Alternative to tret due to dry eye

Hi everyone. I used the gel 0.025% for about a month and a half and my skin looked great. Unfortunately my dry eye was out of control. It was painful to wake up in the morning and it would blur my vision throughout the day. I tried everything that was suggested in this sub: putting Vaseline around my eyes (that made it worse), keeping it below my brow line, etc. I would inevitably roll around on my pillow and it would transfer over the course of the night. I bought retinol instead and it still dries my eyes out, too, just not as harshly. I’ve had to stop retinoids altogether and I’m bummed because they helped my skin glow. Does anyone have any viable options for me?

Edit: I’ve also tried Systane eye drops and it didn’t help. I also never put tret near my eyes and the dry eye was still ungodly.

Also, I would let tret absorb fully (30 mins) before putting on moisturizer