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Hi everyone,
It's been 10 months since I first suffered from this terrible disease called chronic dry eye syndrome. I felt it appropriate for me to make a post here on my progress since then. I had started working about 2 months ago and it will probably be difficult for me to post here on this forum again for the next few weeks due to the intensity of work that is coming up. Many people may have already known my story but i felt it would be good for me to put another post for the sake of people new to this forum or with a similar age to mine. Hopefully, they can get some encouragement and new insights from this post.
My eye problems started from a bout of prolonged computer gaming in Dec last year. My eyes started to hurt and became really dry after that. I could feel that my eyes were now never going to be the same again. To this day, I really regret the abuse of my eyes and not giving it the proper rest it deserved. I guess you just take your eyes for granted when there are no problems with it. Before the onset of my dry eye problems, I was active, did a lot of sports and was in pretty good shape.
I then wore this pair of acuvue oasys contact lens instead of knowing that my eyes were dry one time. It turned my eyes completely red and many new blood vessels grew in my eyes which had remained till this day. This started my eye redness problems in addition to the dry eye discomforts. Again, I screwed myself.
2 months later, I went to the eye doctor. He noted that the eye pressure in my eyes were high. He pointed out that i was a glaucoma suspect. I went to see another 3 doctors as i was not convinced that at the young age of 25 i could be suffering from a serious eye disease that could potentially cause blindness. i had not even heard of or understood what glaucoma was at that time. I had heard that my aunt had glaucoma about a decade before and never thought it would happen to me especially when the possibility of getting it at such a young age was so low.
I was given Xalatan which i had to put into my eyes every day to prevent the glaucoma from causing blindness. Fortunately, the disease was detected early enough before it caused any kind of permanent vision loss. However, i would have to be on life long eye drops to manage the condition. There is no cure for the disease. Xalatan causes many side effects. 2 of the most common are causing redness of the eyes and dry eyes. Hence, the drops that are supposed to be preserving my vision are exacerbating my dry eye conditions. It was a devastating blow to me, the glaucoma condition.
Eventually, I had to put on tinted glasses to prevent others from seeing my red eyes. I really hated wearing tinted glasses as i felt that i didn't look good in them and it made me stood out. However, it was better than letting people see a bloodshot eye. Some of the symptoms that i suffered at this point was photosensitivity, eye pain, redness, soreness around the eyes. I also couldn't do some of my favorite activities such as driving and using the computer. I felt that i had lost a big part of my life.
I then saw another eye doctor that mentioned i had eyelid inflammation which in other words was blepharitis. I was given fusidic acid. The eye redness subsided a bit after that and the eye felt a bit better. However, it was still photosensitive and uncomfortable most of the time. I tried to follow all the tips available such as blinking my eyes consciously but it was to no avail. I then saw my glaucoma doctor who said that my eyes did not look dry. he gave this diagnosis just by looking at the slit lamp without doing any diagnostics tests.
He refused to give me Restasis and gave me Zaditen instead. he felt that Zaditen could do the same kind of anti-inflammatory role Zaditen could. i still did not get much improvement at this point.
It was around this time that i started to feel a sensation of blockage in my left ear. I went to the ENT doctor who said that i had sinus issues. I had never had sinus issues in my whole life. She believed that my discomfort around the eyes and blocked sensation was due to the inflamed sinuses. I was given nasal sprays. There was some amount of relief after using them. anyone that has discomfort around the eyes should not rule out the possibility of a sinus issue.
I then started work in july. In the first 2 days of work, i came home with rashes around my eyelids and intense redness. I also experienced very bad eye pain. the intensity of the eye pain was something that i had never experienced in my life. One of the members in the forum made a post about gouging his eyes out because of the eye pain he was experiencing. That was the kind of feeling that i had. i seriously considering quitting after 2 days of working. it seriously devastated me. i had fought so hard to get into this job and had spent 4 years in college to accomplish this. I felt that all this was very unfair and that life was pointless since all my hard work was in vain. I struggled very hard with the decision over whether or not i should quit. I lost a lot of weight during this period, grown weaker and was severely depressed. It was the first time in my life that i had felt there was no point in continuing living. It was a very dark period of my life.
I went back to my eye doctor for help as i was totally desperate and i hoped he could give me something that could relieve the pain and allow me to continue my work. he appeared non-chalant and disinterested. He also refused to acknowledge the problem. However, in my head i felt i should give up the job as it was taking a toll on my eye and that i was hurting. In my heart, how could i give it up? I was doing what i enjoyed doing, the prospects were good and it was such a rare opportunity. Eventually i made up my mind to quite. I decided to go back to office the next day to declare my intention to resign just after a week in the job. It was the hardest decision i had to make in my life. I was very much saddened by this and i was severely depressed at this point. Why were the rest of people at my age happy and enjoying their lives while i had to deal with this?
