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Lastnn30 Asked June 2015

Watery eyes. What could cause this?

Hi my mother is 84 years old and in locked in situation after suffering from 3rd stroke. She is paralyzed, can not speak, she can only open her eyes randomly.

These days, her eyes are very watery and keep producing tears like she is crying all the time. This morning her pillow was like someone spilled cup of water on it. What could cause that?

Thank you.

debdaughter Jun 2015
hm, interesting; our retina specialist is the one who told us it was mom's cornea - originally talked about doing a cornea transplant until after he took out the implant and she recovered from both that and the blisters then he told us actually about the zonules - I just put all the rest re the cataract surgery and Bell's Palsy in with it - and said he couldn't do it - and, yes, he was going to himself, not a cornea specialist, until then, then said she'd have to go to one but still didn't say anything about there being one right there; said we'd have to go 2 hrs. away

Bethanie81 Jun 2015
Debdaughter. She is seeing a specialist. Getting in her eye to hopefully repair the retina. She told the specialist, And he's the one that said the watering was sure to the issues with her retina. She also uses artificial tears.

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Edahmen Jun 2015
How about blocked tear ducts? This may have no relevance but after my husbands third stroke his nose runs practically constantly.

debdaughter Jun 2015
bethanie, are they doing anything about her retina? although I don't understand how her retina could cause her eye to water? that is why they took mom's implant out, to keep it from causing damage to her retina, but that's not why her eye was watering

blannie Jun 2015
Debdaughter this poster has posted before about how to feed the mom and we were suggesting a doctor and all kinds of things that he/she replied weren't possible because they were living in Iraq or Syria. I can't remember which one.

Reverseroles Jun 2015
Very Sad. I myself have been suffering with watery eyes since February. Watery eyes can be many things but usually means dry eyes. Your eyes keep tearing because its trying to coat the eyes (something like that they said). My eye doc put me on drops, antibiotic/steroid drops and twice when they ended, it came back. I only use artificial tears now so maybe you could try those. I would use a very warm washcloth and hold it over her eyes to try and open her pores, they told me to do that also. Good Luck!

sherry1anne Jun 2015
perhaps she is crying. Given her situation, it seems logical to me. If she isn't brain dead, she may realize what's happened to her. Is there any psychological or psychiatric support for her? Even when a person is dying and all senses seem to be shut down, the sense of hearing remains. Be sure to tell you that you love her and give her some comfort and words of encouragement. You may know that the situation is hopeless, but she doesn't have to believe that it is. Miracles can happen so don't give up on her.

Bethanie81 Jun 2015
The lady I work for "mother figure" had a stroke in December. After the stroke, get eyes wouldn't stop watering. Found out it was because the retina was deteriorating in her left eye. She has been seeing a retinologist. Unfortunately the watering hadn't stopped and it's not helping her to see better again. But everyone is different.

debdaughter Jun 2015
how do you know this?

blannie Jun 2015
I believe this poster is living in Iraq, so not able to have a physician see the mom.

debdaughter Jun 2015
has she had cataract surgery?

ferris1 Jun 2015
Have you consulted her doctor? We cannot possibly know all of her medical issues. Speak with him/her and in the meantime you might try a homeopathic eye drop called Similasan for allergies and or dry eyes. The eyes will over produce if they are not getting the proper moisture.

GinnyW Jun 2015
My mom had Alzheimer's but was able to talk, walk, etc. and had a similar problem, the doctor said it was dry eyes. She never complained that her eyes bothered her, she even said they didn't hurt, she just didn't like that it happened.

GardenArtist Jun 2015
Dry eyes? If she can't blink, she might also not be able to "refresh" her eyes if they feel dry.

You might ask her ophthalmologist about using some of the over the counter eye drops for dry eye - Systane is one that's been recommended for my father.

I'm guessing also that because of the stroke she's not able to control production of tears, so that may be causing an ongoing stream of tears.

It might also be tears of sadness because of the terrible situation she's in. Gosh, I really feel so badly for her. It must be very, very difficult for both of you. I hope you have some help for each of you?

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