Ladies Only! Birth Control Pills and Dry Eye

[Meem]

I forgot to mention that I switched to Microgestin. I am not sure about the progesterone or estrogen so I wasn't sure what would be good.

[jads]

I can't speak for birth control as I'm a guy but the interesting thing is estrogen dominance affects men as well, especially as we age and look less like Orlando Bloom and more like Mickey Rourke! Testosterone falls by a few percent a year from about 40 onward - sometimes earlier. Eventually some men can have as much or more estrogen than women. It's called Andropause, though I would have thought 'men'opause was would actually be more fitting.

I haven't checked in here for a while as generally my eyes have been much better. However, some further research has led me down the hormone path. It turns out that a lot of the symptoms of estrogen overload, through internal and external factors, mimic a hypothyroid state. Dry eyes is one of these symptoms too, along with thyroid blood tests that present within normal range, excess copper, hair loss, cold extremities, lethargy, and the list goes on.

For guys, being exposed to too much estrogen later in life is bad news on many levels. Low testosterone levels caused by gradual estrogen dominance and insulin resistance not only affect libido but many other bodily functions as well. Is it any wonder viagra sales a through the roof these days!!

I'm now slowly coming round to the idea that my dry eyes were\are related to Thyroid issues caused by too much estrogen. I've had all the symptoms discussed above as well. For me, it's not a long bow to draw.

http://www.johnleemd.com/store/estrogen_dom.html

[LisaC]

Just wondering if there are any new stories on this since the last posts are from 2010. I recently got off BC and hope this will make an improvement over time.

[alisonW]

I recently went off the pill - from the beginning of September 2012 and was off until last week. I noticed no improvement in my eyes at all unfortunately. I went back on since there wasn't any positive change in my eyes and my skin became a mess - not fun to have dry, red, sore eyes AND bad acne at age 46! (I went off around 11 years ago as well and there was no eye improvement then either.)