Keto diet and dry eyes?

[Silverlining]

I don't keep track of my actual numbers but am fairly low carb due to blood sugar spikes around 200 that result in stomach upset, tachycardia and palpitations....very weird. The heart related symptoms are fairly new and uncomfortable, so I've been more diligent in avoiding carbs. In recent weeks I've had extremely dry eyes upon awakening, so dry it's hard to get them open. I have to use lots of drops for the first hour. I had NO idea why was this was happening, so went to Google, my "go to" whenever I have a mystery health issue. To my surprise "extremely dry eyes during sleep" brought up paleo forums and low carbing. Does anyone here experience this? If so, wouldn't this be a concern for our brains having "insufficient moisturize" as well? That sounds so stupid, but thought l would bring it up here anyway. I have consciously upped my water intake during the day, but so far, no noticeable difference.

[pgf54]

Interesting about your tachycardia and palpitations, the same happens to me if i over eat now.......When i am calorie restricting all is well but if i were to eat a take away or something similar i would get exactly those symptoms.
I follow a diet like most on here, no sugar or refined carbs, and do a nightly 15 hour fast, probably a little bit of ketosis, i havent checked ............
A few weeks back i met someone i hadn't seen for years and she had prepared lunch without telling me . I tried to eat carefully without causing offence (there was no time to warn her and she would have been so upset if i refused to eat) She brought out a enormous trifle...... Well i could feel my heart racing not long after it reached my stomach and i felt quite weird.............................Never again i say.................so there is no turning back to my old way of eating..................and i dont understand what the pathophysiology behind it is...?

[Stavia]

Silver, go get your eyes checked honey. Some autoimmune conditions affect tear production. Or it could be as simple as blepharitis and punctate keratitis. (Dead skin cells stuck in pores of eyelids causing blockage of glands)
Dont waste time trying to link it to diet before taking your eyes to someone who knows how to look at them.

[KatieS]

Silver, last year I had slightly dry eyes and to my surprise, the eye doctor found a litany of problems like Stavia mentioned. Get in before you develop any corneal scarring from the dryness. I have a whole prescribed routine now, which you can PM me once you have been diagnosed.

[apod]

I've been more diligent in avoiding carbs. In recent weeks I've had extremely dry eyes upon awakening

I've heard Paul Jaminet speak about "glucose deficiency" when eating a very low carbohydrate diet (near "zero" carb.)

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/category/d ... eficiency/
"Through repeated experiments, I established that two factors contributed to the dry eyes – vitamin C deficiency and glucose deficiency. After I solved the vitamin C issue, I did perhaps 50 experiments over the following few years, increasing carbs which made the dry eyes go away and reducing them which made them immediately come back. This established unequivocally that it was a glucose deficiency alone that caused the dry eyes."

"Fasting and low-carb ketogenic diets are therapeutic for various conditions. But anyone on a fast or ketogenic diet should carefully monitor eyes and mouth for signs of decreased saliva or tear production. If there is a sign of dry eyes or dry mouth, the fast should be interrupted to eat some glucose/starch."

It might be worth experimenting with a bit more carbohydrates for a while and ruling that out. Jaminet reccomends a carb plus protein intake of at least 600 calories per day to avoid possible glucose deficiency.

[Stavia]

Interesting Apod, thanks for sharing. I still however urge Silver to have her eyes checked to rule out organic pathology before defaulting to a possible dietary cause, rather than the other way around.

[Julie G]

One other idea, this MAY be a manifestation of your wonky mast cells. I use a ketotifen eye drop (Zaditor) morning and night. My symptom was more redness, than dryness, but thought I'd throw the idea out there as I know you deal with MCA symptoms.

[Stavia]

Julie, allergic conjunctivitis is a good call. Its the season too.
Ok Silver you gotta go and get checked and tell us what it is now!

[Starfish77]

I had severe dry eyes at night that were miserable. I tried everything in the way of drops and ointment. I would wake
up at night with itchy eyes, rub them,make them worse, and be awake for hours. I was diagnosed with plugged eyelid glands like Stavia mentioned. The doctor used a tiny wire and pierced each one. It sounds creepy, but your head is in a padded vice so you can't move and it doesn't hurt. It works. I had it done two or three years ago. I use Sustane Ultra drops
that you can get 3 containers for $21 at Costco over the counter. The containers last a long time. It is the only eye
drop I've ever used that has a lasting effect. It must put some sort of oily film on the eye that actually lasts. It does not
impare your vision like some tube ointments do. It is my idea to use the Sustane at bedtime and arising because my
eyes are so much better. I could probably get along without it most of the time but it is so easy and inexpensive
why not be comfortable all the time. Immediately after the eyelid surgery I started sleeping properly.

My eye doctor tells the story of a patient who said her cat started meowing after the patient had eye surgery. The patient
finally figured out that she had slept so badly before the surgery, the cat never had to meow. The cat just went to the
door because the patient was up wandering around while not sleeping.

[Silverlining]

Wow...you've all given much to think about/try. I may end up at the doctor if this doesn't resolve or get better soon. I'll be sure to post again if I'm diagnosed with anything, or find a reason/resolution.