Epstein-Barr virus infection (mono) causing chronic dry eye. (also lyme disease)

[waterbee]

i just wanted to write a brief post on us that might have (maybe without knowing) mono virus (also known as EBV) it's possible to have this and not even be aware, i found out recently i have active mono ( i didnt know dry eye could be a symptom). ive been doing some reading and looking into this and have found a few stories of people who developed dry eye after mono was reactivated (90% of us have this and only have it once in childhood, after which is goes into a dormant form, never to bother us again. for some of us though, stress, illness or unknown factors retrigger it and it becomes active and chronic) i wanted to put that out here, incase anyone wants to check they have it too, since its only a blood test which can tell you for sure and it may be a stepping stone to recovery from dry eye.

im going to be having some anti viral IV treatment to try and sort mine out and it will be very interesting to see if this improves the dry eye.

id like to point out i also found out i have lyme disease, which can sometimes reactivate mono. (since it weaken the immune system) ive had treatment for lyme and the pain in my eyes improved ALOT (i do not really get any pain now, though my eyes are still dry) so if you're having other issues as well as your dry eye (tired, joint pain, headaches, ect) ( - though lyme can mimic most conditions and is known as the "great pretender" and is very hard to diagnose with unreliable blood testing (my test was neg the first two times when done with the NHS) ) its worth doing some reading on this whole subject. if i have any sucess of course il come back and update you all. im early into treatment (lyme takes around 2 years to fix) so it a bit soon to go into a lot of detail right now and then when you add the EBV (mono) too it, its a long road.

hope this helps anyone looking for answers. i remember my optometrist told me my dry eye pain aspect would never go away. now, i dont even think about it.

[waterbee]

just a quick update, im 3 weeks into my antiviral iv and im improving. cant say for sure if its the antivirals as also trying some of the honey eye drops and detox saunas (but will know as time goes on which one is helping and which isnt not no doubt or if this is just all chance.) will update you guys if interested in a few months time.

[hipokrytus]

Thanks for the update. I hope it works for you.

[waterbee]

just wanted to give a quick update. the IV aciclovir wasn't a magic cure, but i knew all ready that this antiviral doesn't work like a typical drug. (you cannot cure any virus, what the drug does is preventing it replicating as much so your immune system can take over and do the rest but this can take years.) so long story short, doing IV aciclovir for 4 weeks wont give full results (though the indication while on the iv was this is the right direction for me). so now my doctor is putting me onto the aciclovir tablets which il be on now for around a year. long time right? will update in 2018.