However, something happened to change things for me. No, it was not an eye doctor or some new kind of medication that i tried. It was a supportive manager. When i was forthright and told her about my situation, she was very supportive and asked me to get to an eye doctor to get the condition checked out thoroughly first before continuing work. She also assured me that anytime i felt any kind of eye trouble i could stop work and see a doctor first. That gave me a big boost spiritually and emotionally. Never underestimate the power of a supportive boss and environment. You need people who is willing to understand your 'unique' condition.
I then took a few days of rest and changed to a thicker more viscous eye lubricant (Refresh liquigel). I also kept up with my usual lid hygiene, warm compresses, omega 3 fish oils and applying genteal gel before i sleep. This helped my eyes to feel a bit more comfortable. I then eventually changed to another eye doctor that specialized in dry eyes. I started Restasis for a little over a month now. I have also started taking theratears nutrition. I am now using Celluvisc (similar to liquigel but without the preservatives), vidisic gel, bion tears, tears naturale, hialid and use duratears at night before i sleep. i put in tons of lubricants in the office to try to prevent the evaporation of the tears in my eyes. i try to put them in every hour and take a break from the computer every 45 min. This has helped me somewhat. I am now more able to work. However, the medical costs that i had to spend on the artificial goop has been immense. But at least it has provided some relief. however, i am still afraid to wear glasses that are non-tinted as my eye redness problems has remained. I have sometimes received some crude remarks about the tinted glasses which has made me conscious. My weight has dropped by quite a tremendous amount and i am no longer as active and outgoing as in the past. Hopefully, Restasis will eventually provide some major improvement to my eyes over the long term. I was told 3 months was needed to see any real effect. It is the only eye drop i am using that actually treats the underlying cause of dry eye.
The dry eyes still causes a big drain on me and causes me great inconvenience and discomfort on a daily basis. But at least i am happy to see a little improvement to the extent that at least i can now work a bit more comfortably. everything is far from certain but at least there is hope. I have posted all these not to discourage any of the new or existing dry eye sufferers. Very frankly, dry eye will definitely cause major discomfort and inconvenience to most of our lives. We will not be able to do a lot of the things that we enjoyed and did so comfortably in the past. Some of us who have the more severe forms may even worry if we will ever be able to work again. It is sad that there is no cure for this condition.
However, we should not give up hope although it is human nature to do so. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Somewhere, somehow, sometime, there will be someone or something that could be able to help us. Just like how my manager lifted my spirits when i was really down and out. Sometimes the future may look very bleak but there is always hope. I still feel discouraged many of the times when i feel discomfortable but i always try to think positive and understand the dry eye condition better by researching. There has been slight improvement over the last 10 months and hopefully that will continue. Everything in life happens for a purpose. I have seen quite a few new dry eye sufferers who have just posted in the forum recently who are also relatively young. It reminds me very much of myself about 10 months ago. Hopefully new research will help to uncover more effective treatments for the disease. I wish all dry eye sufferers out there improvements in their dry eye symptoms and may there be supportive friends out there who can sympathize and understand the pain you are going through.
It's been 10 months since I first suffered from this terrible disease called chronic dry eye syndrome. I felt it appropriate for me to make a post here on my progress since then. I had started working about 2 months ago and it will probably be difficult for me to post here on this forum again for the next few weeks due to the intensity of work that is coming up. Many people may have already known my story but i felt it would be good for me to put another post for the sake of people new to this forum or with a similar age to mine. Hopefully, they can get some encouragement and new insights from this post.
My eye problems started from a bout of prolonged computer gaming in Dec last year. My eyes started to hurt and became really dry after that. I could feel that my eyes were now never going to be the same again. To this day, I really regret the abuse of my eyes and not giving it the proper rest it deserved. I guess you just take your eyes for granted when there are no problems with it. Before the onset of my dry eye problems, I was active, did a lot of sports and was in pretty good shape.
I then wore this pair of acuvue oasys contact lens instead of knowing that my eyes were dry one time. It turned my eyes completely red and many new blood vessels grew in my eyes which had remained till this day. This started my eye redness problems in addition to the dry eye discomforts. Again, I screwed myself.
2 months later, I went to the eye doctor. He noted that the eye pressure in my eyes were high. He pointed out that i was a glaucoma suspect. I went to see another 3 doctors as i was not convinced that at the young age of 25 i could be suffering from a serious eye disease that could potentially cause blindness. i had not even heard of or understood what glaucoma was at that time. I had heard that my aunt had glaucoma about a decade before and never thought it would happen to me especially when the possibility of getting it at such a young age was so low.
