Eyes will not stop tearing

[IRENE FROM TAMPA]

My eyes started tearing after I began Taxotere (I am sure this is the cause since it seems to happen to me with the Taxanes.) but I stopped the Taxotere last November and my eyes are still puddles. The tears just stream down my face and have not really improved. Other then the tearing, they are not irritated or red, just the tears. I have never had it last this long.

Has anyone had this experience and how did you get to stop or how long did it take.

It is more of a pain in the neck since it looks like I am always crying and cant keep that eye makeup on(which makes me look even sicker since my lashes are gone)

Any input would be helpful.

Take care all and thanks

[Sheila]

Oh Irene...I know how you feel...I carry kleenex everywhere...and boy does it limit the eye makeup..and with no eyelashes and hardlly any eyebrows, it is bad....I even had lacrimal plugs or stents placed in my tearducts, and that didn't help....the Dr told me it is severe dry eye, and the eyes water trying to lubricate themselves. Itried several over the counter drops...finally had the Dr write me a script for Restasis...eyedrops...they have helped, but very expensive....about 300.00 a month...is anything cheap with this disease???? You might want to try these drops...Joe's wife Christine is on them too!
Hope this helps!

[Karen W]

Irene,

My eyes do still water more after Taxol treatment, which ended in June of 2005, but the real problem is with my nose. Oh my goodness... I panic anymore if I don't have a tissue on my person at all times.

Karen

[Bill]

Nikki had Taxol for about 15 months, and her eyes watered alot, and then we had to switch chemos. and it got a little better, but I always bought 4 boxes of kleenex every time I went to the store. I wish I had known about those drops.

[Sherryg683]

I had that problem with taxotere, doctor ordered steroid eyedrop and it helped quite a bit..sherryg683

[Sheila]

The Restasis I mentioned is a steroid eye drop. Nothing seems to help the runny nose though!

[IRENE FROM TAMPA]

I will give the Restasis a try. I did not think this was dry eyes since they did not feel scratchy but that makes sense. I too have tissues at all points at my home, office and on me always. The nose is another issue. My nostrils are very dry and I know its all chemo related. I now use a nasal rinse with saline everyday and that seems to help and clean out my sinuses. I do the Neti Pot method and it feels great afterward.

Thanks again for all of your help my friends

Take care

[Sheila]

Wow Irene, we use all the same "tricks", the saline nose drops, the nettie pot....I think you will be amazed with the Restasis, I use one drop in each eye twice a day! The wind is still hard on my eyes, but this helps everywhere else. My eyes were not scratchy either, just tearing all the time.

[karen z]

Irene,
I had already been diagnosed with dry eyes right before my diagnosis in 05 but my dry eye situation got VERY bad on chemo and herceptin- vision was really really bad and developed corneal scarring (now gone!). My eye doctor at the time (who I was already starting to lose confidence in) was a bit clueless. My internist recommended that I go to another group and I decided to see a corneal specialist there. He initially put me on Restasis and had me switch to a better over the counter drop as well (celluvisc). I already had some plugs in but he put in plugs in all four locations and also initially prescribed a drug called Evoxac (that is actually used for patients who have another syndrome that involves the body not producing enough moisture). As my eyes got better, I eventually took less Evoxac and then none but have stayed on the Restasis. Someone mentioned how expensive this drug is. My insurance seems to cover most of my expense on the drug. My eyes are great now and I never thought that they would be "normal" again- I thought that I was going to be vision impaired along with the other problems. The only thing different is that I have not put contacts in since 05. My eye doc. told me (a long time ago) that he would maybe consider "down the road" but I don't bring it up and he doesn't either- I am not sure I want to mess around with my eyes at this point, given how terrible things were in 05/06.
Best,
Karen

[Ceesun]

hi Irene, thanks for the scoop on tykerb! I had the tearing of the eyes with Taxotere, too. I didn't know there was a remedy for that or I would have asked for it! Wish you the best of luck, too. Fondly, Ceesun

[Sherryg683]

I remember those "tearing" days so well, I could not keep makeup on and my right eye ran a lot more than my left. There were days, I literally looked like I was crying. ..sherryg683

[Sheila]

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM
My left eye waters more than my right....Left eye, left mastectomy....is there a correlation?

[hutchibk]

Hi Irene - I finally succumbed to the tearing and used Patanol (prescription allergy eye drops) - they really did help a lot.

[ElaineM]

Hi,
I took Taxotere in 2000. My eyes tear alot too. I use plenty of eye drops for dry/wet eyes. I also keep the tissue companies in business. The eye doctor said he could plug the tear ducs, but I decided not to have that done.
I overheard one of the nurses tell another woman to wear sunglasses and a hat during her Taxotere treatment, because Taxotere can make the eyes very sensitive to light and cause other problems.
I asked the nurse more about it when she was finished with the other patient. She confirmed what she said to the other woman. She said that paxitaxal type of drugs can cause that. I wish somebody had told me before I started the Taxotere, but apparently it is something that was discovered after several years of use. I now wear dark sunglasses and a hat when I go outside or I am in very strong air conditioning, which can dry out the eyes and start the tearing all over again. That helps a little.

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Hi Irene and all,

Taxotere caused my eyes to drip tears all day, every day. Yes, pp thought I was crying. I had my hand permanently clutched around a tissue. Mopping up. No lashes and no eye makeup -- makes a lovely impression. But, what can you do? I collected the used tissues and put the dripping wet things in a ziploc I carried in my pocketbk, a traveling mini wastebasket.

5 ophthalmologists and 4 plugs later -- the consensus was -- SEVERLY DRY EYES. (Mine were painful, like ground glass and/or sand was in them.)

THE REMEDY -- REFRESH +

Use every hour!!! all day and night for several wks. Then you can use 4X a day. Now -- 9 yrs after Taxotere mind you -- I use the drops first thing in the AM, last thing at night and in the middle of the night if I have to go to the bathroom. Can't open my eyes otherwise.

I carry Refresh + at all times. Handy little individual vials. NO PRESERVATIVES! I get this at Costco in huge quantity and with huge savings!! This has saved my life.

BTW -- I did the steroid drops at the beginning. It said 2 drops in each eye ev 4 hrs. I was in so much pain, I used 1 drop ev 2 hrs. Well, I later learned -- NEVER DO THIS. YOU CAN CAUSE SERIOUS DAMAGE!! I'm just saying...

Be well. Drip less. And yes, use saline drops or gel for the dry nose. Oh dear. All more than annoying. I fully empathize.

With love,
Andi

[Diana1993]

Thank you ladies for this conversation. My eyes and nose drip constantly, and I had assumed it was an alergic reaction to herceptin and now Xeloda. Now that I know differently I will try the nose netty (sp) and Refresh before I ask for steroids.
I had a response to my inquiry on the approval of lapatinib (tykerb) in Canada. I received a message from our Minister of Health on my answering machine saying I would be contacted by his department. After three weeks of phoning one dept. after another, it has come full circle back to the Minister of Health. I have an opportunity to speak to him personally this weekend and ask what is the latest statis of the approval of Tykerb. Wish me luck for myself and sisters in Canada.
Hugs
Diana.