Fish and Flaxseed Oils

[Steve V]

I know this is probably in the archives, but couldn't find a good thread about it.

What supplements does everyone take? I take the TheraTears capsules, basically because I saw it in the stores and it says it is specifically for dry eye. Are there any better or cheaper alternatives or is the TheraTears product pretty good? Better is key, but cheaper would also be nice.

[ronny]

there are many threads on this throughout this board, but i also am very confused about what to take, maybe someone with a lot of experience can kind of summarize for us. my problem is ocular rosacea, not sure what i am supposed to be taking, and also one doctors tells me to use heat and another tells me not to, after 2 years of this, i still have no clue on what i am supposed to be doing.

[Eli]

Steve,
I have been taking dietary supplements for nearly a year now in the hopes that it would help my dry eye. The results have not been spectacular, however, combined with doxycycline, lid hygiene and Restasis, I have found some relief. So how much do just the supplements help? Who knows. As you have discovered, omega-3 fatty acids have been reputed to help ocular dryness. Both fish oil (EPA, DHA) and flax oil (ALA) have been studied and found to be helpful in some cases. Early on, I saw Dr. Jeffrey Gilbard, the founder of TheraTears. He was very excited about his TheraTears capsules, but I never noticed any substantial relief from them. That doesn't of course mean that you won't. Given the growing body of evidence that Omega-3's (and some 6's, I believe) can help dry eye, other companies have jumped on the wagon with similar products. Science Based Health (http://www.sciencebasedhealth.com/sbh/index.asp) has a dry eye product as does Biosyntrx (http://www.biosyntrx.com/). Yet another company, TheraLife, uses an herbal approach to dry eye, but recommends that sufferers use fish oil as well. See: http://www.theralife.com/enhanced.html
I tried these for a few months (Theralife) but found that the capsules made me really sick if I took them with fish oil sometimes. In lieu of any of these (and possibly other) products, I think many people just go out and buy flax and fish oil. They are not generally cheap, (of course neither are the pills). Two brands to try are Spectrum and Barleans (which I think are available on this site) As far as side by side efficacy of these products go, I couldn't tell you. I have heard that Omega3/6 fatty acids are fairly fragile and that their potency can be affected if not handled correctly. One eye doctor has also told me that he has had more success with flax oil out of the bottle vs. the capsules. I think this is definitely something which would should all learn more about in order to maximize the benefit of money spent on dry eye products. One last point of interest-if you take a daily multivitamin with some of the previously listed products, be aware that you could possibly be taking too much vitamin E as this is sometimes added to the fish/flax oil. I believe Dr. Latkany has said that anything greater than 400 IU daily is too much, but I'm sure there are lots of different opinions on this one. Just something to keep in mind. I realize I didn't really answer your questions, but at least you have another direction to go in!
Best,
Eli