Dry eye and GERD

[eyehurt]

Hi,

Has anyone heard of a correlation with dry eye and GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease)?

I have taken proton pump inhibitors (Prilosec, Prevacid, or Nexium) consistently for many years due to chronic GERD. My dry eye symptoms began showing up about 4 years ago, but may have been mild for many years before that (i.e. could never wear any kind of contact lense).

My GERD is under control, but I have often wondered if the treatment may be causing the dry eye.

Thanks,

Larry

[mike838]

Hi Larry,

I had dry eyes before gurd but I have not had any issues with the medicine making my eyes worse. I have had dry eyes for a few years and had the gurd for about 3. Hope this may help.

[rubyslippers]

Absolutely. My dry eye was simultaneous with my GERD. The got better and they got worse together and stress was a strong co-occurring factor too.

[Royal Eyeness]

Without a doubt, the PPI's you are taking are causing your dry eyes. It is absolutely a side effect of many of the PPI's. So is very dry mouth. It's not the GERD itself that is causing your dry eye, although it is possible that whatever you have systemically that is causing your GERD may also be causing your dry eyes. But for certain, you can bet that if you wean off of the PPI's, you'll find your dry eyes gone.

[eyehurt]

Without a doubt, the PPI's you are taking are causing your dry eyes. It is absolutely a side effect of many of the PPI's. So is very dry mouth. It's not the GERD itself that is causing your dry eye, although it is possible that whatever you have systemically that is causing your GERD may also be causing your dry eyes. But for certain, you can bet that if you wean off of the PPI's, you'll find your dry eyes gone.

Thanks all for the responses. Royal Eyeness, I would like to know how you know that PPI's definitely cause dry eyes. Was it your personal experience or have you read or been told this by professionals? Please tell me more...or where I can get this information specifically.

Thanks....Larry

[calli66]

I don't have GERD, I have Sjogren's. I belong to a small Support Group locally, and most of the members say they have, or have had, GERD. I'm not sure what the connection is---but I sure hear about GERD at the meetings. With Sjogren's there's less saliva----maybe that affects the stomach. There are also digestive and nervous system problems with some auto-immune syndromes like Sjogren's.

C

[beachblanketbingo]

Hello

There are less than a 1% chance of dry eyes from Gerd medicine like Prilosec -

http://gerd.emedtv.com/prilosec/pril...ffects-p2.html

I go to a rhuematologist and he said prilosec does not cause dry mouth or eyes

[Lucy]

Calli-the GURD can be a problem because of the decreased digestive juices caused by Sjogrens. That's about as technical as I can get. I have Sjogrens and when I was diagnosed, I didn't have GURD, but my rheumy put me on Prevacid. This will help prevent problems and also because the number of meds went from a few a day to a lot, this might help keep the stomach calm.

I had dry eyes before I took the Prevacid and after.

[Royal Eyeness]

If you'd like to see what kind of destruction you can do to yourself with PPI's, for a start, check out www.askapatient.com and type in the medication of your choice.
You will see that Prilosec, and all of the other PPI's and H2 blockers, do, indeed cause dry eyes in numerous people.

Eyehurt, check your PM's for a message from me.

[beachblanketbingo]

ok

guess I will take your advise over my opthamalogist and rheumatologist

[Royal Eyeness]

PPI's and dry eye

Here's a thread posted a few months back on this site by someone who actually thought she had Sjogren's because her eyes and mouth were so dry. And her doctors, it seemed, even thought that it might be Sjogren's because she was in the process of being tested for it.

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...highlight=gerd

It seems that her doctors never considered the possibility that the dryness could have been from the PPI's she was taking. ...and it turned out that's what it actually was - and when she weaned off of them and followed another protocol, her eyes and mouth got substantially better. As a matter of fact, I see that she has actually posted in this current thread, so you can ask her yourself.

If you think someone's advice works for you, then follow it. But not everyone is always right, no matter how smart they are (even if they are doctors). So it's nice to see alternative perspectives on here that you can then check out on your own and see what works best for you. (That's why I posted a link to the AskAPatient database, so you could see what actual patients have to say about their meds - not just me.)

Keep in mind that most of the thousands of people on this site have been to innumerable ophthalmologists whose opinions were completely wrong about their dry eyes - and that's why they're here trying to figure out how to help their dry eyes.

[beachblanketbingo]

Hello

I had dry eyes for many years - and dry mouth last 8 months - I started on prilosec about 1 month ago - so for me my eyes hardly bother me anymore - the only complaint I have is dry mouth, which in my case may be phsychological....

I was tested for sjogrens - 2 lip biopsies and about 5 blood tests - all negative

[lisiamc]

For what it's worth: I've had dry eyes for more than 25 years, and GERD for about 5 years. I have been taking 10 mg of omeprazole (Prilosec) as a maintenance dose for three years. During that time, my eyes have been dryer sometimes than others, and I have had corneal erosion problems directly related to poking a magazine in my eye, (not recommended!) but nothing I can directly relate to the omeprazole. In fact, since working on my nightime dry eye issues, I don't have daytime problems at all at the moment. Currently I only use drops/gel at night.

I was miserable when I had GERD symptoms and generally feel pretty good now, so it's hard for me to see a connection between my dry eyes and the medication.

Lisa