<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I read with great interest the informative summary on dry eyes.  I hadn't
seen this post originally or I would have responded directly to the poster,
but I would like to add my personal experience.  When I was in my 40's (and
before I was diagnosed Celiac by biopsy) I started developing very dry and
itchy eyes.  I visited an eye specialist and after ruling out any pathology
he informed me I should start using eye drops daily, but to use the ones
without preservatives.  The doctor said this symptom is a normal function of
aging.  This was before Restasis was available.  When I got home, my cousin,
who was living with me at the time while doing her pediatric residency, told
me that in children, one of the first signs of Vitamin A deficiency is dry
eyes.  She suggested that I start taking a Vitamin A supplement daily.  She
told me to start off with 8,000 i.u. daily (a moderately conservative dose)
and continue that for 3 weeks and see if this improved my dry eye syndrome.
With that, I also started paying closer attention to making sure I was
eating foods rich in Vitamin A.  It wasn't more than a week that I noticed I
no longer had dry eyes. I continued the Vitamin A supplements for approx. 2
months, then discontinued them on a regular basis.  I also started taking a
daily multivitamin after stopping the vitamin A, which contained approx.
5,000 i.u. of vitamin A in each capsule.  To this day, 20 years later, I
never suffer from dry eyes anymore.  I eat plenty of organic leafy green
vegetables for many reasons, but my main motivation is to make sure I am
getting enough Vitamin A naturally.

A word of caution about vitamin A supplements - this is a fat soluble
vitamin, meaning it is stored in your body, unlike water soluble vitamins
such as vitamin C.  More vitamin A is not better.  One can actually overdose
on too much vitamin A with very severe side effects.  Please check out
supplementing with vitamin A on the internet, in the library, and discuss
this with your doctor before embarking on any sort of regime. What worked
for me may not be the answer to your problem necessarily and or you may have
additional and further underlying problems as well.  Good luck, Dorina

 

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