observations of progressing PD for PWP......Eyes

[beehive23]

Eyes can tricky be things. As the eyes start to dry out the causal agent can be illusive and is often multifaceted. First the autonomic nervous system when in failure has been shown to reduce blinking. Try to train yourself to blink often of your own volition. The smooth muscles that intricately control the eye are effected as all smooth muscles and all sphincter muscles are, by dopamine or lack thereof. The tear ducts which are controlled by the Autonomic nervous system, fail to release tears. The eyelids become very itchy as well as the eyes. At this point it is very important not to touch your eyes unless with clean hands as the eyes become very susceptible to infection which can rapidly cause impairment or worse. You can get OTC sterilizing eyelid cleaner towelettes. You can get an OTC dry eye eyedrops as well as OTC pm eye ointment. These things go a long way to keeping eyes safe from infection as well as alleviate the sand in your eye effect while sleeping and during the day. Keep your house humidified, i keep mine at 40%, or try to. Stay hydrated. Carry eyedrops with you and use them prolifically. Additionally as we develop REM sleep disorder (rapid eye movement), the even moistening resulting from normal REM sleep is lessened greatly as the eyes do not move as much as they should during sleep. Lastly...as has been shown, the histamine levels in post mortem PD brains is enormously high. Take an antihistamine. Remember, as these things happen it is not uncommon to develop late onset allergies that you may have previously have not had, such as foods, substances such as dyes used to color pills/medications etc. etc. Allergies contribute greatly to eye discomfort as we observe during high pollen days. So in sumnation....multiple things can contribute to eye irritation and discomfort but there are practical cost effective ways to handle this. Hang tough.....when you cant...do something else.

[Nuthatcher]

Thanks for that. I never thought about my scratchy eyes having a connection to PD

[Boscoejean]

maybe macular pucker could also be related- Most of the time, a macular pucker happens because of normal changes in your eye when you get older. As you age, your vitreous — the clear gel that fills your eye and gives it a round shape — shrinks and pulls away from your retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue in the back of the eye).

nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye....

[beehive23 in reply to Boscoejean]

interesting...i havent heard of that. thanks....i do know that blepharospasms can be an indicator of pd in general..eyes are very complicated and are closely connected to the brain....hang tough

[jeeves19]

very helpful. Wish you’d have told me this sooner!

[beehive23 in reply to jeeves19]

(chuckling) better late then never 🙂....its very difficult to keep up with the posts....im glad it helps you! hang tough.

[Bolt_Upright]

Thanks for sharing. It is good to hear from you.

[beehive23 in reply to Bolt_Upright]

yes you people as well...bit of a rough patch....yadda yadda...cheers!