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Hi there,
This is my first time posting, though I have been reading a ton of forum posts since discovering that my eye pain was indeed caused by MGD. It is so helpful to know that there are other people out there dealing with this frustrating issue!
I am 26 years old, and within the last month or so my eyes started to hurt very bad--a stinging, burning feeling, sensitivity to wind and poor air conditions, etc. Some internet research told me it was likely dry eye, so I started putting in eye drops. The first kind I tried (Blink Tears) had preservatives, and these drops only seemed to make things worse--my eyes became red and even more "burny", where they had never been red before. I switched to Bausch and Lomb Soothe drop vials (preservative-free), which helped with temporary relief, but I was having to put them in at least 6 times a day every hour or so to keep my eyes from feeling horrible. Sometimes my eyes felt so burny I could barely open them.
A visit to my primary care doc was not helpful--basically, he was like, "Your eyes look fine, your vision's good, don't know what to tell you." Hmph. I have since gone to an eye specialist recommended by a friend who quickly diagnosed my problem as not having enough oil production, causing the tears that I produce to evaporate too quickly off my eye (essentially, MGD). This is why the aqueous-based Soothe drops provide temporary relief, but why they aren't really solving the fundamental problem. He confidently told me that a drop of Systane Balance before bed and upon waking would take care of that. He put in some drops then and there and by 1 hour later my eyes felt like they were on fire, and were extremely red. I put in another dose of drops to no avail. The doc told me to discontinue using them as it definitely seemed like I was having an allergic reaction to them. Apparently there is a chemical in them that is also present in some face soaps and scrubs (something I have had huge allergic reactions to in the past--have to be very careful of what kind of acne stuff I use, makeup I can wear, etc.).
Essentially, he told me that if that is the case, I will have that allergic reaction to all eye drops that could specifically target and help my MGD (non-aqueous-base drops), so the only thing he could suggest to me would be to try punctal plugs. !! What?
I don't know, but this seems to be like an extreme step to me! He dismissed supplements such as fish oil out of hand, and said that warm compresses would make me feel better temporarily but wouldn't help the condition overall.
I am concerned about three main things:
#1 - My dry eye symptoms started fairly recently, and seemed to come on out of the blue. I have racked my brain to think of anything that has changed (diet, medication, environment, etc.), and the only thing I can think of is that the seasons are changing to Autumn and I may have some crazy seasonal allergy? NO ONE has addressed my question of: why, in a all-around healthy young woman, would I suddenly start suffering from severe dry eye symptoms? I want to try and find the root cause, not just throw stuff at the symptoms. About a year ago I was tested for various autoimmune diseases such as lupus because of another mysterious health concern at the time and all tests came back negative.
#2 - Plugs seem to be recommended more for people who have a deficiency in their tear production, not so much for people who have lipid problems. Would plugs even really help? I must admit that the idea of plugs kind of alarms me, could be quite expensive (paying out of pocket here), and seems like over-kill when I am just getting into this whole issue. I would prefer to try other options (ideally holistic ones!) before jumping from 0 to 100.
#3 - I've read lots of horror stories of people suffering from this for years and years without finding much relief, trying hundreds of different drops, supplements, antibiotics, etc. and I know it can be a chronic condition. The fact is, I recently got engaged and was actually beginning to plan my wedding when this whole dry eye storm hit me! I am finding it really hard to be excited about my future and looking forward in my life with the thought that my eyes could continue to feel so horrible and not knowing what to do to help them! I am young, a visual artist, have a job that involves lots of computer work, and reading is my favorite hobby--I feel like I can barely function right now or live my life normally!
Thank you in advance for any responses. I hope all this makes sense, I know it's long. I am pretty lost and frustrated right now, and just want to figure out how to help my poor eyes.
This is my first time posting, though I have been reading a ton of forum posts since discovering that my eye pain was indeed caused by MGD. It is so helpful to know that there are other people out there dealing with this frustrating issue!
I am 26 years old, and within the last month or so my eyes started to hurt very bad--a stinging, burning feeling, sensitivity to wind and poor air conditions, etc. Some internet research told me it was likely dry eye, so I started putting in eye drops. The first kind I tried (Blink Tears) had preservatives, and these drops only seemed to make things worse--my eyes became red and even more "burny", where they had never been red before. I switched to Bausch and Lomb Soothe drop vials (preservative-free), which helped with temporary relief, but I was having to put them in at least 6 times a day every hour or so to keep my eyes from feeling horrible. Sometimes my eyes felt so burny I could barely open them.
A visit to my primary care doc was not helpful--basically, he was like, "Your eyes look fine, your vision's good, don't know what to tell you." Hmph. I have since gone to an eye specialist recommended by a friend who quickly diagnosed my problem as not having enough oil production, causing the tears that I produce to evaporate too quickly off my eye (essentially, MGD). This is why the aqueous-based Soothe drops provide temporary relief, but why they aren't really solving the fundamental problem. He confidently told me that a drop of Systane Balance before bed and upon waking would take care of that. He put in some drops then and there and by 1 hour later my eyes felt like they were on fire, and were extremely red. I put in another dose of drops to no avail. The doc told me to discontinue using them as it definitely seemed like I was having an allergic reaction to them. Apparently there is a chemical in them that is also present in some face soaps and scrubs (something I have had huge allergic reactions to in the past--have to be very careful of what kind of acne stuff I use, makeup I can wear, etc.).
Essentially, he told me that if that is the case, I will have that allergic reaction to all eye drops that could specifically target and help my MGD (non-aqueous-base drops), so the only thing he could suggest to me would be to try punctal plugs. !! What?
I don't know, but this seems to be like an extreme step to me! He dismissed supplements such as fish oil out of hand, and said that warm compresses would make me feel better temporarily but wouldn't help the condition overall.
I am concerned about three main things:
#1 - My dry eye symptoms started fairly recently, and seemed to come on out of the blue. I have racked my brain to think of anything that has changed (diet, medication, environment, etc.), and the only thing I can think of is that the seasons are changing to Autumn and I may have some crazy seasonal allergy? NO ONE has addressed my question of: why, in a all-around healthy young woman, would I suddenly start suffering from severe dry eye symptoms? I want to try and find the root cause, not just throw stuff at the symptoms. About a year ago I was tested for various autoimmune diseases such as lupus because of another mysterious health concern at the time and all tests came back negative.
#2 - Plugs seem to be recommended more for people who have a deficiency in their tear production, not so much for people who have lipid problems. Would plugs even really help? I must admit that the idea of plugs kind of alarms me, could be quite expensive (paying out of pocket here), and seems like over-kill when I am just getting into this whole issue. I would prefer to try other options (ideally holistic ones!) before jumping from 0 to 100.
#3 - I've read lots of horror stories of people suffering from this for years and years without finding much relief, trying hundreds of different drops, supplements, antibiotics, etc. and I know it can be a chronic condition. The fact is, I recently got engaged and was actually beginning to plan my wedding when this whole dry eye storm hit me! I am finding it really hard to be excited about my future and looking forward in my life with the thought that my eyes could continue to feel so horrible and not knowing what to do to help them! I am young, a visual artist, have a job that involves lots of computer work, and reading is my favorite hobby--I feel like I can barely function right now or live my life normally!
Thank you in advance for any responses. I hope all this makes sense, I know it's long. I am pretty lost and frustrated right now, and just want to figure out how to help my poor eyes.
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