by Jaime A. Heidel
(The Best Years in Life) For the past couple of years, ophthalmologist Dr. Alison Tendler has been using her hypnotic blue-eyed gaze and soothing voice to sell prescription eye drops called Restasis. “Don’t wait for your annual appointment,” Dr. Tendler coos as she stares fixedly at the camera. “Call your eye doctor today to see if Restasis is right for you.”
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If you have dry eyes, you don’t have a disease, you have a symptom. And taking Restasis could cause more problems with your eyes and overall health than the prescription claims to correct.
Prescription Eye Drops Suppress Your Immune System
Despite what the smiling actors playing Dr. Tendler’s patients would have you believe, Restasis isn’t the same thing as using re-wetting drops to moisten your eyes after a long day at the computer.
Restasis is cyclosporine emulsion (an immune system suppressant) mixed with sodium hydroxide (lye); a combination of chemicals that have been know to cause serious side effects including:
Burning and stinging
Pain, redness, and swelling
Blurred vision
Gritty feeling in the eye
Skin rash
Chronic headaches
Stiff neck
Photosensitivity
Nausea and vomiting
Liver disease
The worst of it is, many patients have reported that the drug has little-to-know effect on improving their symptoms of chronic dry eye!
Common Causes of Chronic Dry Eye
The modern medical community is a big fan of prescribing drugs to suppress symptoms. This does two things: It keeps the patient mollified for a while and then causes more symptoms, which require more drugs.
This approach doesn’t heal anyone and only keeps patients dependent on multiple drugs until they’re on so many, weaning off of them is close to impossible.
In the case of any chronic condition, the best approach is to get to the root cause.
Common causes of dry eye “disease” include:
· Medications
If you’re taking an antihistamine, hormone replacement therapy, blood pressure medication, birth control pills or antidepressants, it could be the cause of your chronic dry eye.
· Long-Term Contact Lens Wear
If you’re a contact lens wearer, your eyes may dry out more quickly than someone who doesn’t need the corrective eye wear.
· Autoimmune Disease
Oftentimes, dry eyes are a sign your immune system is rejecting your own natural tears. Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Sjögren’s Syndrome, and thyroid disease have all been linked to the development of chronic dry eye.
Autoimmune Eye Disease Can be Treated Naturally
1. Change Your Medication