what's the deal with excessive eye tearing?

[MAlegant]

Hi all,
For the first several weeks my eye was dry and required drops (due to numbness I think) NOW it won't stop tearing.  Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it is driving me a little nuts. 
Thanks,
Marci

[Tamara]

Don't know, Marci, but I wish I had it! 

The squint on the face is my (still) dry eye -
Tammy

[Dan]

Tammy, 
I have excessive tearing also but usually only when I eat.  My eye still doesn't blink completely and so my eye isn't always moist enough.  My ENT said that when I'm eating grinning alot laughing, things that use alot of facial muscles it causes the tear ducts to be more active.  I always tell my wife that the food is so good it brings me to tears. At work I tried telling the guys that I work with my food was really spicey but when I was eating a tomato and crying they caught on.  What ever it is it helps keep my eye moist enough that I don't need cream anymore.

Dan in Germany

[CROOKEDSMILE]

Hi Marci,
My eye also did this.......so much that it was draining down the tear ducts into the nose and down the throat. Tasted like I was pouring salt in my mouth at all times. My neuro doc said this is caused from the nerve trying to recover and can become hyperactive just like the facial muscles can become while recovering. It did it for about 1 month now it is dry again. Just another cycle......things change all the time during recovery depending on what the nerve is doing.
Angie

[MAlegant]

Thanks, yes, it feels like a science experiment (or circus) is going on in my face all the time.  Trying to keep my sense of humor...
Marci

[Dfcman]

Marci,

I think it will do that.  I think sometimes when the facial nerve has had such trauma, the body tends to make up for things.  I've noticed that some days it will be real dry and other days its like i'm crying.  Sometimes activity will do this too.  I know i've had times where my eye has filled up with so many tears that I wasn't able to see out of my one eye.  As long as its not real mucusy(like pink eye) then I think its perfectly normal for AN patients. It happens to me all the time and i'm 2 years + post op.

Chris

[LADavid]

Hi Marci

My eye did that too.  The eye doctor explained it to me as a normal process.  I don't remember what he said offhand, but I believe it was over-compensating.  I know it's annoying -- my eye still tears when I'm eating -- but it is a move in the right direction.  From what I recall, the tears sure beat the dryness.  I still use Systane, but not nearly as much as I used Refresh.

David

[wendysig]

Hi Marci,
My eye teared a lot right after i woke up after surgery and still does now and then.  I've only had a very minor problem with my eye not opening all the way which is now pretty much normal.  I  l mentioned the tearing to my doc but he really didn't comment on it, other than to say that the eye moisturizing nerve had not been caught up in the tumor and had been spared, so I just assumed it was pretty standard post-op.   I guess I was so relieved that I didn't have any major problems I didn't pursue it.  My eye still tears unexpectedly now and then, but nothing major.  I'm sure eventually it will stop.

Wendy

[mk]

Funny that you mention this. My eye has also been dry, due to reduced corneal sensation, and I use drops to keep it moist. During the last couple of days, it tears from time to time. It is a weird sensation where at the same time it may feel dry and wet as well. I also get this weird "wet" feeling on my cheeks.
It is probably our poor trigeminal nerve trying to compensate with all these mixed signals it receives.

Marianna

[MAlegant]

Yes I get that feeling as well.  Nice to know I'm not alone!  Numb/pins and needles/pain.  It's like a circus is going on in my face. It would be so much more interesting if it were happening on the Discovery channel, instead of to me (and you and many others).  Ugh.  The trigeminal nerve is a wily one. 
Thanks,
Marci