How I NATURALLY ended my year long battle with debilitating dry eye.

 

If you or someone you know is struggling with dry eye I highly recommend you read on!

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A little over a year ago I started to develop dry eye symptoms. I struggled to blink, it felt like I had grit in my eyes. Things got worse and worse, I would wake up in the middle of the night with such dry eyes that I had to physically move my eye lid to close it.

 

I started using eye drops. But they didn’t help, they didn’t even begin to touch the issue. I would use drops (the oil based kind, the very strong kind) and within MINUTES, the symptoms returned.

 

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So I started going to eye doctors. I had to get to the bottom of this. My dry eyes were ruining my daily life. Eye drops didn’t help, and even closing my eyes gave me no relief. I couldn’t live like this.

 

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I went to 4 different eye doctors. No one could identify the root cause. Here are some responses I got. Feel free to laugh at #3.

 

1. I should use a course of steroids to decrease the inflammation which (could) be contributing to decreased tear production.
    

2. I should just use more eye drops, even if it is 100x per day.
    

3. I was cooking at home too much and the steam and oil from cooking was clogging up my eye glands (hilarious).
    

4. I should use heated compresses on my eyes to increase the oil gland flow and to loosen any dried up oil to get things moving again.

 

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I tried all of the above, with no relief. I am sad to say, yes, I did try a 2 week course of steroids (despite the risks of glaucoma, and increased pressure in the eye- which the doctor did not inform me of). I still had no relief.

 

I did my own research and when I went back to these eye doctors (more than once), I offered some of the information I had found for solving my problem on various eye doctor's websites: tea tree oil lid scrub, a mechanical device that “scrubbed” the lids to help open up oil glands in hopes of increasing oil production in the eye. My doctors said sure go ahead, try it, it can't hurt. But they never offered these suggestions themselves.

             

But again. Nothing worked. And once more, each doctor had their own go nowhere solution. Another course of steroids, prescription eye drops – like Restasis, or “just use more over the counter eye drops.”

 

I was not satisfied with that. I was not about to go on another round of steroids, or put prescription medication in my eyes every day for who knows how long for something that shouldn’t be happening in the first place.

 

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There was a REASON I was struggling with dry eye. Why didn’t any doctor care to help me get to the root cause?!

 

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I was frustrated, but it only pushed me more toward the conclusion I have today: most doctors do not care about the “root” cause of symptoms. Most doctors only treat the symptoms.

 

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I began a quest. A research and learning quest to get to the bottom of this.

 

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It started with supplements. The research I came across showed that a few different supplements did make actual improvements in test subject’s dry eye symptoms.

 

Maqui berry an antioxidant, in studies it has been shown to increase tears and alleviate dry eye.

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Turmeric (with curcumin for absorption): to reduce inflammation which could cause a decrease in tear production.

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Omega 3 to help with inflammation and increase tear production.

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Flax seeds I put these into smoothies, said to work much the same as omega 3 supplements.

 

I tried all of the above, for months. Without fail, I was committed to solving this problem without a prescription. I feel I had some improvement with the addition of the maqui berry. I bought this in powder form, organic, and would add it to smoothies or water. But the sympotoms would return. So I kept on with my quest.

 

Next I began to consider environmental factors. Could I have suddenly developed an allergy to my cats? I began sleeping with them outside of the room, and brought my air purifier in to run through the night. I bought pillows that were okeo-tex certified. No change.

 

I considered my makeup, I stopped wearing ALL makeup, eye makeup, mascara, foundation, nothing. I was bare faced. This had no impact.

 

I started monitoring air quality reports. I was told by my eye doctors that my state has the third largest amount of dry eye sufferers in the USA (wow)! I also considered that I had moved from Florida in the last few years (where humidity was much higher) could this have an impact? I bought a humidifier.

 

Can you feel my determination to fix this? I was in pain, day in and day out. I stopped watching TV. I decreased my screen time and bought blue light blocking glasses. No change.

 

I watched YouTube videos where ophthalmologists gave their suggestions for improving eye health:

 

“blink as many times as you can while sitting at a red light”

 

apparently our eyes only produce oil when we blink, and blinking less will result in a poor tear film composition (made up of oil and water). Might as well do something while bored, sitting at a red light!

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I continued on, trying everything I could. I had no idea I was close to a solution…

 

The next area I began to educate myself in was the food I was eating. While I was already eating a very clean diet, I began considering cutting out alcohol completely. Alcohol can increase dry eye symptoms because it increases sugar in the blood and can change that tear composition (oil v water). This did not help in the longer term, but if I did drink, while drinking my dry eye symptoms would get worse, no question!

 

I did research about gluten, and how this can impact dry eye symptoms. If you have a condition known as Sjogren’s, the body’s immune system can attack the eye, creating dryness in the eyes (this syndrome also causes dryness in the mouth). All of my lab tests were normal, and Sjogren's was ruled out as a cause for my dry eyes.

 

Finally, I began to consider other things in my body that were “off.” I would wake up every morning with very swollen eyes. My eye lids were swollen, under my eyes were swollen, and at times, my eye balls felt swollen. So I started to research water retention, and its causes.

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Water retention can be due to an imbalance of

potassium, sodium and electrolytes.

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Could I have an electrolyte imbalance???

 

I learned that coconut water was a great source of electrolytes and potassium too. It can help to balance electrolytes in the body. I began to drink lots of coconut water.

 

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Within 1 day my dry eyes began to get better. Within 3 days they were 90% better. I no longer was awakened in the middle of the night with dry eyes. I stopped having to use eye drops.

 

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It was a miracle.

 

Or was it?

 

A few months before I started to have dry eye symptoms I had purchased a reverse osmosis water filter. This machine basically strips all minerals and nasties from your water. It can turn coca cola into water!

 

When you have reverse osmosis water you need to “remineralize” the water (putting minerals BACK in). Either with commercially available mineral drops, or with pink Himalayan sea salt.

 

Well, I had skipped this step.

 

I was drinking water with zero minerals for months and months. The result? I was depleting my body of the minerals it had, essentially diluting what I was taking in via food. I had thrown off the balance of my electrolytes, including potassium.

 

When you have an imbalance of electrolytes you will have a poor tear composition. Meaning, there will not be enough oil in your tears. When the tears your body produces are not of the right ratio of oil to water, the tear itself evaporates too quickly. With enough oil in the tear, the tear lasts longer. I have surmised that the tears my body was producing were of low quality, and evaporating fast. Resulting in my dry eye.

 

I am not a doctor. But I solved my debilitating dry eye problem better than any of the four doctors I saw could. AND my swollen morning eye problem (that isn’t pretty)!

 

I have also solved many other health problems (joint pain, acid reflux, the list goes on). As I write these posts about how I solved various health problems, I reflect on how grateful I am for the natural solution that exists. Use this as a reminder to you all: our bodies are meant to function without chronic pain, fatigue, distress. If yours isn’t, should you consider the root cause to find a holistic solution?