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Hi everyone,
Long time user of the Dry Eye Talk forum but first time doing a post.
Ok so where do I begin. I am female, early 30's and for the past 10 years have worked on a computer for 8/9 hours a day in air conditioned environments. I started experiencing dry eye a few months after I began working in an office in my early 20's on a computer all day and I defintely think this has massively contributed (if not caused my dry eye issues).
Just for some background I have a TBUT of 3 in my left eye and 4 in my right at the moment. I am taking Omega 3's and flackseed also.
When I first started experiencing symptoms and redness, I went along to the local chemist (I thought it was just a brief eye infection/irritation) and asked if they could advise on something to ease the discomfort. Bingo - they suggested clear eyes to get the redness out of my eyes. So for years I was using this in my eyes every day and I now know this is probably one of the worst things I could have done. Towards the end of last year I started experiencing eye fatigue / strain in work and a very dry feeling in my eye with redness. I went to an optician who diagnosed MGD and said that I had massive inflamation in both eyes. He advised a heat pack/lid massage and Systane Balance drops. This therapy helped a bit but it did not give me much relief. However I guess if I look back on where I was at that point I was definitely better than I am now.
After some back and forth with the Optician, I went to an Opthamologist who reviewed my condition and advised that I am suffering from MGD (nothing new there) and also said that I had signs of allergy on both of my lids (he suspected the preservatives in Systane were causing eye irritation which obviously wasnt helping the extremely dry feeling in my eyes). He also said that I needed to get the inflamation down in my eye as this was definitely contributing to my MGD issues and stoping my oil glands from functioning properly. So he prescribed an anti allergy drop (Optanol) to clear up the allergy and Maxidex (steriod) to bring down the inflamation. He also advised Thealoz Duo drops and gel (at nighttime) as and when needed to help with the dryness. I also continued with the heat pack and lid massage. I continued on this for a month and noticed a huge improvement but had rebound redness when I went off the Maidex. I was subsequently advised to stay on Maixidex and also have taken a course of Doxy. Both the Maxidex and Doxy helped hugely in decreasing the inflamation in my eyes and for the first time in a long while some of my glads were actually producing oil (previously I was informed that none of my glands were producing oil).
Visited the opthamologist yesterday who noted that the pressure in my eyes had increased slightly (worrying!!) and that I would have to come off the steriods (I knew this was only a short term solution). He advised yesterday for me to start a course of Ikervis (which I think is the EU version of Restasis). So I am hoping that this gives me some relief from the redness, burning sensation in my eyes. I understand that this can cause redness at first but over time can help supress the inflamatory response in the eye (praying for a miracle) as I am not sure if there are too many options left. Doc didnt think doxy on a long term basis is good for me. He has also reassured me that I am not on my own and that this is becoming more of a problem for a lot of people that use devices and that I will get to a stage where I can manage it better.
On another note I am also wondering if there is some connection between my symptoms and my skin - i have a lot of red spots under my jaw line on both sides, small red spots on my forehead and a few on my face. I know my grandmother and aunt have suffered from Rosacea and I have a feeling that this may also have contributed to my current situation. My skin has never really been that bad so I always just dismissed it resulting from makeup or tiredness etc. I will look into the skin link further (I suspect occular rosacea also).
The worst thing about this disease I find is not the discomfort itself but coping with the limitations it has put on my life e.g what will happen to my career, difficulty working in an air conditioned environment in front of a computer, my appearance with constantly red eyes, dealing with peoples questions on why I have red eyes, financial worries if I cannot work in the future due to this problem. Its difficult not to get into a spiral of worrying about the future and what might be etc and how I will cope going forward. I know stress cannot be helping my current situation so I need to find ways of coping better and dealing with those worries or negative thoughts.
My eyes are pretty red at the moment (I think I have some rebound redness from coming off the steriods so I am thinking of getting some glasses with a slight tint in them to hide the redness until I get it under control.
So I guess why am I here....
I am firstly wondering if anyone has used Ikervis and if they could share their experiences?
I am also wondering if there is any users on here from Ireland that would be interested in getting in touch and sharing experiences also? I have found that reading others experiences on the forum really helps - its great knowing that I am not the only one out there.
Thats all for now! I guess all we can do is keep sharing experiences and try to remain positive that we will beat this thing!!!
Thanks to all for reading my post.
