Dry eyes cause soreness similar to eye fatigue?

[dgreen97]

Can dry eye cause similar symptoms to eye fatigue? Such as if you were staring at a computer for a long time. I take frequent micro breaks at work but I still seem to get eye fatigue on certain days. I'm wondering if the dry eye could actually be the cause. Also I believe I read this on the forum before but I wanted to make sure... can MGD give the same symptoms as dry eye syndrome with insufficient tears? I check my eyes pretty frequently and they always appear to be moist and wet which is why I wonder even when I put sufficient eye drops in and my eyes are moist that they still feel dry? Is this strange to have the feeling of dry eyes even when you put drops in?

[GinaJ]

For me when I am in a flare up and my eyes are hurting worse they do feel fatigued and strained. I always felt when one is in high level of pain it is draining. I always tell my docs I can see to read the eye chart or what ever but it is a strain because my eyes are in pain. As for drops for me they just help at the moment then they feel dry again. Sorry not much help just some thoughts I guess

[willwork4tears]

Can dry eye cause similar symptoms to eye fatigue? Such as if you were staring at a computer for a long time. I take frequent micro breaks at work but I still seem to get eye fatigue on certain days. I'm wondering if the dry eye could actually be the cause. Also I believe I read this on the forum before but I wanted to make sure... can MGD give the same symptoms as dry eye syndrome with insufficient tears? I check my eyes pretty frequently and they always appear to be moist and wet which is why I wonder even when I put sufficient eye drops in and my eyes are moist that they still feel dry? Is this strange to have the feeling of dry eyes even when you put drops in?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes and Yes. I think I agree with everything you say. Even if you have plenty of tears your eyes can feel "dry" because the tears are of "poor quality". Tears are made up of three components: liquid, fat, and protein. The liquid comes from the actual saline-like tear. The fat is from the lipids from the MG and the protein is from mucin. When you are deficient in one or more of these components your tear film will be low quality and will not perform at its best. And if you're staring at a computer, concentrating hard all day, you are not blinking as much. So you're not distributing those low quality tears evenly over your eyes. Your tear film may be "breaking up" and even though you have plenty of tears, they may be more concentrated in some areas and less concentrated in others making the thinner areas feel "dry."

During your micro-breaks try closing your eyes and rolling your eyeball around under your eyelids for 10-30 sec to redistribute your tear film.

I can put drops in and have my eyes feel dry 3-5 minutes later. Some people experience relief for several hours, others only several minutes.

If you do have MGD, this could explain your symptoms. Try a drop that contains mineral oil like Soothe XP. It will cause blurry eyes for a min or two, but it may "stick around longer" than plain saline tears. I like the Soothe XP for the times when my eyes feel "gritty" or "sandpapery."

[dgreen97]

i think dry eye is the root cause to my eyes feeling fatigued. as people have said before symptoms vary day to day... today my eyes felt really crappy this morning and now they're aching. 2 days ago i didn't have nearly as much problems as today. it's very difficult to pinpoint what is causing the fatigue or dry eye on certain days when the symptoms change so rapidly and randomly. i'm going to the eye doctor on the 26th but i wanted to know if there was any way to check to see if I maybe have an MGD disorder.

I've also read on here that if drops make your eyes feel more dry or ache you should use them more often so this goes away. Why would this happen? Do your eyes get more used to the drops or something? I don't use drops the same amount each time. Sometimes I only put in drops in the morning and other times I use them 3-4 times a day. However sometimes when I put drops in it seems to make my eye fatigue worse. I'm very confused

[dgreen97]

i also don't know if i'm using the correct terminology for the "soreness" aspect of what my eyes feel like. I've been reading around more and I came across the term "eyes feeling heavy". My eyes do feel extremely heavy like I've been awake for 3 days straight. Does dry eye cause this sensation and is the only way to remedy it to put drops in? I don't understand how the dry eye can cause symptoms of eye fatigue and heavy eyelids.

