I found out what was causing my severe dry eye

[cts]

I had lasik about 4 years ago and thank God, it went okay. I only had mild dry eye afterwords and I use drops and that controls it. However, several weeks ago, my eyes got severely dry very suddenly. My eyes and eyelids were severely dry, burned, stung, were swollen and etc. I had trouble sleeping and could hardly get on the computer. I tried everything and nothing worked. Eyedrops that had helped before did not help.

I kept thinking about what I did differently to cause such severe dry eye that happened so suddenly. I realized my severe dry eye started shortly after taking the natural supplement psyllium husks. It seems I had an allergic reaction that was causing the very dry and painful swollen eyes and eyelids. The reason I did not suspect it was the psyllium husks immediately was because the reaction started over a week after I started the supplement. I did some research and saw that if people can have delayed allergic reactions to things that can start weeks after taking it.

I stopped taking the supplement 2 days ago and my eyes are so much better.

The reason I wrote this thread is to help others. It is very rare to have a reaction to psyllium husks like I did but other stuff can also cause it. If you started any med or supplement and the eyes got bad a week or even a few weeks later, it could be it. It could be you are having a delayed reaction to it. God bless.

[Rebecca Petris]

cts - I meant to reply to this then forgot. Thank you very much for posting about it. Interestingly enough I knew someone in northern England who had a similar experience. She basically OD'd on a product of that sort (honestly don't recall whether it was exactly the same - but "husks" triggered the memory), suffered some other side effects, and soon after, her eyes went bone-dry basically overnight.

[cts]

Dear Rebecca,
Thanks for your reply.

I have had mild/moderate dry eye ever since lasik, a few years back. But all of a sudden my dry eye went from mild/moderate dry eye to dry eye that was so severe I wanted to die from the pain! And every artificial tear I put in made it worse and burned! I realized that not only were my eyes dryer, they were allergic like and itching. Thank God they are better now.

I wonder why some supplements can cause worse dry eye. I found out the reason why many drugs cause it is because they deplete glutathione. Incidently, NAC is the precursor to glutathione and that is why it helps some people with dry eye and cataracts.

Psyllium husks is a wonderful supplement as it really helps detoxify the body and I hope I didn't discourage anyone from taking it. I think my reaction was very rare.