Accutane induced dry eyes

[nick]

Hey All,

I have accutane induced dry eyes, and I was wondering if anyone else with accutane induced dry eyes had any experiences they'd be willing to share with regard to treatments. Restasis does not seem to be helping me a great deal, and steroids (for blephoritis) are only slightly effective. I'm going to start doxycycline soon (it seems like the best bet so far), but I was wondering if anyone else had had any luck treating accutane induced dry eyes with doxy or anything else.

Thanks!

Nick

[Eli]

Nick,
What dosage of Accutane were you taking and for how long? Most medical literature seems to suggest that your type of dry eye will be reversed once the accutane is stopped. However, some on this site beg to differ. Omega 3 supplementation may be helpful in your case, as they help to normalize meibomian oil. I hope doxy helps you.
Eli

[Rebecca Petris]

You might want to check out the posts by another Nick here... "untkicker29", who had persistent dry eye after a course of Accutane.

[nick]

Thanks for the tip! I'm looking up his posts now.

I used the accutane at a pretty low dosage for something like 5 months. I did the full course, as I was assured that the dry eyes were only temporary, and I was quite happy to tolerate them for a little while. It's been a year since I finished though, so it certainly looks like they're permanent. I've been taking omega-3 oils, flaxseed oil (in the thera-tears supplements), and restasis for about 4 months now. Not sure how much they're doing... if there's an effect is only marginal. I also have plugs (one in each eye -- can't tolerate a second pair).

[Rebecca Petris]

You may want to check into more treatments for meibomian gland dysfunction (depending on your test results etc.).

I ran across another bulletin board awhile back - you may already know it - acne.org, run by a guy named Dan. It's a very high traffic board and of course a great many members use or have used Accutane so I've no doubt there will be some people there to trade notes with as well.

[Eli]

I'm sorry you're not finding more relief with these treatments. You know, there are a few doctors who have been extremely enthusiastic about the alleged merits of omega-3's in medical journals. There is even one who claims that he is frequently able to taper patients off of tetracyclines and maintain their eyelid health on omega-3's alone. Maybe that's true. However, after seeing several docs including Dr. Latkany who posts on this site, I have come not to expect miracles from fish/flax oils. For most, they can be a useful adjunctive therapy, but will not usually be the only one needed to find relief. Dr. Latkany seems to have devised an effective method of cleaning out the glands as described in his book, which I personally use. It seems to help. As you know, Accutane reduces the output of sebaceous glands. I wonder if there is any medication that increases it? As far as the plugs go-they come in all shapes and sizes. Perhaps its worth experimenting with a couple brands/styles? There is also cauterization which quick and easy and won't irritate your eye like a plug can.
This is very frustrating for you I'm sure. Hang in there!

[Niteyorkie]

Rosacea

I tooke Accutane many years ago for acne. I don't remember my eyes getting worse from it, but have wondered if it did make my eyes worse and I didn't notice it until I got older.
One thing to think about is rosacea. I had dry eye symptoms for 2-3 years before I started developing the facial features of rosacea. Even now, I am not much of a flusher, but my face burns as well as my eyes.
Just a thought.