Severe Red/Dry Eyes

[jusbur13]

Hello All,

I have a horrible red, dry eye problem. Much more red than dry. I have seen numerous eye docs about my ongoing problem and have yet to find a cure, or even a bit of relief for that matter. I admit that I used to use "red out" drops (Visine, ROTO, Ophcon-A) religiously for a few years to combat my red eye. Of course I know now how horrible these drops are for you. I had my PRK surgery about three years ago and my eyes have continuously been red and irritated looking. The only part of my eyes which are red are at the three 'o clock and nine o'clock areas on both eyes.

The first eye doctor that I sought out explained to me that I was experiencing dry eye symptoms due to my surgery, the fact that I was of anglo decent (referring to my light colored eyes) and living in the desert, and had "probably" been exposed to chemical and smoke irritants due to my occupation as a fire fighter.

During my many visits to this Dr. I was prescribed Lotemax, Alrex, Pataday, Bepreve, Freshkote, Restasis, Lastacaft and a few others with no relief but one. Trobadex helped out in combination with Freshkote, but after the ten days that I could be on it due to it being a steroid, the redness came back.

Just to get another's opinion I saw another doctor who also said I was experiencing dry eyes. He continued me on Restasis, gave me Biotears and, after three months on the med, put in my punctal plugs and has me on Systane Gel drops.

I have had the plugs in now for just under a month and I have seen very little relief. To get my eyes to 70%, at best, I have to literally "flood" my eyes all morning with Systane. I appear to always be crying or high. Kinda funny.

I have also tried all of the Systane drops, and a few different kinds of Refresh drops to no avail. I have tried cold compresses, warm compresses, upgraded sunglass protection, humidifiers, etc...

I can honestly say that my red eyes have taken control of my every waking minute. I am incredibly insecure about my appearance and I avoid eye contact whenever I can, which is incredibly hard in my line of work. My social life has deteriorated and my money has been wasted on so many useless products.

I am researching everything that i can from "Rebound Hyperemia", to Herpes Viral Infections, to chronic fatigue syndrome and am just left frustrated. I have thought about pursuing cosmetic procedures as well but, my gosh, are they pricey. I am getting the feeling that my docs are at the point of giving up on me. They, of course, know everything that is wrong with me but their answers have not changed a thing.

While I no longer use any vasoconstrictor drops, I sometimes wonder, "If my eyes are not getting any better and these horrible drops DO get the red out for a little bit, why not use them again?" I know they're rally bad but if nothing is helping...?

This is the story of a many here on this site but I thought I'd put my story out there and see if there are any replies, additional options or other ideas.

Sincerely,
Desperate for help!

[calcan]

There are many of us on here who suffer from the same problem. I do not wish to risk doing the cosmetic surgery because of the possible complications, and because of the likelihood (so I've read) that the problem could return.
I think most of us with this chronic redness problem have light skin and eyes, and that combination seems to make our eyes susceptible to the harmful effects of light. (ocular rosacea?) I quit using the "gets the red out" drops daily (however, I will still use them once in a blue moon for special occasions). I wear glasses to help reflect the light and sort of "hide" the redness a bit; I take flaxseed oil, msm, and other vitamins as well as probiotics; although my eyes aren't perfectly clear, they're better than when I was using the drops every day.
I know that this is not easy to live with; I am very self-concious of this as well. However, I think stopping those terrible drops has helped, as well as getting the good oils into the diet. You should try the same, and allow your eyes to recover from those drops. Also, I have found some of the lubricating drops to be rather irritating - so you have to be careful with those. Try hot compresses and then cool compresses in order to cut back on lubricating drops. Just know you're not alone with this condition.

[Nanerpus]

I just want you to know you are not the only one who's life is dominated by red eyes. I am constantly worrying about the veins in my eyes, I check my eyes with a mirror no less than 100 times a day throughout the day during different activities and if they look bad, my self esteem and anxiety come into play. It sucks. I've recently gotten plugs and my eyes are much better and I'm starting to do this less. I'm starting (I think) to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

You are similar to me that if I literally pour vials of artificial tears into my eye one after another, my eyes are 70% - but you can't do that all the time, as I know you have found as well. Some days, for a few hours, my eyes feel and look amazing - and then it changes back to veins, stinging, etc. This is the allergies. Have you been tested for allergies? Tried an allergy eyedrop? Allegra helps me tremendously!

[EyeFubar]

I actually came on here tonight for the exact same thing. Before I posted a new thread, boom, this one was here.

I'm not sure what the heck is going on with me. I've always had dry eye, and had bouts with corneal rips due to my errosion, but as of late, my eyes have been really getting red. More the left one then the right. Went to doc and they couldn't find pink eye or glaucoma or anything that was other than dry eye. What the?

So my eyes used to get red when I slept, but now at work too. I'm concerned with the comment that those "get the red out" drops are bad for you. I use the Bausch and Lomb allergy that gets the red out. If those are bad, I"m going to stop.

At night I use Genteal with the tranquil eyes, have been doing so for 4 years. Doesn't help with my eyes looking like the devil when i wake up. I still think there is something else going on.

I'm 40, and it's been getting worse with dry eyes over 10 years. What the heck kinda state am I going to be in at 50? I shutter to think.

[Rebecca Petris]

I'm not sure what the heck is going on with me. I've always had dry eye, and had bouts with corneal rips due to my errosion, but as of late, my eyes have been really getting red. More the left one then the right. Went to doc and they couldn't find pink eye or glaucoma or anything that was other than dry eye. What the?

What kind of a doctor are you seeing? I think you need somebody who's really good at ocular surface disease, whether a really skilled optometrist or a corneal specialist ophthalmologist. With your history with the erosions, and now new surface issues coming into play, you need a doctor that is not just going to treat this as "dry eye" (a not very meaningful catchall term).

