Has anyone got any advice about keeping make-up on my eyes? I have just finished 6x fec (hurray) and my nose and eyes have been continuously running since fec x1 but the strange thing is that my eye drops don’t run down my face as you would expect but they collect on top of my eye lids and form a crust making them very sore and washing any attempt of make up off!
I know this seems like a vain question but after 6 months of not going out because of lumpectomy then mastectomy then the hair loss ect… now I’ve finished chemo I want to get some sort of normality back (even though I’ve still got to endure the radiotherapy!)
Any advice to look normal would be great. I haven’t got many eye lashes left and tried the falsies route but they just wouldn’t stick due to the wetness.
Hi lovemyfamily - sorry tohere about your problems just as you want to become “normal”. Did not have the problem with runny/eyes but did have a tiny few lashes left at the end of chemo. Try using the white stuff you put on before mascara - this helps make the few remaining lashes look a little better. I use one by Lancome but max factor and the other companies do them too. May be worth a try.
Have you been on a Look Good, Feel Better workshop yet. If not, do try and book onto one, they show you how to apply makeup and you get an amazing goody bag to bring home. You meet other women who have had similar treatment , I even met someone who posts on here which was lovely.If you put look good, feel better intoyour search engine you will be able to get details of your nearest on. There can be waiting lists but if you find out what day of the month they are held you can always ring to see if there is a cancelation - I rang on the Friday and got in on the Monday. I think it would really cheer you up even if you have to wait a couple of months. Best of luck and hope you soon feel better. Marli
Do you mean that your tears don’t run down your face? I wonder if you have an eye infection as normal tears should not form a crust. Perhaps you should see your GP and get it checked out. I don’t think you should be wearing eye make-up until you are sure what the problem is as you could make it worse.
How good that you have finished your chemotherapy treatment. Radiotherapy is not so bad.
Just go out and enjoy yourself. Your eyelashes will soon grow back, as will your hair.
Hi Lesley
I haven’t got any tips about the make-up but just wanted to empathise with you. I’ve had 5 FEC (can’t wait to get the last one over with) and I’ve suffered with constantly runny eyes all the way through too. Although my tears do run down my face, I still get a crust on my eyelids and it does get very sore. There are times when I wake up and my eyelids are firmly stuck together.
I think its just one of those lovely weird and wacky chemo SEs and I’m hoping that once all this stuff is out of my system that my eyes will return to normal.
Thanks for you comments.
Marli, I will make an appointment with Look Good Feel Better but the DVD I ordered from them was a little disapionting. It showed 4 women who had finished chemo and was recovering so didn’t have the runny eye syndrome. Hoping mine will stop. But I will go along to a workshop sometime, thanks.
E, I don’t think I have an eye infection because my breast care nurse seemed to think the soreness was ‘normal’ because of the corrosive nature of salty tears but I still it might be worth getting it checked out, thanks.
Sue, Good luck with your last chemo, it is a great feeling to have finished, at least it would be if I wasn’t feeling so crappy. But I know by next Thursday I will be picking up again and then I can celebrate.
My eyes also stick together in the mornings, have you had the trauma of hair loss too?
I’ve used the cold cap and thankfully, so far I’ve managed to keep most of my hair. I get a really sore, painful scalp a week or so after each chemo, but by some miracle, my hair mostly stays rooted to my head. My OH says its because its like me and is too bloody stubborn to fall out! lol
hi Lesley i had a fair bit of problems during chemo with running eyes and thought it would resolve after wards… it actually got even worse immediately after i finished chemo and had two type of eye drops… hypromellose which i got from the chemo ward and popped a couple of drops in each eye about 3 times a day and also carbomer eye gel which i could squish in about 4 times.
i still have problem with dry eyes even though its now 6 months since last chemo. iv been to the optician to get my eyes tested and i do have dry eyes and she recommended using the carbomer gel long term… and to remember to use it regularly (but i sometimes forget).
my eyes still get dry and my lashes are brittle and a few fall out every day but especially when i wear mascara.
Thank you Tina and Lulu, I think I had better try my GP or Chemo nurse for eye drops of some description; it can’t make it any worse!
Sorry to hear that you are still having problems Lulu 6 months after chemo. I always (optimistically) assume that all the horrible side effects go away; just wishful thinking maybe on my part?! These are seemingly little things in the great scale of things I know but are so annoying!
Lucky you Sue. I wore the cold cap twice but my hair still fell out in handfuls;my head also got really sore. My eye lashes and brows are thinned dramatically. I’ve never had to draw on eye brows before now!
i think it can be related to age too… not sure what age you are but your eyes start to deteriorate after age 40 and i started chemo when i was 40 so this maybe just antagonised something that was going to happen anyway.
iv had to go back to wearing reading glasses too, last wore them when i was at primary school, but optician thinks my eyes have just gone part their optimum range and reverted to my pre-teen eyesight… all down hill from here LOL