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Excessive tearing (epiphora, not dry eye)

Eye Conditions | Last Active: Apr 14 4:49pm | Replies (14)

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@laeapple
I'm so sorry you are experiencing this. Eventually, after several months or more, the tears gradually stopped, with no help or diagnosis from 3 different neuro-opthalmologists. One thing I did, perhaps after the first month or so, was to fill an eye cup with a body-temperature sterile saline solution, hold it firmly against each eye (holding my head upright), and blink hard 8 or 10 times in the hopes of getting the solution into the corner of my eye and into the lacrimal sac, in order to stimulate the lacrimal pump mechanism to start functioning. (I was told that it was not working, but no doctor know why). I have no idea if this helped, but as I said, I did get better, and it has not come back, at least so far. One doctor gave me a prescription cream (triamcinolone, I think) to put on the sknw around my eyes (NOT in my eyes) because the skin was so inflamed from the salty tears. Have you had cataract surgery in the last 3 or 4 months? I had had that surgery done about 3 moths prior , and had read somewhere there might be a connection between that and tearing, even months later. You don't say how long you've had this. Be patient; I hope you will get better.

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Replies to "@laeapple I'm so sorry you are experiencing this. Eventually, after several months or more, the tears..."

@karinm Thanks for the help! I too have had it for as long as 3 months, last year. Right now this flare-up has lasted 3 weeks, although it has slowed down considerably and may be almost over with. I had allergy testing yesterday to see if allergies were the cause, but I tested negative to almost every allergen or tested so low that the doctor doesn't think allergies are the cause...
All of the eye doctors I have seen can't figure it out!
Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate it!