Dry eyes, with tears streaming down my face?

[Carolina]

Dearest Sjogren's Angels,

As you may recall, I'm keeping the humidity in my bedroom lower to reduce my asthma (the latest 'joy' of my Immune Disorder).

Now my eyes burn so much when I wake up, that 'tears' stream down my face!  What is going on?  I put in drops, and it gets better, but all morning I have the 'tears', at least to some extent.  The problem seems to get better during the day.

I take the standard dosage of Salagen (Pilocarpine).  I assume it is the dryer air and not that the Pilocarpine doesn't work anymore.  Also, we turn the furnace up in the morning, so there is even more dry air.

The dryness in my eyes is very intense burning and stinging.

I also have a UTI and am on an antibiotic (Macrobid) which may be contributing to the dryness?

It's always something.....

Hugs, Elaine

[Sweetcheex76]

Maybe the dryness is causing corneal abrasions. I've had many times when I woke up with terrible dry eyes and they're painful then tears run down my face. They also sting and burn. Sometimes I get blisters in my eyes after sleep from the dryness.

[Carolina]

Wow, sweetcheex76 (love that name)!

Corneal abrasions?  I got those from my contacts when I was in Hawaii where is it very windy.  That's when I first had a diagnosis of Sjogren's.   I don't think it's as bad as that, but it makes my eyes tear up.

Now it is afternoon, and the entire episode is over.  It just happens in the morning when I wake up.

Our eyes don't get enough  oxygen at night because our eyes are closed.  That's why we get ''sleep' in our eyes.   (I worked in the contact lens business for three years....wearing contact lenses overnight is horrible for your eyes, because it makes you get even less oxygen at night).

Anyway, thanks for your attention to my probleml

Hugs, Elaine

[Navigator]

I have found that Restasis has helped considerably with my dry eyes.  Normal tears are made up of water based and fat based layers.  With SJS our fat based layers are not normal due to inflammation. So you can have copious watery ?tears? and still have dry eyes.  Perhaps you should check with your ophthalmologist to get a prescription.  It cannot hurt.

[Maria3667]

Hi Elaine,

You wouldn't be on Dhea by any chance? Your symptoms sound very similar to mine when I take Dhea. In fact, due to the side effects I'm able to wear eye contact lenses again... In this case the cloud does have a silver lining for me...

[SunshineDaydream]

I have read that, ironically, a lot of tears can be a sign of dry eyes. Searching for a reference, I found this NIH National Eye Institute bulletin that more specifically says a symptom of dry eyes is "episodes of excess tears following very dry eye periods excessive dry eye".  https://nei.nih.gov/health/dryeye/dryeye

I have also found Restasis to be helpful. In addition, I use eye gel drops before bed and if I wake up during the night.

[irish]

I believe that we produce 2 different types of tears. The ones that keep the eye lubricated and moist is the tear that we stop producing. There is another tear that we produce that just runs at times and irritates our eyes making them itchy and more dry as they contain no lubricant.

Hopefully someone will come on and explain this better. I have forgotten more than I used to know in my old age and am not able to do the research right at this moment. Thanks. Irish

[anita]

Both ophthalmologists I saw at the Johns Hopkins Eye Institute told me that severe dry eyes causes more tears from the irritation.  So Elaine, you are just experiencing Sjogren's at its finest!!  The gift that keeps on giving!!

[Joe S.]

I agree with Irish. 2 types of tears. Mine can be triggered by a tear jerk TV show. The tears bring pain.

[irish]

Well, I came back after researching how many types of tears there are. Surprise....there are 3 types of tears. The first kind are the BASAL tears that are produced constantly (5-10 ounces per day) and drain through the nasal cavity. These tears lubricate the eyes and when we cry they will drain through the nasal cavity and give us a runny nose.

The second type are the REFLEX or IRRITANT tears that are produced when eyes exposed to onions, smoke or anything that irritates the eyes. The irritants threaten the sensory nerves in the cornea of the eyes and let the brain stem know. Then the hormones are sent to glands in the eyelids causing the tears to be produced and cleanse the eyes of the irritants.

The third type of tears are the emotional tears that are formed when the cerebrum  registers that we have sadness. The endocrine system releases hormones to the ocular area causing tears to be produced.

What I did not have time to research is which tears are affected the most by the Sjogrens. I know my eyes are pretty dry but I do produce some tears when I cry. Not a lot, but enough to give me a little runny nose. Irish

[Nymph]

Great explanations! Yes, I have had this when my eyes are too dry. I sleep with a sleep mask on. Between that, drops, ointment, and my humidifier, my eyes only feel slightly dry when I awake in the night/am. I still get some reactive tears in the morning usually. I consider my eye dryness to be mild compared to most Sjoggies based on what I hear from all of you, but maybe not.

[Carolina]

Thanks, everyone!

I used Restasis for 8 years, then stopped and thought I found no difference.

But I can try it again and see if it helps. 

Hugs,  Elaine  (it's still morning so there are tears in the corners of my eyes, and some burning).

[quietdynamics]

Sometimes I have periods burning eyes, especially during times of not feeling well.. so not drinking enough water.
Burning eyes, tears that burn. To protect my eyes I use a bit of Genteal Gel in the daytime ( not enough to blur vision, just coat eye) and then Systane drops. I just picked us a different type, Systane Lubricant drops and was using Systane Balance .. and still leaning toward the Balance ones.

Also during the holidays I ate way too many sweets, deserts (cheesecake) this year. So things should settle down soon.
I got a great box of chocolates for Christmas..lol.

[SunshineDaydream]

Maybe the new prescription Xildra drops would help you.

[irish]

I think that the reason you have burning eyes at times are because we don't produce enough of the BASAl tears which are the lubricant that protect the eyes. Irish