Dry itchy eyes?

[Deneb]

I restarted CPAP after a many-year break three weeks ago. Generally, it's going fine. The AirFit P10 is amazingly comfortable, and the Dreamstation is quiet and feels easier to breathe with than my old ResMed S8 did. But! Every night, I end up with incredibly dry, painfully itchy eyes. If the exhalation port on the mask were pointing at my eyes, or I had a leak blowing on my eyes, I would understand, but neither of those things seems to be the case. Any ideas, or anyone else have this? I've been using the humidifier with heated tube at setting 3. My only wild idea is that my nose is so well-hydrated that somehow I'm tricked into not producing tears?

[Spot123]

I have a similar problem and had a similar post a couple of weeks ago. I decided to reduce the max on my machine from 15 to 12/13, figuring that anything higher woke me up anyway. I found the situation was worse with the nasal pillow than with the full face mask, possible due to the higher efficiency of the pillows? But I'm sticking with those for now since I've finally been able to sleep through the night.

I had an annual visit with my optometrist a few days ago. There are ducts that connect the eyes to the nasal cavity that are intended to help drain tears from the eyes. But air can come up from the nasal cavity to the eye socket. My eyes were getting so dry that my vision was blurry often during the day. He gave me OTC eye drops to put in right before going to bed. The gel version of the drops should last longer than the non-gel version (Refresh Optive Gel Drops) . He said sometimes people find the gel too gooey for daytime use; I have been using the non-gel version during the day for a couple years now (as needed). He said to come back if situation does not improve. There are other drops to try. In extreme cases the ducts can be plugged but I would not want to do that without exhausting all other options.

[Pugsy]

See your eye doctor and ask him to check to see if you lacrimal ducts are open too much and letting air from the nasal cavity up into the eye area.

[seattlepap]

You can have air blowing up through your tear ducts or if your eyes open a little at night and you sleep on your side then the air diffuser can be drying them out. You want to deal with it or you'll get corneal abrasions which SUCK!!!

A few tips:
Get some PM eye gel. I heat mine slightly. It's basically a mineral oil for your eyes. It's like $20 and lasts for a while
Go to bed hydrated. That means no late night eating, drink water before you go to bed and if you come home drunk stay up for a while and hydrate
Turning down the air pressure on your machine can also help
Turning up the humidity level on your machine can help

I'd start on the above tonight.

[chunkyfrog]

Dry eyes is a SIDE EFFECT of my glaucoma eye drops.
Luckily, I can buy artificial tears at Dollar Tree. FOR A BUCK.
Avoid the drops for "red eye"-- exact opposite effect!
One bottle is good for a couple of months or more.
See your eye doctor anyway--if it has been a while.

[dreamingofdreaming]

I was having a problem with really dry, red eyes in the morning. I started wearing an eye mask and have not had a problem since. Either the vent on my mask was blowing against my arm or something else and blowing back in my face or my mask was moving, and leaking up towards my eyes. The mask also helps me sleep in a little longer, when I can.

[dreamingofdreaming]

What type of eye-mask do you use? -


I found a 3 pack on amazon for $15. They are a soft foam and contoured over the eyes.