Extreme Light Sensitivity - Post PRK (4 years ago)

[DeployedPRK]

I've been battling severe light sensitivity for about 4 years without knowing the cause exactly. I get daily headaches when I sit in offices with fluorescent lighting or when I walk through stores with very bright lights. My eyes feel "overwhelmed," they begin to feel sore, and within an hour, I am dealing with migrain-ish symptoms (lethargy, headache, nausea). This lasts most of the day and seriously negatively affects my quality of life. Unfortunately, my job requires sitting in an area lit by fluorescent lights and working at a Microsoft Outlook box all day long.

Background:
- PRK in 2011
- Punctal Plugs because I used accutane twice when I was younger. This causes my oil production to be not great.
- Doctors say that my oil layer isn't great.
- HOWEVER, my most recent dry eye test wasn't horrible--- still dry, but not horrible. I think they said my tear film broke up in like 4-5 seconds.
- I often wake up with my eyelids stuck to my eyes, so I have to be careful not to have erosions.

I use:
- Genteal eye gel (from tube) as needed.
- Tinted contact lenses (brown)
- Tinted glasses (Theraspecs)
- Ointment at night with the rare hot compress
- Fish oil

Needless to say, my symptoms are getting worse. I am at a point of desperation and I'm looking to make big moves to try to address this. Two questions:

1) What is the next logical step? Scleral lenses?

2) Is it possible to have this bad of light sensitivity without having terrible dry eye like some people on here have? My eyes don't feel too dry during the day, but I still battle these horrible symptoms that are starting to ruin my work life.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate this community, although I usually am a reader more than a poster.

[LaDiva]

I had PRK and did not suffer severe dry eye until two years after the surgery. A TBUT of 3 or 4 is very dry, with 10 or above being normal. After 5 years of trying all kinds of things, I am much better, but still must wear goggles and am quadra-plugged. Have you tried doing hot compresses on a regular basis? I must do them three times every day or my glands become completely blocked. I had photophobia about four or five years ago when my eyes were at their worst. In my case, it meant that the eye surface was damaged. Fortunately, it healed after I started wearing goggles and doing compresses religiously, but took some time. Sending good wishes. I understand how you feel.

Just a thought, but has your eye doctor suggested neuropathy?

[DeployedPRK]

I had PRK and did not suffer severe dry eye until two years after the surgery. A TBUT of 3 or 4 is very dry, with 10 or above being normal. After 5 years of trying all kinds of things, I am much better, but still must wear goggles and am quadra-plugged. Have you tried doing hot compresses on a regular basis? I must do them three times every day or my glands become completely blocked. I had photophobia about four or five years ago when my eyes were at their worst. In my case, it meant that the eye surface was damaged. Fortunately, it healed after I started wearing goggles and doing compresses religiously, but took some time. Sending good wishes. I understand how you feel.

Just a thought, but has your eye doctor suggested neuropathy?

Thanks for the reply. I actually just started the hot compresses again. I'll keep that up and maybe increase frequency. I'm meeting with an optometrist in the refractive surgery section in about a month -- I'll definitely mention neuropathy and a few other things.

[waterbee]

I've been battling severe light sensitivity for about 4 years without knowing the cause exactly. I get daily headaches when I sit in offices with fluorescent lighting or when I walk through stores with very bright lights. My eyes feel "overwhelmed," they begin to feel sore, and within an hour, I am dealing with migrain-ish symptoms (lethargy, headache, nausea). This lasts most of the day and seriously negatively affects my quality of life. Unfortunately, my job requires sitting in an area lit by fluorescent lights and working at a Microsoft Outlook box all day long.

Background:
- PRK in 2011
- Punctal Plugs because I used accutane twice when I was younger. This causes my oil production to be not great.
- Doctors say that my oil layer isn't great.
- HOWEVER, my most recent dry eye test wasn't horrible--- still dry, but not horrible. I think they said my tear film broke up in like 4-5 seconds.
- I often wake up with my eyelids stuck to my eyes, so I have to be careful not to have erosions.

I use:
- Genteal eye gel (from tube) as needed.
- Tinted contact lenses (brown)
- Tinted glasses (Theraspecs)
- Ointment at night with the rare hot compress
- Fish oil

Needless to say, my symptoms are getting worse. I am at a point of desperation and I'm looking to make big moves to try to address this. Two questions:

1) What is the next logical step? Scleral lenses?

2) Is it possible to have this bad of light sensitivity without having terrible dry eye like some people on here have? My eyes don't feel too dry during the day, but I still battle these horrible symptoms that are starting to ruin my work life.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate this community, although I usually am a reader more than a poster.

Hi,
I have a TBUT of 3 seconds and had dreadful light sensitivity for months when my dry eye began. I started using macashield tablets which helped me quite a bit and although it returns on bad days, it's infrequent and not an every day thing now. Macashield is used for quite serious eye degeneration conditions but I'm assured they are completely safe by my ophthalmologist to use without the condition, and do help with light sensitivity. You can buy the ingredients separately for cheaper as vitamin tablets too, I just like the convenience of getting them all one tablet.