I know dry eyes are a problem for a lot of peri and meno women. It is still a bit of a problem for me but much improved since I went on hormones. I found an article that confirmed my suspicion that it is just another thing that dries up in he absence of not enough estrogen. It says:

"The degree to which your hormones affect your eye health depends largely on your individual blueprint and lifestyle. However, studies have linked androgen (testosterone) and estrogen receptors on the cornea of the eye and on the meibomian gland. This indicates a correlation between the production of tears and our sex hormones.

Before menopause, the more testosterone you have, the fewer tears you produce, while an increase in estrogen means more tear production. However, this equation reverses during menopause - more testosterone means more tear production, while more estrogen means less tear production. And while we still need to learn more about how this mechanism works, it’s clear that hormones play a significant role in lubricating our eyes. It makes sense that dry eyes may result from estrogen deficiency, progesterone deficiency, testosterone deficiency or possibly from an imbalance of any of the three."

Miss Tibbs

Brenda! Another thing hormone deficiency affects!! Is there nothing it doesn't mess with??

Are you going to add Testosterone to your regiment now? To add tears?

Crazy, it is just crazy!! It seriously makes me think there is something wrong with the natural process!

Kathie

I think its more of a hormone balance thing than any one hormone being out of whack. I have severe dry eye, onset with Peri and my Testosterone is high. Go figure. There are causes other than hormones as well.

The thing that bothers me is that no doctor I've ever seen has connected dry eyes with hormones. The same happened when I had frequent recurrng urinary tract infections. I had to find this out on my own. When you go to a doctor--you expect them to know these things. That's part of what we pay them for.

Miss Tibbs

You are not seeing the right doctor. Your optometrist or ophthalmologist is the one more likely to make the connection.

I've just been dx'ed with Dry Eye Syndrome; the eye doctor put tiny collagen plugs into my tear ducts (which my eyes promptly popped out within 24 hours)...she thinks it's because of an autoimmune process. I had new plugs put in this morning (smaller ones...I guess the first pair were too big..)...my recent hormone levels were normal, but then again, they're different every time I have them tested. So now I'm wondering what's causing the dry eyes...hormones, disease, allergies, cold weather...???

Couldn't agree with you more. These problems have been around for countless generations, yet we know that if we mention it to our doctor, he will stare into space, with that dead eyed look, just daring us to come up with yet another 'fictitious' symptom so that he can write, 'Complete hypochondriac' in our notes.
The other day, I had a chat to a really intelligent and wise elderly lady who said that if men suffered the menopause it would probably have been sorted out by now. I am quite aware that there isn't a cure for everything but as a woman I become extremely angry when I am fobbed off rudely and treated with zero respect. I used to run a medical department and came across some very selfish and uncaring doctors, so I suppose that I am not surprised. In many cases it would really help if your doctor said something like,' Ah I know what that is and it is very common at menopause.' He might then take the time to explain why the symptom may be occuring so that your mind could be put at rest. It wouldn't even matter if he admitted that there was no effective treatment available and it would pass. The mental health of women is severely at risk during the menopause. Just reading this site proves that! Instead of fobbing them off with tranquilizers doctors should provide a proper support sytem during these transitional years. Just a little effort in this area would be rewarded with better health for the ageing female population. They are soooo short sighted.

Thank-goodness for Powersurge.

XIII

Hello Ladies~

I don't suffer from dry eyes (not yet, anyway), however; my mother has for over 20 years. She has had plugs, no plugs, more plugs, and has tried every prescriptive and non-prescriptive med available for dry eyes.

Anyway, the one product that she swears by and that gives her the most relief, is called 'Sterile Revive Plus Lubrican Dye Drops' by Equate. She gets this at WalMart. Sometimes she puts the vials in the refrigerator to give her even more relief.

Just thought I would drop by this suggestion........

Hugs,
Karen

Help!!! I've got the badly swollen eyes again. This happened Thanksgiving Weekend and then spontaneously subsided. Now it's back with a vengeance.

