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Dry Eyes associated with reflux

Posted , 4 users are following.

Barretts
Barretts

I wonder how many people with dry eyes also have reflux?

A survey carried out in 2014 of 100 experiencing acid reflux found 34% also had dry eyes. This may be xplained by the passage of refluxate up the fill column of the oesophagus, breaching the upper oesophageal sphincter and aspirating into the nose and thence travelling as an irritant via the tear ducts.

I'd be interested in how many with dry or gritty eyes have reflux and may not have considered the possibility the two were connected.

1 like, 13 replies

13 Replies

  • Light
    Light Barretts

    Posted

    This is interesting! I do have dry eyes and acid reflux and I recently discovered – partly through the help of this forum, actually – that a chronic dry cough I've had for 15 years is connected to acid relfex. That was quite a revelation!

    Now your suggestion that my extremely dry eyes maybe connected too makes sense and could well be an extension of its travels to my throat, as you point out.

    I can't say I've noticed any difference in the eyes with more control of the reflux, but now you've pointed out the possibility I'm goin to observe it...

    Do my eyes get better the more I swig my gaviscon? My throat certainly does, so let's see...

    • Barretts
      Barretts Light

      Posted

      Gaviscon and other antacids or acid suppressants are good at reducing acid but may not be so effective at reducing reflux.

      This free book / website may help: www DownWithAcid org uk

    • Light
      Light Barretts

      Posted

      Aha! Thanks for this info. It's done me proud with my dry cough, so maybe reflux is not what I'm suffering from...

      I'll check it out...

  • Tripadvisor
    Tripadvisor Barretts

    Posted

    Hi Barretts

    just wondering if you ever got tested for Sjorgens??? Its just Dry eyes and dryness with swallow etc are all symptoms of it,,, swallow issues can generate acid reflux...I could be way out but was just a thought....

    • Barretts
      Barretts Tripadvisor

      Posted

      Yes. I was tested for Sjogrens. I know those with Sjögrens can be likely to develop oesophagus problems due to dryness in the oesophagus.
    • Light
      Light Tripadvisor

      Posted

      I was also queried for sjorgens but they decided my mouth wasn't dry enough! Turned out to be inflammatory filamental keratitis.  How's that for a mouthful!
    • Tripadvisor
      Tripadvisor Light

      Posted

      Good God, what the hell is that? isent it so frustrating the way youre told one thing one minute and then the diagnosis is another...Youd wonder wouldnt you....
    • Light
      Light Tripadvisor

      Posted

      Well, actually, the Sjogrens was queried by the rheumy and it was the opthalmologist who diagnosed the long-named one. It all happened around the same time.

      Keratitis (and my variety) is a nasty little thing when the eyes get so so dry that the layers shrink and break up and cause little filaments to stick to the cornea and feel like permanent sawdust. The inflammatory sort is, well, inflammatory, just to add to the mix.

      It all conspired to give me a very hard time on and off for a number of years. Restasis would have been the curative potion of choice but it did  nothing for me except burn holes in my pocket.

    • Tripadvisor
      Tripadvisor Light

      Posted

      You poor thing, that sounds terrible. Its only since I started havin all this eye trouble myself Ive come to realise that there are so many conditions Id never even heard of , and people suffering every day. Isent it amazing , they can come up with ways for men to land on the moon, and yet they cant cure some of these eye problems. The amount of research being done, the amount of technology etc, the mind boggles....
    • Light
      Light Tripadvisor

      Posted

      Yes. It's only when we join the ranks of the chronically sick do we discover what a motherlode of illnesses there are our there.

      I agree with you about spending time and money on space travel when we could be spending it so much more intelligently in the beautiful home we actually live on and on all of us who reside here – human conservation included!

  • Tripadvisor
    Tripadvisor Barretts

    Posted

    Ah well at least youve ruled Sjorgens out, I know theres nothn as frustrating as wondering and not having a definitive diagnosis....
    • Barretts
      Barretts Tripadvisor

      Posted

      I have defined a diagnosis. My dry eyes, as with 34% of those experiencing extra-oesophageal reflux, were due to reflux. Following reflux reduction surgery a few years back, my eye probem abated.

      I posted this not as a question for myself but as a possible solution worth exploring for others in a similar situation.

    • Barretts
      Barretts

      Posted

      But I don't advocate reflux surgery just for dry eyes. Though if sufferers have the other reflux symptoms - and can't reduce those via lifestyle changes, it may be a possibility.
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