What do the specialists say about the cause of your dry eyes? I use eye drops several times a day, but it's not a big deal. It started after I had cataract surgery. My favorites are Bausch & Lomb Soothe and TheraTears.

My dry eye problem started after cataract surgery. My Opthamologist told me to use Refresh brand nighttime eye gel at bedtime, and Refresh drops in the morning. I use the gel every night, and at first, the morning drops every morning. Now I use the the morning drops only occasionally, rarely need them during the daytime. It really works for me. Refresh is an OTC brand, perhaps a little more expensive than other OTC brands, I don't know. It works well, so I haven't tried any other brands. I don't mess around with my eyes! !

Rusty

Systane...another OTC...works here. A tad expensive...but worth it.

I have had dry eyes my whole life! For me, my first optometrist educated me about my lack of blinking. Did I listen?

I was able to wear gas permeable contacts for years. When I moved and had to change optometrists, and with that a different contact lens. They were horrible! This doctor said that he would never recommend contacts with eyes so dry but obviously I wasn't having issues.

I had to make the trip back to my original doctor. But, then menopause happened.

I am not on Restasis and also TheraTears Omega fish oil pills. I was also told to drink water. I just never seem to. But, when you drink, do not guzzle. Take sips to allow the water to stay in your system.

I am also supposed to use OTC Systane but I rarely think about using them.

Winter, the Systane is what my eye doctor said to use too, that or Refresh. I like the Systane.

I have had dry eyes for a while. Don’t know exactly what caused it, but it was pretty bad when I wore contacts and when I traveled a lot (dry airplane air). So I had LASIK surgery and it was much better, but my optometrist said they were still dry.

She recommended fish oil but the kind that is tested as pure. I use Nordic Naturals (Amazon) and Systane drops and it has become much better. I also massage my eyes when I am in the shower, which was recommended by my eye doc. I typically use a mild cleanser (non soapy) or you can use a drop of baby shampoo to do this. It stimulates the tear ducts.

I have also used Retaine eye drops but they are hard to find except in Amazon.

I use Alrex (rx) once a day and Rohto (for dry eye) drops twice a day. Those seem to work best for me. I do those first thing in the AM and at bed time. They feel amazing, probably because there’s a little menthol in the drops.

My eyes were dry with hyperactive thyroid and the proptosis associated with that. My ophthalmologist recommended GenTeal preservative free Tears, the liquid drops, not their gel products. I've never used anything else. OTC.

I've tried a bunch of OTC and usually end up with worse problems, I must be sensitive to something used in many of them.

DH had systane ultra recommended to him by an eye dr. In desperation, I finally tried them and they are the first thing I've tried that seem to be bringing some relief, though it is slow going. Mine seem to be hormonal related, but I also have that thing where the oil glands around the eyelashes get clogged up. It's supposedly a common cause for dry eye. Warm compresses help me too in that they loosen the deposits.

I started with this almost two years ago. My eyes were driving me crazy, thought it was allergies. Someone then mentioned " dry eyes". I started using drops, but they did not really do much. I was miserable almost EVERY evening. I got relief only by going to sleep.

In addition I have very dry skin and eczema. The skin around my eyes was extremely dry and flaky. I did not know what creams to use safely around the eyes.I went to the optometrist recently and he said to use Vaseline around my eyes every evening and morning. The thought of it around my eyes made me nervous. But, I finally did it, and it has been wonderful!! I rub it over my lids, eyebrows and all around the eyes. From that first day my eyes have been fine!! It seems like the dry skin AROUND my eyes was the culprit. I had so many flakes that they were quite likely getting into my eyes, too.

I have been amazed that I finally have relief! Maybe it will work for some others.

I used to have lots of trouble with it. The dr. even tried plain contacts (I couldn't' stand them). If I didn't rub my eyes in the morning before I opened them., it would tear off the top layer of cells. It hurt like heck and tears would stream for about 5 minutes. I'd have to sit with my eyes closed. Wearing a sleep mask and using OTC liquid tears rally helped m. Then I was diagnosed with glaucoma, and I have to put eye drops in 3 times a day for that. That mostly cured the dry eye stuff.

Washing your inner eyelids with baby shampoo helps also. It has something to do with the small mites that reside in the eyelashes that can contribute to dry eye.. Just a few drops of the regular formula of Johnson's Baby shampoo in a bit of water. I use it to remove my eye makeup at night. Kills two birds with one stone.

Try preservative free eye drops. The preservatives in many non PF eye drops can be toxic to the tear producing glands.

You can also try an ophthalmic mineral oil preservative free ointment before bed and even during the day. A little dab (much less than a "dab") will do. I take a clean index finger, put a tiny dot of the petrolatum ointment on it, then apply it to the lower lid margin and beginning of the eyelash area. The oil will migrate onto the surface of your eye. I found it helps a lot. Puralube by Fugera Labs may be a better price and is the same thing as the "high priced spreads."

I am going to assume that you e already gone to a good eye doctor who is cluey about sicca syndrome, dry eye and other related conditions?

One thing that sound a bit odd but that can help tremendously is having liTitle silicone plugs "punctual plugs" inserted into the puncta (those little drain holes) of each eye lid margin (corner). It can help preserve tears by keeping your natural eye wash tears from leaving.

Caveat -- MY OPINION: I would caution against anyone rushing into having the eye(lid) puncta cauterized. Your tear production may not always be scanty and you could end up with an overflow. That can be irritating and is no picnic. The silicone plugs can be removed. The scarring from cauterization is pretty much permanent.

Another thing to be aware of with cautery, is that, occasionally, eye lid tissue can vaporize away. Oops. That could leave a messy bit of tissue to cope with.

For whatever reason, knock on wood, my severely dry eyes got much better. I am thankful that I did not have the punctal tissue permanently ablated.

Best wishes and comfort to anyone coping with dry eyes.

PS Ditto to outsideplaying's suggestion about gently bathing the lid margins. Blepharitis can also interplay with eye dryness.