Dry Eyes, Post-Op

Has anyone else had problems with their eyes drying out after surgery? I wear contacts, and feel like I am always looking for my drops because my eyes feel dry. I've even tried changing to a new pair - no luck there.

Is this a loss of hormone thing, or just a temporary issue that will clear up?

Hi , My guess is that it is a hormonal thing. Low estrogen levels will cause dryness in all of your mucus membranes. I am having the same problem with my contacts. When I had my hysterectomy I was right in the middle of perimenopause and was experiencing the dry eyes thing then, too. Hopefully, once I get my hormones balanced :balanc: and settled down my eyes will feel better (among other things). If you are concerned I would definitely check with your doctor .

s and Blessings to you, Lisa

I am experiencing dry eyes. It is not fun! I have read it is due to low testosterone.

Actually, it's low estrogen. I had it, too, even on HRT, because of the blood/eye barrier -- meaning the eye is poorly supplied by blood vessels so it's very hard for the estrogen to get in there.

IMHO this is exactly analagous to the vaginal dryness problem, for which many of us use vaginal estrogen, and the best solution would be eye drops containing estrogen. However, while there is a DR who has a patent on them, they've never been made commercially.

One thing you might try is Similasan dry eye drops, which contain a homeopathic dose of Belladonna. Interestingly, oral Belladonna is sometimes prescribed for hot flashes in women who cannot use HRT.

If that doesn't work, another avenue to try, which ultimately worked great for me, is punctal plugs. They are fitted by an opthalmologist and covered by many insurance plans, and work by preventing the little bit of moisture your eyes do make from draining away through the punctal ducts. Mine are called SmartPlugs:

http://www.agingeye.net/dryeyes/smartplug.pdf

I had temporary plugs fitted first to make sure I could tolerate them and they would work. They were great, so I then had the permanent ones fitted. I just went for my two year checkup after having them fitted, and they're still doing great.

I hope this helps.
s,
-Linda