Dry Eyes

[shazstep]

For a very long time now I have had dry eyes. It is like I am crying 24/7. I finally found a product poly gel that works for me. Reading a few recent posts dry eyes is coming up as a symptom quite often. Now I am wondering if there is a connection to GCA and dry eyes. Is there somewhere where we can give this type of information to maybe help in research?

[TheMoaningViolet]

Don't know about that, but it definitely has something to do with ageing. I suffer from it though not as bad as you by the sound of it and need to use eye drops regularly.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Dry eyes are often found in various autoimmune disorders so it may be you have it as sicca syndrome (dryness but no antibodies) or you may have Sjoegren's syndrome which is an autoimmune condition in its own right. It isn't just eyes that dry up - all sorts of parts of the body can be affected.

I developed awful red and sore eyes - and we eventually realised it was a change in the ingredients in the contact lens solution I was using. But it coincided with the PMR starting up to and I developed some strange allergies I'd not had before. There are other causes of dry eyes - and it could be any one of them. or a few together

nhs.uk/conditions/dry-eyes/

[SheffieldJane]

When I googled poly gel I found nail products. Do you have a link to your effective product shazstep?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SheffieldJane]

It appears to be a Antipodean product - it does appear on E-bay but although that tells me they ship to Italy I don't know if they ship to the UK.

[shazstep]

chemistaustralia.com.au/pol... link you requested. Being winter here I am trying not to use it everyday. When I first started using it I used it twice a day and it stopped the watery eyes within a couple of days. I am seeing ophthalmologist every few weeks so keeping close watch on things

[SheffieldJane in reply to shazstep]

Many thanks! I am going to see family in Australia in September. I’ll get some then.

[shazstep]

It is made in France. On the box it lists USA, Australia and New Zealand. I will phone the Australian number tomorrow and see if I can get further info.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to shazstep]

It is possibly sold under a different name over here - I did try to look but kept getting Aus/NZ info.

[Salanddee]

I was advised that the watery eye condition was due to the poor quality of my tears. For a good while now I have taken omega 7 daily. Not only have the tears dried up but my ears have stopped itching .

[Thelmarina in reply to Salanddee]

I can’t help chuckling at poor quality tears. How did they find that out? 😂

[Salanddee in reply to Thelmarina]

Sorry I can't look this up now as believe it or not I have a face to face appointment with my rheumatologist this morning. The tears have several layers and the more oily part of mine is deficient. Information given many times by optician

[SheffieldJane in reply to Thelmarina]

My optician told me the same thing. Dry eyes can be observed with optical equipment and yet the eyes water a lot. I guess it’s a process of deduction. I use Thealoz Duo, preservative free eyedrops. Available on prescription ( free for older people) in the U.K. Gel is good for overnight.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Thelmarina]

It is sort of standard info - the watery eyes and copious tears are the body's response to the thickness or volume of the normal tears being compromised. They are important to keep the surface of the eyes healthy and in their absence the eyes start to produce lots of the other sort of tear to replace them. So they overflow the lids and create the tears.