New to cpap and eye strain?

[cherokee74]

Been using cpap for little over a week now and have noticed eye issues. I noticed eye strain, light sensitivity and dryness. It's very frustrating. I wear both glasses and contacts, and had perfect vision with them prior to cpap. Now I find myself squinting in my glasses and contacts. No I am not a diabetic, tested every 6months due to pcos. Any help would be appreciated!

[Bill44133]

Are you using any kind of mask liner? Is the mask leaking air into your eyes?

[cherokee74]

No liners. New to all this and supply company not that helpful. They did ship me a new mask today that has three different nose mask sizes. So hopefully this helps! I might have too look into liners for not only my eyes but poor sore nose. Thank you for your help!

[Bill44133]

You could look at this posting: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95273&p=881804#p881804

The lady was very nice and offer free sample of liners for masks. She just asked that you send Private Message.

I hope the new mask helps you.

[dcheddar]

I'm also new to CPAP (90 days now) and had the same problem.
Even though I don't feel any nasal mask leaks, I must be getting air blowing in my eyes while I sleep. (I'm using the Mirage FX mask.)
I would wake up with blurry vision and sore eyes.
I started using an eye mask and the problem is solved.
Target sells a nice eye mask with a padded roll at the bottom of the mask that prevents any air from blowing up into your eyes.

[Lukie]

I would get my eye pressures checked if I were you. I have been on CPAP for two months and my eye pressures have gone from 21 to 25 which is almost to glaucoma levels. I am being watched every three months. first sign of visual field damage and I go on glaucoma drops. There is a study linking CpAP therapy and high pressures as well as sleep apnea and high pressures.
If your eyes are dry from leaks you may want to try a nasal pillows mask. If you have to have a full face mask you can get eye drops to help with dry eyes.

[cherokee74]

Never thought about eye pressures. Does the increase cause your eyes to hurt? No pain or headaches. Something I will have to look into once I get proper fitting mask. Having heart ablation in two weeks so will have to wait until after recovery too. Urgh, hoping it's just a mask and leak issue. Can't afford any more health issues.

[kurth83]

I developed dry-eye a few months after starting CPAP, but I have never found definitive proof of a link to CPAP.
In my case the oil glands (meibomian glands) are misbehaving.

If you developed it wihin days that seems a stronger link than my case.

I am reasonably sure that what happens at night causes vision problems the following day,
or put another way, if things are bad when I wake up, they generally won't get better during the day.
Some days are better than others.

As for cause all I have are possibilities, although I am working with an opthamologist and we have some more things
to try:
- possibly the slight breeze CPAP causes around the face drys the eyes out more than before.
- the compression of the mask on my face somehow interferes with tear ducts or oil glands.
- overproduction of skin oils (caused by the CPAP mask) could also be the cause, it tends to encourage bacterial growth,
a known cause of dry-eye. If this is the cause, using oil-based creams to get a better mask seal likely aggravates it (lanolin, petrolatum, chap-stick).
- a remote possibility is a demodex mite infestation, but my opthamologist ruled that one out (rosacia
symptoms being the primary indicator). These mites live in human oil glands at the base of your eye-lids,
and the only treatment is tea tree oil, a nasty smelly oil that burns if you get it into your eyes.
And you have to saturate your skin with it (a diluted solution) for several weeks to kill the little suckers.
So you can imagine using q-tips to work the oil around the base of your eye-lids without getting it directly into
your eyes, and doing that several times a day for a few weeks, and using tea tree oil shampoo too.

A word of advice, it is possible to get permanent vision impairment if you leave dry-eye untreated for too long.

For me the most success I have had (given my opthamologist say I suffer from a reduction in oil production)
is supplementing the oil production with white petrolatum on the lids which acts like a time-release into the eye,
and wearing goggles at night (to reduce evaporation) along with in-the-eye nighttime eye lubricant
(which is a mineral-oil/petrolatum blend). The lubricant alone wasn't enough, the goggles helped a lot,
leading credence to my theory about drafts around the eyes, but it wasn't enough to fully return my vision
to normal.

FYI I poked some holes in the goggles to prevent my eyes from being oxygen deprived, your eyes depend
on getting oxygen from the air.

[Lukie]

Here is the article on CPAP and Glaucoma
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326715

[BlackSpinner]

For some people the tear duct from the nasal passage to the eye will allow the air from your cpap therapy through and give you dry eyes no matter how well your mask fits. You need to see an ophthalmologist about these issues (not an optometrist).

[cherokee74]

Thanks for all the advice. My vision does improve shortly after lubricating drops. So I will be investing in a eye mask, see if that helps first. Also use lubricating gel at night. If not them will see ophthalmologist. But was relieved when I had hubby buy some drops and vision cleared for awhile. So pretty sure that's the cause and not pressure issues.