Things I think of automatically when I hear of redness (in random order)

• Allergy
• Blepharitis
• Chronic dryness
• Too many drops and/or the wrong kinds of drops collectively wreaking toxic havoc on the corneal surface

Until you get to a doctor who is equipped to start pulling apart the puzzle and sorting it out, I'd be looking at eliminating any and every drop that is not necessary and doing cold compresses. And yes DEFINITELY start with that B&L drop. All vasoconstrictors are bad. They should be bought and used only for... your wedding day or a job interview. Use them more than that and you'll get rebound redness and (especially since you already have dry eye) potentially damage from the toxic preservative all of them have.

I'm 40, and it's been getting worse with dry eyes over 10 years. What the heck kinda state am I going to be in at 50? I shutter to think.

I'm 42, and in some ways I'm worse (clinically) than I was 10 years ago - but I also am "manageable" and have everything I need to keep it in decent control almost all the time. You'll get there too Need better diagnosis though for sure.

[Rebecca Petris]

jusbur13,

Welcome. Hope you can find some useful info or tips here. I am really sorry to hear what you're going through.

Some questions for you:

The only symptom you've mentioned is redness. Do you have any other symptoms? Burning? Foreign body sensation? Itching? Pain? Redness or swelling in the eyelids (ever)?

When you started taking vasoconstrictors for those few years, were you ever diagnosed with anything? Do you have any other eye conditions (of any kind) that you're on treatment for or have you ever in the past? Any blepharitis or any allergy drops or any conjunctivitis or anything?

When did this redness happen in relation to the PRK - did it start before or after?

Do you have times of day that are worse, or better? For example are you at your very reddest first thing in the morning? With this 3 oclock and 9 oclock thing I'm sort of wondering whether you might have an undiagnosed eyelid closure issue (a slight one might be all it takes) - whether only at night or in day too - the extra exposure might be a factor. An eyelid doctor, or a cornea doc that knows eyelids real well, might be able to shed light on that.

There are several difficulties for most people whose primary - or only - symptom is redness. First of all, recovery is slow. It's hard to motivate yourself to be really, really, really patient and faithful with a new treatment when you see no progress. Second, doctors are usually going to try to treat any disease they see (in this case, presumably, "dryness" though what they meant by that I don't know, I have come to really abominate the use of that generic meaningless term by "professionals" - it's like going to a cardiologist and being told you have heart trouble!) as opposed to treating "redness". And since "clinical" improvement of ocular surface disease will often precede improvement in symptoms, it can be really, really hard to motivate yourself to continue a single treatment for a lengthy period without changing anything else when you're not seeing improvement yet.

Anyway, I wish I could suggest something but I think in your case you need far better diagnostic info. Maybe you have it, if so could you share? Otherwise I've only seen what drugs you've been put on. "Dry eye" is not a diagnosis. That's my mantra these days

While I no longer use any vasoconstrictor drops, I sometimes wonder, "If my eyes are not getting any better and these horrible drops DO get the red out for a little bit, why not use them again?" I know they're rally bad but if nothing is helping...?

I can understand that. And it will help temporarily. But oh, my gosh, I just can't bear to think what you'll be thinking about that decision a few more years down the road.

[jusbur13]

Rebecca,

Thank you for your interest and sharing your insight. I really do appreciate it. As for your questions about any additional symptoms I would say that if I ever do have any itching, foreign body feeling, burning, eye lid problems or pain it is extremely rare. I guess that is a bright side for my situation because I see a lot of members suffer from these additional complaints.

When i began taking the vasoconstrictors years ago I was not diagnosed with any problems. I was a contact wearer prior to my PRK surgery and had been experiencing some red eye problems, usually when I would be around smokers or due to lack of sleep.

When I would visit my PCP at general checkups he would bring up my red eye problem and without any exams or questioning he would diagnosed the redness as "probably from allergies. I contacted a local allergy specialist and when I asked an office tech over the phone if they test and treat for red eye causes, I was told that unless the problem was my EYELIDS THEMSELVES they could not help and I would need to see an eye doc.

As for blepharitis, all of my eye doctors have never mentioned this as a possibility as far as I know, but the have treated me for infection. The last visit he expressed that he was "glad that it was not an infection." However, when I just now googled "blepharitis" in images, the following link looks extrememly close to my condition ( http://www.nativeremedies.com/images...lepharitis.jpg ). Again, I don't feel any symptoms in the eyelids themselves, so I'm not sure if that matters. I have no itching and swelling. And the docs are also comfortable saying no on the conjunctivitis.

When I wake up in the morning my eyes are usually red all over, not just the 3 and 9 'o clock areas. This happens about 90 percent of the time. Very rarely I will wake up with my eyes being at 75 percent good and I have noticed this only after I have my plugs put in a little over a month ago. Within twenty minutes of waking my eyes are fully red again.

The first opthamologist told me that I had "dry eye" due to my PKR surgery and it was specifically due to the surgery destroying one or more of the mucus producing layers of my eye. He prescribed me different drops everytime I visited because nothing seemed to work and he wanted to try something else. After a good year of visits I decided to get a second opinion. I explained what my previous doctor had told me and what I was being treated for and what I was on for it and the reply that i got from him was that he believed that the first Dr. was "on the right path" and doing exactly what he would want to do for me.

I think you are right about seeing a corneal specialist or eyelid doc. It is a good point. I would also like to see a legit "dry eye" specialist but after much research I cannot find any practice, locally, who specializes in this condition. While I do not go to smaller, chain locations (nationwide, etc...) almost all opthamologists that I have found will advertise being able to treat dry eyes. Can I find someone who will have more training and knowledge in this condition? And I agree with you about "dry eye" being a catch-all.

Thanks again for your help. I look forward to talking with you again.