dry eyes and floaters (help please!)

[phila]

i'm 20 years old and i suffer from dry eyes since i was 18. in this time i was taking a heavy medication (accutane) which made my eyes very dry.
after one year i've developed some very annoying floaters and i'm confident that my dry eyes are the reason why i see these floaters now.
these dots and strings bother me alot, i can't enjoy going outside anymore but surgery (vitrectomy) is such a heavy intervention, i don't want to do that!

i must find a soultion, my life is so depressing at the moment. i'm not able to find the right words for my ****ing situation..

despite of taking eye drops my eyes are still dry, stressed and red.
i don't know what i should do..
maybe someone can help me! that would be great.

(hope you understand my bad english )

[phila]

anyone?

i don't know what to do..

[Debk]

Hi Phila.

I am sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time. You didn't mention if you have been to an opthamologist and what the result was.

I have floaters as well and they seemed to appear in the last year. They don't bother me too much, just seem to be more obvious on solid backrounds (like the road when I am driving or the sky). I have had multiple exams though to check for detachment as new floaters can sometimes be an early warning sign for this.

I think someone mentioned on this board at one point that your brain adjusts to them and they become less noticable. That hasn't happened to me yet though

What did your doctor say?

[Lea]

Hello,
I'm really sorry to hear about your dry eyes and floaters. I developed floaters in my eyes about 8 years ago. It drove me crazy and my eye doctor told me that she has lots of patients that don't even notice them anymore. I couldn't see how that could be true cause I saw mine all the time. However over time I really don't notice mine at all anymore. Every once in a while I see them like when I look up at the sky.. but that is about it. I do get my eyes checked quite often because they are dry and also to be sure there isn't any detachment issues going on. I sure hope things get better for you soon!
Lea

[Minni]

Similisan for Dry Eye is very good, as is Refresh Plus (preservative free) and Celluvisc (preservative free) and Systane (preservative free).

You might try Blink-Contacts or Blink-Tears which have sodium hyaluronate.

Hyaluronate is excellent. You may wanna try perhaps Hydraplenish nutritional supplements (search Amazon to see the customer reviews), but there's many other brands as well, including the heavy molecular weight liquid called BAXYL. Also there's Membrell eggshell membrane.
All these have hyoluronate, though some maybe more effective than others - it's all quite new.

I myself developed a floater after trying Prima Vu - Acuta "homeopathic" eyedrops. Though I've no real proof, I wouldn't be surprised if the witch hazel in the Acuta caused my floater.

BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't just the Accutane, but also exposure to computer monitor fluresence (and bright lites in general) in combo with Accutane that caused your issues.

Last year, I'd compiled this blog of testimonials by fluorescent sufferers, that may interest:

http://fluorescent-headache-eye-stra...nitor-eye.html

[indrep]

Phila,
I would seek the opinion of a retina specialist in your area to quantify the quality of your vitreous(the gel like substance that makes up the greater volume of your eye). He may or may not be able to look at your cornea for any scars, etc that might be contributing to a sensation of floaters. If he cannot make that determination see a cornea specialist that he works with and hopefully the two of them can work out a solution for you.

[manitobaskyline]

When you have floaters, you have to be careful that you don't have a tear on your retina. Have you had an exam where they dilated your eyes to check for tears?

[Rebecca Petris]

Manitobaskyline,

Please introduce yourself. You've just joined the forum and are giving a lot of people advice on various topics. Most people are here to ask questions and share their experiences. We'd like a chance to get to know you. What's your dry eye situation?

[Stanza]

I have floaters too. Some days they can make me want to scream but others I don't notice them. I think you do get used to them but they'll remind you that they are there some times. Hang in there!

[Tankie]

Hi Phila,

I'm 23 myself, and I too suffer from dry eyes. It sucks. I know how you feel. My whole life has been taken away from me because of it.

Anyway, I recently started taking something called "TheraTears" gel. Here's a link to it:
http://store.theratears.com/detail.aspx?ID=4
It's been helping me, although it's not a cure. It makes the pain a lot more manageable though.

I don't really have floaters too often, although I do see them every day, but not very many. Maybe once every couple of hours for a few seconds. It's no big deal to me.

If you find a cure, be sure to let me know. I too need help with this. I will try to help you also if I can find a cure for myself.

[manitobaskyline]

I have had dry eyes for over 10 years but it is mostly under control now with punctum plugs and eye lid scrubs. I used to come here years ago and when I found the site again and tried to sign on, I no longer had that email address so I re-registered.

I do have a lot of advise to give as I have suffered many years through trial and error of so many treatments. I mostly have advice to give as my dry eyes are mostly under control. Nothing is more meaningful to me than helping someone to achieve comfort. Are you open to someone coming here to help give advice? I am mainly here to help people rathar than seek help.

Let me know.
Thanks

[irish eyes]

Hi Manitobaskyline and welcome to the forum.

You will see that the DEZ is made up of people managing similar chronic conditions.

We don’t (because we cannot) depend on one single opinion because we are a diverse group and our journeys are unique. The site provides an opportunity for sufferers to convene, share information and offer support.

I think most would agree that we learn from the experience of other people – I would welcome that far more than `advice’.

Please don't think I'm being ungracious in saying this!

[manitobaskyline]

Irish,

I appreciate your feedback and do understand about advice. I do have a lot of experience to share but don't want to offend or come across as preachy.
So I don't get this wrong in the future, it would be very helpful if you and Rebecca could let me know how I could have bettered phrased my responses to the posts I have recently responded to. This should give me a better feel for the language etc so that my posts are better received.

Thanks!

[irish eyes]

Hi again Manitobaskyline

It’s a human need to put experiences into some kind of common context. An online forum can be a fantastic way of passing around nuggets of information. However, the majority of us have already sought advice from the professionals who treat dry eyes. Many of us haven't had our discomfort relieved by standard treatments and I'm sure you’ve picked up on the frustration in getting the right kind of help.

The length of time I’ve suffered with dry eyes etc is actually longer than you but it doesn’t make me an expert – and I would be very cautious about ever `advising’ someone else on what to do. I’ve seen several doctors – and none could really advise me on what to do unless they had insight into what had previously worked and what hadn't.

DEZ members share very limited data on patient data/ histories so any `advice’ can only be very generalized – and cautious! Advice is not the same as information. However well intentioned, online advice can lead people astray. It can also imply that a person is incapable of thinking for themselves and resolving his / her own issues. (Of course if I thought someone was thinking of doing anything that might cause them harm, I would urge them to think hard about it !)

Speaking for myself here, I learn more when there are genuine conversations going on; whilst being informative, they can point to the unknowns & uncertainties of many treatments. The ` the one size doesn’t fit all’ analogy has been used for years but it’s one that applies here.

By the way, I’m pleased that you have managed to get your condition under control. Do stay with us won't you?

[manitobaskyline]

Irish,
Thanks for the feedback but I do wish you would have answered my question. I asked you give me examples of where I went wrong with the wording of my responses. I do not claim to be an expert at anything. I might, however, give the readers of this forum (or any forum really) a little more credit for being able to interpret responses and take what they can use and leave the rest.

I reviewed the wording of my responses again and am having a hard time pinpointing where I went wrong. I'm am at least of average intelligence and I believe I am at least ok at writing clearly.

I do want to stay but to point me in the proper direction so I use the correct wording in my writing, please give me examples of how I could have better worded my responses to conform to the standards of this particular forum.

Many thanks for your help.