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Much like a number of you here, it feels like I have been on this board for a very long time.
The good news is, after 4-5 years I think I am just about there!! After GP and Opthamologist visits, creams, ointments, tears, compresses and just about everything else, a few, what seem like simple things, turned out to be the answer for me. Apologies if this seems like a novel but bear with me. I would very much like to think that my learnings could help others get to the end goal much faster than I !
One of the key things for me lay in finally getting a diagnosis of Hashimotos Thyroiditis -an autoimmine disease that has also been shown to affect lacrimal gland function as a result of the associated inflammation in the body. This took close to 2 years, mostly through my own research and insistence that my GP do the required testing. Some GPs, with respect, are clueless when it comes to autoimmune issues or Thyroid disorders, and more importantly the multitude of other related illnesses or symptoms. They are happy to give you drugs and other medications to alleviate symptoms for DES but digging deeper to look at the underlying causes is a vastly different exercise - and you can't do that effectively in a 15 min consult. The specialist told me there was nothing that could be done about my Thyroid as I was not bad enough to be medicated. Many, many people fall into this category known as subclinical. Thyroid conditions, mostly of the underactive kind, have been on the rise for a number of years along with Dry Eye. There is a case for joining the dots here I speculate.
9 months ago, after hitting rock bottom with fatigue, mild depression, the usual DES and host of other miserable issues, I went to a Naturopath who turned my diet around and provided a number of key nutritional supplements that helped immensely with my overall health. After much research I also came to the conclusion that I was affected by heavy metal toxicity and have been on a nutritional plan to remove the burden of heavy metals for the last few months. More improvement, all the while noticing my eyes feeling better and better, albeit with occasional minor set backs. Added to this I have been using the following things:
- Moducare. A natural product made of plant sterols to regulate the immune system and help stem the autoimmune system attacks and inflammation associated with Hashimotos.
- High dose ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 2000-3000 mgs.
- 200mcg Selenium.
Selenium and Ascorbic acid are not be underestimated as powerful antioxidants and inflammation fighters. Of course, a good multi, fish oil and a 70% organic diet have also played their part.
I am almost there and it feels bloody great after all these years!! My best advice is you need to attack from a different angle if the old one isn't working. That is, you cannot simply rely on the drugs to mask or partly treat the symptoms. This to my mind offers no cure in the long run. In saying this, I do not mean to suggest that people affected by Lasik and other complications that cause Dry Eye in different ways aren't getting the best possible treatment. I simply suggest that this was my road to recovery and it started with taking more responsibility for my own health and nutrition, not taking no - or I don't know - for an answer and reading as much as possible.
If you had asked me a year or more ago I would have said I'm going to be stuck with DES for the rest of my life. But there is hope and there is a way back!! We all have photos of ourselves years ago when our eyes were clear and bright.
More than happy to answer questions and provide more detail for anyone that's interested.
Jamie
The good news is, after 4-5 years I think I am just about there!! After GP and Opthamologist visits, creams, ointments, tears, compresses and just about everything else, a few, what seem like simple things, turned out to be the answer for me. Apologies if this seems like a novel but bear with me. I would very much like to think that my learnings could help others get to the end goal much faster than I !
One of the key things for me lay in finally getting a diagnosis of Hashimotos Thyroiditis -an autoimmine disease that has also been shown to affect lacrimal gland function as a result of the associated inflammation in the body. This took close to 2 years, mostly through my own research and insistence that my GP do the required testing. Some GPs, with respect, are clueless when it comes to autoimmune issues or Thyroid disorders, and more importantly the multitude of other related illnesses or symptoms. They are happy to give you drugs and other medications to alleviate symptoms for DES but digging deeper to look at the underlying causes is a vastly different exercise - and you can't do that effectively in a 15 min consult. The specialist told me there was nothing that could be done about my Thyroid as I was not bad enough to be medicated. Many, many people fall into this category known as subclinical. Thyroid conditions, mostly of the underactive kind, have been on the rise for a number of years along with Dry Eye. There is a case for joining the dots here I speculate.
9 months ago, after hitting rock bottom with fatigue, mild depression, the usual DES and host of other miserable issues, I went to a Naturopath who turned my diet around and provided a number of key nutritional supplements that helped immensely with my overall health. After much research I also came to the conclusion that I was affected by heavy metal toxicity and have been on a nutritional plan to remove the burden of heavy metals for the last few months. More improvement, all the while noticing my eyes feeling better and better, albeit with occasional minor set backs. Added to this I have been using the following things:
- Moducare. A natural product made of plant sterols to regulate the immune system and help stem the autoimmune system attacks and inflammation associated with Hashimotos.
- High dose ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 2000-3000 mgs.
- 200mcg Selenium.
Selenium and Ascorbic acid are not be underestimated as powerful antioxidants and inflammation fighters. Of course, a good multi, fish oil and a 70% organic diet have also played their part.
I am almost there and it feels bloody great after all these years!! My best advice is you need to attack from a different angle if the old one isn't working. That is, you cannot simply rely on the drugs to mask or partly treat the symptoms. This to my mind offers no cure in the long run. In saying this, I do not mean to suggest that people affected by Lasik and other complications that cause Dry Eye in different ways aren't getting the best possible treatment. I simply suggest that this was my road to recovery and it started with taking more responsibility for my own health and nutrition, not taking no - or I don't know - for an answer and reading as much as possible.
If you had asked me a year or more ago I would have said I'm going to be stuck with DES for the rest of my life. But there is hope and there is a way back!! We all have photos of ourselves years ago when our eyes were clear and bright.
More than happy to answer questions and provide more detail for anyone that's interested.
Jamie
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