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My Experiences with dry eye

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  • My Experiences with dry eye

    Hi everyone. I just opened an account after a few months of doing dry eye research and seeing this forum pop up a few times.

    I'm a teenager who has been suffering with dry eyes due to both allergies and genetics. Living in Rhode Island, it is difficult to have control over my dry eyes because the environment which I live in is constantly changing. It can be humid one day and freezing the next, and the temperature has a large affect on the pollen count. I am allergic to both pollen and black mold. It's nearly impossible to avoid these allergens because my family lives in a rural area surrounded by trees, and my school's leaky roof has led to a growth of mold in the school (which as of now cannot be fixed due to depleting school funds).

    My symptoms are the worst possible symptoms imaginable. If I ever have a good day where my eyes are actually white, they turn red within a couple of hours of being in school. Immunotherapy has helped my allergies so that my eyes aren't itchy, but that has not stopped the redness.

    On top of my allergies, my father's side of the family has a history of chronic dry eye. It's hard for me to look at a computer or television screen or go outside without wearing sunglasses because my eyes have become very sensitive.

    On a positive note, my right eye has seen an improvement (for unknown reasons) in the past month. It does not turn red as much, and if it does it isn't as noticeable as my left eye.

    I have had bad experiences with eye drops. Every spring I was prescribed a steroid drop, which provided only temporary relief. I began using Opcon-A in 2010, before I knew about the rebound effect. It took two weeks for my eyes to return to normalcy after getting off the Opcon-A, but they have remained red for other reasons.

    As of now, I turn away from Opcon-A and most chemically based eye drops, and have chose instead to take a more homeopathic route. I use the Walgreen's version of Refresh lubricating eye drops, and have very recently been using Similasan. I'm curious if anybody on this forum has has any luck with other homeopathic treatments, and if they've seen any improvements with any version of Similasan.

    Also, I am curious about night time redness. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning and my eyes seem relatively normal the night before my left eye (the bad eye) will be awfully red. Sometimes it turns back to normal after taking a shower, but other times it wont. Does anyone have any remedy for night time redness?

    (on a side note, thank you to anybody who reads this. This is my first post as I stated before and I definitely have a lot of questions I could use help with. I'm very desperate because it's difficult to be a teenager with eye redness, for it is very embarrassing and very noticeable. Multiple times I have been questioned for using illegal substances, which I have never in my life taken. I want to be able to focus on school, but its hard when I'm being treated differently for having red eyes.)

  • #2
    Welcome Brandon! Maybe you need a hypo-allergictic pillow? Do you sleep with a fan or ac overhead? Do you put gel in at night or face cream? Any of those might be contributing.

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    • #3
      Hi Kate, thanks for responding! I don't use a hypo-allergictic pillow, and I do sleep with a fan overhead but I rarely turn it on. I don't wear face cream, but I do wash my face at night with Noxema to deal with blemishes. I was using refresh pm but I felt as if it was making my eyes worse and seeping out of my eyes every night.

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      • #4
        Humidifier

        Hey Brandon.

        I have chronic red dry eyes too. My left eye is always red and my eyes are driest in the morning. Are you using a humidifier at night? I LOVE my humidifier so much. When I wake up after a night of my humidifier being on through the night, I can feel and see a difference. Just make sure you clean it often.

        I used to use the gels at night, but they made my eyes feel awful the next day, so I just use the thicker Refresh drops along with the humidifier before I sleep.

        Best of luck.

        Lisa

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