Here's my big question: Is this caused by hyper- or hypo thyroidism? My eyes aren't bulging, as in Grave's disease, just the tissue above my eye lids and below is very swollen. I look like a freak!

Hi roundrobin
I have great sympathy with you.
I posted about my dry eye problem soon after I joined PS and got some really helpful suggestions from ladies.
Since then I have kept track of when I get it and it is DEFINITELY linked to my food allergy/intolerances.
I am intolerant/sensitive to sulfites (and possibly some other things!) and when my husband cooks anything with onion which is very sulfited .. even something prepacketed and cooked in the oven......(it doesn't have to be raw onion) the next morning I have really swollen puffy red eyes and I can hardly open them.
Needless to say my poor DH is getting earbashed when he cooks his favourite foods now. He cooked a pre packed potato mix the other day and I had to open every window and door in the house to disperse it as I got so neurotic!
I also get it mildly when I ingest something my body doesn't like. I woke up with slightly red irritated eyes this morning .. an antihistamine soon improves it, but I would much rather find out what is causing it.

I did reply to one of your posts earlier roundrobin and agreed that puffiness could be related to thyroid and peri... but as mine is definitely allergy/intolerance related then it would be worth keeping a tab of what you are eating and what is being cooked or used in your house. (it doesn't have to be onion but could be).
air fresheners..... animals... perfumes....antiperspirants....cleaning products...hairspray.. DHs aftershave!
With regard to Benadryl.. some people on the allergy site I belong to actually react to Benadryl!!! so perhaps another antihistamine would help. I take cetirizine on prescription .. you can get it off prescription)
Eye problems are normally from airborn irritants. Could you ask your doctor to send you to the allergy clinic for skin tests? They can test you for dustmites/ cats/moulds etc.
You could try changing to natural cleaning products (ecover is a good one) and natural beauty care products to see if this helps. You could have a chemical sensitivity as we do become much more sensitive during peri/meno.
Just some suggestions.... hope they help
Hugs Lindy xxxxxx

Another quick thought Robin...

It happened Thanksgiving weekend and then subsided... it has happened again. There is a link there somewhere.
What did you do/eat at thanksgiving?
What have you done/eaten the same now?
Are you at the same point in your cycle as you where then?
Think back to your Thanksgiving.......finding your possible allergy is a bit like being a detective!
Hugs Lindyxxx

Thanks for the replies, ladies. I"m not having any periods so I don't have cycles to keep track of. Also, I can't seem to attach it to anything I've eaten.

The mystery is that antihistimines (both otc and prescription) do NOTHING for it.... My TSH and T4 levels however, are very unstable...that's why I'm thinking it has something to do with my thyroid. To tell you the truth, I"m really embarassed to go to work today (it's that bad.)...and it coincides with me feeling like crap in general. Also, I get blurry/double vision...ugh...another meno-mystery...

I sent an email to my doctor (I am LOVING this patient-website thing) and she wrote me back this morning. In her opinion, the swollen eyes is related to my thyroid. She said as long as I don't have pain or change in vision, I'm okay, but she wants me to keep a careful eye (no pun intended) on it for the next few days.

This thyroid stuff is really weird...seems like it can affect your whole body...

Roundrobin,

I remember learning in school that an underactive thyroid can cause a goiter--which is why they started putting iodine in salt and and over active thryroid can cause someone's eyes to bulge out. Also people with over active thryroids tend to be thin.

What did you do the same on Thanksgiving weekend as you did recently? It sounds to me like an allergic reaction to something--something you wore--something you ate--something you used (a cosmetic maybe?), animals? evergreens? flowers? scented candles? plants? grass? pollen? mold (what's the air quality in your town been like?) Try to remember what you did on Thanksgiving weekend that you also did recently--and you may be able to pin it down.

I would say if you take an antihistamine and it takes the swelling (which is probably an inflammation) down--it's probably an allergy to something. Cold compresses may help bring the swelling down. If this continues, you'e better check with your doctor.

Miss Tibbs