Advice about daughter/dry eye

[LasikLady]

Hi Friends,

I need some advice here. My daughter has a history of very mild dry eye due to, I think, accutane used about 2 years ago. Sometimes her eyes will burn when in the car with air con on. Sometimes in stores, etc.. This is not very often but does happen sometimes. She never can wear eye makeup on her lids, especially inner eye rims. Even hypoallergenic will make her eyes burn very badly. She has never been diagnosed but her symptoms and past usage of accutane to me says it's mild dry eye. She does not wear contacts.

Now she wants to go on birth control to help her control her painful/heavy cycles. She is not sexually active. I am afraid this may trigger a worse case of dry eye, as has happened to some of the girls here. She is 18 years old.

She has only taken 1 pill today, it was her first in the pack. Should I make her discontinue them? I told her about the link with dry eye and now she is scared because she has lived this lasik thing with me. I don't want to be paranoid or make her that way, but then again I wonder if it's worth the risk?

Help, I need advice!

[kitty]

Has she been worked up for DES? You should probably start with an eye doctor and find out for sure what is going on with her, and discuss your concerns about BCPs with that doctor. As a nurse, however, I can say that it may come down to some decision making about which is the worse of the evils for her, the painful cycles or the DES? Have you discussed with an OB/GYN any alternatives to BCPs or BCPs that have less harsh effects on the eyes?

[bernmee]

Hi Lasik Lady,

I too used to get terrible PMS in the form of psychotic mood swings and tears. Not very pleasant! I prefered not to take the pill. What I did use was a tonic containing "chaste tree flower" that I found amazing for mood swings. I have included a couple of links below.

I have also used "Black Cohosh" to help jump start my periods...I used to be very very irregular but three months of this stuff and I have been regular since. Because of how effective it is I consider this herbal remedy to be very strong, though it may not be any more powerful than any other. I know it is used for women during their menopause and to help with PMT, but maybe she would be a little young to be taking someting that is used mostly by menopausal woman.

http://www.yogitea.com/Pages/HerbGlossary.html

http://uscuh.staywellsolutionsonline.../19,ChasteTree

I no longer take the Chaste flower tonic as I stopped taking everything once I had Lasik, so I am not sure if they have a drying effect. I have found though that I no longer have PMS, which I believe is because of my weekly acupuncture sessions.

Bernadette

[Stanza]

Maybe let her try it for some months, it might be helpful, there have been people on here that have tried coming off BCPs and it hasn't made any difference. BCPs influencing dry eye is just one side affect it doesn't always happen and some relief from her painful cycles would probably be a relief.

[LasikLady]

Thank you for your responses.

I hate to sound cynical, but I have absolutely no faith in doctors being able to diagnose, or really treat for that matter, dry eye. I know that sounds harsh but it has just been my experience with eye doctors. I had one corneal specialist I found helpful, but almost every bit of improvement I have had has come from the insight on this website and time. So I don't really feel confident taking her to an eye doctor.

We all seem to agree there can be a link between hormone changes and dry eyes, especially if a condition already is present. All I could do was spell that out for her, inform her of the potential risk, and let her make the decision. At least it's an informed decision. Which is more than I got when I had lasik.

I hate to make the kid paranoid, but if I didn't tell her how this could effect her eyes and her life I would be as bad as my lasik surgeon.

She informed me last night she is going to research other means of helping her with her periods. I will give her the websites bernmee provided to add to her research.

Thanks again for your help!

[migirl]

She can also investigate the different types of pills, etc. It's good that you made her aware of possible problems, so she can decide if the pill is worth it because, as you know, dry eye doesn't seem to go away easily and is hard to deal with. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[AdrianS]

I sometimes wonder if a long history of oral contraceptives contributed to my dry eye. Here is a site on low dose birth control pills.

http://www.drdonnica.com/display.asp?article=5246

If I remember correctly, Dr. Latkany's book had a patient who switched to a lower estrogen pill and her dry eye symptoms improved.

Good luck!

[Stanza]

I use the lowest dose, 20 mcg, have no side affects. I used higher doses when I was younger to control painful cycles this was very successful and I didn't have to use them long.

[migirl]

I see Yasmin on this list of low dose pills. Some people seem to have a lot of problems with Yaz/Yasmin and dry eye, but those pills have another ingredient that I think the others don't have, so if she is really going to stay on a birth control pill, I'd probably investigate each one very carefully, even those that are "low dose"...the very best of luck!!