Dry, itchy eyes during pregnancy

[fedoragirl]

I have been experiencing dry and itchy eyes for the past two weeks. I used to just put some Visine A thinking it was safe during pregnancy but it´s not, as I found out.
What can I do? I´ve tried saline water but they provide relief for a few minutes and then, I am back to square one. I am sure my eyes are allergic to something but I can´t identify what. I just need some relief now.

[amldaley]

Sorry you are dealing with that! Ugh - allergies always seem worse during pregnancy, especially (or maybe b/c you can't take anything!)

I believe Claratin (NOT Claratin-D) is safe during pregnancy (my Dr just switched me to Claratin in light of TTC).

I used a cold compress on my eyes periodically and stopped bothering with eye make up all together.

And HYDRATE. It is amazing what lots of cool, clean water can do for your body!

Hope you get some relief soon!

[crayonblue]

I had very, very dry eyes during my first pregnancy. I ended up doing a number of different things that helped somewhat. 1) Genteal's eye drops (for Moderate dryness) and eye gel ointment (for Severe dryness). Eye drops during the day and the ointment at night before bed. 2) Once or twice per day I would heat up a washcloth and lie down with it over my eyes. My eye doctor said that would help open up the pores in my eyelids and help relieve the dryness. 3) Erythromycin ointment. My eyes got so dry that I got a prescription for this antibiotic ointment to fight infection from the dryness.

Hope this helps.

[soon2b4]

Double check that it is okay for you, but my doctor gave me the choice to take Claritin or Zyrtec which offered some relief.

[DrSally]

I had bad allergies during my first pregnancy (the first time in my life). My eyes got all funked up. I actually went to an eye doctor, and he said conjunctavitis (allergy induced). He gave me some drops that were safe (I think just saline), but I never used them IIRC. I'm sure there are some safe drops out there for you.

[fedoragirl]

Thank you for all the great tips. I got some saline water to help but I have to apply it every hour for some relief. I will follow the other tips and see if it helps. Unfortunatel, I can´t get Claritin or Zyrtec since I am no longer in the US. And the pharmacists here won´t give you anything as soon as they know you´re pregnant. The doctor says I just have to bear it another few months. So, this advice is the best I´ve got. Hopefully, I haven´t done anything harmful to the baby since I had been using Visine A.

[DrSally]

Hopefully, I haven´t done anything harmful to the baby since I had been using Visine A.

I doubt it. I think absorption through the eye is pretty minimal. I wonder what is in Visine A that's not good? The other thought I had is to shower at night (get all the pollen off your face/hair). If the pollen is on your hair and gets on your pillowcase, you'll be laying in it. I'd keep the windows to your house shut, so as to keep the pollen out as well.

[ahrimie]

You can use "tears" drops if it's just dryness. Mine is called "Refresh" in a green bottle and it's more like a gel. Dry eyes is common in pregnancies.

If it's allergies, my OB okay'ed Zyrtec or Claritin. The last few days, I used Pataday (rx for itchy eyes I had pre-baby).