Why does Mucinex-D help with my dry eyes?

[Jen731]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum. I have been experiencing dry eyes for almost 2 years. My eye doctors have told me that I have ocular rosacea, lipid deficiency and also I do not close my eyes all the way when I blink. I have tried tons of treatments that do not work: IPL, numerous eye drops, etc. I won't get into all that here. One thing I did notice was about a year ago, I started getting a bad cold. My eyes feel horrible when I have a cold due to all the sinus pressure. I took Mucinex-D, expecting it to completely dry me out even more and make my eyes feel worse, but the opposite happened. After 2 or 3 days of taking Mucinex-D, my eyes started to water and actually felt about 50 or 60% better. I didn't really attribute this to the Mucinex until late last year when I got another cold and decided to take it again. The same effect happened. I only took it for about 5 days this time. The 5th day, I wore my contact lenses to church and kept them in about 5 hours. When I went to take them out, the contacts were still wet which never happens! That's when I started to wonder what exactly the Mucinex-D was doing. I told my eye doctor this and he said he had never heard of that, he would assume that Mucinex-D would make my eyes drier. At his suggestion, I tried regular Mucinex (with the guaifesin) and it did not help at all. So now I know that it's the pseudophedrine that is helping my dry eyes. My obvious dilemma is, I do not want to take Mucinex-D every day and even if I did, it would not be possible considering you have to sign at the pharmacy every time you buy it. Does anyone know of a natural remedy that would act like pseudophedrine and break up the mucus in the sinus cavities? I did try the dissolvable NAC tablets (Pharma-NAC) for a few days and I did not feel any difference in my eyes (though it did make me horribly depressed, which can be a side effect). At the beginning of all this dry eye mess, I did go to Vanderbilt Eye Clinic and asked the dr. there if my dry eye could be sinus-related and he said that wasn't possible. My current eye doctor did say that only the glands at the inner part of my eye near my nose are clogged which could explain the sinus connection. I do suffer from allergies as well and use compounded Ketotifen eyedrops (no BAK) in my eyes everyday.

Any help you guys can give would be greatly appreciated! This forum has been a great help to me.

[Mawsky]

Im wondering if the decongestant that you can get over the counter without signing for it which is psuedophed PE would work the same? No matter what the Dr says if it works for you it works! Just because they have never heard of it, or no studies have been done doesn't mean that it isn't something for them to look into, this makes me really angry, because there have been a lot of medications that were used for one thing, and when people started using it discovered it did something else for them. please keep us informed on what you decide to do about this. and if you find out any more about it.

[littlemermaid]

My current eye doctor did say that only the glands at the inner part of my eye near my nose are clogged which could explain the sinus connection

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoephedrine Pseudoephedrine constricts the walls of the veins, I think. That's why they say don't use it with heart problems. It gets the mucous moving out that way.

Wiki says mucolytics Guaifenesin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaifenesin and N acetylcysteine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylcysteine may work by thinning mucous and making it more viscous so it passes out more easily. Maybe the stronger combo dose of Mucinex-D also brings down the over-inflammation around and behind the eyes in the sinuses and allows the fluids to get working again? But taking it every day might lead to side effects listed including kidney stones. Ew. Some Pharmacists like talking about effects and side effects now if you can find a good one.

Specialists sometimes don't want to think tissues and fluids are connected and work together and just stick to 'their bit' only unless they're really good, so your eye doc sounds on the job if you're both thinking together about allergies and sinuses. It would be worse if they were not honest about what they don't know.

Does anyone know of a natural remedy that would act like pseudophedrine and break up the mucus in the sinus cavities?

My other d. (not the dry eye one) has bad sinus congestion with colds and gets infection so we use menthol crystals (only 1 or 2!) dissolved in a bowl of hot water and she inhales the steam with a towel over her head. Messy but works OK.

there have been a lot of medications that were used for one thing, and when people started using it discovered it did something else for them

So true, Mawsky. Always makes us cringe when a junior doc says 'there's no evidence...' Almost as bad as, 'they wouldn't use it if...'

Jen, Are you very uncomfortable or are you getting around using the treatments and wraparound glasses etc?