Can supplements, natural eye drops, or lifestyle modifications improve symptoms of dry eye?

I have dry eyes due to Sjogren's disease. I’ve used Restais eye drops, two times a day for many years and it works for me. It;s by prescription.

I would like to mention that "mineral oil" is a petroleum product.

I like the artificial tears brand Ivizia ,which are preservative free, better than other brands. I also take serum tears.

Cequa eye drops have been a game changer for me for low-grade but longstanding thyroid eye disease (I have no financial interest in the drops).

I have dry eyes which have cause several problems. Blue light-filtering glasses have been extremely helpful for me to use when driving at night and in bright sunlight. The glasses I found most helpful were ones that fit over my regular glasses not the clip ons over my regular prescription glasses.

A few years ago I developed severe dryness and itchiness. I tried everything to stop the maddening itching and irritation. I tried every off-the-shelf eye drop, then every prescription eye drop, compresses, eye warmers--you name it. Nothing worked and some remedies made the situation worse. Then I happened to locate a dry eye expert who prescribed something called "Vital Tears." They are custom tears made from a patient's own blood serum. They are fairly expensive, but they worked for me (I have no financial interest or connection to Vital Tears).

I've found using steri-lid to clean around the eye lashes really helps. This was a tip a friend got from her opthamologist, has something to do with stuff that grows at the base of the lashes.

I use warm, wet compresses on my eyes twice a day.

I've been using Vevye (pronounced VEEV-eye) prescription eyedrops for a little over a year and find they've made a big difference in my dry eyes. I tried Restasis many years ago but couldn't tolerate the burning. With Vevye is I had no burning. Very pleased with results. (No financial interest whatsoever.)

I take a teaspoon of maqui berry powder every morning. It turns my oatmeal blue. It does not alter the taste. It does seem to help. With my dry eye I find it’s a combination of treatments that help. Frequent artificial tears, heated eye mask, eyelid wash and a plant based diet have helped me. Nothing seems to cure it but with diligence I can improve my comfort

I tried many of the methods in this post after being diagnosed with dry eye and Miobian gland dysfunction. Additional methods were using a cool Mist humidifier and eye mask at night. Nothing really helped so I was referred to the dry eye clinic at our local teaching hospital. They measured the level of inflammation in my tears and it was quite significant. I was prescribed Restasis which is helping, and I started taking Tear Support with Maqubright which I feel has also helped. So for me it was important to be open to medication as well as supplements. I still use anrtificial tears 3x’s a day as well. Our sight is precious, don’t hesitate to be the squeaky wheel with your eye doc until you find relief! And thank you Consumer Labs!

Good luck finding Systane or Genteal night time dry eye gel. I haven't been able to find it for quite some time. I don’t know what the issue is, but it certainly was a big help to me and I can’t find an adequate substitute.

Hyaluronic acid supplements have helped my dry eyes immensely. I mostly use the Jarrow brand, because that's what's easily available locally.

Maqui Berry supplements were great to combat my dry eye --- a game changer for me after cataract surgery.

I began taking the supplement HydroEye a few years ago after reading about it here, and it has worked beautifully for me. Four pills a day plus Systane Nighttime Gel before bed, and my eyes feel completely normal. It took a couple months to work, but now I wouldn’t be without it.

My mother had Sjögrens and severe dry eye. After decades of using wax eye inserts and suffering from corneal abrasions, high-dose fish oil turned everything around for her. No more abrasions, no more inserts.

Something else I have learned is that diuretics can make your eyes dryer.

My ophthalmologist also recommended Refresh Optive MEGA-3 Lubricant Eye Drops Preservative-Free Artificial Tears. They are the only drops I have tried that last longer than 15 minutes. Best use is at bed time to prevent dry eyes when waking.

Punctal plugs can slow or stop tear fluid drainage, reducing or preventing dryness in your eyes.

My dry eyes seem to be worse at night. Taking udo oil at bedtime has helped. Be sure to eat something before taking it can make you nauseous without food.

I began taking NOW Eye Moisture and, while it took at least a month before I noticed results, I now no longer suffer from the feeling of debris in my eyes. Thank you, Consumer Lab.

What is the best supplement or eye drops for cataracs?

