Many medications can cause dry mouth…how to treat it? Funny, you should ask -here is a video about it 🙂
Just a note: One remedy I talk about in the video (little spoiler alert) is pilocarpine 2% eye drops mixed with water and taken orally. Ryan took time to leave a comment below -he was concerned that people may mistake pilocarpine 2% eye drops with a typical OTC eye drop (like Visine-which is dangerous when taken orally). I could totally see this happening so I wanted to make a note that the only eye drops that would work for dry mouth are PILOCARPINE 2% -so talk with your physician or pharmacist about it.
Note #2: Isn’t Toshi (the shih tzu) too cute?
I would love to hear all about your dry mouth remedies…please leave a comment!
Good information, however you shouldn’t be informing people over the internet via youtube videos to use eyedrops containing pilocarpine 2% added to water to treat dry-mouth. As someone could easily take “use eyedrops containing pilocarpine 2%” to mean put Visine in your water.
I am not in the medical field (in fact I’m a mechanical engineer) although once I heard you mention eye drops as a remedy for dry mouth, I recalled an article on snoops..com about putting Visine into someone’s drink as a practical joke. Turns out it does not cause explosive projectile diarrhea, but it does have a whole slew of potentially sever side effects.
The active ingredient in Visine eye drops is Tetrahydrozoline HCL 0.05%. Swallowing this substance can result in a number of nasty effects, including:
–> Lowering body temperature
–> Making breathing difficult, or even halting it entirely
–> Blurred vision
–> Nausea and vomiting
–> Elevated/Decreased (fluctuating) blood pressure
–> Seizures/tremors
–> Posible chance of coma
This is not an attack, just a heads up. Someone could easily misunderstand “eyedrops” to be any OTC eye drops. I hope you do not take offense to my reply. Aside from that one comment on eye drops, great information. If i have not said so yet, thank you for this website and the information you provide. Getting advice from a pharmacist can be somewhat of a daunting task, as pharmacies always seemed slammed.
Additionally, according to snoops..com here are a few horror stories of practical jokes gone awry:
Medical literature reports other cases of small children brought to the brink of crisis by ingestion of tiny amounts of over-the-counter eye drops. The danger is real, and parents are well advised to keep eye drops away from children.
Yet it is not only toddlers who risk central nervous system shutdown or other dire results if they swallow Visine, as demonstrated by the following examples:
–> In 1995 an adult customer at a Whole Foods market (a retail chain of natural and organic foods) had his wheat-grass smoothie spiked with a bottle of Visine by a clerk intent upon playing a practical joke. The victim, Rudy T. of Houston, became violently ill and had to be hospitalized for several days with acute pain and a variety of serious medical problems. The clerk responsible for the act was dismissed, and Whole Foods Market settled out of court with Rudy T for an undisclosed sum after he brought a $1 million suit against the store.
–> In June 2006, five Wisconsin high school students trying to pull the Visine prank poured about a quarter of a bottle of the eyedrops into a classmate’s water. The victim spent several days in the hospital recovering from reactions to the poisoning that included a dangerously low heart rate and blood pressure. Each of the five “pranksters” pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct and received sentences of 18 months’ probation and 60 hours of community service.
–> Also in June 2006, Kristine A served her roommate, Joseph G., an iced tea spiked with Visine. Joe G. experienced vomiting and bleeding from his rectum, and Kristine A eventually agreed to a plea bargain with prosecutors under which she was ordered to pay $10,000 in hospital bills, serve three years’ probation, and obey an order of protection.
–> In June 2009, Denise M of Wells, Vermont, was arrested for third degree assault after police confirmed she’d spiked a co-worker’s drink with Visine a few days before the woman became ill and died. The assault took place on 31 October 2008 at a Halloween party, and on 2 November 2008, 49-year-old Marceline J of Comstock died of what were then presumed to be natural causes.
Hi Ryan,
Thank you for all the information! You make a great point -it would be very easy to confuse pilocarpin 2% with Visine.
Tetrahydrozoline is an adrenergic agonist and can cause the side effects you listed when taken orally.
I appreciate your comment and will put a warning on the video and on our website.
Thanks again,
Nova
The specialist I see for my Sjogren’s syndrome just prescribed 3 drops of Pilocarpine 2% in water twice a day to treat my dry mouth. I just got the RX filled today so will be trying the first dose tonight. I will get back to you after I find out how it works for me.
I use a product called “rain Spry”(no a).
Oral Mist Spray. It`s all natural, made with xylitol, aloe
vera and purified water. I suggest finding out the root of
the problem first,such as certain medications. Dry mouth can lead to severe dental and other problems. Drink lots of
filtered water, there is a lot of chlorine and fluoride in tap water that can just add to the problem. Do research. I buy mine on iherb, it`s reasonable and lasts a long time. Good luck.