Luckily, I can see clearly now – even when I play 2048 obsessively on my phone. In the years just prior to adopting a gluten-free diet, I suffered from many symptoms. One of those was dry eyes. When I woke up each morning, it felt like I had gravel in my eyes. I could no longer command my eyes to water at will. I sometimes asked a colleague in my office to tell me a sad story so I could cry and make my eyes feel better.
I tried every over-the-counter eye drop I could find. Some didn’t work at all. I was allergic to others. My opthalmologist explained to me that my eyelids were sticking to my eyes and causing little abrasions. That sounded bad and felt awful. She insisted I use RESTASIS®. I complied.
As I struggled to get a diagnosis for my constant aching, itchy rashes, tummy pain, diarrhea, and weakness, I began to include dry eye in my research. I discovered Sjogren’s Syndrome. This autoimmune disease affects an estimated 1 in 10 dry eye patients.
It often occurs alone, but can also occur along with other autoimmune diseases like celiac, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or scleroderma. As I began my gluten-free experiment, I was curious whether healing my gut would have a positive effect on my dry eye. My opthalmologist and I designed a plan to wean me off RESTASIS® so I could find out.
Like the itchy rashes caused by my dermatitis herpetiformis, the improvement in my eyes on a gluten-free diet has followed a much slower and sporadic path than the quick reduction in muscle pain & weakness, stomach pain, and other intestinal symptoms I experienced. My increased use of electronic devices hasn’t helped. While my eyes are still on the dry side, they are much improved as evidenced both by the way they feel and by my optometrist’s observation during yearly exams.
What I’ve discovered along the way is that overall hydration is important. When I drink too much tea or not enough water, I notice a difference. Wearing mascara of any sort results in drier eyes. And I’ve learned that I can supplement the eyes’ self-cleaning action by using eye wash once or twice a day. By making choices to support eye hydration, I had reached a level of adequate hydration with only occasional annoyance, but I can see more clearly now.
Recently, I found an eye cleansing yoga routine and decided to give it a try. It’s a simple set of eye movement exercises plus a period of time breathing while staring at a candle flame or small object about 24 inches in front of the eyes. As I stare and try not to blink, my eyes begin to water in the same manner I was previously able to command them to water at will.
After a few of days of this practice, I decided to try the staring technique while working. I stopped what I was doing, stared at an icon on my computer screen, and boom-bada-boom, it worked. My eyes began to water. I’m thrilled to have another simple solution at my disposal. I can see clearly now, can you?
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sjogrens-syndrome/basics/definition/con-20020275
http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/news/meditation/trataka.aspx