Thanks for your help

Alex

[willwork4tears]

The "heaviness" is how I would describe sore, tired, fatigued eyes as well. It definitely sounds like eye fatigue/strain, which is probably a symptom of the dry eye syndrome.

Your eye Dr. can and should check you for MGD if you ask him to.

If you're using a lot of drops make sure they are the preservative free kind. Preservatives can cause toxicity to the cornea which can paradoxically make dry eyes worse. Absolutely avoid the preservative benzalkonium chloride if you can (it is in some prescription drops). Drops can be very ineffective in some people, requiring you to use them constantly. It's different for every person. My eyes also fluctuate day to day. I would definitely mention all these details to your doctor so you can get a complete diagnosis. Write down all your symptoms, previous treatments, and questions before you go so you're prepared and can use your time with the doctor in an organized/productive manner. Be prepared. Be proactive.

i also don't know if i'm using the correct terminology for the "soreness" aspect of what my eyes feel like. I've been reading around more and I came across the term "eyes feeling heavy". My eyes do feel extremely heavy like I've been awake for 3 days straight. Does dry eye cause this sensation and is the only way to remedy it to put drops in? I don't understand how the dry eye can cause symptoms of eye fatigue and heavy eyelids.

Thanks for your help

Alex

[dgreen97]

thanks for your reply.. all good advice. the only preservative drop i'm using right now is systane lubricant drops. I think that preservative is pretty mild though. otherwise i use preservative free refresh tears at night and in the morning. is it ok to mix two different eye drop chemicals as long as its not at the same time? i'm going to have the doctor test me for MGD on the 26th and i got a whole sheet of questions to ask as well.

is it possible that maybe i'm just not using drops enough during the day? how often do you use drops?

[GinaJ]

Well I only use preservative free always since this seems to be chronic and I am so sensitive anyways. I used to put the preservative free drops in all the time but I found it actually was irritating my eyes even more. The drop actually felt painful so I slowly weaned myself to using a smaller amount. Now everyone is different so this may not be right for you. Just my experience. I guess I see the dry eye and fatigue like if you don't drink enough water during the day you get fatigued. Not sure why just that the human body needs certain amounts of moisture. May sound stupid I don't know. Also do you wear glasses or is your dry eye from lasik? That also may be something that is contributing to the fatigue I was thinking

[willwork4tears]

I also use Systane as well as Soothe XP drops. The thicker (viscous) drops like Systane and the mineral oil drops like Soothe contain some mild preservatives, but I use them anyway b/c I get more symptom relief from them. However, I limit myself to preservative-containing drops 2-3 times per day max. If I need drops more frequently than that, I use the Refresh PF as well.

Do you wear contact lenses? My optometrist told me the preservative free drops are actually not good for frequent use if you are wearing contacts b/c the formulation isn't compatible with the soft lens material. She said for contact lens wearers, the PF kind can actually make the dry eye worse. I know this is all so confusing and counter-intuitive. "Use PF drops, unless you wear soft-contacts, then don't use PF drops." Basically, you'll need to find what works for you under the advise of your Dr.

So for me, I rarely wear my contacts. And I try to limit drops to 2-3 times per day. If I'm having a bad day and need more I switch to the PF kind to avoid any corneal toxicity.

thanks for your reply.. all good advice. the only preservative drop i'm using right now is systane lubricant drops. I think that preservative is pretty mild though. otherwise i use preservative free refresh tears at night and in the morning. is it ok to mix two different eye drop chemicals as long as its not at the same time? i'm going to have the doctor test me for MGD on the 26th and i got a whole sheet of questions to ask as well.

is it possible that maybe i'm just not using drops enough during the day? how often do you use drops?