For about 20 years I ate an extremely low fat diet, with lots of grain and mountains of green vegetables. Eventually the intense screen time from work caught up with me and aging I guess and I got dry eyes. Then I switched to high fat keto diet including walnuts, chia or flax seed everyday. I'm careful to get at least 4mg of ALA omegas every day. Based on introducing high fat diet and omegas at different times I believe it is the ALA omegas that made the difference. This is probably an extreme example because of the long period of very low fat diet prior, I'd be interested to see this experience investigated in a study.

I started having problems with my eyes getting dry during the winter months with the drying effects of heating and the lower humidity in the house. A couple years ago my ophthalmologist recommended collagen plugs for the tear ducts in my eyes. He put them in in the fall and they last 6 months and gradually disintegrate. They work very well and I’ve been able to stop my lubricant eye drops and my eyes feel fine.

I have severe dry eye disease, and it took me going all the way to Cleveland Clinic to learn about Vital Tears. A local phlebotomist comes to my house to draw my blood, which is shipped on ice overnight to Vital Tears in Kansas City. They spin it down and make an eye drop using my OWN serum from my blood, and ship it back to me on ice. These tiny little vials are liquid gold. They make my eyes feel great. It was the last resort for me, but I feel like it shouldn't have taken a trip to CC to learn about it. Why don't all ophthalmologists know about autologous serum drops?!

I have celiac and also dry eye and for sure being vigilant with my diet helps. But also taking additional vitamin A and a lot of omega-3’s. Also of course staying hydrated.

i have found taking fish oil and sea buckthorn oil seem to help. i also started using eye drops with flax seed oil and no preservatives.

My mom had severe dry eye (Sjogren’s) and used wax eye inserts among other remedies for years with little lasting success. Krill oil finally helped her get off the wax inserts. I too have developed dry eyes, though not as severe as hers, and I have found that a supplement mentioned here has helped enormously. It contains fish oil, flaxseed oil, and … blackberry oil? Something like that. I don’t have it with me at the moment, but I believe it’s called HydroEye. (I am not affiliated with them.) I now use eye gel at night, and that’s it. Very grateful for this stuff.

I had chronic dry eye for over 50 years and when I eliminated gluten from my diet, the chronic dry eye went away. It comes back every time I accidentally or intentionally eat gluten. It has been an immense relief As I had tried all kinds of prescription and over-the-counter remedies that had not worked for me until I eliminated gluten.

I've found eating walnuts every day helps with dry eye. But you have to keep it up, if I run ut of walnuts and skip a few weeks the scratchiness comes back.

I have found for me that dry eyes is related to diet. When my liver (NAFLD) is not happy with what I eat, I get irritated dry eyes. It clears up in 24 hours. When I have anything with natural flavors in it, which has dairy in it (I'm allergic to dairy), then I get dry eyes. It's gone in 24 hours if I don't intake it again. For me the key is watching my diet, using regular plain ole natural tears eye drops when necessary, and waiting for the 24 hours to be over. When I'm really good with my diet I can go days without any dry eye in sight. Just sayin'.

Many years ago, an optometrist recommended taking Thera Tears eye nutrition for dry eyes. It contains fish oil and flaxseed oil, and has definitely helped me. I still take it. (I have no financial interest in this or any other product.)

I find that using “refresh” eye drops (without additives/called natural) drops helps. Three or four times a day, and soaks morning and night on the eyes, helps. My eye dr, recommended this practice and it has helped manage the dry eye problem

I take krill oil, 1250mg per day and it gives substantial relief to my dry eyes.

I have found that omega 3 to 6 ratio is terribly important in my dry eye symptoms

Just in general, and as an M.D., it is best to keep in mind that studies cited in these types of sites include many that are anecdotal and others that have a sample size too small to draw any conclusion. I subscribe, because I believe in integrative medicine which includes alternative medicine combined with traditional medicine, so I take a significant number of supplements, and the larger studies in ConsumerLab.com that have sufficient sample size has allowed me to discontinue a number of supplements that I had thought may be helpful. It is up to the reader to draw their own conclusions, but small studies without placebo controls and double-blind controls are pretty meaningless.

I found amazing dry eye relief from Gogi Berry capsules 150 mg. I have tried everything for my red dry eyes and seen two specialists (which didnt help me at all), but Gogi berry worked in about a week when I noticed the whites of my eye were actually white.

Can you comment on supplements like Preservision? Does that help with dry eyes?