When you're sick, are your eyes better?

[NYer]

I had the flu all of last week and I barely had to use any eyedrops! I would awaken in the morning (or throughout the day, taking naps) and just get out of bed without having to put any drops in, which was amazing for me. I was attributing this to the Doxycycline which I've now been on for two weeks. Well, today I'm much better from the flu and, sure enough, I woke up this morning and had to put drops in before I could open my eyes. So much for getting better and so much for the Doxycycline - I'm back to where I was before I was sick.

I know other people on here have mentioned similar circumstances.

So here's my theory: I'm wondering if it could be that since I was producing so much mucous in my lungs and sinuses, that perhaps I was also producing more mucous in my eyes and maybe, therefore, the mucin layer of my tears is where I normally have a defect, which was temporarily fixed by an overproduction of mucous?

(and if that's the case, instead of taking all these oil supplements, should we be taking mucous supplements? OK, that's just disgusting, forget I said it.)

[jazhou]

I had the flu all of last week and I barely had to use any eyedrops! I would awaken in the morning (or throughout the day, taking naps) and just get out of bed without having to put any drops in, which was amazing for me. I was attributing this to the Doxycycline which I've now been on for two weeks. Well, today I'm much better from the flu and, sure enough, I woke up this morning and had to put drops in before I could open my eyes. So much for getting better and so much for the Doxycycline - I'm back to where I was before I was sick.

I know other people on here have mentioned similar circumstances.

So here's my theory: I'm wondering if it could be that since I was producing so much mucous in my lungs and sinuses, that perhaps I was also producing more mucous in my eyes and maybe, therefore, the mucin layer of my tears is where I normally have a defect, which was temporarily fixed by an overproduction of mucous?

(and if that's the case, instead of taking all these oil supplements, should we be taking mucous supplements? OK, that's just disgusting, forget I said it.)

I also had the similar experience. Every time I am sick(flu for example), my eyes do not bother me that much. Do we have an explanation for this?

[Rebecca Petris]

There have been a ton of posts about this over the years as it's a common experience. I don't think there's a definitive answer but there's various ideas about it.

[Rory]

I would suggest that although dry eyes is a wearing and chronic condition...it is not usually an acute pain for most of us....

Therefore when you are really suffering intensely in other parts of your body...perhaps the eye condition doesnt feel so bad in comparison?

For me, I could easily cope with my dry eye symptoms if i knew they were only going to last for a few days....it is the neverending chronic nature that is the killer.

Also perhaps you are taking alot of paracetamol or other painkillers...which could dull the feelings?

[Rojzen]

I like that mucus supplementation idea!



Two years ago, I had a systemic haemophilus infection (devastating sore throat and cough), which, as is its wont, attacked my eyes. This was the first time in 9 years that my eyes seemed to secrete mucus, but, of course, I knew this was an infection response, and not a spontaneous cure of my DES. . .I was on Restasis, at the time, and because i developed the active eye infection, I stopped Restasis during the illness (beginning a gradual retreat from that drug), and marveled at how good my eyes felt nonetheless. . .

Anyway, there is lots to be said for acute ailments supplanting chronics. . .Homeopathic theory provides some of its own unique insights on this. . .

Recalling, with NYer's help!, how good my eyes felt when they had the mucus-inducing haemophilus infection, I can't help but like that idea of mucus supplementation.

Right now, the only way I can think of for achieving this would be Vitamin A therapy, to help reconstitute the goblet cells that secret mucin in our eyes. . .Since Dakrina is the only product available that delivers Vitamin through a high-oncotic solution that could actually get the A to where it needs to be, Dakrina would be my first line of attack. . .

I know that TheraTears was designed to help reconstitute goblet cells, through hypotonicity and other factors, but that product never did anything for me. . .I also tried Viva Drops a while back. . .These contain Vitamin A, but they did nothing for me and were irritating. . .

