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I'd like to ask whether any other dry-eye sufferers are finding that their symptoms have got worse after taking statins?
I was prescribed statins a year ago but decided not to take them because the literature said they could cause "sore eyes". This led me to think that reducing lipids in the body could affect the oil in the meibomian glands. A google search brought up one academic paper which said that statins did cause dry eye disease, and another which said that statins could help dry eye/blepharitis because they are anti-inflammatory. A couple of months ago I had a mild "cardiac event" (which might have been something else), so I started taking the statins. Nine weeks later, my dry-eye symptoms began to return, so I stopped again.
For me, it seems like a gamble between the risk of heart attack/stroke against a recurrence of the dry eye disease that (after cataract surgery) had me bedridden for two months. Three years later, my eyes feel quite comfortable, with drops about four times a day, and I dare not go backwards. On the other hand, the discomfort that made me stop taking statins could simply have been a flare up. Now, a week or so after stopping, my eyes are comfortable again.
There must be several people on the forum who are taking statins. I'd love to know how - or if - they have affected their dry eye.
I was prescribed statins a year ago but decided not to take them because the literature said they could cause "sore eyes". This led me to think that reducing lipids in the body could affect the oil in the meibomian glands. A google search brought up one academic paper which said that statins did cause dry eye disease, and another which said that statins could help dry eye/blepharitis because they are anti-inflammatory. A couple of months ago I had a mild "cardiac event" (which might have been something else), so I started taking the statins. Nine weeks later, my dry-eye symptoms began to return, so I stopped again.
For me, it seems like a gamble between the risk of heart attack/stroke against a recurrence of the dry eye disease that (after cataract surgery) had me bedridden for two months. Three years later, my eyes feel quite comfortable, with drops about four times a day, and I dare not go backwards. On the other hand, the discomfort that made me stop taking statins could simply have been a flare up. Now, a week or so after stopping, my eyes are comfortable again.
There must be several people on the forum who are taking statins. I'd love to know how - or if - they have affected their dry eye.
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