Eye drops seem to wash my eyes dry!

[IanJ]

Hi all,

I'm on Ocumed eye drops as prescribed by my eye doc.

The thing I notice with them is as follows:-

Without eye drops I usually wake in the morning without dry eyes. It's an hour or so later that I start to dry out.

However, under the same scenario if I take eye drops first thing as soon as I get up I usually end up needing to put more in BEFORE that 1st hours is up.

It's almost as if the eye drops are washing what goodness I have in my eyes first thing in the morning and leave them susceptible to drying out.

It's as if Ocumed has a lower evaporative theshhold than my normal tears.

Although.....I have to say it's hard to measure and determine all this.....my eyes are so variant....great one day.....bad the next....and for no apparent reason.

I'm at my wits end.

Ian.

[charmee]

It's not your imagination

I can't explain it, but I know what you mean when you say using eye drops makes me feel like I need to use more eye drops!

Drops just don't last long no matter what. The sensation of dryness can feel worse after having them feel moist for a while. Or they might actually be drier, because your own tear-making reflex was turned off while they were moist and is slow to start back up again-- at least that's one theory I heard.

It's a highly individual thing, using eye drops. Most of us experimented with a dozen different drops before finding one we liked. Then there's technique: for instance, I can't stand it when I get dried residue on my lashes. It took me a long time to figure out I must dry my lashes or my eyes will be worse. I've heard other people say not to drop onto the same spot. Stuff like that can make a difference.

What you say about flushing out the good stuff with drops is true too. Lots of people report that using a lot of drops feels bad. Have you tried just adding a half drop? That's all an eye can hold anyway. The "saturation dosing" that Theratears asks for doesn't work for everybody.

Sometimes, it's not the drops at all. The humidity starts dropping as the morning warms up. Maybe the heat or AC is doing it.

And sometimes, drops just don't help. I'll drink a whole bunch of water and darken the room. People love their compresses for these times.

So, I'm sure I haven't helped you a bit. I've probably only added to your confusion. But you are not the only to experience that. I hope with some experimentation you find something that helps.

Charmee

[Eli]

I will add to this discussion that "overuse" of eyedrops has been speculated to cause mucin leaching from the eye. That is, temporarily wash out some of the mucins produced by the conjunctival goblet cells. This reportedly can cause a burning sensation, and I don't see why it couldn't add to the overall dryness feeling. What "overuse" actually means though does not seem to be clearly defined and probably varies with the individual. Also, no artifical tear comes close to being as noursishing to the eye as your own. Lastly, as I have been starting to find out, even preservative free tears can be quite irritating to the eye when it gets dry. All that aside, I too have had moments when I feel like artificial tears dry my eyes out further-not something you think would happen whatever the reason.

[YGB]

I run into a similar problem with all kinds of various drops making my eyes feel dryer once the temporary soothing effect of the drop wears off.

In my case, I believe the post-drop dryness is due to my own tear-making reflex being turned off while my eyes are moist and then slow to start back up again once the artificial tear is gone (to paraphrase what Charmee described so well above). That's why my main artificial tear is not actually a drop but a mist ... Nature's Tears Eye Mist ... http://www.naturestears.com/. Gee ... I sound like a commercial

Because it is a mist, it does not flood the tear-film and mess with the tear-making reflex process. Therefore, I get relief (albeit temporary) and don't suffer from rebound issues once the mist is gone (i.e. my eyes don't feel drier than they did before using the mist).

There was a time a few months ago where I was going through 1 can every 1-2 days. My thought was to spray the mist often since my eyes were very dry and irritating rather than use drops. As my dry eye issues have improved to some degree, I now only spray my eyes a few times a day. However, I also use a humidifier at night and moisture chamber glasses about 50% of my day/night.

[shells]

Hi Ian,

I agree that eye drops can actually make your eyes feel drier. I used to put eye drops in every 1-2 hours no matter how my eyes were feeling. I thought that by staying on a schedule like even when my eyes felt good, it would keep them feeling good. I found that on some days when my eyes were feeling good, I would put in a drop, and then they would start to hurt. I think that is because the drop was messing with my already fragile tear film. Usually on good days now, I try to go without drops until I actually feel I need them. I also try to only put a very small drop in when I do, so that I don't disturb the tear film quite as much. If you can tolerate a gel or thicker drop, maybe that would last longer and then you will be able to go longer in between using drops. It takes some trial and error, but I hope you find a drop and technique that works for you soon.

-Shells