Supplements - what helps?

[Bunny]

Has anyone had any success using supplements such as ThereTears Nutrition or ThereLife? What about just straight Fish Oil and/or Flaxseed Oil?

I started having dry eye problems about 5 months ago. Since then I have put myself on a regime of all of the above. However, according to one eye doctor I might be getting too much Vit E so I need to cut some of it out. Trouble is, none of the doctors seem to know how much of any of the supplements might help!

If anyone has had success with any please let me know! How long did it take to notice improvement? Could you really tie it to the supplements or were there other possible reasons (Restasis, etc)?

Thanks!!!

[kitty]

I have been on fish oil for some time, and have not seen any difference with the DES. My DES is of an inflammatory origin, and fish oil is a natural anti-inflammatory, so I am disappointed that it did not result in any significant changes. However, fish oil (Omega 3 fatty acids) has many other benefits such as helping raise HDL and helping to prevent coronary artery disease, just to name a few. I take it for those reasons.

[Mastiff]

I thought I saw immediate (hours) improvement with liquid flax seed oil, but since then I don't think I'm seeing any more real benefit. I spent literally $100 on supplements including fish oil, flax oil, primrose oil, black currant oil, lutein and bilberry. It may be healthy, but it's pricey too, and certainly not a day and night difference; very subtle if a anything.

One thing that actually did something was the Similasan dry eye drops. It doesn't do a lot for severe dry eye I don't think, but it made a very noticeable difference in my bloodshot eyes. Cleared them up.

[Lmchelle]

I was told by my eye Dr to give Theratears Nutrition at least 2 months. I did and saw no improvement. However I think some people have seen results with it so it may be worth a try. I have malabsorption issues due to gastric bypass so maybe that's why I didn't see results.

Wouldn't hurt to try them.

~Lori

[sazy123]

Hiya

Im seeing a natropath, originally for gastro problems, which have almost sorted them selves out, but he is also very knowledgeable and is helping with my eyes and sinuses. I am now just started to take borage oil, hemp seed oil, and omega 3 and 6 (fish oil and Evening primerose oil). The main thing that he said was to make sure the supplements are good quality and 'pure' is better, he said the ones i was on for ages were not likely to be doing much good. And have got some more from a specialist company which are better quality. Dont know if they will work any better, but its worth a try.

It turns out from going to the natropath that im dairy intolerant as well which was probaly what was making my sinuses bad. And i think something hormonal is going on which may be the crutch to my eye problems. So i may get tested for that and supplement occordingly if there is a hormone issue. coz dry eye is a very hormonal condition. we will see.

[Abbey]

Vitamins

I was taking Vitamin A and it really helped me (have currently run out and as I will only take one brand I have to wait til I'm in a major city to get some as I live rural).
When I stop taking it (as I have on a number of occaisions) my symptoms worsen which they are at the mo.
So lesson learned for me.
Hope this helps.

[np1981]

Interesting that Vitamin A seems to help you. Have you tried working into your regular diet a fruit or vegetable high in Vitamin A (carrots etc...)?

[Bunny]

Dosage of supplements?

I had an interesting week relating to supplements - a new eye doctor told me that after looking at the list of supplements I was taking that I might be getting too much Vit E and should get a Vit E tests. Called my primary care doc and they said the problem wouldn't be too much Vit E but too much Omega-3 that might cancel out the Vit E!!!! They had never run a Vit E test on anyone and "forgot" to tell me I needed to fast before it, so I haven't done it yet.

I was taking 3 TheraTears gels, 4 TheraLife capsules, 2400 mg of fish oil and 7700 mg of flaxseed a day. I'm also in week 12 of Restasis so with all of that going on, I don't know what was helping but something was definitely making my eyes feel better longer (I have low tear production and tear film breaks down too fast). I've cut back now to just trying the ThereLife and the fish oil for a few days and see what happens. I have a gut feeling the megadose of the oils might have been what was helping but can't be sure and don't want to cause some other problem by taking too much.

Anyone had a similar experience or have more information on safe doses?

[Abbey]

Re Vit A....

I also have a healthy diet but find the Vit A helps as as soon as I stop taking it my problems worsen which they did recently when I decided nothing was helping and there was no point taking anything. Have been back on my regular dose for a bit now and already the stringy mucous is back to minimal as is the other other discharge I was getting and my eyes have stopped watering constantly. I am also less dependant on my DE drops and only having to use them 2-3 times a day.
Overall I'm feeling less crappy and disgusting which has got to be good.

[Bunny]

I also have a healthy diet but find the Vit A helps as as soon as I stop taking it my problems worsen which they did recently when I decided nothing was helping and there was no point taking anything. Have been back on my regular dose for a bit now and already the stringy mucous is back to minimal as is the other other discharge I was getting and my eyes have stopped watering constantly. I am also less dependant on my DE drops and only having to use them 2-3 times a day.
Overall I'm feeling less crappy and disgusting which has got to be good.

Abbey, thanks for your response. I wish I could get back even to the stringy stage. Mine are just plain dry - little to no moisture at all. I got rid of everything this week but a regular vitamin, calcium pills and the flaxseed oil - heavy dose...7700 MG Omega 3, 2170 MG Omega 6 and 2240 Omega 9 and after 3 days it might be helping. I also changed the ointment I was using at night from Muro to just Baush & Lomb ointment, so not sure if it is that or some other factor. At least I've narrowed it down somewhat. Next step will be to stop the flaxseed and see if that really is making a difference. I'll wait a week or so to try that -- it sure is trial and error!!

[Kevin]

Similasan

Hi! I see you said Similasan seenmed to help. I am considering buying some but wanted to know if there were any side effects? Did you have any issues?
thanks

I thought I saw immediate (hours) improvement with liquid flax seed oil, but since then I don't think I'm seeing any more real benefit. I spent literally $100 on supplements including fish oil, flax oil, primrose oil, black currant oil, lutein and bilberry. It may be healthy, but it's pricey too, and certainly not a day and night difference; very subtle if a anything.

One thing that actually did something was the Similasan dry eye drops. It doesn't do a lot for severe dry eye I don't think, but it made a very noticeable difference in my bloodshot eyes. Cleared them up.

[Mastiff]

No, no side effects. I think it's pretty mellow stuff.

[maggie123]

Maggie123

Hi Bunny
As I have had dry eye problems and severe corneal problems for20 years I will, at this stage, try ANYTHING. I read something on this site, quite a while ago by a patient who had written about STEM CELL ENHANCEMENT THERAPY. It is only available in the US so I sent for a couple of bottles. After two months I noticed a huge improvement. My eyes began to whiten up and discomfort levels almost gone. Unfortunately something went wrong and I have now been struggling for two months to relieve pain and remove severe redness.

I do not think this was in any way related to Stem cell stuff. I have suffered from this condition in varying degrees for 5 years.

It may be worth a try.

[KyleDryEyes]

Spinach

Interesting about the vitamin A because I thought I noticed some relief when I was on a spinach eating kick. It has a lot of vitamin A in it. I'm going to eat a bowl of spinach tonight