Eyes less dry when not using eye drops?

[dgreen97]

Hi everyone,

I think i've read on here before about this but wanted to ask to get your opinion. I had been using eye drops for a little over a year and noticed my eyes felt more dry when using them than when not using them. I started using eye drops when I went to the doctor and she told me my eyes looked dry so she recommended putting in liquid gels at night. After that I started using eye drops every day. A couple weeks ago though I stopped using them because it seemed I wasn't getting benefit. I do believe my eyes have felt better not using them than when I did use them.

Does this make any sense? I thought the drops were supposed to add more moisture and tears to your eyes but it seems when I used them that whenever I put drops in my eyes would feel more dry after that which brought on a cycle. The cycle would be that the drops made my eyes dryer so I would have to keep putting more in so I wouldn't feel that effect. Anybody else have this happen to them?

thanks

Alex

[Spoon]

Yea i get that a lot too and i think it basically comes down to the idea that tear film stability is more important than tear volume. Tears are complex and putting in drops disrupts whatever degree of lipid layer and tear stability you have. However there are more sophisticated drops out there (like viscoadaptive drops) that work on stability too. You could try putting in drops and then following that with a lipisomal spray (like 'Tears Again')

[ryanross]

My eye doctor told me that I had dry eyes about 6 months ago, causing redness in my eyes. At the time, my eyes never felt dry. He told me to use artificial tears 4 times a day, and ever since then my eyes have become noticeably dry and bothersome, so I suspect that the drops may have caused me some problems. It feels like the more I try to battle the dryness with tears, the more I notice the dryness.

[nycdryeyegirl]

Hi everyone,

I think i've read on here before about this but wanted to ask to get your opinion. I had been using eye drops for a little over a year and noticed my eyes felt more dry when using them than when not using them. I started using eye drops when I went to the doctor and she told me my eyes looked dry so she recommended putting in liquid gels at night. After that I started using eye drops every day. A couple weeks ago though I stopped using them because it seemed I wasn't getting benefit. I do believe my eyes have felt better not using them than when I did use them.

Does this make any sense? I thought the drops were supposed to add more moisture and tears to your eyes but it seems when I used them that whenever I put drops in my eyes would feel more dry after that which brought on a cycle. The cycle would be that the drops made my eyes dryer so I would have to keep putting more in so I wouldn't feel that effect. Anybody else have this happen to them?

thanks

Alex

Hi!

What was the name of the eyedrops you were using and did they contain preservatives ? The reason I am asking this question is that I noticed that when I was using eyedrops with preservatives it seemed to make my eyes much drier (I am allergic/sensitive to the BAK preservative that is found in alot of topical eyedrops).

For example, in the past I've used Systane eyedrops as well as Lotemax steroid eyedrops that contained preservatives and found my eyes feeling much drier after I had used these products.

I am currently using preservative-free natural tears eyedrops made by CVS and I find my eyes less dry, so perhaps this product might help you if your eyes start to feel dry again.

Pam

[calli66]

I remember my first dry-eye doc back in 2005, who has dry eyes himself. He was one of those who advocated using drops every hour. Kept a vial of TheraTears in his white-coat pocket.

The first sample of artificial tears I got from the docs was TheraTears. I remember reading on the package that you had to basically flood the eyes with tears very frequently. I don't know if those directions are still on the package, but I think that's where so many doctors got this idea that you have to use the drops every hour all day long. The ad copy on the TheraTears pretty much "promised" that if you followed the directions, it would practically "cure" dry eyes.

By now, though, I've learned what Spoon said so well:

"...it basically comes down to the idea that tear film stability is more important than tear volume."

Calli

[regina]

me too

There must be two types of dry eye...one where the the consistency of the tear is more important than just your eyes being wet. I also feel worse with drops no matter what type I use...so I can totally concur with you!

I remember my first dry-eye doc back in 2005, who has dry eyes himself. He was one of those who advocated using drops every hour. Kept a vial of TheraTears in his white-coat pocket.

The first sample of artificial tears I got from the docs was TheraTears. I remember reading on the package that you had to basically flood the eyes with tears very frequently. I don't know if those directions are still on the package, but I think that's where so many doctors got this idea that you have to use the drops every hour all day long. The ad copy on the TheraTears pretty much "promised" that if you followed the directions, it would practically "cure" dry eyes.

By now, though, I've learned what Spoon said so well:

"...it basically comes down to the idea that tear film stability is more important than tear volume."

Calli

[dgreen97]

i've actually used both preservative free drops and preservative drops. preservative free are a lot more expensive obviously so i don't tend to buy them that often (especially since you have to use a whole vial at once which is a waste for me). Most recently I was using regular systane lubricant drops and i had that problem where they tended to feel more dry afterward. I think I get that feeling when you put drops in that your eyes have to feel "wet" all the time otherwise they're dry. I don't think thats entirely true... maybe your eyes don't have to feel wet in order to be adequately protected. I think thats one way I went wrong.

ryanross i feel exactly the same as you do. the more i take care of the dry eye problem the worse it seems to get. maybe its because when you take care of it all the time you're always worried and in your mind it makes it seem worse than it really is. perhaps thats why i feel my eyes have gotten better after dropping tears out completely. the same thing happened to me.. i went into the doctor and she said my eyes were dry so she told me to start using liquid tears at night and drops during the day. the more i used them the more i felt like i had to put in.

i guess it really comes down to that drops for me last only like 5 minutes or less 95% of the time. i'll put them in and then it will feel good.. very short while later that disappears and then i'm back to where i was again.

I'm wondering what you guys go through day to day as well.. do some days feel worse than others like there isn't any consistency to it? my dry eye feels pretty random. like today my eyes were noticeably more dry than yesterday. sometimes i have really good days where i feel great and then others make me want to start using drops again throughout the day. i'm trying to resist though because i think its possibly making the problem worse. what are your thoughts?

[dgreen97]

ryanross.. i was also thinking that the reason you didn't notice the dryness was because you weren't thinking about it at all. nobody alerted it to you so it never crossed your mind they could be dry. however when the doctor told you that your eyes were dry and that you should put drops in, all of a sudden your eyes started getting dryer and dryer. i think ignorance is bliss in a lot of these situations.. obviously you want to take care of yourself but trust me not worrying about every little thing that is wrong with you can be a very good thing... especially for a person like me with OCD. thats why i don't hunt on forums anymore looking for information. i just talk on here once in a while

[alisonW]

dgreen97...

FYI - You can use the opened vial of drops for 12 hours. I open one and use it until it's gone - one usually lasts me the entire day.

[dgreen97]

oh i wasn't worried about it expiring i worry about it getting contaminated and then putting it into my eye.