How do you deal with dry eyes?

I was interested to learn from my ophthalmologist that staying hydrated is helpful for dry eyes. I'm afraid I'm guilty of not drinking nearly enough. I keep telling myself that I need to, but I get busy and forget. I do better when I'm working outside because there's usually a water hose close by, and most of the time I take a thermos of water and another with crystal light or a juice with me. I'm pretty sure most of us need to drink more (not referring to alcohol).

Jim

I have extremely bad dry eye, but only in one eye. It’s miserable! My ophthalmologist prescribed olepatidine, but after my second refill, I talked to the pharmacist about its lack of efficacy. He told me to use over the counter Pataday because it’s the same thing with the higher content of olepatidine. It has worked much better for me. I use the two dose a day type rather than the one dose. The one dose didn’t cut it and quite frankly the two dose frequently requires at least a third dose. I use Systane gel drops to keep my eye feeling moist. That’s the combo that’s worked for me. I just found an eye mask on Amazon that is both heating and moisture. Seems a lot of people beat me to that idea, but I can’t wait to try it! I asked a couple of questions of buyers and got some great responses regarding its performance. I’m going to order that as soon as I’m done here! Good luck!! I am afraid as my autoimmune issues, progress, so will this problem😩

Did your ophthalmologist mention the length of time you can use Pataday drops? The label didn’t say preservative free and my doctor cautioned me on any product that wasn’t preservative free. Something to do with preservatives affecting the cornea over time. And, I have Salmann’s Nodules on my corneas. I’m always on the lookout for dry eye options, so would like to try the Pataday. I just bought some for my Dad several weeks ago.

My ophthalmologist did not give me a period of time to use Pataday and mentioned nothing about it being harmful. Sadly, I don’t find that to be odd anymore in doctors. Seems for every medication I am prescribed, I have to be the one to bring up negative side effects to the doctor before they’re acknowledged. Maybe that’s the nature of their job. He did give me samples of a new expensive nasal spray for dry eyes called Tyrvaya. That one was not effective for me either. Just as well as it has a high ticket price. I wonder if any of these pricey meds for dry eye have preservatives? Have to look that up after this post. Ordered the heat/moisture mask from Amazon. I’m hoping that helps as the eye seems to be getting worse lately. I just had annual blood work done with specifics around auto immune testing, which came back positive. I seem to be presenting all of the symptoms of Sjogren’s from dry eye to dry mouth and difficulty swallowing sometimes. I’m now wondering if there will be auto immune meds I’ll have to take and if they will help my eye. Kind of doubting it, but you never know. Good luck with your quest! If I find anything that works better or I have a different answer for you, I will let you know.

Came back to edit… Checked on Restasis, Xiidra, and Tyrvaya and none have preservatives.👍 I don’t know about your insurance, but they’re all unaffordable on mine.

Oh my! Me too. I don’t have dry mouth, but have pending appointment with Rheumatologist for Sjogrens evaluation. ANA positive. Under neurologist care now. Pretty scared.

I was wondering about nasal spray for dry eye. Saw tv ad….may wait on it. I just got prescription spray filled from ENT that he prescribed me for watery nose. It pours water most days. Go figure. Dry eye, but super wet nose! It’s bizarre. Lol

I can’t get over how weird our bodies are and the crazy stuff they do! The Tyrvaya was a weird one in general. The spray burns the heck out of your nasal passage and then you get a very metallic taste a few minutes later. Neither were unmanageable, had it worked and been affordable, but I think it falls in the $400+ range for me. And how long does it take for some of these medications to get a generic formula? I feel like at least a couple of them have been around for a bit.🤷‍♀️ I always have more questions than answers. Good luck to you! I hope you get some help from your various doctors and that everything is manageable for you!

@tennisgolf Sorry to hear about your experience, I also suffer from dry eyes and as you, they got worse after cataract surgery. I use herbal tea bags warmed in water, and I find them very soothing. All the best, Isabel