When I first got PSSD this wasn’t that much of a problem. In relatively rare occasions I noticed that my eyes would sting. And this had never occurred to me before getting PSSD. It seems like during the year it got much worse. At the moment my eyes sting as soon as I go outside. If I keep on looking up then they literally start tearing. So I’m forced to look at the ground. Also eye contact is impossible. For some reason when I make eye contact with someone my eyes start watering. I also remember reading about someone else who had this symptom (can’t remember if PFS or PSSD). Many people may think this is some sort of social anxiety. But it’s not that at all. Before PSSD this never happened to me, even when I felt anxious in some situations. Also I once took 250 mg methylprednisolone and on that same day, my eyes were completely fine. No watering at all. Unfortunately this improvement did not remain. I think this symptom is obviously MGD. This dysfunction is often reported in elderly women, which have the lowest level of androgens out of everyone.
This sounds like dry eye. When the eyes are dry, the nerves send information back to the brain saying “I’m dry, help me.” The brain sends a signal to the lacrimal gland and it pumps out extra tears, causing watering. What I do is I take preservative free eye drops as soon as I wake up and every 1-2 hours. You can keep them in the fridge for a bonus cooling and anti inflammatory effect. Additionally, warm compresses stimulate the meibomian glands. These glands secrete oil onto the tear film. Oil is part of the tear film. If oil is missing, the tears evaporate easily. Use a warm compress for ten minutes daily to stimulate oil onto the tear film.
It takes discipline, but this is a good place to start. The lacrimal glands and meibomian glands are under partial control of androgens, so this is why women often get dry eye symptoms during menopause, and us too.
Maybe keep this in mind as well, Mucus and its viscoelasticity.
Mucus is a hydrogel that constitutes the first innate defense in all mammals.
To me, the dry eye we experience is clearly a symptom of PFS, and is related to the effects finasteride has had on us and our endocrine system.
Right, Im also coming from Accutane. I could go deeper with this, but the main takeaway is Isotretinoin has an effect on Mucus production. Probably to try to protect. Or maybe thats what should happen.
Effect of 60 and 90 days of isotretinoin treatment on the structure of the small intestine mucosa in young male Wistar rats
Published online 2018
Mucus is viscoelastic, gel-like and its primary function is to protect the mucosal cell surface from acids and peptidases. In addition, it serves as a lubricant for the passage of solids and as a barrier to antigens, bacteria and viruses (Shirazi et al. , 2000; Walker & Talley, 2011; Chawla et al. , 2013; Kim & Khan, 2013). The diet and the use of drugs can alter the distribution and frequency of goblet cells and it is related to the maintenance of bacterial translocation and microbiota
We hypothesized that the jejunum and ileum are the most sensitive regions for this protocol with retinoid treatment, since they are the main absorption sites for these substances. Goblet cell type frequency was altered as an adaptive effect of this protocol.
I’m trying lipiflow soon to see if it helps my dry eyes. Not sure if it will work.
If your issue is meibomian gland related, it’ll help for a while. I think you’ll still need artificial tears and hot compresses, but the lipiflow Can really get the ball rolling. Ask your eye doctor about doxycycline for dry eye. Research how people have faired on doxy here before to get a informed decision, though.
After lipiflow, you can escalate things to Restasis which sometimes helps. And finally, scleral lenses if your eyes are still in pain and discomfort.
@arkaeik - id definitely start with warm compresses and preservative free tears every hour or as needed to begin with though.
Lower lid tear duct plugs are also an option as well.