Evoxac users

[Jasper]

Hey Everyone,

My doctor started me on Evoxac and it is working. My eyes well up with tears and sometimes fall down my cheek ... I went from a 0 Schirmer score to having wet eyes. When I first used it I didn't notice much ... after a few days the improvement was significant. Doc said I had 0 punctate erosions at my last visit, corneas were clear. The problem is now I have severe headaches. I have always had the headaches but they seem to be worse. Especially when I wake up in the morning ... my head feels like it is splitting in two. They are bad enough that I'm taking a month off of work so I can figure out what the heck I'm going to do.

Does anyone else notice headaches with Evoxac?

[Lucy]

Hi Jasper,

I take Evoxac because I have Sjogrens (in addition to Lasik dry eye) and I get saliva from taking this med. Unfortunately, it does not help my eyes with more moisture. I am also zero Schirmers in both eyes. I do not get a headache from taking this. Lucy

[faithfully]

I also take Evoxac and have had an on-going headache for over three years. I stopped getting allergy shots and havent had the headache since. At least not like it was. My head always hurts to some degree. Never really thought about it being the Evoxac?
Still dont know if it is just b/c of the shots or what? I was told for those who get shots for mold can also get headaches.
As for taking Evoxac I cant take the whole capsule at once or I sweat terribly and then start shivering really bad. I break open the capsule and put it in a small bottle of water and sip on it.
It helps so much for the dry mouth esp. during the night that i feel I must take it.

[jenny2008]

i take evoxac.. it only helps my dry mouth --i get migraines occassionally but not from the evoxac...

[ringo]

neurotransmitter substitutes Evoxac and Salagen

i have been taking a similar medication --Salagen, and with me it also took about a week to start working, doctor said it needs a bit of time to moisten long-standing desiccated tissues.

I also had dizziness and shivers and chills and perspiration when i take it, t helps to swallow it with a lot of water, like more than 0.5 litre-- then no side effects.

I am surprised that it does not help with some people, but my doctor did say it would not help if the lacrimal glands have become largely dysfunctional due to late onset of antiinflammatory treatment. It takes more than a few years with severe dry eye to reach this stage though.

If someone with severe dry eye for more than a few years has never been given antiinflammatory therapy his glands could become unresponsive to neurotransmitter substitutes like Evoxac or Salagen.

Dani

[Jasper]

I am surprised that it does not help with some people, but my doctor did say it would not help if the lacrimal glands have become largely dysfunctional due to late onset of antiinflammatory treatment. It takes more than a few years with severe dry eye to reach this stage though.

If someone with severe dry eye for more than a few years has never been given antiinflammatory therapy his glands could become unresponsive to neurotransmitter substitutes like Evoxac or Salagen.

Dani[/QUOTE]


Dani,

Have you noticed even more improvement after having used it for awhile? I'm hoping that with continued use I might get my glands working somewhat on their own again. My doctor already wants to cut my dosage down to twice per day rather than three.

Thanks

Also, I meant to add that sometimes I get chills/sweating after about an hour of taking it ... and sometimes I notice no side effects at all. I didn't take the Evoxac this morning and still have a headache so I guess I'm back to square one on the case of head pain.

[ringo]

Jasper,

I noticed continuous increasing improvement. I went from 4-5 pills a day to only 1 pill a day within 3 months I think. After a few more months I stopped taking it altogether. Effect is sustainable. I dont feel a need to start again yet.

Also, improvement is very pronounced if combined with antiinflammatory drops like FML.

They help the neurotransmitter do its job and bind to the right receptors without being disturbed by inflammatory cytokines. In time I guess, your glands become more functional and more receptive to your own neurotransmitter acetylcholine,and with the suppression of the cytokines which interefere with its function, the glands are quite resuscitated.

Regarding your headache-- well, I do not think it has anything to do with Evoxac unless you dont drink enough water. While on Evoxac you should drink at least 3 litres a day, esp with the tablet. Dehydration may worsen your headaches greatly.

Dani

[Jasper]

Thanks Dani. There might be some hope for me after all! Some of your last post went way over my head though ... I might have to pull out the old dictionary..

[ringo]

Jasper,

Sorry for the second paragraph, might have sounded a bit scientific, it is just what i have read from research on how evoxac works. Unfortunately there are no synonyms or words to replace the medical terms with.I also struggled to understand what it means and used a dictionary

There is hope for you,of course!
I thought there is no hope for me about a couple of years ago, but Salagen (like Evoxac) has been a life saver. I have never imagined the improvement I have now is possible.

You will have consistently wet eyes soon

Dani

[tearless2]

exovac for me?

I have aqueous deficient dry eye, am taking restasis and am quad plugged. I may have sero-negative sjogren's (blood tests don't show anything) or maybe it's from prolonged contact use/ previous accutane. Not sure.

I don't have dry mouth but can I still get exovac prescribed to me? Might it help? Can an opthamologist or general practitioner prescribe it or does a rheumatologist prescribe it?

It seems like the website for it only talks about it for dry mouth. Where can I find info on it helping with dry eye in order to show doctors?

Thanks for the info. Dani, glad you are writing again - I always look forward to your posts.

[Jasper]

Hi tearless2,

My opthalmologist called my GP to make sure I was healthy (other than the dry eye) before he would prescribe Evoxac. I don't have dry mouth and my Sjogrens tests came back negative but they still gave me the prescription.

There have been a few studies in regards to Evoxac and dry eye, just do a little research online with those key words.

There are side effects ... some of them are quite alarming. When I first started taking it I experienced severe chills and profuse sweating but it seems to happen less and less now.

Good luck to you.

- Jasper

[willwork4tears]

I use Evoxac 30 mg 3x a day. I don't have the nausea/colds sweats with it. I did experience these with the Salagen/pilocarpine...somewhat w/ 5 mg dose, especially w/ 7.5 mg dose.

Neither Evoxac nor Salagen increased tearing. I only notice a change in salivation.

I sometimes get migraines, but it is definitely not from the Evoxac.

[tearless2]

Thank you do much for the responses. I think I will take a closer look at the side effects for salagen and exovac and think about talking to my rheumatologist about it.

Sometimes I think I have a dry mouth and then other times I don't. My rheumatologist asked me if my tongue ever stuck to my mouth and I said "no" and then he said he didn't recommend any meds for me. I would love it if salagen and exovac would increase tears though!

[zoso967]

Pilocarpine Eye Drops Orally

First, my story (short version). I had lasik in 2/2006. I was on 2 antidepressants @ the time. Not surprisingly I developed dry eyes.
I am still on 2 antidepressants which cause bad dry mouth and exacerbate my dry eyes.

My Lasik surgeon gave me pilocarpine eye drops to reduce the size of my pupils at night (HOAs).
It worked too well and I could barely see through the pin holes.

However, I realized Salagen is just pilocarpine in a pill form I decided to see if anyone had used the drop orally.
I found an study that said "The ophthalmic preparation was as effective as the oral, and was one-tenth the cost of the oral."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9086444

So, I decided to try it and guess what. A single drop of 1% pilocarpine ophthalmic in my drink made my eyes 50% subjectively more moist.
Enough so that I actually forgot about my eyes for several hours. This is the weakest formulation.

The only effects I noticed were less dry mouth, less dry eye, slightly reduced pupil size and mild upset stomach.
So, I tried using it sublingually (under the tongue). And guess what. It still worked.
I did swallow some and it does taste bad but it worked and I had less upset stomach.

I am going to experiment some more but if this works its a very inexpensive and effective solution to a terrible problem ... for me ...