Dry Eyes, Digestive Problems and Probiotics

[spmcc]

I'm going to visit an eye doctor soon, it's the first time ever that I'm visiting an eye doctor, what do you guys think I should say exactly?

Check out The Dry Eye Zone's homepage: http://www.dryeyezone.com/

From there, you can read about getting a diagnosis: http://www.dryeyezone.com/encyclopedia/diagnosis.html .

You can also take Rebecca's list of questions to an ophthalmologist:

1) How is my tear quantity?
2) Do you see any dry spots?
3) Can you check for staining?
4) Can you press on my meibomian (oil) glands? Are they releasing oil? Is the oil clear and flowing freely? If not what does it look like?
5) Do you see inflammation?
6) Do you see signs of allergy?

Good luck!

[Andrey]

Is zithromax the same as erythromycin?

Can't we dig deeper into this? As I said before, I took azithromycin for 24 days and I felt insanly good in my eyes, but then after a few weeks after my cure was finished problems came back.. What is the solution to keep the result? Can you take antibiotic for months and maybe then you kill all the bad bacterias? Maybe I took it too short???

[Thirsty]

I think in my case and possibly for yours a antibiotics is the culprit for our eye problems. Have you noticed any digestive issues? Maybe it is Antibiotic Associated Diarrhea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibio...iated_diarrhea I believe I had that for about 5 weeks and finally took some florastor. It has helped with the diarrhea, but not everything.

I think it's my problem. I took Amoxicillin for a long time as a teenager for acne. Then about 7 months ago now I was put on a tetracycline for about a month. I had some varying digestive issues before, but nothing this bad until the tetracycline. It solved my other problem, but now I have dry eyes, dry mouth, ringing in my ears and occasional diarrhea... I just started to use Align, with the Florastor. I was using another probiotic but it didn't seem to help much so I switched to Align. All the research I have done says that for the most part, probiotics aren't dangerous (of course, I am not a doctor) and I decided it's worth trying.

Let us know if anything helps--i'm kind of just experimenting. Modern medicine can solve some problems but with digestion and antibiotics it seems that they don't know enough yet.

[Andrey]

Just copying my text from other thread.

Littlemermaid, no I'm not taking anything right now because I'm sure it won't help me anyways. I took crill oil for some weeks but didn't notice any difference, and I don't dare to test flaxseed because then I might get my acne back and it won't go away if I don't go another accutane cure, and let's say that I really don't have the energy for that. =)

What about this? http://www.eyecareeducators.com/site...ysfunction.htm

Is it easy to get this from a doctor?

I have said before that azithromycin helped me a lot and while I ate it my eyes were feeling close to perfect, but as soon as I stopped taking it, problems slowly came back. I got a PM from a nice person that told me that he/she had been taking antibiotic for 20 years for his/her MGD. I think the person took doxycycline. Is it possible to take azithromycin for years as well? I don't want to try doxy because I've seen several people saying azithromycin is better and since I know it worked great last time, I wanna try it again. I don't know what is best though, to order the pills that you just swallow or the thing that you put in your eyes. What do you think is the best option?

[Seavie]

Why do you think the night time gel was hurting your eyes? I'm super curious about this!

I feel like the more drops I put in, the less inflamed my eyes are, the more they can heal, etc.

My eyes pop open at night so I definitely need some sort of protection there... I've been doing a combination of tape and sterile petroleum jelly.

[Thirsty]

Obviously everyone is different. I think that since my problems are connected to my digestive system, there isn't a mechanical or chronic issue specifically with my eyes, but a system wide "fight of flight" response to not being able to extract enough protein, nutrients, etc out of the food during digestion due to Antibiotic Associated Diarrhea (again this is my theory).

I also think stress was/is part of it--being required to put stuff in my eyes and keep them shut once I put it in was stressful to me. I couldn't really do a good job of it myself, so if I had to go away from my wife, it was even more stressful.

