Dry eyes ALL day?

[SleepingUgly]

I don't want to blame all my new problems on CPAP. My eyes tend to be dry, but they have been drier than ever. I would think if caused by CPAP, the dryness would be mainly in the morning and would bounce back to baseline during the day; however, they are dry all day long. Is CPAP the culprit?

[fidelfs]

Could it be a leak problem affecting your eyes?

[SleepingUgly]

Could it be a leak problem affecting your eyes?

It's possible that it's leaking during the night, but would that make my eyes dry all day long? I even use eye drops to combat this.

[fidelfs]

I don't think it is necessarily true. Your eyes working as they should can overcome dryness caused by an external causes. If you have a dry eye condition that needs a prescription then, Yes, your eyes would be dry all day long.

Try this, Can you get a sleep mask thin enough that won't interfere with your cpap mask?, like the ones you get in airplanes. Wear it tonight and see what happen tomorrow. If you don't have any more dry eye, then you have the culprit.

[dtsm]

Couple of things to consider:

1. viewtopic/t49263/Eye-Problems-From-Xpap.html

2. Eyeshield - either use a pair of swim googles (I've tried with my nasal mask and it fits ok) or from here: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/eyeeco ... -mask.html

[JohnBFisher]

... I don't want to blame all my new problems on CPAP. ...

Now where's the fun in trying to be reasonable? !!

... My eyes tend to be dry, but they have been drier than ever. I would think if caused by CPAP, the dryness would be mainly in the morning and would bounce back to baseline during the day; however, they are dry all day long. Is CPAP the culprit? ...

It's possible. If you sleep with your eyes not quite fully closed, the air from your mask might dry them out all that much more.

A mask to shield the eyes might help. Or perhaps talk with an opthamologist about it. You might need some eye drops / cream at night to help protect your eyes.

Do you have problems with a dry throat / mouth? Perhaps sore joints? Just wondering. I have a friend with Sjorgrens, who has problems with dry eyes and other such issues.

[KatieW]

Here's a recent thread on dry eyes:

viewtopic/t49268/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49 ... es#p448418

[Starlette]

I've recently talked to my eye doctor about this – Red eyes every morning. She recommended using GenTeal Gel (Severe Eye Relief). I put a drop in each eye before going to bed. I have noticed a reduction in red eyes. I’m sure it’s helped with dryness too. I also have the regular eye GenTeal gel to use during the day for dry eyes.

Starlette

[terrydk]

I don't want to blame all my new problems on CPAP. My eyes tend to be dry, but they have been drier than ever. I would think if caused by CPAP, the dryness would be mainly in the morning and would bounce back to baseline during the day; however, they are dry all day long. Is CPAP the culprit?

Here is another thread with some discussion about 'dry eyes'. viewtopic/t49263/Eye-Problems-From-Xpap.html

I went to the eye doctor this afternoon suspecting that my cpap was causing my eye problems including dry eyes...the cpap was only part of the problem.

[SleepingUgly]

Do you have problems with a dry throat / mouth? Perhaps sore joints? Just wondering. I have a friend with Sjorgrens, who has problems with dry eyes and other such issues.

I have a doctor that keeps trying to slip an ANA test into my bloodwork requisition... You, too, John?! I do have a tendency toward dry eyes, but this is much worse. Seems worse some days than others. OK, I think I do want to blame CPAP afterall. Better that than an autoimmune disorder...

Thanks everyone!

[JohnBFisher]

... I have a doctor that keeps trying to slip an ANA test into my bloodwork requisition... You, too, John?! I do have a tendency toward dry eyes, but this is much worse. ...

What can I say? I woke up and had this notice that it was "my turn" to try do freak out SleepingUgly. How did I do? You feeling paranoid enough yet? Afteall, I do want to try to do my job well!!??

It could just be that you have a tendency to sleep with your eyes partially open. That's actually much more common than an autoimmune problem. The flowing air near the eyes would only make matters worse.

[twasbrillig]

Hi SleepingUgly,

I am following your posts because I also have UARS and trying to sieve out the wisdom from this site that applies to me. In regard to dry eyes, let me advance a theory that few people seem to acknowledge at this board.

