Dry Eyes

[Lilacsocks]

I have been really suffering with dry eyes, I was wondering if anyone else has the same problem?

I know it's thyroid related, should I expect an improvement on the right dose of thyroid hormones or is it more to do with the autoimmune?

Thanks 😊

[grumpyold]

I get dry eyes too and my FT3 and FT4 levels are good. Dry eyes are a common problem. I use Hylo eye drops which don't have preservatives in them.

[pennyannie]

Whatever the eye drops, lotions and potions you may get prescribed or buy, to ease this issue, please just ensure that the products are " preservative free " :

You may well find you need to switch products from time to time.

[kaju20]

Hi, I recently booked myself a boots eye test as I kept getting cloudy in one eye and had a white blob on the inside white part of my eye. Just as you say, the dryness is to do with thyroid and she have me 2 helpful suggestions.

1. Use the non preservative eye drops, she gave me Hycosan extra. She told me to use it 4 times a day.

2. To buy a "eye bag" that warms up in the microwave and place on my eye 10 minutes as it's the gland duct below that isnt lubricating my eye properly hence the "white blob" is a fatty deposit.

She told me to place the bag on for 10 minutes everyday for a month and gently massage along the eyelash line to encourage unblocking then gently clean away along the bottom eyelid.

I found an eye bag on amazon for around £10 that actually has the instructions.

I only went last week so I'm yet to try this. I have no idea if this will ever resolve but for now this should help.

I was just relieved to know what these odd lumps appearing were!

Hope you find some relief

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

If you do go to an optician, I suggest you consider the OTC (optical coherence tomography) scan!

An OCT scans the layers beneath the surface of the retina, which are not visible during a routine eye examination.

OCT is available at <optician> for an extra charge of £15.

OCT is not available as part of an NHS Eye Examination.

Nothing to do with dry eyes but, as it says, it can detect issues not visible by any other screening test method.

[Starfish123]

I also have dry eyes and I was also recommended eye drops and hydrosan gel for nighttime. They do help, I also have used the eye mask and eyelid wipes you need after the mask, they do help. The biggest thing to help me was being recommended sea buckthorn oil supplements, I take 2 a day and whilst my eyes are still dry I don’t need the eye drops as much. The sea buckthorn oil supplements are also good for other dryness including internal, if menopausal you will know what I mean. Highly recommended the sea buckthorn oil supplements.

[Thalia56 in reply to Starfish123]

I was going to say just this. I second the sea buckthorn recommendation - they’ve helped my dry eyes, though the supplements aren’t cheap.

[gabkad]

You could analyze your diet and estimate how much beta carotene or vitamin A you consume. A lot of people are not having enough and a low level will result in dry eyes.A single dose of 25,000 IU vitamin A will illustrate if this is the problem.

At best beta carotene will be metabolized into retinol at a ratio of 6:1. Not everyone

is as good at transforming it. Take a look at the beta carotene content of carrots.

Divide by 6. The RDI for vitamin A is 3,000 IU per day. So if one carrot contains

18,000 IU beta carotene (weigh the carrot) then you may be able to obtain sufficient.

Liver is the best source. A serving of liver will give you double the RDI. (100 grams

of liver, approx. 3 ounces). It happens fast. I.e. if you eat liver today, by tomorrow

you will notice the difference.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to gabkad]

I think they have moved on from International Units to retinol activity equivalents (RAE):

International Units and mcg RAE

Vitamin A is now measured in mcg RAE, but it was previously measured in International Units (IUs) [7]. To convert IU to mcg RAE, use the following [8]:

1 IU retinol = 0.3 mcg RAE

1 IU supplemental beta-carotene = 0.3 mcg RAE

1 IU dietary beta-carotene = 0.05 mcg RAE

1 IU dietary alpha-carotene or beta-cryptoxanthin = 0.025 mcg RAE

RAE can only be directly converted into IUs if the source or sources of vitamin A are known. For example, the RDA of 900 mcg RAE for adolescent and adult men is equivalent to 3,000 IU if the food or supplement source is preformed vitamin A (retinol) or if the supplement source is beta-carotene. This RDA is also equivalent to 18,000 IU beta-carotene from food or to 36,000 IU alpha-carotene or beta-cryptoxanthin from food. Therefore, a mixed diet containing 900 mcg RAE provides between 3,000 and 36,000 IU vitamin A, depending on the foods consumed.

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/V...

[gabkad in reply to helvella]

We must tell the manufacturers. The bottle I have here has 25,000 IU on it.Why? Maybe it's easier to put on a label? And it's retinol not retinol

equivalents. Maybe because it came from the USA? They still put IU

on Vitamin D3 bottles too. Not mcg. Which would be good since MICRO

looks tiny but 1000s looks big.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to gabkad]

The origin of International Units was when the chemistry was not understood. The scientists were able to measure the potency of something (carrots, for example), and assign a number. But they didn't know what the substance was.

Thus the meaning of IU depended on the substance being assessed. An IU of one substance has no relation to an IU of another substance - except when one can convert to another.

As the chemistry was understood, it became possible to use physical measurements like weight.

However, vitamin A is clearly more complicated and they have only fairly recently agreed RAE as standard.

If a supplement manufacturer doesn't use RAE, don't buy their product! (The document I linked to is from the USA. The rest of the world might not have caught up)

Even if they used micrograms, we'd have issues. In hypothyroidism, the ability to convert betacarotene is impaired. Thus, however many carrots you eat, you might not get enough vitamin A. But you might end up with high carotene levels because it isn't being converted - hence going a shade of orange (if your skin is basically white - if not, look at your eyes).

I'd love to see IUs abandoned where possible.

Mind, we still see TSH measured in IUs!

[gabkad in reply to helvella]

I figured possibly exactly that so I took one gelcap. I didn't even connect my dry eyesto low retinol. 24 hours later they weren't dry anymore and haven't been since.

I take one per week or so, sometimes 10 days. It's a very inexpensive way to solve

the dry eye problem if it's from low vitamin A levels.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to gabkad]

Good to hear that. And interesting.

[Marymary7 in reply to helvella]

'In hypothyroidism, the ability to convert betacarotene is impaired' to quote you Rod. That's very funny, is this inability to convert the reason my skin does not tan? Last year I took a range of supplements and got slightly brown, it may of included some vit A of some sort, will check back. I'm fascinated to know why we folk with thyroid problems suffer this problem converting.

I also suffer dry eyes, usually only when it's cold weather which was why I was interested in this post.

Thanks for all the help Admin people 😎

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Marymary7]

Afraid I do not know - but poor tanning has been mentioned by many patients. But I cannot readily find any formal research into the issue!

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I get dry eyes - both HyloForte and HycoSan extra are great and preservative free. I tried both sea buckthorn and black seed oil- some benefits initially but neither helped dry eye long term unfortunately for me. I do take lutein & zeazanthin for overall eye health however.