Could anyone give me any insight on these meds. There seem to be so many side effects. I have been to 8 different specialist and none of them have mentioned these. Do I need to ask?
I've only used Evoxac, and I continue to use it. I started using it 2 years ago. Before I started, my mouth was in really bad shape. My tongue and cheeks were red and painful, super dry. I was having trouble sleeping at night because I couldn't swallow and was having trouble breathing because of the dryness. I was drinking water, using biotene, etc. It just wasn't doing anywhere near enough.
When I started using Evoxac it was like a small miracle to me. I can sleep better now, and my mouth looks healthy again. I've played around a bit with how long before bed I take it, to lessen having to get up to use the bathroom. And yes, sometimes I drool on my pillow. I can live with that. Other side effects? For me, nothing.
Thank you Stoney! Did you experience any side effects? The list is very long. I would welcome pillow drooling at this point! None of the OTC stuff is working for me either. I still haven’t gotten a diagnosis yet and I’m afraid the doctor won’t give me a prescription until I get one. I am stressing over the lip biopsy though. I have read that people have those done only to get inconclusive results! Why else would a person have dry mouth? I even went off all medications except protonix for acid reflux just to see if moisture would get better and it has not! Now, my eyes (which have been feeling better) are burning again. They burn even more when I use the artificial tears. I can’t take much more. I need something for anxiety too but I worry it will dry me out more! Do you dry out more when you take other meds or is that even possible? I don’t know what to do!
Hi Karen! No real side effects, other than possibly more frequent urination, but I always pee a lot, so hard to tell the difference.
I don't use artificial tears. Even the preservative free ones seem to irritate me. I use Restasis twice a day, and have had my upper and lower tear ducts plugged. THAT has made the biggest difference to me.
Thanks Stoney, I used Restasis a few years ago when I first started having dry eyes. It was wonderful but very expensive. When my eyes started feeling better I quit using them. I recently mentioned to my eye doctor that I was having issues and may need to start using them again. He gave me some OTC eye drops (that i had already tried) and I told him the OTC drops made my eyes burn worse. He said “well they shouldn’t be” such a supportive doctor. What was the big deal about letting me get the Restasis. I have been complaining to him for years that my eyes are dry, but he never mentioned any further testing. I don’t know if I need new doctors or what! Honestly none of them seem to care or have the time to find out what’s really going on. They love to tell you everything looks normal. It’s not normal to have dry burning eyes and mouth ALL the time. And today my OB/GYN office called to tell me I am going through menopause. Yay, I figured this much, just another added problem. But he also said menopause would not cause me to have dry eyes and mouth, only female dryness. I am frustrated at the contradicting info I am getting from my 8 doctors. Yes I have seen 8 and still no diagnosis!!!
How was getting the tear ducts plugged. It gives me anxiety just thinking about it. I do use the gel stuff that goes in the eye before you go to bed. It works pretty good. It does ooze out a lot the next day though so no makeup.
Nice simple procedure. We started off with just the lower plugs. I felt a touch of moisture in my eyes for half a second. I went back a few weeks later and got the top ones done, as my eyes were still quite dry. I now have some tears, but they are poor quality and have no place to drain to, so they just spill out. That took some getting used to, but it’s unusual to have top and bottom ducts plugged.
I use the night time gel at night too. Also, you can try warm compresses once a day. That can help improve your comfort level as well as the tear quality. A lot of people, myself included, do daily eye scrubs as well. Blepharitis seems to be common, so the eye scrubs can make a difference.
Thanks Stoney, I will research blepharitis, that’s a new one for me. I appreciate all the tips!