Do the "Dry Eye" sensations change and alternate over time?

[louisa]

Have not posted for some time as I became quite down with my symptoms and aditional Sjogren's related stuff.
But here goes. I have suffered on and off (although never really gone away) with Dry eye and am now experiencing a "new one" for me. Ususally my eyes feel bone dry and tear and odd as it is, because it is constant, one can sometimes get used to it in a strange sort of miserable way! I now have another flare after a period of it becomming more tolerable and the latest is an irritating "foreign body" grit in eye feeling. With all the pain and discomfort in my eyes, I find this the most unpleasant. Does anybody have any experience of this abating and mutating to another "new"sensation? I know that dry eyes have a habit of changing but this is doing my head in to be quite honest.
I should know by now to be patient and hope it changes to something else. I think that I may have had occasional gritty sensations at the start of all this in 2007 but to be honest I have had so much happen to me, I cannot remember that clearly. I have on "scarred" lower duct sealed due to plug expulsion and one lower plug which is now rubbing and driving me mad. The foreign body sensation is in 2 eyes however. I use ciclosporin gel once at night (in the uk so dog ointment here). I have started using a lot more systane preservative free drops again as well. Unfortunately a regime of compresses and tranquileyes only made my eyes drier last time I tried them. My opthalmic surgeon says I have no MGD. Anything I put in my eyes at the mo is just making the cornea's feel like that there is something in them and uncombtable.
I might not sound as distressed as I feel but believe me I am.
I wear wrap arounds constantly and I have never been able to go without some sort of protection since this started.
Greatfull for any advice and hoping for some reassurance or info.
Kind thanks
Louisa

[Colin P]

Hiya Louisa!.
I also have had Dry Eye sensations change over last 9 months. And the changes i find are more tolerable!.
I started out with the grit- like sand in my eyes, which mutated to feeling of a small stone in one or the other eye.
Dont know if anyone else has found this, but i only suffer in one eye or the other at any given time. It was almost always in bottom right of right eye.
I was getting lots of White powder deposits in outer corners of eyes, ive had one off periods of 'toxic tears, and a shooting pain sterting from out going backwards into eye.
for last 3 months things seem to have settled and i get a nerve pain in upper eyelid (pulsing) as soon as it starts i need to put a drop in and idealy close eyes for 20 mins rest- at worst this is 2-3 times a day. My Left eye rarely bothers me now! and ive not needed to put a single drop in left eye for 2 days now; Right eye 3 drops a day, and im sure getting better!. What i'm trying to say is hang in there as sensations may well change to something more tolerable?.
You say you became quite down... As did i!.. make no mistake about it this makes dry-eyes WORSE! how you work out how to feel better is next to impossible.
Show me someone has conqured Dry-eye with simple 'mind-over-matter' and i will show you a liar!!. I had to go on anti-depressents (Venlaflaxine 150mg) and stay in hospital for 6 weeks, as i could not 'snap-out-of-it' now i hardly worry and my symptoms have improved 10xfold co-incidence??..

[louisa]

Hiya Louisa!.
I also have had Dry Eye sensations change over last 9 months. And the changes i find are more tolerable!.
I started out with the grit- like sand in my eyes, which mutated to feeling of a small stone in one or the other eye.
Dont know if anyone else has found this, but i only suffer in one eye or the other at any given time. It was almost always in bottom right of right eye.
I was getting lots of White powder deposits in outer corners of eyes, ive had one off periods of 'toxic tears, and a shooting pain sterting from out going backwards into eye.
for last 3 months things seem to have settled and i get a nerve pain in upper eyelid (pulsing) as soon as it starts i need to put a drop in and idealy close eyes for 20 mins rest- at worst this is 2-3 times a day. My Left eye rarely bothers me now! and ive not needed to put a single drop in left eye for 2 days now; Right eye 3 drops a day, and im sure getting better!. What i'm trying to say is hang in there as sensations may well change to something more tolerable?.
You say you became quite down... As did i!.. make no mistake about it this makes dry-eyes WORSE! how you work out how to feel better is next to impossible.
Show me someone has conqured Dry-eye with simple 'mind-over-matter' and i will show you a liar!!. I had to go on anti-depressents (Venlaflaxine 150mg) and stay in hospital for 6 weeks, as i could not 'snap-out-of-it' now i hardly worry and my symptoms have improved 10xfold co-incidence??..

Thanks a lot for answering Colin. Your answer has been something to hope for.
A few years ago when this started, I too had cause to use the crisis line and my local mental health support team. Some of the people were lovely, others just did not understand the concept of chronic unrelenting pain.
I have had so many pain issues with my other auto immune probs so after years of already having chronic illness, things had really got me down. Eye pain is actually very very hard to deal with as it is the sort of pain that you cannot put anywhere unlike some of my discomforts.
Thankyou for your kind help and I am glad that you are feeling more able to cope with things. Its also about talking to the right people, I have learnt the hard way that it is not worth explaining to certain people as they will never get it unless they have had it.
I also have asked the wrong people for help in the past, some support groups have made me feel like I want to jump off the nearest building!!!!!!
Anyway, nice to talk.
Louisa

[Colin P]

Any time Louisa!....