I am so grateful to have found this site.

[Warren]

Just a month ago I started suffering from dry eye. Two weeks before that I started on levothyroxine because I had abnormally high thyroid stimulating hormone. I don't know if the two are related, but I am having a blood test tomorrow to see that the levothyroxine is at the right level. My understanding is that either too high or too low thyroxine can be involved in dry eye. So far for the dry eye, I have been using Optive eye drops as needed (two or three times a day). I have an inexpensive personal humidifier on my desk at work, and I am going to start using goggles tomorrow. I tried using the warm compresses, but they tended to make my eyes feel worse, and I didn't feel any real benefit. I seem to have some kind of stye in the lower corner of my right eyelid that I will need to point out to the ophthalmologist, who I am seeing in a week and a half. I have already seen an optometrist who was well-meaning but really didn't provide me with any useful information. Everything I am doing to deall with the symptoms I learned from this website.

I am really grateful for this website and for everyone who is willing to share his/her stories, experiences, and knowledge. I have learned much so far and plan to keep learning and sharing my own experiences. Thanks!

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi Warren - welcome & thanks for posting!

Sounds like you're doing all the right things... I'm glad you're seeing another dr. soon and hope the visit proves useful. Re: warm compresses - from a 'feelgood' standpoint everyone is different (seems to make some feel better, some worse, some indifferent) but from a therapeutic standpoint it's all about whether it's simply necessary to clear out clogged glands - if it's really a sty the MD may advise you to start those up but I think you're quite right to not do it unless needed

It will be interesting if you do end up seeing any correlation between the thyroid level / thyroid med & dry eye. Theoretically one would think that UNtreated thyroid disease ought to be the dry eye culprit, i.e. when thyroid is optimized with supplements shouldn't it go away? but in practice lots of us hypothyroid types have poor lid closure, to say nothing of the hyperthyroid types who tend to have it a lot worse, even if we've been stable on hormone supplements for forever and a day. - Also has to be said that for a great many people with dry eye - at least this is what I personally believe - the causes are multi-factorial BUT the onset gets linked to one final trigger that put it over the edge into fullblown symptoms and the symptoms stick around even when that last trigger goes away because the other causes remain. Might be that way for you, maybe some incipient MGD building up over time for whatever reason and then the thyroid med you started kicked it over the edge? Or maybe it's levothyroxine itself for some reason. Maybe sometime down the road WHEN your thyroid is stable AND IF your eyes continue dry it might be worth trying a different kind of thyroid supplement.

Have you ever had a stye before?

[Warren]

Thanks Rebecca, for your comments. Yes, I have had a stye before, in my left eye, whereas the new ones are in my right eye (if they are indeed styes).

I'm sharing my story, not out of a feeling of self-importance, but to share my knowledge, understanding, and experience. I believe that the non-expert has a tremendous amount of knowledge that is worth learning about, as long as we always keeping in mind that the specifics of each person's situation will be different and may not apply to us personally. I have learned so much from everyone else's comments.

I know what you mean about untreated thyroid is more likely to be the dry eye culprit than treated. Just had a blood test yesterday to see if the level of levothyroxine is right; will get the results in a few days. Maybe I still have too low a dose?

I agree that dry eye in my case is possibly multi-factorial. Here are more details of my situation. When my dry eye first started I
had been working in our attic; I was moving around old loose cellulose insulation. It was
low humidity that day and huge clouds of particles were raised into the air as I shoveled the insulation about. I, stupidly, wore a face mask for my nose, but no goggles on my eyes! Then (in retrospect, how stupid can a person be? very stupid if you are me) I had a nap without rinsing my eyes out or washing my face. That night I slept on the pillow I had had the nap on. I am certain cellulose particles were on the pillow. My eyes complained a little the next day, a Sunday, but I thought nothing of it.

When I got into work at the community college the next Monday, I found that the ventilation system vent was dumping air forcefully and directly onto my face, where I sit at my desk. It never bothered me before, but it was so annoying and so drying of my eyes that I asked maintenance to partially close the vent, which they did. It helped a bit. But my eyes were really starting to complain. Later that week I saw an optometrist who diagnosed me with mild dry eye. He spent all of 15 minutes looking at my eyes and on my way out he quipped to his secretary "You diagnosed him correctly." I asked what he meant and he told me that the had secretary diagnosed me as having mild dry eye from the telephone conversation I had with her when I made the appointment. (This did not give me a lot of confidence in his diagnosis, although it may indeed have been correct.)

A few days later, again at the community college where I work, they began using a glue solvent during some renovation work without warning the staff who were going to be exposed. The solvent contained (according to the MSDS sheets they gave us two or three days later after I complained) 2-butoxyethanol and well as a mixture of other hydrocarbons (that the manufacturer was not legally obligated to divulge) and this mixture was distributed by the college's ventilation system into the office space where a number of us worked. At my insistence, we evacuated for two days until the solvent was no longer in the air, however, some less volatile compound is still in the atmosphere as I write this, 7 days later, although I am one of only two people who still smell it. (During the two days we were evacuated we were in a newly constructed space with new paint, new rugs, etc., the outgassing of chemicals from which made my eyes feels even worse!)

So, all in all in the last month and a half I have exposed my eyes to:

cellulose dust
air blowing directly on my eyes for 8 hours a day
2-butoxyethanol and other hydrocarbons
some other unknown chemical solvent
substances being released from new paint and new carpet
smoke from the wood stoves we use to partially heat our house

So, I am thinking that my dry eye problem is multi-factorial and if I take care of these things one at a time
eventually I will get better. I am still using Optive eye drops, personal humidifier, a break every hour, and I try to stay outdoors as much as possible. Interesting, enough, my eyes always feel good when I am outdoors, even if it is windy. Could it be the higher humidity?

I will try to keep everyone posted as to my journey. I know many of you are struggling with more difficult situations than I am. I send you all my strongest healing wishes.