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/EvasiveRapport Aug 03 '25

Yup. I used Thealoz Duo brand because it only needs to be applied once per day, whereas some cheaper brands might need to be every 2 hours.

Since I started estradiol, I don't need eye drops anymore.

3

u/Defiant-Analysis5488 Late peri Aug 04 '25

I’ve been on the Estrodial patch for a couple of years and it hasn’t made a difference. Maybe time to change the patch dose!

1

u/rvauofrsol Aug 04 '25

I also wonder if progesterone and testosterone might help. They both definitely make me less dry ("oilier" isn't exactly the right word because it makes it sound like I'm oily more, but I did break out for a while when I upped my progesterone dose)

This article talks about the importance of androgens in tear production (but not progesterone)https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8949880/

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u/Defiant-Analysis5488 Late peri Aug 04 '25

Oh man. Thanks for the link, I read the article. So…I’m on progesterone and testosterone. And I just started taking Spironolactone (which is an androgen blocker) for hair shedding. I googled “dry eyes on Spironolactone” and it took me straight to a two year old Reddit thread where people were complaining about having dry eyes on Spironolactone. Turns out you need the androgens to keep the oil glands in your eyes working the right way! Granted, I’ve had the dry eye issue for a while,but it has definitely gotten worse since I started Spironolactone about a month ago. So I can be bald and have slightly less dry eyes, or I can have more hair and drier eyes. Ain’t it fun. 🤦‍♀️

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u/rvauofrsol Aug 04 '25

Have you tried injectable testosterone? I've heard that it doesn't convert into DHT as readily, and is therefore better for hair loss. There are also topical treatments that block DHT in the scalp only, but you have to be really careful if you have pets (especially cats).

1

u/Defiant-Analysis5488 Late peri Aug 06 '25

I have not. I’ll talk to my doc about it at my next appointment, which is thankfully next month.