contacts for years because her eyes are

too dry. Now that we know she has sjogren's syndrome, we know why. My

daughter is nowhere near as blind as me, but she does need glasses to drive

at night and to see the board in class. She got contacts several months ago

but hasn't been able to tolerate them for the last couple of months. My

daughter's stepmother (who also has lupus, ironically) has sjogren's

syndrome so bad that her corneas have been scratched from her eyes being so

dry. She can no longer drive at night or sew because she cannot see well

enough to do so, even with glasses. Even though I'd hate to give up my

contacts, I am incredibly grateful that my vision is great with either

contacts or glasses.

W

June 21, 2003

WOW! Your family certainily has eye problems! At my last eye exam, my doctor told me that my eyes were quite dry. He said that the cornea was not smooth like it should be, but had curves and valleys from where the eyes are dry. I will bring this up to my rheumatologist when I see him next month. I wonder IF it could be sjogren's. Gosh, I hope not! I can't handle one more problem!

Debby

Re: [ ] dry eyes

Debby,I went through a few weeks when I couldn't tolerate my contacts because myeyes were too dry. I was on 20 mg of prednisone daily, but now I'm down to10 and I can tolerate my contacts most of the time. I don't mind my glassesbut with my contacts I can even see in the shower and that is sooooo nice!My sis has not been able to tolerate contacts for years because her eyes aretoo dry. Now that we know she has sjogren's syndrome, we know why. Mydaughter is nowhere near as blind as me, but she does need glasses to driveat night and to see the board in class. She got contacts several months agobut hasn't been able to tolerate them for the last couple of months. Mydaughter's stepmother (who also has lupus, ironically) has sjogren'ssyndrome so bad that her corneas have been scratched from her eyes being sodry. She can no longer drive at night or sew because she cannot see wellenough to do so, even with glasses. Even though I'd hate to give up mycontacts, I am incredibly grateful that my vision is great with eithercontacts or glasses. W

June 21, 2003

i have this problem with dry eyes and have an unofficial diagnosis of sjogens the eye DR put me on drops and they really helped I also suffered some damage because of the dryness

the

WV hillbilly

June 21, 2003

, how did they dx it? I was just in for my regular checkup. I had gone in a few months earlier because I have a cluster of little tiny cysts on the inside of my eye. The Dr. gave me allergy eyedrops and thought that would take care of it....but they didn't. Then, when I saw the optometrist (same office), he was the one who told me of the dryness and that I could have the cysts lances if I wanted to have it done......but I am really curious to know how you were dx.

Debby

Re: [ ] dry eyes

i have this problem with dry eyes and have an unofficial diagnosis of sjogens the eye DR put me on drops and they really helped I also suffered some damage because of the dryness the WV hillbilly

June 22, 2003

My G.I. gave the unofficial diagnosis of sjogens and the optometrist at the hospital put dye in my eyes and he also did some other tests to rule out other problems and came up with the sjogens also. I don't remember what the tests all were but I remember not being able to see because he dilated my pupils and ruled out cataracts and glaucoma.

If I were you I would talk to your Dr. about specific tests. I know they are supposed to do a biopsy of the inside of your lip for the sjogens but because my Dr. said I had all the obvious symptoms he decided against it.

Good luck

the WV hillbilly

June 22, 2003

Dear Debby,

June 22, 2003

and grandsons..age and stuff

Later,

Liz

June 22, 2003

Hi Liz,

I don't have a clue but if you type in dry eyes you will get all kinds of answers, hope one of them works. Love,Teri

P.S. Happy SUnday to you too!It's 85 and 56% humidity, mighty uncomfortable. i just spent the afternoon with my Daughter and two Grandsons.

dry eyes

Hi and Happy Sunday,I use eye drops for my dry eyes but it only lasts about 15 minutes. Any ideas? I'm in my 6th month of TX.Later,Liz

June 22, 2003

Debby,

The thing that's strange is that my daughter's stepmother is obviously not

related to me or my family, yet she has lupus and sjogren's syndrome. She

and I joke about the fact that Nikki's dad (my ex) has been married to two

women and they both have lupus. Makes you wonder!

The thing about sjogren's is that I think there are thinks they can do to

minimize the damage it can do, but not if you just ignore it. I'd

definitely ask my rheumy about it if I were you.

W

June 23, 2003

I will talk to the rheumy when I see him next month. After this past weekend I am going to have to find some answers somewhere. I have a dear friend with Lupus who is a nurse. It is her belief that I am suffering from Lupus too. I wonder sometimes when I get so deathly ill. Perhaps it could be an ulcer too. I don't know. I just know that last night I took two pain pills (Norco) to KILL the pain, but it seems that my stomach was reacting badly to the Norco in addition to the other pain. So I took another Lefsin for spasms and it did no good. I finally fell into a deep sleep around 1:00 AM I believe. I did manage to drop 5 pounds over the course of a couple of days, so I guess that is good....but oh what a way to go. I am still quite weak this AM, but think I am on the up again. I have managed to keep in some custard this AM, so maybe things are changing. I am just going to go light on the food still until I KNOW what is going on!

Thanks for the info!