Anyway, back to the gel. The gel, without question for me, was making my eyes dryer. It was definitely good as a physical barrier while sleeping, but I think I used it much longer than I needed to. I struggled and struggled until one day I realized the more drops and stuff in my eyes I used, the worse they got. So I started out trying not to use drops at all by being in a humid place, using humidifiers etc. My eyes started doing a little better, but at night they got much worse. Finally after a few weeks of trying not to use drops, I was able to go through the day without using them. I'd still get a little dry at night, but I would just basically ignore it until sleep time. Finally, I was reading on this site and decided that maybe I could try to go without the white petroleum in my eyes at night. I bought Theratears Gel, which is quite a bit thicker than a regular drop. I put that in at night instead of the petroleum. Maybe three weeks of this, one night I ran out of Theratears Gel, I though I had more. I decided to take some tylenol PM and see if I would make it through the night without my eyes freaking out.

I did. And since then, I haven't touched any drops or gel or petroleum.

I haven't worn contacts since all of this began either.

If your eyes are opening at night, that's much different than the problems I had/have.

I can only tell you my experience--of course, everyone is different.

Stick in there, don't give up fighting. Keep a positive attitude. You eyes want to be healthy as much as you want them to!

[eye_allergy-kids]

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...1662#post71662

[farmgirl]

HI Ronnie: I was reading your post and I think that you are on the right track in fixing your gut with the probiotics but it seems to me that you might be missing part of the equation. Have you ever researched bovine colostrum to actually heal the gut and kick start your immune system then using the probiotics to keep it healthy. Here is a link that you might find interesting http://www.icnr.org/all-about-colostrum/ check it out and good luck in your quest...F/G

[Thirsty]

Hi All,

My eyes have slowly gotten much better. If you read above, you can see that I stopped using drops and gels in my eyes and that was my first step to getting better. Then I started taking probiotics. The one I started with was Florastor, which stopped my diarrhea. I'd had 6 weeks of it due to either a virus or what I've now know, which is my intolerance for ice cream, milk, and things of that nature. I've been using various probiotics sine, because I believe that antibiotics killed my good flora (along with an infection which I had).

I have used Culturrelle, Align, Pearls, and I was recently told by my gastroenterologist about VSL #3. VSL 3 is a very strong probiotic and I recommend starting with some of the other ones first. At least there are options--these probiotics aren't harmful to me as far as I can tell and strengthen the immune system which is directly linked to many parts of the body, including the eyes. I have recently (gasp) been thinking about wearing my contacts again. We'll see if I take that step or not! I have learned a lot more than I ever wanted to about my body and I can tell you I was so stressed out about all of this. I know have a constant ringing in my ears from the stress I was going through. I may see an accupunctureist to see if they can help me with that.

I just count my blessings and am thankful that I found a way to get feeling good again!

[jenny2008]

so thirsty... what probiotics are you taking now??? the VSL#3?
I am thinking of trying florastor...

[jenny2008]

i read the article where Dr. L is quoted several times.. He meantioned Lactobacillus acidophillus... i already take that..i may look into florastor as well! ronnie-you still taking florastor?

[Thirsty]

I would start with either Florastor, Culturelle, or Align. They seem to be the best ones out there (my opinion from my experience) that are on the shelf in almost every drug store. I tried Pearls too for a while, but probably not long enough to know if it was good or not.

By the way, going to Target for these (and most items) is way, way cheaper than the local drug store.

I'm currently using VSL #3, been doing so for a couple weeks now. I feel like I have more energy than I've had in the past year and I haven't been exercising for the past two years. I haven't had the energy at the end of the day. But the past couple days I have felt like I had the energy to do so. I plan on starting to exercise again, since so much of our health is tied to being active.

I've heard they sell VSL3 at Costco. I've yet to get over there to investigate.

I think start with one of the above mentioned probiotics and see how it goes. Everyone is different--but I think that if you are having digestive issues, this is a very inexpensive and non-invasive way of seeing if it works.

Some people complain about having to pay for probiotics and the cost of becoming healthy again. I look at it the other way: I would spend my last dollar to be healthy as possible. I can always earn more money, but I can't buy a new body.

By the way, my nickname is "Thirsty" because when I signed up for this site my whole body was depraved of liquids. I was drinking water (and electrolytes) like crazy but no help. My thirst has gone away over time and I don't feel thirsty like I did anymore.

Best wishes!

[ehsan372]

hi.
i tried probiotic.it is decrease my dryeye and stomoch problem.

[alex123711]

thanks for sharing Ronnie, why do you think Florastor was the one that helped the most, from looking it up it looked like it only has one stain of probiotic: Saccharomyces boulardii so I guess it must either be that or the dosage?