A little background: Your eyes are connected to your nasal passages, which is why your nose runs when you cry. When this happens, tears are dripping down through your tear ducts and coming out into your nose. This is not a one-way passage. It's possible and likely that air is going back up through this passage (I forget what they call it, something like nasolacrimal passage) and drying out your eyes when you use CPAP. I had the same problem. I had nasal pillows and never detected a whit of outside leakage, despite everyone's insistence that this is what caused the dry eyes. I checked and checked - anytime I moved or woke up, and never had any leakage. I am convinced that the problem was air coming up through my nose and tear ducts. In fact, one eye was always drier than the other, which reflected the fact that one nostril was more frequently blocked off from congestion over the course of the night, creating a pressure differential that affected the eye on the open nostril side.

Now, the big question: why would your eyes still be dry during the day? Perhaps for the same reason that my eye dryness is not improving despite the fact that I have discontinued CPAP. Here's my theory, and I know it won't be very popular here.

CPAP can, through increased pressure, stretch your tear ducts wider and let tears drain too rapidly to keep your eyes moist.

Nuff said. It's my theory. But it's the only one, I might add, that accounts for observed facts in a scientific way. Sorry for the bad news.

twasbrillig

[terrydk]

Hi SleepingUgly,

I am following your posts because I also have UARS and trying to sieve out the wisdom from this site that applies to me. In regard to dry eyes, let me advance a theory that few people seem to acknowledge at this board.

A little background: Your eyes are connected to your nasal passages, which is why your nose runs when you cry. When this happens, tears are dripping down through your tear ducts and coming out into your nose. This is not a one-way passage. It's possible and likely that air is going back up through this passage (I forget what they call it, something like nasolacrimal passage) and drying out your eyes when you use CPAP. I had the same problem. I had nasal pillows and never detected a whit of outside leakage, despite everyone's insistence that this is what caused the dry eyes. I checked and checked - anytime I moved or woke up, and never had any leakage. I am convinced that the problem was air coming up through my nose and tear ducts. In fact, one eye was always drier than the other, which reflected the fact that one nostril was more frequently blocked off from congestion over the course of the night, creating a pressure differential that affected the eye on the open nostril side.

Now, the big question: why would your eyes still be dry during the day? Perhaps for the same reason that my eye dryness is not improving despite the fact that I have discontinued CPAP. Here's my theory, and I know it won't be very popular here.

CPAP can, through increased pressure, stretch your tear ducts wider and let tears drain too rapidly to keep your eyes moist.

Nuff said. It's my theory. But it's the only one, I might add, that accounts for observed facts in a scientific way. Sorry for the bad news.

twasbrillig

Makes sense to me. The tears drain through small openings called Lacrimal Puncta and then into the Lacrimal Sac and Nasolacrimla Ducts. The Nasolacrimal Ducts eventually empty into the nasal cavity.

[SleepingUgly]

My knowledge of the working of the eye is nonexistent, so I can't comment on the scientific merits of your hypothesis. Have you asked an opthamologist about this?

I can think of a couple of experiments/observations that would test your hypothesis:
(1) If you are correct, people who use the Oracle should not have this issue. (It might be hard to find a large enough sample to run any statistical analyses, though!)
(2) Putsubjects on the Oracle and see if the problem occurs. Then put them on a nasal delivery system and see if it occurs. Put them back on the Oracle, then back on nasal. (A-B-A-B)

I hope you're wrong about the permanent nature of this, as it would make #2 above difficult and my future with contact lenses dismal.

[allen476]

It could still happen with the Oracle mask. The plugs for putting in your nose only go in the nostrils. The ducts are in the rear of the nose. The pressure would still be enough to force it's way out through the tear ducts no matter what mask you are using. I have this problem when I have a cold. The mucus comes back through the ducts and seals my eyes shut. Then when I get up and clean up, something is blocking most of the tears from getting to the eye and drying them up. Usually takes about 1 week for this to stop.

I guess the severity of it would depend on your pressure.

Allen