Turns out I have dry eye syndrome

As I was researching menopausal symptoms, I stumbled across one called dry eye syndrome. Huh, I thought. That would make an interesting and informative post, even though I don’t have that.

Let me repeat that last phrase … even though I don’t have that.

Imagine my not so pleasant surprise, as I was doing my research, to discover that apparently I do!

But more on that shortly. Let’s start at the beginning.

What is dry eye syndrome?

Our eyes are covered by three layers of tear film that protect the cornea:

• outer lipid layer
• aqueous layer
• inner mucin layer

Changing hormones can decrease one or more of these layers. In other words, our tears aren’t working like they should.

Now, I realize this is hard to believe, because another symptom of menopause is irrational bawling. But that aside, when there is an imbalance in our tear system, we can get dry eyes.

What are the symptoms?

When our eyes are not properly lubricated we can experience the following in our eyes:

• light sensitivity
• gritty sensation
• itching
• redness
• blurry vision
• pain

… and here’s what caught me off guard …

• tears streaming down our face for no apparent reason.

Not to be confused with irrational bawling. Like I said, that’s another menopausal symptom.

Well, over the past year, I have experienced tears streaming down my face for no apparent reason. Turns out this is because the eye is freaking out because it is too dry and it is telling the nervous system to create tears.

Now what?!

As is normally the case, there are ways to control this menopause symptom with and without medications.

First, we can do the following:

• keep room air moist with a humidifier
• stay hydrated
• avoid heat vents that blow straight into the eyes
• take fish oil supplements as Omega-3 is thought to help

If symptoms persist or are extreme, other options are:

• use of artifical tear drops and ointments
• surgery to plug the tear drains

Is it really menopause causing this?

I will add the caveat of consulting with your health care professional to eliminate other causes of dry eye syndrome such as:

• seborrhoeic dermatitis
• rosacea
• contact dermatitis
• allergic conjunctivitis
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• rheumatoid arthritis
• lupus
• shingles

Who knew?

So, there you have it. Turns out I have dry eye syndrome. This flow of tears doesn’t happen very often — okay, except for the irrational bawling — so for now I’ll just pay attention if it is triggered by a dry environment. But, if it gets worse, I now know what my options are.

Have your say:

Have you heard of dry eye syndrome?
Do you have it? And if so, is it bad enough to be bothersome?
Do you bawl irrationally? Okay, that was a trick question. If you are menopausal, of course you do.

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