Theratears and fish oil

[Jesslin]

Hi all, I've been taking fish oil and or flax oil since February when my eye problems began. The last month and a half I've been using Theratears. I was wondering if I should have had improvement by now?

The opth I went to suggested that fish oil could even be making me worse? I don't know if this is because I have incredibly oily skin? I thought Theratears were better than the other brands I tried that made me dizzy and gave me stomach problems bit they've started to give me bad acne, I'm turning into a greasy mess!

Does anyone have any experience of fish oil being bad for you or making you worse?

I have some blood tests coming up next week and I've also heard somewhere that fish oil thins your blood, the last thing I want is bleeding profusely, so I'm thinking maybe now would be a good time to stop? I tried two weeks without it while on holiday and not much changed, I'm just scared of setting myself back but I Think maybe I already gave it a good go?

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Jess

[NeedMyEyes]

I have very dry skin. Before this dry eye thing started, you couldn't pay my skin to make oil.

When someone told me my oil glands weren't making enough oil, I totally understood how that could be the problem - I just don't make oil. Never had acne, always have to put lotion on my dry skin etc.

When I started taking fish oil, 3 or 4 months ago, suddenly, my skin started making oil! I knew this had to be a good thing, because then my MGs would start making oil too. And it was a good oil - nice and clear.

So, to be honestly, that's how I judge when I have found a good fish oil tablet - when my face starts making a lot of oil. My doctor also prescribed testosterone for me and now my face makes even MORE oil. Not just that, but now I have pimples!! Just really tiny ones that no one notices, but I am *praying* for more, because that means my glands should be pumping oil.

I have seen some improvents in my glands prob because of Lipiflow and some other treatments, but I hope the fish oil is helping to keep the glands open... No symptomatic relief yet.

[kitty]

One thing fish oil can help with is to reduce inflammation. If your dry eye is not caused by inflammation, then fish oil might not help you. Everyone is different. Dry eye has many causes. You need to find the combination that works best for you. Be sure you are not taking antihistamines or other eye-drying medications or consuming alcohol or smoking cigarettes, all of which can make your DES worse. Also watch environmental factors such as staring at the computer too long without blinking and being indoors with artificial heating and cooling systems.

[MaryVa61]

The fish oil and flax oil I've been taking (both Barleans' Omega Swirl) a month ago have definitely helped me, but I have extremely dry skin. I still have dry eye but no more of those horribly painful filaments, which were popping up almost daily.

I don't know what it means that I'm responding so well to those since my diagnosis is kind of general, just DES. Maybe you and I have different underlying reasons for dry eye. I'm in the process of being evaluated for possible Sjogren's Syndrome.

Mary in VA

[Hopeful2]

Jesslin,
I read somewhere that that the fish oil was good for inflammation and that flax seed oil was good for adding lipids to the tears. It would seem that a combination of the two is a good thing. As far as I now flax seed oil does not contribute to blood thinning the way fish oil does. Sorry I'm not familiar with Theratears.

An herbalist I talked to also suggested consuming organic coconut oil (i don't know if this is omega 3 or omega6 though).

I personally doubt that taking a combination of flax and fish oil could make things worse. Also they are both pretty important in making us feel good.

[Jesslin]

Hi everyone,

I decided to come off the fish/flax oil for a couple of weeks to see what happened and the horrible dry 'thick tears' feeling has gone almost completely unless I'm in a very hot dry room. My tears now feel watery again and I can blink more freely again. The eyes look a tiny bit more bloodshot at times and maybe sting a little more I think, but this is easier to cope with than the horrible tight feeling I had before. They seem to stick a tiny bit more at night now though. It's strange...

I think what happened was - as my eyes already produce enough oil the quantity was not a problem. My oil is wrong - it comes out like oil on a puddle, all swirly and full of white grainy lumps. Having more of this grainy weird oil come out probably made my eyes feel pretty odd.

I've decided to go back on the Theratears oil caps but at a lower dose as I know it's supposed to be good for you and anti inflammatory, so I'm going with one cap a day instead of 3, so hopefully this will stop the thick feeling but aid with the stinging.

I just wish I could figure out why there are weird white lumps in my oil and why the consistency is all wrong? I've tried a few things now... Wish the fish oil was the answer.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Jess