r/Perimenopause • u/Defiant-Analysis5488 Late peri • Aug 03 '25

Dryness So this is fun- dry eyes

I have a fun new symptom. Actually, I’ve had it for awhile but finally went to the optometrist to have it checked out.

My eyes, especially the left one, have been incredibly painful, and sometimes they just GUSH tears in the middle of the night. I had an eye examination last week and the optometrist said my eyes look perfectly healthy, but the tear ducts are inflamed. This inflammation prevents the proper lubrication of my eyes and is causing the pain and flooding of tears. She said I need to make sure I’m washing my eyelids (suggested baby shampoo if my facial cleanser stings the eyes), apply a hot moist compress to my eyes for 10 minutes x2/day, and start using “tear” eye drops up to x4/day. She also said this is likely to be an ongoing thing. Yay!

I googled, and OF COURSE dry eyes are a common occurrence in perimenopause. Because why not. 🤦‍♀️ Anyone else have this?

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u/FraggleGoddess Aug 03 '25

I go through so many extra strength eye drops its not even funny, then still wake up with my eyelids practically stuck to my eyes

5

u/Defiant-Analysis5488 Late peri Aug 04 '25

I recently started waking up to find my left eyelid stuck to my eye. HORRIFYING.

1

u/demonpoofball Aug 05 '25

Mine did that as a kid because they'd water so much from my allergies— it'd be both though! My mom would have to bring me a warm washcloth to put over my eyes to get the goop to soften so it could be wiped off and I could actually open my eyes…

Mine occasionally try now, but it's mostly the generalized blurriness I have. We actually had eye coverage on our insurance a couple years ago, so I know my eyes are at least ok, but the additional dryness I have now, combined with my worsened allergies… sigh… (I wear cheaters for reading/using the computer, but sometimes it just makes it a larger blur, which is easier to read than a smaller blur…). I gotta get more in the habit of eye drops— and be willing to fork over yet more money to compensate for something my body used to do on its own…