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  • Use of a cpap improved redness/dryness

    Hi All,

    I have a small success to report. I've had dry and red eyes for years now, and I did something at the suggestion of Dr Tseng of Miami and it improved my redness and dryness by about 50%. I still have dry and red eyes compared to a normal person, but it actually helped.

    What did I do? I started using a CPAP machine after being diagnosed with sleep apnea. I had none of the usual apnea symptoms of daytime sleepiness, obesity, blood pressure issues, etc. But when Dr Tseng of Miami told me to get an evaluation for this, I actually have obstructive sleep apnea. I was skeptical but now it makes sense partially. Basically when we close our eyes, we do have relatively less oxygen flowing to the eye. The cornea and surface of the eye actually have more oxygenation when the eye is open. When the eyelid is shut, the theory is that the less oxygen flow results in vasodilation of the eye. Over time, there can be inflammation an dry eye. This is why I always had bloodshot eyes first thing in the morning or even after taking a 20 minutes nap. It was only after buying this $2000 cpap (which is covered by insurance because its medically necessary) and getting use to it after 4 months that I see improvement. The redness is less but still there, and the big surprise is that my eyes feel less dry.

    Now I'm not going to pretend that this applies to everyone, but I think it may help a lot of people. Its worth looking into.

    I had tried all kind of stuff for dryness: compresses, lid scrubs, meibomian expression, restasis, steroids, serum ters etc. Nothing worked as well as cpap. Now I'm not going to say its a fairy tale because my eyes still look bad compared to a normal person, but at least its an improvement for me.

  • #2
    I have this same theory for myself but I haven't done the sleep test yet...Are you still using the CPAP? How are your eyes now?

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    • #3
      bumping this up...

      I do have obstructive apnea (was diagnosed via sleep study testing about 2 years ago). never got the CPAP because life got crazy. I managed to lose a ton of weight and my eyes got better.

      my eyes are dryer again and I know for a fact my sleep is suffering. I 'think' I'm getting rest, but I do get up about 3 times, minimum, each night, that I know of... who knows how many times I'm waking w/out my knowing.

      I'm scheduling w/ the ENT doctor to get a machine and see if it works for me.

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