Eyes
 

I have had several episodes with optic neuritis in last few years.But I am have really scratchy eyes and they fill like they always have something in them. I look and there is nothing there. Is this related to M.S or is it something completely different.

it sounds like you have a case of dry eye syndrome.
i live in CO where the humidity is very low and i suffer from that.
my opthamologist recommended Refresh Tears. you can get it in the drug or grocery store.

they also make a more viscous type of eye drop "for moderate to severe dry eyes". that coats the eye better but can leave you with some mild blurry vision for about 10-15". you can use the drops as often as you need. sometimes i use them constantly and other times i'm fine.

there are other products on the market. i'd call your eye dr and discuss this with him. be careful not to rub too awfully much. you don't want to rub your cornea and get a scratch.

in fact, maybe you should see your eye dr to make sure that isn't the problem. that really does hurt.

You could also have allergies. This is the time of year when allergies start going wonko for some people. Tree pollens are starting to come out now, I've had to use Rx eye drops the past few weeks because of allergies.

You can ask your ophthalmologist if they can prescribe something for that.

I get really dry eyes in the spring. (like Death Valley dry!) My ophtho gave me a Rx for something called Pataday...ridiculously expensive, but gosh does it work great!

There are also some medications that can cause dry mouth, eyes, etc., like some antidepressants or migraine meds. My eye dr put me on flaxseed oil, 1000 mg twice a day to help get more moisture. I can really tell a difference. It's also a healthy omega-3 fatty acid! He also told me to use Theratears drops. Erin, I'm with you on the Pataday! I had a sample and loved it, but when it ran out it was so expensive DH wouldn't fill it for me.

It cost me $60 to get the full Rx filled last time. The bottle still has some in it, and I think my two samples still have a little something in them too. I'm going to get a refill for the Rx tho, the Pataday drops are the best thing for my allergy dry-eyeballs. Works much much better than just plain eye drops.

I think a lot of meds for MS symptoms cause dry eye. I'm pretty sure that Copaxone can do it somewhat, but antidepressants are a big cause of dry eye. I had a couple of Rx's for sleeping pills last year that caused me such bad dry eye that I gave up trying to use sleeping pills to get thru my insomnia. I think Baclofen is another culprit too. Probably are quite a few others.

I know a lot of meds cause dry mouth AND dry eyes, so not only do a lot of people have to constantly water their eyeballs, they're drinking all the time, and having your mouth get dry all the time too can cause dental problems.

since starting copaxone I have SEVERE dry eyes! I even had punctal plugs put in the lower lids to keep what moisture I do have IN there. There are several nice over the counter drops that can help. Make sure you get preservative free ones. The single size ones are great. Systane, and gentear is pretty good. Its awful when you wake up in the middle of the night and feel like your eye lid is glued to your eyeball, and you cant move your eyeball. A good check up by your opto is a good idea. make sure you dont have any infection going on. I use a Venta room humidifier, and keep myself well hydrated. Drink drink drink.

I take baclofen, nortriptylan, neurontin, valium and zanaflex. I never stop and think about it being the medicine that causes it. I had a prescription for some dry eye medicine about a year ago it was the gooey stuff you put in your eye before you went to bed.Didn't care for it to much. Trust about the dry mouth my mouth feels dry all the time.I am going to set a appointment with eye doctor but will probably go see the best eye drops at Wal-Mart that might help.

Last spring, part of my dry eye problem was probably allergies, but I think the amitriptyline that I was taking was making things worse. I was thinking that either the MS had screwed up the nerves that supply the tear ducts, or that I had Sjogren's or something like that. Quitting the amitriptyline helped and then getting the Rx eye drops helped a lot more too. After a couple of weeks, I had nice soggy eyeballs again.

Not everyone can quit their medications tho. I was only taking the ami because I had insomnia. Now I try to not take anything for the insomnia if I can help it. (not everyone can do that either) Sometimes I just dont sleep. But, at least, so far this year, I dont have massively dry eyes.

Dry eyes
 

Hi,
I assume you saw at least one ophthalmologist. Obviously all we can do is say we hope you are better and suggest things to check out. I have extremely dry eyes (that water because they are trying to help the dryness) and sometimes get scales on them, etc. My vision is worse in the mornings, kind of feel like I am in the tunnel sometimes. Light hurts them and I have trouble seeing at night. I have Fuchs dystrophy which is a type of cornea dystrophy. Having said all of that, when they get itchy and even painful, my ophthalmologist orders specific antibiotic drops for eyes. Don't rule out an infection.

The other suggestions about plenty of water, good moisturing eye drops if the ophthalmologist says okay, etc. can help if you don't have an infection.