Hi. Minor Burning Eyes - Intro

[Optic]

I'm a 24 y/o male. Eyes started burning slightly at age 17 and my overall health went down from there. I also have symptoms of autoimmune/chronic fatigue/fibromyaligia type disorders. I haven't had any surgeries. No diagnosis yet, but when the eye problem first started an eye doc told me my eyes don't produce the right sort of tears and gave me some Thera Tears Omega 3 caps. My dry eye burning makes it nearly impossible to make eye contact, partly due to life-long social anxiety disorder, but the combination of the two does that I guess. The burning goes away if I have my eyes closed so it's not as severe as other cases I've seen here, but most of the time it makes doing any kind of work whether it be homework or preparing/studying notes for a job much more difficult. Not much photo-sensitivity, but a light breeze will feel like acid. My eye sight has always been normal as far as I'm aware.

So far my treatments have been geared towards the systemic side of my problems so I don't have much experience yet with dry eye treatments and I haven't found the perfect treatment yet. The most helpful thing I've found for my burning eyes is an herb called fenugreek which I have to take with tea or garlic to get the full effect(please don't confuse this as an advertisement lol-not mentioning brands). This combo worked immediately for me within the first few minutes of taking it and lasts about half a day so I have to take it every morning and sometimes in the afternoon as well. I've been taking it almost every day for more than a year now so I'm certain it's not placebo and I'm fairly sure my body isn't building a tolerance to it. Also I think omega 3 and even other supplements/herbs work better if I take them with the fenugreek +tea/garlic combo. By "together" I don't mean mixing, just taking them separately but within ~5min of each other and letting them mix in the stomach. I've read that fenugreek has been known to reduce inflammation in mucous membranes, which is how I think it helps my eyes. Also I get a warm rushing feeling after I take fenugreek +tea (not the same feeling with garlic) which makes me think that it has some immediate beneficial effect on my blood circulation. I think green tea works a bit better than black tea. I've tried a few brands from amazon and they seem to work about the same.

OTC eye drops and one gel I tried had no effect.

This past year I began to take klonopin as needed for my social anxiety and it works temporarily to also reduce my eye burning cuz it's a CNS depressant, but not good to take 24/7 due to tolerance/addiction risk. Sometimes I drink alcohol for the same purpose, but can only do that at home and it's expensive - although I believe it to be healthier long term than klonopin. NSAIDs and tylenol have zero effect on me.

As far as causation goes I didn't do any drugs or alcohol or have sexual relations until after the dry eyes began. Was athletic, into sports, and best mile time was 5:16. On the other side if I wasn't running or lifting weights my eyes were glued to a tv/computer screen late into the night basically since I was born, but that's common now a days. I was bitten by a dog above my hip when I was 6 or 7 and had to get stitches, but I doubt that had anything to do with it. I've had 3-5 silver tooth fillings since I was around 10 that are probly mercury amalgam. One time I tried jumping off a flight of stairs and slammed my forehead into a low hanging ceiling mid-air and probly hit the back of my head decently hard on the fall; I think that happened around the time my eye burning began but I don't think it gave me a concussion. No known allergies, but I get slightly bloated/inflamed after eating wheat. That's probly more than enough for now.

Good luck everyone. Have to keep fighting simply because we've got no other choice.

[spmcc]

Hi Optic,

Welcome. Sorry that you're here.

Can I ask you about fenugreek? I see there are three different forms of it: a herb (dried or fresh leaves), a spice (seeds), or a vegetable (fresh leaves, sprouts, and microgreens). Which do you take?

As for some relief, have you tried moisture chambers? Rebecca's guide is here: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...ighlight=guide.

I wear my WileyX foam-lined glasses all day (and seal my eyes at night). The goggles help reduce burning that is caused by evaporation from an unprotected/dry ocular surface.

Good luck with everything.

[Pinky]

Hi optic,
Your treatment of fenugreek and tea is interesting. Fenugreek is thought to increase testosterone - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21312304 - and caffeine from the tea potentiates the effect. I get similar results when I take pycnogenol with coffee.

[Optic]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm planning on buying moisture chamber goggles when I have enough $ and I'll look into the pycnogenol with coffee; I've been trying to drink more coffee lately as it does help me a lot with energy and all my symptoms.

About the fenugreek, the kind I take is crushed fenugreek seeds and is already in capsules. I've also bought a pound of crushed fenugreek seeds that isn't already in capsules cuz it was cheaper and I've been using that and I think it is just as effective. It wasn't organic, but I suppose the organic kind is probly better for you.

I haven't noticed any effect of fenugreek on my libido (my libido has always been high), but it certainly helps with energy both physical and mental. I've drank both tea and coffee in the past, but neither did much for me until I began combing tea with fenugreek. The fenugreek seeds are also called methi in India and there it is a common spice used in food.

[bakunin]

Optic,

What kind of systemic treatment did you try?

"autoimmune/chronic fatigue/fibromyaligia type disorders" seems to be related. I 've reading here and there that they can be related to digestive system problem, like leaky gut, for example. Functional medicine I think addresses the problem in that way.

I'm trying right now to treat the possible systemic root cause of my dry eyes, trying to improve my digestive system, since I couldn't find any help from ophtalmologists.

[Optic]

Well fenugreek + tea/garlic is my main systemic treatment, but I've also found that saw palmetto capsules help me by reducing inflammation mostly in my lower regions (had pain during urination and bowel movements) but also in my face and scalp. I take diphenhydramine and claritin often to help me sleep and to help with a sort of allergy I believe I have. Recently I've been taking ginkgo, phosphatidylserine, and huperzine which help a lot with my cognitive energy and mental functioning in general. Nutmeg powder helps a lot with my joint pain and mildly with anxiety, but it tends to make me lazy for a day or 2 so I don't take it often. I've also been eating a carrot most days which helps my burning eyes and cognitive function slightly. I suffer from a rare disorder called POIS, but it's sort of embarrassing so I don't discuss it much.

Concerning the digestive system I used to have a lot of bloating in my belly I guess in my intestines after eating almost any food, but since I started taking fenugreek+tea and saw palmetto every day that has gone away. It does come back if I stop taking the herbs. I think fenugreek's ability to reduce inflammation in mucous membranes is also how it helps my intestines and saw palmetto is known to aid digestion.