Dry eyes - tear ducts?

I have a Swift LT mask and have been using it for about a month and a half. In the last week or so I have been waking up with my eyes feeling gritty. They don't feel dry necessarily, just gritty and I have to rub them to get them to see properly and get the gritty feeling out. Is this because of air leaks? I may possibly be having leaks from my mask off and on throughout the night but since it's a nasal pillow I wouldn't think that the air volume would be so great that it would dry my eyes from that distance. A couple of other posts mentioned that dryness could come from irritating the tear ducts inside the nasal cavity - do a lot of people have issues with this? If so, do you just use drops?

What do the sleep docs say about this?

Hi, Momof2.
I suffer from chronic dry eyes and dry mouth...so my Bipap makes the dryness that much worse.
That's with NO leaks in my eyes. Goodness help when air does hit my eyes. I'm miserable all day.
I find that keeping a humidifier (separate from any connected to Cpap or Bipap) going in the room where I sleep helps with the dry eyes...and I also use Thera-Tears all throughout the day, but especially before I retire and upon awakening.
I find that about twenty minutes after I'm up and about...my eyes are much better.
Still...I apply a drop or two of Thera-Tears every few hours after that...just to keep the old peepers moist.

Hi,

I have gone through the eye issues. It is not fun, not at all. Here are some things I have found so far...

1) Any air movement near my eyes drives me nuts. The Swift LT is by far the best I have found so far of the 8 masks that I have tried. The quality of the nasal pillows seems to have gone down a bit lately, so I have to play with them a bit to get them to seat on my nose. I also find that I have to replace them every 6 weeks or so. I found them on E-bay for about $12 each.

2) I have learned to keep my eyes closed when I wake up, then carefully rub the matter away from my eyes before I open my eyes. This keeps any matter from getting into my eyes.

3) Higher humidity levels have greatly reduced the problem.

4) Having the sniffles makes it worse. I am not sure what is happening, but my theory is that the pressure is blowing the junk in my nose up the tear ducts and into my eyes. That isn't a very pleasant thought. I have learned to blow my nose before putting on the mask.

5) Any rainout also causes an issue like in #4, so get a hose cover or heated hose if you are having that issue.

6) I have tried Systane eye drops, but they don't seem to help me in this regard. Visine does help cut the pain.

-john-