Dry eye syndrome and the subsequent risk of CFS — a prospective population-based study in Taiwan (2018) Tse-Yen Yang et al

[andypants]

My ME got worse in stages and with every one of those stages my dry eyes got much worse as well, so in my case there is a clear connection.

Same here. It goes with the sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. For me it started after a bad cold (double eye infection). My eyes have been dry ever since, and get worse with PEM.

It’s really only mildly annoying, but can be uncomfortable when worsening. My mouth also often feels dry, mostly at night.

 

[Inara]

Something that seems odd is that while the normal state of my eyes tends towards uncomfortable dryness, at times they are unusually moist with tear fluid for no apparent reason. Maybe that is normal? Or could indicate a subtle sympathetic/parasympathetic nerve signalling problem?

While having an SSR test my eyes watered. A stress response is provoked via an electroshock in between the eye brows. So it could be due to (para-)sympathetic nerve signalling? (I was told my reaction was untypical, but could be due to the electroshock.)

 

[Sing]

I have had a dry eye problem since nearly the start of this illness 22 years ago. I learned to treat it with a boric acid eyewash I make myself. I couldn’t afford the eye drops or prescription remedies, but was lucky in that the eyewash I make and use at least twice a day is even more effective. My mouth has gotten drier so now, in the interests of keeping the plaque from building on my teeth, I often chew sugarless gum—a very unattractive habit which I spare other people.

Anyway, I am going to try to get tested for Sjogren’s. If you look it up on www.dysautonomiainternational.org you’ll see its connection with autonomic problems, with overlapping features to many of ours.

And one idea it suggests is that ME has an the autoimmune nature.