Causes of Dry Eye

Drugs that often cause dry eye include:

• sedatives like Benadryl, sleep aids, cold remedies or anxiety pills
• allergy pills
• blood pressure medications
• medicated eye drops like glaucoma drops, Visine, Similasan or other drops with preservatives in them

Dr. Beeve can help you identify medicines that could be causing your symptoms.  

Health conditions that can cause dry eye include:

• diabetes
• thyroid dysfunction
• rheumatoid arthritis
• Parkinson’s disease
• rosacea
• previous eye surgery

Finally, any visually intensive task such as reading a book, staring at a computer or watching TV causes you to blink less often. Blinking less leads to eye strain and dry eyes

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