[Lucy]

The nasal and surrounding tissue are probably swollen and therefore hold the tears in your eyes better than in normal conditions. Therefore, your eyes are kept (more) moist. (That's one I heard and it's simple and possible without going to Harvard to check it out.)
Lucy

[NYer]

Rory, I know what you're saying...sort of like if your tooth hurts and someone punches you in the stomach, you don't notice your tootheache anymore. But this is nothing like that. I don't normally have pain in my eyes. My eyes are either dry, requiring drops, or they're not. (I won't say "or they're fine" because although I feel "fine" most of the time, obviously I have a few conditions going on there - bleph, mgb, and rosacea). I normally simply physically cannot wake up and open my eyes and get out of bed. I have to reach over with my eyes closed and grab a vial of eyedrops and put them in before my eyes will open. When I was sick, my eyes just opened and felt, basically, fine. So that's a clear-cut physical change.
I like Rojzen and Lucy's thoughts on this.

[kitty]

I had the recent pleasure of trying this flu experiment. Sure enough, I had tears rolling down my face, real tears and from both eyes, even the eye with only one plug! I haven't had to use many drops for almost a week. At least for the sake of my DES, I'm sorry to be getting over the flu.

[NYer]

Kitty, thank you for posting that. I'm really glad to hear that update for the following reason:

I wrote to Dr. Latkany (I'm a patient of his) about two weeks ago and told him that when I had the flu, it was the first time in ages that for an entire week, I didn't have to use eye drops.

He replied to me with the following statement, and I completely disagree with him:
"Most "dry" eye patients experience worsening symptoms during the flu so this will point to the fact there is more than dryness here and that is allergies."

I am printing out this thread and bringing it with me to my next office visit to Dr. Latkany. Clearly most dry eye patients experience an IMPROVEMENT in their symptoms during the flu - if I can assume that DEZ is representative of most dry eye patients!

By the way, I'd certainly appreciate if anyone else has has a "positive" eye experience while they had the flu (or cold, etc.), if they would say so here. I'd like to have more "evidence" that this is a very common occurence amongst dry eye patients and not the other way around.

Thanks!

[Rebecca Petris]

I printing out this thread and bringing it with me to my next office visit to Dr. Latkany. Clearly most dry eye patients experience an IMPROVEMENT in their symptoms during the flu - if I can assume that DEZ is representative of most dry eye patients!

Actually, I would not assume that at all. Dry eye is a wide spectrum for sure and an ophthalmologist's practice is going to be much more representative than this forum - because a site like this is going to attract more exclusively the people who have had more trouble, or more difficulty getting help, while the doctor's practice will include the whole spectrum, including a lot of people who are on their first visit/diagnosis.

It's quite true that there have been many reports of people here with better symptoms during colds/flus etc but the opposite has also been reported many times over the years.

The other factor to keep in mind is that for anything that's NOT common, as soon as someone posts about it, a bunch of other people will chime in because they will have assumed till then that they were the only one, or that it was coincidence, etc. I think there's no way to draw any majority/minority conclusion from this kind of thread - though it's extremely useful for learning about 'microtrends' experienced by many DES patients.

[shells]

NYer,

I also notice an improvement when I am sick. I actually have a cold right now and my eyes feel great. I think it is (and have had docs mention some of these things as well), my body producing more mucous, my tears not draining, and for me, producing more tears when I cough or sneeze. Maybe those aren't the good tears, but I'll take anything I can get. I was actually just discussing the sickness and eyes feeling better trend with my doc this morning. Though, as Rebecca said, we are all different. My eyes also feel better when I eat. Go figure .

-Shells

[eva b]

well, here's my 2 cents

I just got a cold, and although the dryness of my eyes seems less, because everything on my face seems to be "moist" if you know what I mean, my eyes feel slightly more inflamed - because of course the sinuses are inflamed and there's increased pressure in the entire area.

SHells: how extraordinary about the eating! my eyes always feel better when I eat something, particularly if it's something you have to chew quite vigorously, like raw fruit.

[NYer]

Shells, I'm laughing about the eating thing - that's all I needed...yet another reason to go off my diet and eat all day long!
Now, please tell me that specifically eating ice cream and chocolate cures dry eyes!

[eva b]

NYer.
I am able to categorically state that eating ice cream and chocolate alleviates my symptoms...whether this is a placebo effect, or not, though - I can't promise

[NYer]

I'm running out and buying 2 gallons of placebo right now! LOL
P.S.-I'm very happy to know that ice cream and chocolate are just as important in England.