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i am much much better than i was over 2 years ago when everything had started happening. it took months to even find out i had dry eye, which i was diagnosed as "very severe" which was crushing to me at 21 years old.
i've been to many eye docs over this period, probably about eight. i've been told all sorts of things, so it's hard to say what i had/have. i was told it was allergies, i had GPC from wearing contacts, i sleep with my eyes open, etc. i was also told i both didn't produce enough tears and had evaporative dry eye.
i started noticing a difference around may/june of 2008. my eyes didn't bother me much. i have tried so many things so i can't exactly pinpoint what i did. but around that time, i pretty much went cold turkey on artificial tears. i only used genteal gel when i really needed it, when the dryness was terrible. i think even preservative free drops can irritate your eyes. i stopped sleeping with the fan on. i drank flaxseed for awhile. i took borage oil for awhile (i think 1200 mg? a day). i took fish oil for a few months too. some of these overlapped, some didn't. none i ever really followed through with for more than a few months. i pretty much stopped having dairy too. i tried to consciously make myself sleep with my eyes more closed (if that was in fact the problem.) i quit wearing contacts and only worn them once in about a year and 8 months. i also stopped taking zyrtec (i still take flonase though, which is supposed to be ok with the eyes since it's not systematic like zyrtec.) i drink lots of water. i tried to not think about my eyes. of course i had my bad days where i dweled, but i tried to except it more. i stopped touching and examining my eyes so frequently.
basically, i think all of this lead to it getting better. i made a day trip to a new eye doc yesterday who was great (he's already listed under post a doc-Dr. Michael Gagnon.) after lots of previous not so great help from eye docs, he was able to finally diagnose me with posterior blepharitis and mgd. he said it's pretty mild though and my eyes look great. i produce plenty enough tears he said, which really made my day. if my old docs were right that i used to not produce enough tears, i want dry eye suffers to get more hope that it is possible to have normal tear production again. i think staying out of contacts probably really helped with this. so now it's just rice baggies for me and he gave me a prescription for azasite if i want to order it.
i filled out a questionnaire on my symptoms and i still have problems with eye pain, burning and itching sometimes. but it's definitely much better. he said that that shows i still have some issues, but my eyes look good. he also said he sees no reason why i can't wear contacts again, but of course problems may arise with use. also, as i mentioned in the beginning of the post, i was told by a few diff doctors at the start of my problems that i had "very severe dry eye" and now i'm mild. so it's all possible and i want you all to have hope
i really am a firm believer that things can improve significantly and to have a good state of mind.
i've been to many eye docs over this period, probably about eight. i've been told all sorts of things, so it's hard to say what i had/have. i was told it was allergies, i had GPC from wearing contacts, i sleep with my eyes open, etc. i was also told i both didn't produce enough tears and had evaporative dry eye.
i started noticing a difference around may/june of 2008. my eyes didn't bother me much. i have tried so many things so i can't exactly pinpoint what i did. but around that time, i pretty much went cold turkey on artificial tears. i only used genteal gel when i really needed it, when the dryness was terrible. i think even preservative free drops can irritate your eyes. i stopped sleeping with the fan on. i drank flaxseed for awhile. i took borage oil for awhile (i think 1200 mg? a day). i took fish oil for a few months too. some of these overlapped, some didn't. none i ever really followed through with for more than a few months. i pretty much stopped having dairy too. i tried to consciously make myself sleep with my eyes more closed (if that was in fact the problem.) i quit wearing contacts and only worn them once in about a year and 8 months. i also stopped taking zyrtec (i still take flonase though, which is supposed to be ok with the eyes since it's not systematic like zyrtec.) i drink lots of water. i tried to not think about my eyes. of course i had my bad days where i dweled, but i tried to except it more. i stopped touching and examining my eyes so frequently.
basically, i think all of this lead to it getting better. i made a day trip to a new eye doc yesterday who was great (he's already listed under post a doc-Dr. Michael Gagnon.) after lots of previous not so great help from eye docs, he was able to finally diagnose me with posterior blepharitis and mgd. he said it's pretty mild though and my eyes look great. i produce plenty enough tears he said, which really made my day. if my old docs were right that i used to not produce enough tears, i want dry eye suffers to get more hope that it is possible to have normal tear production again. i think staying out of contacts probably really helped with this. so now it's just rice baggies for me and he gave me a prescription for azasite if i want to order it.
i filled out a questionnaire on my symptoms and i still have problems with eye pain, burning and itching sometimes. but it's definitely much better. he said that that shows i still have some issues, but my eyes look good. he also said he sees no reason why i can't wear contacts again, but of course problems may arise with use. also, as i mentioned in the beginning of the post, i was told by a few diff doctors at the start of my problems that i had "very severe dry eye" and now i'm mild. so it's all possible and i want you all to have hope
i really am a firm believer that things can improve significantly and to have a good state of mind.