I have a friend who's completely miserable due to eyes that are so dry they hurt constantly. She has seen many eye specialists and they are all completely mystified. She lives in a hyperendemic Lyme area so I was just wondering if anyone has had those symptoms from Lyme (thankfully I haven't).
She's also had knee pain, but she said that's something that runs in the family-- I already tried suggesting Lyme and she shot me down, saying the pain is much worse than Lyme could cause. Should I keep pushing it?
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Lyme gave me terrible dry eye and terrible dry mouth.
I had to see the eye doctor for the eyes and the dentist for the mouth.
It is very common for lyme to do this. Good lyme treatment reversed both of these symptoms for me. Mediocre lyme treatment did not help these symptoms.
Why not give her pages 9-10 of the Burrascano lyme treatment guidelines and have her check off how many of these lyme symptoms she has.
She may also notice that there are columns to mark "mild" "moderate" and "severe." Maybe it will enter her head that any of the listed symptoms can be termed "severe" due to lyme disease.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
The co-infections can do it too. Before I knew I had lyme I went to several doctors. I remember the eye doctor scoffing at me when I asked if it could possibly be related to the tick bite as I got sick directly afterward.
We almost got in a fight when he told me my eyes were "just dry" and that comes with age, or I might have meniers although I told him my mouth was not dry.
Mine were so dry and blood shot I had to wear sun glasses in the house. They hurt all the time.
Tell your friend to try hyaluronic acid, which is collagen. It is great to help dry eyes as well as joints and skin. Lyme devours collagen so it helps to replace it.
You can buy capsules at a health food store. Be sure to invest in the best quality which is not chicken sternum or rooster comb. Take 100mg a day.
My eyes got so much better they do not bother me while I am taking HA but if I stop they get dry and blood shot again. It is one of my lingering symptoms so it must co-infection, maybe babs.
Posted by Need Lots of Help (Member # 18603) on :
I couldn't see a year and a half ago (for 2 weeks). My eyes were so dry that I rubbed them to much and ripped my coreneas. I had to wear 2 pair of sunglasses, put all kinds of drops in my eyes, stay in the dark all day, wet tea bags and lay them on my eye lids, and finally was shipped to a Corneal Specialist. No one had any clue what was causing my symptoms.
I say it was lyme disease. It was a horrible experience, and I will pray for your friend.
Posted by mojo (Member # 9309) on :
I see a Lyme Literate Neurological Opthamologist and he puts "punctal plugs" in my eyes.
He also has me use Systane Eye Drops (Systane Ultra is even better) made by Alcon. They are not cheap but I get them at Costco.
Posted by mjbucuk (Member # 843) on :
Sjorensen's syndrome can cause dry eyes (and dry mouth) and is an autoimmune problem.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
My doctor diagnosed mine as sicca (dry) and said he would do a biopsy to determine if it was sjogren's. I declined.
It cleared up in the first 2 years of treatment. I hadn't had a problem with it for a long time until some massive stress I've had recently brought on a short episode.