Tweet
Hi everyone! I've been lurking for, wow, a few years now, but wanted to finally make an account and reach out to you, since lately my symptoms have felt really unbearable?
A bit of background about me: I’m a 25-year-old female who has been dealing with dry eye for two years now. I still remember the exact day I started experiencing symptoms, and I’m sure many of you understand... it’s completely changed my life. It really, really gets me down... it prevents me from socializing and working effectively--it even affected my choice in grad school. I had to turn down a great program in the midwest because I just knew my eyes couldn’t handle the winters. Honestly, the thought of spending the rest of my life this way terrifies me.
My eye doctor has diagnosed me with “moderate” MGD. I have no problem with actual tear production; ever since I was a kid, my eyes tear up a lot even when I just laugh, my eyes make a ton of tears. So it isn’t a problem of quantity as much as quality, it’s all about the oil production and gland blockage. There is oil when my doctor expresses the glands, but for some reason my glands aren’t functioning properly.
My biggest question for the forum is about Aldactone/Spironolactone. I’ve been on birth control since I was 15 due to an unrelated medical issue, and started taking Spiro two and a half years ago to help with hormonal acne. It completely cleared up my face, but about a year after I started taking it, I developed dry eye. (If it helps, I was at 50MG originally, then went up to 100MG. The change in dosage did not coincide with the onset of the dry eye.)
My question for you guys is this: what do you think the likelihood is that Spiro might have caused my problem? Have any of you experienced an onset of MGD in conjunction with starting Spiro, or on the flipside, are any of you taking it now with no negative effect for your eyes?
It’s Spiro’s role as an androgen blocker that concerns me. Since my problem is clearly with the meibomian glands, and I assume Spiro helps with acne by halting or altering the production of oil in the face by blocking the androgen, I’m worried that the medication might have messed with the functionality of my oil glands or with the androgen levels in my lids. (I was tested and my hormone levels are all normal, but I know localized areas of the body can still be deficient.)
Every doctor I’ve asked, my eye doctor and my dermatologist included, are incredibly skeptical that Spiro had anything to do with the onset of my dry eye or just dismiss the idea outright, especially because my eyes actually are producing tears, so the diuretic effect doesn’t seem to be relevant. But I can’t shake the feeling that the medicine might have played a role in this, mostly because of the androgen connection. I’ve been off Spironolactone for over a year now and haven’t seen any improvement in my symptoms; however, I know Spironolactone takes around 6 months to kick in, and am not sure if it could make some kind of permanent impact or damage on my meibomian glands?
When everything’s said and done, I’d love to believe that there’s no connection; I’d really, really like to get back on the Spiro if I can. It was a miracle drug for my face, and now I’m dealing with the same old acne and oily face again due to being off of it, along with the confidence killer of dry eye.
It might be worth adding that I feel very thirsty a lot; autoimmune disorders run in my family so I suspected Sjogren’s, but I’ve been tested multiple times for autoimmune and it always comes up negative. I don’t have dry mouth, a problem making liquid tears, or other “dry” Sjogren’s symptoms—just the persistent thirst. I suspected some form of diabetes but, again, was tested and came up negative.
I'm sorry for the long post. It’s nice to meet you all, I hope you might be able to provide some guidance!
A bit of background about me: I’m a 25-year-old female who has been dealing with dry eye for two years now. I still remember the exact day I started experiencing symptoms, and I’m sure many of you understand... it’s completely changed my life. It really, really gets me down... it prevents me from socializing and working effectively--it even affected my choice in grad school. I had to turn down a great program in the midwest because I just knew my eyes couldn’t handle the winters. Honestly, the thought of spending the rest of my life this way terrifies me.
My eye doctor has diagnosed me with “moderate” MGD. I have no problem with actual tear production; ever since I was a kid, my eyes tear up a lot even when I just laugh, my eyes make a ton of tears. So it isn’t a problem of quantity as much as quality, it’s all about the oil production and gland blockage. There is oil when my doctor expresses the glands, but for some reason my glands aren’t functioning properly.
My biggest question for the forum is about Aldactone/Spironolactone. I’ve been on birth control since I was 15 due to an unrelated medical issue, and started taking Spiro two and a half years ago to help with hormonal acne. It completely cleared up my face, but about a year after I started taking it, I developed dry eye. (If it helps, I was at 50MG originally, then went up to 100MG. The change in dosage did not coincide with the onset of the dry eye.)
My question for you guys is this: what do you think the likelihood is that Spiro might have caused my problem? Have any of you experienced an onset of MGD in conjunction with starting Spiro, or on the flipside, are any of you taking it now with no negative effect for your eyes?
It’s Spiro’s role as an androgen blocker that concerns me. Since my problem is clearly with the meibomian glands, and I assume Spiro helps with acne by halting or altering the production of oil in the face by blocking the androgen, I’m worried that the medication might have messed with the functionality of my oil glands or with the androgen levels in my lids. (I was tested and my hormone levels are all normal, but I know localized areas of the body can still be deficient.)
Every doctor I’ve asked, my eye doctor and my dermatologist included, are incredibly skeptical that Spiro had anything to do with the onset of my dry eye or just dismiss the idea outright, especially because my eyes actually are producing tears, so the diuretic effect doesn’t seem to be relevant. But I can’t shake the feeling that the medicine might have played a role in this, mostly because of the androgen connection. I’ve been off Spironolactone for over a year now and haven’t seen any improvement in my symptoms; however, I know Spironolactone takes around 6 months to kick in, and am not sure if it could make some kind of permanent impact or damage on my meibomian glands?
When everything’s said and done, I’d love to believe that there’s no connection; I’d really, really like to get back on the Spiro if I can. It was a miracle drug for my face, and now I’m dealing with the same old acne and oily face again due to being off of it, along with the confidence killer of dry eye.
It might be worth adding that I feel very thirsty a lot; autoimmune disorders run in my family so I suspected Sjogren’s, but I’ve been tested multiple times for autoimmune and it always comes up negative. I don’t have dry mouth, a problem making liquid tears, or other “dry” Sjogren’s symptoms—just the persistent thirst. I suspected some form of diabetes but, again, was tested and came up negative.
I'm sorry for the long post. It’s nice to meet you all, I hope you might be able to provide some guidance!
Comment