thyroid levels do affect dry eyes

[izzy3usa2002]

I have graves disease and my thyroid levels went pretty low a couple weeks ago and I have such relief in my eyes from my severe dry eyes. I just had my thyroid surgery Monday and I would have to say now i just use the artificial tears and gel once per hour. yes I still have dry eyes but I can live with this now. i was putting in tears every 5-10 minutes so to go from that to every hour sometimes an hour and 1/2 is wonderful. I still wear my goggle glasses and do my restasis and tranquil eyes but at least i am not in horrible pain using hot compresses and ice to relieve the pain and it doesnt feel like i have glass in my eyes anymore. I am so thankful to God!! they started me on snythetic thyroid hormones and i am keeping a list to keep track of how much i am on. if eyes get worse will back it down so things stay this way. i wish i would hsve had the surgery when this whole dry eye thing started dec 09 but oh well. i am now looking forward to spring and summer!

[liz56]

Hi, izzy3usa2002.

I notice a difference when my TSH is off, too. There were some threads that discussed that a while back.

I'm glad to hear that things are improving to you. Thanks for sharing your good news.

--Liz

[alisonW]

Glad to hear your surgery was a success. So good to know about your eye improvement. The surgeon I saw on Friday said I don't need to have my goiter removed yet but he put me on meds to try to get my levels up & to try to shrink it. Hopefully it will help my eyes as well.

[izzy3usa2002]

thanks so much Liz.

Allison yes try the meds i was doing good on them but I have asthma and couldn't take the beta blockers then I had double vision and loss when thyroid hormone levels went too high so we went ahead with the surgery. good luck!

[izzy3usa2002]

here it is 5 days after having my thyroid removed and still have relief from my dry eyes. sometimes i go as long as 2 1/2 hours with no artificial tears. my other Graves symptoms are also gone. makes me wonder why i was so afraid to have the surgery done? i still can't believe this. i thought I would always suffer with such pain from dry eyes.

[liz56]

I just met with my endocrinologist this week, and she thinks I have Hashimoto's Disease, due to way I have responded to synthoid. I take a low dose, but it evens things out for me. I have to wonder if this is related to my recurrent corneal erosions, which stopped just a few months after starting synthroid. I was reading that having really pale, sensitive, and easily torn skin are symptoms of Hashimoto's, and it makes me wonder about a possible likeness of the epithelial layer of the cornea and the epidermis of the skin. Just a thought.

--Liz