Prozac and drier eyes

[Joseph]

I have recently upped my prozac does on my doctors advice because he feels I am not getting the full benefits from my low dose that I am on. After about 3 weeks of taking my higher dose my eyes have started becoming more and more dry. I asked the doctor about this but he said that that is not a side effect of prozac. Either this is a strange coincidence, or could this medication (anti-depressant) be the cause? By the way I do not believe in coincidence. Any insight would be helpfull.

[Hopeful2]

All anti-depressants have the potential to induce or aggravate dry eye. Each time dosage of antidepressants in increased, there can be a worsening of side effects.

For more info, see the link below.

http://www.naturaleyecare.com/FAQ/qu...-harm-eyes.asp

[Tanner]

They all have anticholonergic effects that can do this. Lyrica can too but but might be a better choice.

[Hopeful2]

I was on a twitter 'ask the doc' session, with Dr. Christine Northrup and Dr. Mark Hyman. I asked about anti-depressants and anticholonergic effects. One of them answered that 5-HTP can be used as an anti-depressant and that it does not have anticholonergic (drying) effects.

For those who are looking for an ant-depressant, 5-HTP might be something worth trying

[lulu]

I agree with you. I think that the addition of 5-HTP into your regime is a good alternative. I did try it but actually had to stop it at the time as it did produce some other side effects which because of the poor damaged state of my bladder meant that I had to give it a rest.
I personally hate Prozac as in my experience it has totally unacceptable side effects which most definately do not outweigh the benefits! And it was a useless anti depressant anyway. A lot of folk have noticed dry eyes when on Prozac.
Obviously people need something to help them with living with a chronically painfull condition so I am not advocating the non use of anti depressants, before anyone jumps on me! But sometimes it needs to be patiently evaluated and is a matter of ruling out those that cause the most unacceptable symptoms of dryness.
Lulu

[bvendig]

Hi all
my experience with all SSRIs has been that they completely dry my eyes and i end up having to stop taking them because it hurts too much.
I can take Xanax (which is not an SSRI) but, it tends to make me really tired.
hugs, Betty

[Schatten]

Will be an interesting time for because I am currently hospitalized for major depressions and get a full basket of pills (citalopram, valdoxan, atarax)

An eye doctor agreed with me that my DES could be mostly psycho-somatic so I don't have really another choice but to take the whole laboratory, I don't wanna walk around like a zombie all day anymore.

[lulu]

Schatten
I really feel for you because I have been very low over the years with chronically painfull eyes and bladder. I realise that you do need help when you get so low. But, do you really think that your eyes are truly psycho-somatic? you have Hashimoto's I note and this in itself can really cuase quite nasty dry eyes that flare for a very long time. I only urge you to look at all possibilities because it is easy to accept what doctors say at the time when we feel we have run out of options. IF you are being treated for depression, often other medical health professionals come to the wrong conclusion about underlying causes for physical illness and put every siingle symptom down to your head. Sometimes people start to feel better whilst they are being treated for depression and assume that it must have been connected to thier mental health state, for the physical symptoms only to surface at a later date when they do not have depression, which starts to beg the question about what really might be going on. I can think of several people including myself this has happened to. I am not suggesting you refuse medication, I dont know if you have been sectioned but even if you have, you have some rights over the medication they give you. Citolopram is not a good one for dryness, I appreciate you may not want to hear that but it is worth mentioning, ask them for alternatives, they have many to choose from, even a different class of anti d may be appropriate in your depression. Ask to work with them in finding you something you can tolerate a bit better. Some people find Atarax very drying as an anti histimine, I had it prescribed for my bladder and it was very irritating to my eyes. You do have choices, whilst the mental health team are there to care for you and help you cope, you still have a voice and they hopefully will take on board your requests.
I am thinking of you and wishing you all the best.
Lulu

[littlemermaid]

Schatten,
Steve, As Lulu says, those docs need to regulate your thyroid function, don't they. Your very variable thyroid state causes depression and dry eyes and other systemic malaise, doesn't it. My friend needs thyroid regulation and she gets astonishing relief when this is tested and cared for well but it takes a while for docs to get there because it is a slow borderline decline with various symptoms. There's even a big variation within eg 24h on depression and brain fog and she's only managing hypothyroiditis. The solution has been regular testing. I'm worried that yours are overlooking this. What's happening on the Hashimoto's, which needs very close attention? Pros, am I wrong? Love from London

[LisaLis]

Joseph, I had been on prozac ranging from 60mg to 40mg a day for over 10 years. I have to tell you I think it made my problem 95% better. I know a lot of people on here will probably disagree but I started having blephartitis about 20 years ago bad. I would have acute bouts with it on and off then took doxy, did better. After I stopped doxy I started prozac and I hardly had a problem. I just used to once and a while rinse my eyes with warm water. Well I stopped taking the prozac this past August and now I am having big problems again. Emotionally I have been doing really well and do not need it anymore. Now I'm not sure did my blepharitis come back because I'm not on the Prozac. This actually started in Nov. when I started using different makeup and I kept using it like a dope even though it was killing my eyes. I started taking 20mg of prozac again bc I'm thinking that's what got my blepharitis in check. I don't know.

[CalmerThanTheDude]

Anyone have any idea if drugs exists to reverse anticholinergic effects? Are there any drugs out there that stimulate cholinergic effects?

Update:

Actually I found out some drugs that are pro cholinergic:

“Salagen” (Pilocarpine HCl); Prescription required Cholinergic agonist MGI Pharma, Inc.
“Evoxac” (Cevimeline HCl); Prescription required Cholinergic agonist Daiichi Parmaceutical Co. Ltd.

This is listed under Salagen's and Evoxac's side-effects:

"This medication may cause an increase in tears. This can be helpful if you have dry eyes (such as with Sjogren's syndrome). Tell your doctor if runny eyes become a problem."