Does anyone who has optic neuritis have dry itchy eye's?? I've been plagued with this. They're red & dry & it always feels like there is something in them.

Could be a side effect...many of us suffer from this. I use Systane drops...they are thick and really do the trick.

Yes, mine are either dry and itchy, in winter or wet and itchy, in summer. Boooo!! I use either murine or tears drops, depending.

Systane drops. I use the regular saline type usually, but when the dry eye is really bad, I get the gel eyedrops, and only use the gel type at night. Mostly because it can irritate your eyes if you use it too much, and the gel stays in the eyes longer if you keep your eyes closed, and since sleep is usually done when your eyes are closed, that's probably the best time to use it.

ME! I was diagnosed as secondary sjoghrens disease related to MS. I had to have punctal plugs put in my lower tear ducts to prevent liquid from escaping. I have steroid eye drops for when its really bad, and systane for when its just dry.

Make sure that you use a drop with NO preservatives as they can be quite irritating to an already dry eye.

My MD told me to make a mix of 1 part baby shampoo to 10 parts water, and then squirt that onto a wet wash cloth. Wash your eyes with that. it will help break the dried oils and open the blocked oil ducts on the lash line. DONT SCRUB, just wash. it was a wonderful relief for me.

I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and swear my lid is stuck to my eyeball it has become so dry. I have a can of eye mist that is nothing more than sterile water. I move my eyes back and forth a min to get some liquid going and when I can open my eyes I give them a refreshing spray.

its miserable! I hope you feel better quick.

That sounds like allergies.

Allergies run wild in my family. My son always explained his eyes as having rocks in them.

Do you sleep with a ceiling fan or a floor fan running in the room?

When I'm having dry eye problems, my ceiling fan makes it worse. I end up having to turn the heat down or the a/c up depending on the season, and turn the ceiling fan off to try to sleep, and keep bottles of eye drops all over the house. One in my jeans pocket, one in my purse, couple next to my bed, one in my desk...yay for samples of Systane from my eye doctor's office. (samples of Pataday allergy drops are great too, just cant use that as often)

Do not automatically assume allergies. This tends to lead us to the antihistamine drops, the ones that "get the red out," which can eventually aggravate the problem. There are a number of eye conditions that can cause dry, itchy, red eyes. I have one of them . . . episcleritis. The treatment for this is different than the treatment for allergies.

I recommend a visit to your ophthamologist.

I agree but, the same can be said for MS --- don't automatically assume it's MS.

Dry, itchy, red and feeling like something is in your eyes, in my family, IS allergy related. My son, who is the one with the worst eye symptoms has had allergy testing. My daughter as well as my husband have allergy eyes and for myself, I've had allergy eyes since I was a kid.

All 4 of us have regular check-ups with an Opthamologist but it's our PCP who treats our allergy eyes.

I've never heard of dry or itchy eyes being a side effect of ON, and I'd bet money that my neuro-ophthalmologist would say the same.

It could be Sjogren's, allergies, possibly Blepharitis or something else. Definitely best to go see an eye doc. Good luck!