[dgreen97]

i actually wear glasses at work because i have an astimatism in my left eye. my right eye is ok but if i look at something with just my left it's slightly blurred out. i'm wondering if this is also contributing to eye fatigue because i don't wear the glasses all the time. half the day i wear them and half the day i don't so i'm going to start wearing them all the time and see the effects.

i try to limit my use of preservative drops to 2-3 times a day but lately when my eyes are feeling dry and i put drops in it seems to make them more fatigued and sore. any ideas on why this is happening? I actually used soothe xp drops before but they always seemed to burn really bad when i put them in.

here is an odd thing i've been noticing lately... if my eyes are feeling dried out it seems like a lot of my eye fatigue goes away.. however if my eyes aren't feeling dry the fatigue is a lot worse. anybody have an idea on why this seems to be opposite? gina you said the PF drops actually make your eyes worse? what kind of irritation did it cause?


why does putting drops in make my eyes fatigue or feel more sore on occasions (more frequently now)

[GinaJ]

I guess for me my eyes are very sensitive so the more times a drop hit my eye it irritates it.It may make then wet for the moment but irritates at the same time. It is like a catch 22 so I try to use them only when I have to like when my eyes are hard to open. I just am not sure the long term issues with the preservative. I have had my eye condition for 2.5 years so even in this time if I used them for that period it is a lot. I feel chronic and acute treatments need different treatment sometimes. The glasses I have a few pairs and some I strain more then others and fit is important not only rx I have been told. So that may be something you want to look at that the lense hits your eyes in the correct spot.

[dgreen97]

i read somewhere that putting eye drops in too much can actually cause a rebound effect and make the problem worse. maybe this can possibly explain why when i put drops in sometimes it seems to make eyes more sore and dry? any ideas? I don't feel like i put them in that often... on bad days it's probably 4-5 times and on normal days its more like 3.

its very odd because when i put the drops in it seems to make the dryness go down but fatigue to go up. when i don't put drops in the fatigue is down but the dryness is up. can't win

[willwork4tears]

i read somewhere that putting eye drops in too much can actually cause a rebound effect and make the problem worse. maybe this can possibly explain why when i put drops in sometimes it seems to make eyes more sore and dry? any ideas? I don't feel like i put them in that often... on bad days it's probably 4-5 times and on normal days its more like 3.

its very odd because when i put the drops in it seems to make the dryness go down but fatigue to go up. when i don't put drops in the fatigue is down but the dryness is up. can't win

I have no idea why the dryness and eye fatigue are inversely proportional. Sorry. Personally, mine go hand in hand.

As for the rebounding...I've never heard of rebounding b/c of saline/rewetting drops. Have you heard of this with regards to Visine? The drops like Visine that "take the red out" can DEFINITELY have a rebounding effect b/c these drops contain vasoconstrictors (your blood vessels get smaller and so the redness goes away). The problem is your body learns to compensate for the vasoconstriction (the fancy pharmacology term is desensitization), and when you discontinue the drug the redness rebounds (comes back with a vengeance). You end up needing more and more drug to get the same effect. This is why anyone, DES or not, should avoid regular use of Visine. Use it only on rare occasions (wedding, getting family portraits done, job interview, etc).

Again, I have never heard of regular rewetting drops like Systane or Refresh causing desensitization or rebounding.

I wouldn't worry so much about how often or how many drops you "should" use. If the drops make you feel worse, I wouldn't use them often. Do whatever it is that makes you feel the most comfortable.

[GinaJ]

I don't know if it is a rebound effect rather then being so sensitive and when a drop hit the eye it irritates. I agree instead of counting times a day try to play it by ear and what feels best for that day go with. That can change daily of course. Have you tried restasis? I have and it was not for me but for some it may help. Are you sure you are not allergic to the preservative in the drops? I ask cause I know a lot of teh rx meds that go in the eyes I had a hard time tolerating. I was not allergic but it really flared me up.

[dgreen97]

i'm actually not sure if im allergic to the preservative but I definitely think something doesn't agree with me and carboxymethylcellulose drops. More frequently than not when I put those drops in my eyes get really red and burn badly. I think I might be allergic to it but I'll have to ask the eye doctor when I go in 2 weeks. So far with systane I haven't had that problem of burning and very red eyes so we'll have to see.