Debby

Re: [ ] dry eyes

Debby,The thing that's strange is that my daughter's stepmother is obviously notrelated to me or my family, yet she has lupus and sjogren's syndrome. Sheand I joke about the fact that Nikki's dad (my ex) has been married to twowomen and they both have lupus. Makes you wonder!The thing about sjogren's is that I think there are thinks they can do tominimize the damage it can do, but not if you just ignore it. I'ddefinitely ask my rheumy about it if I were you. W

September 24, 2003

Go to Spinal//eyes now when it comes up it will tell what the worst area is, OR you can designate an area ie: the duct. It's that easy. Isn't the QX wonderful!

Yours in Health

Kathy gazelle252000 <ellyfr@...> wrote:

Have any of you used QXCI forexceptionally dry eyes and if so how did you treat it? Thanks Elly............................................

January 18, 2004

I had to stop wearing contacts after being a wearer for 30 years after getting stills. I don't know if its the meds or the stills but my eyes are dry and red with glasses all the time now.

Let me know if you ever find anything that helps, would love to go back to contacts again.

Carole

In a message dated 1/18/2004 2:27:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, shepp@... writes:

Hi all ...... Would like to know if anyone else has trouble with dry eyes? Mine are very dry and usually red. Plus, I wear contacts and sometimes my eyes are just too "picky" too put the contacts in. Have tried lots of different eye drops, the latest being Genteal Moderate Dry Eye Relief which works ok.

I did see a short article on a new eyedrop call Restasis (a topical form of cyclosporine) that is being used to treat patients who have a lack of tears. My eye doc told me once that I produced less tears and that the make-up of the tears was probably not "right" so it didn't lubricate the eye like it should. Has anyone tried Restasis or anything else that's worked? With the dry cold air this winter, I am really having problems!

Thanks in advance,

Trish in PA

January 19, 2004

Restasis is a Rx only item -- an of course very expensive... I have only 2 patients on it in my whole pharmacy. Unfortunately, I have only seen them when the were first getting their prescriptions, so I haven't had the opportunity to ask them if it is helping...

I sometimes get dry eyes too... My eye doctor gave me a sample of a product called Systane at my last visit, and I liked it better than the others he has given me sample of...

Kate,

Largo, FL

January 12, 2005

Marina, My Opthamologist had me get GenTeal Lubricant Eye Drops. I

didn't realize I had dry eye because they water sometime its like I

am crying, he told me that my eyes are not absorbing the tears. The

drops seem to have helped.

in Central Oregon

January 12, 2005

marina... go and get the bion tears... they sell them at wal-mart.. for the

cheapest ... they really work for me... and i was really bad, too...

because they are so exspensive, i re=use the vials.... just becarful not to

contaminate it... one usually last for three or four days... i do i morning and

night... and in between if needed..;O)

rae

[ ] Dry Eyes

Hey all. Just wondering what any of you may have done to help with

the dry eye issues with Sjogren's? Restasis did nothing. I have

don't all the artificial tears and they only work as long as I am

dripping them in. Once they dry up so does my eyeball!! Punctal

Plugs were very irritating and didn't really help much. My

opthalmologist cauterized my lower lacrimal ducts. That really

didn't do anything (turns out they didn't fully close up). I am

taking tetracycline to try and thin out my tears (one of the side

effects of the med). Last week I had my right lower lacrimal redone

and the right upper duct done for the first time. It seems to be

helping some. I don't feel like I am having to peel my lids open in

the morning on the right eye as badly as the left. Before the

procedure it was VERY painful to get my eyelids open in the

morning. I get them open just enough to be able to put some drops

in there to moisten things up. My right eye is still very dry, but

not to the extent as it was before. I am using Pred Forte (steroid

drops) 2x a day. I have put ointment in my eyes at night to try and

help the dryness that occures overnight. But, some days it is so

bad that when I get online I can't read anything on the computer

because my vision is so blurry. Some days my vision is 20/20. When

the dryness is real bad and my vision is blurry I am lucky to be

20/100 or worse!! Thanks for listening....Marina/Ohio

January 12, 2005

Sorry Marina I forgot to tell you the GenTeal drops I use are

Moderate.

in Central Oregon

January 12, 2005

Sorry to hear about your Sjogrens. I have it also, but the Restasis had done

wonders for me! I agree with you on the punctal plugs - they drove me crazy. I

had to have them taken out my very next appt.

I was diagnosed with Sjogrens after an episode with one eye going totally blurry

while driving. I thought I might have had a mini-stroke! My family dr. couldn

't find anything wrong, so I went to an opthamologist. It turned out that he

specializes in dry eye diseases! Talk about being led by God!

After the diagnosis, a lot of things made sense, like my dry mouth when I sing

(or talk too much!) and my constantly changing vision. With the help of

Salagen, my dry mouth is somewhat under control, although I still have to chew a

lot of sugarless gum (especially when I sing!). My eyes are much better, so I

only have to use eyedrops occasionally, when the Sjogrens really flares up.

I hope you and your doctor are able to find something to give you some relief

soon. It sounds like you've got a good dr. who knows what he is doing. Hang in

there! One of my favorite sayings is " The only constant in life is that things

change. " I hope things change for you soon. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Vikki