Burning eyes waking up

[Lanse]

I am a new member, here is my first post, glad to join the community.

When I woke up this morning my eyes were burning really bad, all the way to work... now that i'm here a few minutes later my eyes are feeling good, I don't have to squint them. Why wouldn't they be free from burning when I wake up, they had all night to rejuvinate .

Also, I was taking flax seed supplements a while ago, and they helped alot! I thought I was cured because I no longer had burning. But then suddenly it seemed as though the supplements stopped working, now no matter how much I take my eyes feel no relief. Why would they work at first then stop?

[kitty]

At night, your eyes naturally produce fewer tears. If you have DES to begin with, tear production at night could be nearly nil. The dryness with the eyes rubbing on the lids causes irritation and burning. After you get up, you probably put in some eye drops, wash your face or take a shower. All of these can help to add moisture back and make your eyes feel better, at least for a while. You might try using a gel or ointment at night if you are not already doing so. Also the tranquil eyes or running a humidifier next to your bed can help. As far as the supplements go, did you change brands? Were there any other factors that changed, such as smoking, caffeine or alcohol consumption? Maybe it wasn't the supplements that were helping?

[Eli]

Lanse,

One possible explanation is that you have lagophthalmos, which is a condition where you sometimes sleep with your eyes slightly open. This allows the eye/eyes to dry out as you sleep. Apparently, its fairly common and very underdiagnosed, because many people who have it never complain because their symptoms are mild enough to ignore. Of course if you also have a problem with dry eye, it can become more obvious-your eyes will feel really awful when you wake up in the morning, and probably start to feel a little better as the day goes on (depends on how bad your dry eye is.) Many doctors reccomend Refresh PM at bedtime or Genteal Gel. People on this site tend to prefer Dwelle (see the dry eye shop) or Dakrina. Its also worth saying that dry eye sometimes waxes and wanes-that is to say sometimes your eyes feel sort of okay, but other times just awful, sometimes even despite the measures you are taking to help them. This seems to be the nature of the disease. Most people do notice some improvement, sometimes quite significant, with treatment, so hang in there!