T3 and severe dry eye relief?

[Fmljkl]

Has anyone experienced extremely severe dry eye and have you noticed that it’s linked to thyroid?

Specifically, if I increase t3, will dry eye get better??

[lisabax]

I am hypo and have to use drops several times a day for dry eye. I haven’t increased my meds because my T3 is near the top of the range. I don’t know what others have experienced, but I find the drops invaluable and am happy to go on using them.

[Singoutloud]

I could have written this myself. I'm t3 only and increased by a quarter a few of months ago. My eyes aren't too bad during the day but at night one of them is really gritty and feels as if pulling inward. My eyelid gets weak and won't open properly. In the morning my eyes are gooey.

Just had my eyes tested and they also did a optical scan of eye which showed no issues. I have just knocked my dose back to see if it helps. Optician has recommended some eye drops as well

[Sus64 in reply to Singoutloud]

I have this same problem. Every night, one eyelid seems to be stuck shut and momentarily painful to open. I was on NDT. Now taking Levo only. Don't know what will make a difference but it's annoying. Drops don't last long enough through the night. Fish oil is recommended for tear (or oil?) gland production in the eyelids. I'm taking supplements.

[Caesard]

Hey there, it might be that case of some eye affection due to TED (thyroid eye disease)

How long has been bothering you? Are there any other symptoms? Swelling, redness, double vision, exophtalmy?

What's your thyroid status ?

[Wishingwell]

I had dry eyes on t4 only. It went on NDT. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

[cbraffe in reply to Wishingwell]

Hi where can I buy NDT? Please

[Wishingwell in reply to cbraffe]

I currently get mine on the NHS but for how much longer I don't know.

[cbraffe in reply to Wishingwell]

Thank you.

[Summer64]

I have dry eyes and other dry bits due to Sjogren's Syndrome which is another autoimmune disease. Could be that. I'd be lost without my drops and ointment.

[HLAB35]

You could try Seabuckthorn Berry Oil - it is recommended for Sjogren's... which also causes dryness in mouth and vaginal dryness. It sometimes starts during menopause - but a famous sufferer Venus Williams, for example, has had it for a while.

Best to get this checked by your GP and have a formal diagnosis .... look it up on the NHS website. If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis it is even more likely (secondary Sjogren's).

Alternatively, raised thyroid antibodies may be upsetting your eyes. An optometrist will be able to check for signs of any damage.

[thyr01d in reply to HLAB35]

Thanks for this info, I just googled seabuckthorn berry oil and found this "reduces the increase of the osmotic concentration in tear film during the cold season and positively affects the dry eye symptoms.". Where do you buy it and do you take it as a supplement or apply it topically or as eye drops? I'd like to try it for post-menopausal, presumably, dryness

[HLAB35 in reply to thyr01d]

H&B do it, so does Nature's Best and presumably most good health food shops.... it's a supplement.

[thyr01d in reply to HLAB35]

Thanks, do you know how it is taken or applied?

[HLAB35 in reply to thyr01d]

Just take capsule with other Omega supplements. My daughter has it with her Evening Primrose at breakfast. It seems to have stalled the dry eye problem completely.

Trying to persuade my elderly mum to take it as she has had really dry eyes for decades (she has RA but has so many other autoimmune and other problems she doesn't see the point in adding another one to the mix). In fact, she probably had had Sjogren's symptoms before all the other problems started, but there you go.

[thyr01d in reply to HLAB35]

Great, thank-you HLAB35

[jamesal0]

It's thyroxine side effect. It will go away if you take a bit of desiccated thyroid each day or convert right over to desiccated thyroid.

Desiccated thyroid extracts contain T4 plus T3 as well as small amounts of thyroid co-factors T1, T2, calcitonin and iodine.

[thyr01d in reply to jamesal0]

Please don't take this the wrong way. I really think we need to take care to put something like "In my experience ..." or "it is said to ...." unless something is a proven, indisputable fact, to make sure we don't mislead others.

[jamesal0 in reply to thyr01d]

@thyr0id

eye pain - mayoclinic.org/drugs-supple...

[thyr01d in reply to jamesal0]

Hi James, I haven't looked at the link you sent but the thing is, I am not doubting that some eye pain will be relieved when the thyroid meds are correct, but just hoping to widen awareness. What works for one doesn't work for another, and, in this case, we don't know if Fmljkl's eye pain is even linked to the thyroid problem.

I hope you can see what I mean, we can't assume that because a person has a thyroid problem and eye pain that the two are linked, they may not be.

Now I have looked at your link and seen that it is a list of the possible side effects of Levothyroxine with eye pain included. Presumably you have concluded that this is the cause of Fmljkl's pain, perhaps because that's something you experienced?

[jamesal0 in reply to thyr01d]

horses and water

[Singoutloud]

I had a b12 injection this morning and the nurse said she uses flax seed for her dry eyes. I haven't had a chance to look it up yet though. She also has hashi

[Hidden]

Apparently both hypo and hyperthyroidism cause blepharitis (Dry eyes) but for different reasons. Someone posted a paper on it a while ago. Will try to find it. So might over or under medication. So I suppose the answer is don't know! Have you been prescribed eye drops?

Worth a try I think. Only add very small amounts and see what difference it makes

[purple64]

I have Graves' disease and have very dry eyes so it must be a thyroid thing 🙄

[pennyannie]

I'm with Graves Disease and post RAI now with Graves, Thyroid eye disease and hypothyroidism. I had dry gritty eyes prior to RAI but symptoms much worse afterwards.

Whatever products you purchase or have prescribed please, just make sure that they are all preservative free.

[thyr01d]

My dry eyes do not seem to have improved at all even though I now take 50 - 60 mcg of T3, prescribed, per day and all other symptoms have improved greatly.

[Goldengirl01]

Hi, Sjogrens is associated with thyroid problems and also rheumatism

[Leothelion]

Hi, I had dry eyes for quite a few years, I used all sorts of eye drops, it only cleared up once I went gluten free along with dry lips I used to get too, I had a blood test for coeliac in 1995 that came back high and I didn’t know anything back then about coeliac, so they wouldn’t diagnose me until I had a endoscopy, back then I’d just lost my mother grandmother and a miscarriage so I refused and decided to not eat the food that made me unwell, I had forgot all about this with brain fog, but having low B12 and other vitamins for the last 5 years I started to look into why I had many symptoms, found the letter from consultants and phoned coeliac U.K. I had all symptoms of coeliac so once 100% gf df my symptoms of thyroid, eyes etc went away that I’d had for years, I can remember as a teenager having sticky eyes not opening and dry red eyes, they are good now, and lips not dry either always had to use Vaseline every day, amazing what damage gluten does, also slept 16/18 hrs a day completely exhausted drs still did not diagnose me.

[Hidden]

Just read an article that linked higher risk of dry eye to Hashi