By the way, I have many of the symptoms of Sjogren's syndrome. I have extreme dry eyes, dry mouth and I already have several auto immune diseases. It was suggested that I may have Sjogren's syndrome but I figure I don't need another label so I just say I have dry eyes and dry mouth. I take fish oil everyday, have punctal plugs in my lower ducts of my eyes, use preservative free eye drops as needed, use a humidifier when needed, avoid fluorescent lights (huge trigger for me), use eye gel at night before bed (it's called Gen-teal), and wash my eyes every night to take off every stitch of makeup.
I also brush my teeth with special toothpaste meant for dry mouth, use a mouth wash made for dry mouth and also at night use artificial saliva. I keep a bottle of water on my bedside table so I can take a drink if I need to during the night. The dry mouth doesn't bother me too much during the day because I am either drinking water or chewing gum which helps a lot. I usually notice it the most just as I wake up. My mouth is dry as a bone but once I am up for a few minutes it isn't so dry.
I tried several rounds of Restasis (for months at a time). This last time I was on it 4-6 times a day (the regular dose is 2 times a day) and found my eyes burned ALL DAY LONG (they burned all day long even when I was on it for twice a day) so I just stopped it again a week ago. Since stopping it I have found my eyes are almost back to normal. I have also tried lid scrubs and other things that I used to do religiously and I think the more I did the worse my eyes were so I just basically stopped messing with them and it has helped. I think the biggest thing to help was the punctal plugs.
For those of you who don't know what punctal plugs are, here is a diagram. It shows both upper and lower, I just have lower. I can't see them unless I look really close, I doubt any of you could ever see them. They prevent your tears from draining and therefore stay on your eye surface longer before they evaporate.
