I am trying to figure out my eyes feel dry/sore and very tired every day. Eye test in April and new lenses on my varifocals and now feel sight going as always seems blurry. Eyes hot feeling but dry or sometimes weepy from me blinking/rubbing but mainly feel dry.
Is it MTX or RA side effect that not thinking of. Bad enought dry mouth , now eyes and if I talk too much throat croaks. Oh well gives hubby a quiet night if I cant talk!!!
And mouth feels like I have pockets of baby but not painful ulcers or is it my mouth is peeling.
Could be methotrexate as you’ve only just started taking it. I get dry eyes and mouth now need to be tested for Sjögren’s syndrome as this is another autoimmune disease that can run alongside RD. You can get drops from Gp for your eyes and saliva spray. Chewing sugar free gum can help.
A cautionary note re chewing gum. I now have some osteoarthritis in one side of my jaw which the dentist thinks is wear and tear/repair from chewing gum ( over a 3 month period not a life long habit).
I’d give your optician a call about your sight going and everything being blurry, better to get checked out because it might not be anything to do with meds. Have you spoken to your rheumy nurse about the dryness ?
Good idea KJ...I had similar symptoms & it turned out to be cataracts.
My optician then showed me on the sight chart how bad my sight would have to be before I could get them fixed on the NHS......My first thought was to buy a white stick...but instead I started saving & saw an ophthalmologist privately & will get them done when he advises....soon I hope as it’s really difficult to keep blinking & still not get any better vision.
I think you need to talk to your Rheumy nurse Deb. These could be reactions to MTX, either that or coincidental but still I’d report these side effects you're experiencing being new to it.
It does sound like Sjögren’s syndrome, dry mouth and eyes. I have just been diagnosed after struggling for over 12 months. My eyes were very blurred and I had an infection too .
It sounds like Sjogrens to me, I have it and similar eye and mouth problems but also my ears and nose not to mention the other parts that should produce lubricating mucus. Talk to your GP and Rheumatologist, you should at least get eye drops to help. I always carry drops with me. Also drink lots of water, ginger tea helps me as does green tea... I think any fluid.
I have dry eyes. I'm not on mtx. It is a side effect of ra. The eye hospital have plugged my tear drainage ducts with tiny plastic plugs. It's a lot better but I still use drops
I had dry mouth and dry eyes ( slightly) plus multiple mouth ulcers whilst on Methotrexate ( oral). Stopped Methotrexate and these all stopped. I was also taking Folic Acid 6 days a week too.
I was diagnosed with Sjogren's quite a few years ago, I prefer to use the dry eye mist spray as opposed to the drops, as it was stting my neck pain off when putting the drops in. I also use Sterimar nasal spray for my nose, it tends to get stuffy and dry too, it's drug free and it's great for keeping my nasal passages 'normal', it's just a case of what we have to do I suppose with the all the side effects from RA.
Many people with RA have secondary Sjogrens, sometimes called sicca syndrome. I have this, along with some other AI diseases too (they often go in clusters).
Sjogrens’ symptoms are very similar to those of RA, but with me the main problem is excessively dry eyes.
You can get prescription lubricants for this which are very effective, but make sure - if they’re prescribed by the GP - that they’re preservative free. (GPs don’t know much about it and tend to prescribe the same standard ones.)
I have two; Hyloforte 10% is brilliant as it’s in a tiny pump dispenser. It’s easy to use and doesn’t involve using hundreds of single-use plastic vials. I use this during the day.
At night I use a thicker product called Viscotears, but this is in single use vials (I do tend to use them over 2-3 days). Both were prescribed by the eye hospital and were a major improvement over the stuff the GP initially gave me.
I also have this and my rheumy calls it Sicca Syndrome, so it was interesting to read that StormySeas above says that is another name for Sjorgrens. I think I may have had it for many years, in fact probably over forty because I have had so much trouble with dry eyes and mouth but the doctor I had then never mentioned that it could be caused by something that actually had a name.
I use three prescription eye gels for this which were prescribed by the consultant at the eye clinic and they are very good but even with these my eyes do prick and burn and go blurry quite often. I use Hyloforte 10% drops which I am supposed to use six times a day, and Clinitas Gel which I use four times a day, and VitA pos Eye Gel to use at bedtime.
My voice is always going croaky and it is embarrassing when talking to people or when I am on the phone. I often keep trying to clear my throat over and over again. I love singing but after a short time my voice just goes too croaky to be able to do it.
I also have Sjorgens, My dry eye symptoms are very servere and RA flares have caused major issues with the Cornea on my left eye. Twice hospitalised to get things back under control. I had a check up appointment yesterday which confirmed what I'd been feeling - sight worse in the left eye. I now have a 5th drop to use as well, at night only - Cyclosporin - I did take it in tablet form for about 13 years as an immune supressant, it caused side effects in the kidneys but did control the RA. Hopefully this will help - it makes sense that the eye has been effected to the increase in inflammation. I was getting there on Humira after some fails but the switch to Imraldi (bio Similar) did not work for me. I was swopped back to Humira a couple of months ago, fingers crossed for better times ahead.
Best wishes to all those with Dry eyes and all the other add on delights to this complex condition
Keep using the drops!
Michele x
If you had an eye test in April it is unlikely to be cataracts as these take years to develop and mature. Are you eyes itchy? If yes could be an infection and may cause intermittent blurry eyes a trip to the GP or optician although an optician can not prescribe medication.
Thanks all for this info. I am going to get a GP appointment but also call nurse tomorrow. I decided to stand on my glasses as I got out of the shower as not realised fallen off shelf so have to see optician too.
Get it checked but it sounds like sjogrens I have it my medication help mine but have to put eye drops through the day and in the night but I had all your symptoms still do but not half as bad
I keep saying to hubby my new husky voice should be treated as a plus of RD! For some reason it's not winning him over yet.....I think he would prefer if I lost my voice all together .........EOD humour.
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