Dry Irish Eyes
Long time user of the Dry Eye Talk forum but first time doing a post.
Ok so where do I begin. I am female, early 30's and for the past 10 years have worked on a computer for 8/9 hours a day in air conditioned environments. I started experiencing dry eye a few months after I began working in an office in my early 20's on a computer all day and I defintely think this has massively contributed (if not caused my dry eye issues).
Just for some background I have a TBUT of 3 in my left eye and 4 in my right at the moment. I am taking Omega 3's and flackseed also.
When I first started experiencing symptoms and redness, I went along to the local chemist (I thought it was just a brief eye infection/irritation) and asked if they could advise on something to ease the discomfort. Bingo - they suggested clear eyes to get the redness out of my eyes. So for years I was using this in my eyes every day and I now know this is probably one of the worst things I could have done. Towards the end of last year I started experiencing eye fatigue / strain in work and a very dry feeling in my eye with redness. I went to an optician who diagnosed MGD and said that I had massive inflamation in both eyes. He advised a heat pack/lid massage and Systane Balance drops. This therapy helped a bit but it did not give me much relief. However I guess if I look back on where I was at that point I was definitely better than I am now.
After some back and forth with the Optician, I went to an Opthamologist who reviewed my condition and advised that I am suffering from MGD (nothing new there) and also said that I had signs of allergy on both of my lids (he suspected the preservatives in Systane were causing eye irritation which obviously wasnt helping the extremely dry feeling in my eyes). He also said that I needed to get the inflamation down in my eye as this was definitely contributing to my MGD issues and stoping my oil glands from functioning properly. So he prescribed an anti allergy drop (Optanol) to clear up the allergy and Maxidex (steriod) to bring down the inflamation. He also advised Thealoz Duo drops and gel (at nighttime) as and when needed to help with the dryness. I also continued with the heat pack and lid massage. I continued on this for a month and noticed a huge improvement but had rebound redness when I went off the Maidex. I was subsequently advised to stay on Maixidex and also have taken a course of Doxy. Both the Maxidex and Doxy helped hugely in decreasing the inflamation in my eyes and for the first time in a long while some of my glads were actually producing oil (previously I was informed that none of my glands were producing oil).
Visited the opthamologist yesterday who noted that the pressure in my eyes had increased slightly (worrying!!) and that I would have to come off the steriods (I knew this was only a short term solution). He advised yesterday for me to start a course of Ikervis (which I think is the EU version of Restasis). So I am hoping that this gives me some relief from the redness, burning sensation in my eyes. I understand that this can cause redness at first but over time can help supress the inflamatory response in the eye (praying for a miracle) as I am not sure if there are too many options left. Doc didnt think doxy on a long term basis is good for me. He has also reassured me that I am not on my own and that this is becoming more of a problem for a lot of people that use devices and that I will get to a stage where I can manage it better.
On another note I am also wondering if there is some connection between my symptoms and my skin - i have a lot of red spots under my jaw line on both sides, small red spots on my forehead and a few on my face. I know my grandmother and aunt have suffered from Rosacea and I have a feeling that this may also have contributed to my current situation. My skin has never really been that bad so I always just dismissed it resulting from makeup or tiredness etc. I will look into the skin link further (I suspect occular rosacea also).
The worst thing about this disease I find is not the discomfort itself but coping with the limitations it has put on my life e.g what will happen to my career, difficulty working in an air conditioned environment in front of a computer, my appearance with constantly red eyes, dealing with peoples questions on why I have red eyes, financial worries if I cannot work in the future due to this problem. Its difficult not to get into a spiral of worrying about the future and what might be etc and how I will cope going forward. I know stress cannot be helping my current situation so I need to find ways of coping better and dealing with those worries or negative thoughts.
My eyes are pretty red at the moment (I think I have some rebound redness from coming off the steriods so I am thinking of getting some glasses with a slight tint in them to hide the redness until I get it under control.
So I guess why am I here....
I am firstly wondering if anyone has used Ikervis and if they could share their experiences?
I am also wondering if there is any users on here from Ireland that would be interested in getting in touch and sharing experiences also? I have found that reading others experiences on the forum really helps - its great knowing that I am not the only one out there.
Thats all for now! I guess all we can do is keep sharing experiences and try to remain positive that we will beat this thing!!!
Thanks to all for reading my post.
Dry Irish Eyes