I was given Xalatan which i had to put into my eyes every day to prevent the glaucoma from causing blindness. Fortunately, the disease was detected early enough before it caused any kind of permanent vision loss. However, i would have to be on life long eye drops to manage the condition. There is no cure for the disease. Xalatan causes many side effects. 2 of the most common are causing redness of the eyes and dry eyes. Hence, the drops that are supposed to be preserving my vision are exacerbating my dry eye conditions. It was a devastating blow to me, the glaucoma condition.
Eventually, I had to put on tinted glasses to prevent others from seeing my red eyes. I really hated wearing tinted glasses as i felt that i didn't look good in them and it made me stood out. However, it was better than letting people see a bloodshot eye. Some of the symptoms that i suffered at this point was photosensitivity, eye pain, redness, soreness around the eyes. I also couldn't do some of my favorite activities such as driving and using the computer. I felt that i had lost a big part of my life.
I then saw another eye doctor that mentioned i had eyelid inflammation which in other words was blepharitis. I was given fusidic acid. The eye redness subsided a bit after that and the eye felt a bit better. However, it was still photosensitive and uncomfortable most of the time. I tried to follow all the tips available such as blinking my eyes consciously but it was to no avail. I then saw my glaucoma doctor who said that my eyes did not look dry. he gave this diagnosis just by looking at the slit lamp without doing any diagnostics tests.
He refused to give me Restasis and gave me Zaditen instead. he felt that Zaditen could do the same kind of anti-inflammatory role Zaditen could. i still did not get much improvement at this point.
It was around this time that i started to feel a sensation of blockage in my left ear. I went to the ENT doctor who said that i had sinus issues. I had never had sinus issues in my whole life. She believed that my discomfort around the eyes and blocked sensation was due to the inflamed sinuses. I was given nasal sprays. There was some amount of relief after using them. anyone that has discomfort around the eyes should not rule out the possibility of a sinus issue.
I then started work in july. In the first 2 days of work, i came home with rashes around my eyelids and intense redness. I also experienced very bad eye pain. the intensity of the eye pain was something that i had never experienced in my life. One of the members in the forum made a post about gouging his eyes out because of the eye pain he was experiencing. That was the kind of feeling that i had. i seriously considering quitting after 2 days of working. it seriously devastated me. i had fought so hard to get into this job and had spent 4 years in college to accomplish this. I felt that all this was very unfair and that life was pointless since all my hard work was in vain. I struggled very hard with the decision over whether or not i should quit. I lost a lot of weight during this period, grown weaker and was severely depressed. It was the first time in my life that i had felt there was no point in continuing living. It was a very dark period of my life.
I went back to my eye doctor for help as i was totally desperate and i hoped he could give me something that could relieve the pain and allow me to continue my work. he appeared non-chalant and disinterested. He also refused to acknowledge the problem. However, in my head i felt i should give up the job as it was taking a toll on my eye and that i was hurting. In my heart, how could i give it up? I was doing what i enjoyed doing, the prospects were good and it was such a rare opportunity. Eventually i made up my mind to quite. I decided to go back to office the next day to declare my intention to resign just after a week in the job. It was the hardest decision i had to make in my life. I was very much saddened by this and i was severely depressed at this point. Why were the rest of people at my age happy and enjoying their lives while i had to deal with this?
However, something happened to change things for me. No, it was not an eye doctor or some new kind of medication that i tried. It was a supportive manager. When i was forthright and told her about my situation, she was very supportive and asked me to get to an eye doctor to get the condition checked out thoroughly first before continuing work. She also assured me that anytime i felt any kind of eye trouble i could stop work and see a doctor first. That gave me a big boost spiritually and emotionally. Never underestimate the power of a supportive boss and environment. You need people who is willing to understand your 'unique' condition.
I then took a few days of rest and changed to a thicker more viscous eye lubricant (Refresh liquigel). I also kept up with my usual lid hygiene, warm compresses, omega 3 fish oils and applying genteal gel before i sleep. This helped my eyes to feel a bit more comfortable. I then eventually changed to another eye doctor that specialized in dry eyes. I started Restasis for a little over a month now. I have also started taking theratears nutrition. I am now using Celluvisc (similar to liquigel but without the preservatives), vidisic gel, bion tears, tears naturale, hialid and use duratears at night before i sleep. i put in tons of lubricants in the office to try to prevent the evaporation of the tears in my eyes. i try to put them in every hour and take a break from the computer every 45 min. This has helped me somewhat. I am now more able to work. However, the medical costs that i had to spend on the artificial goop has been immense. But at least it has provided some relief. however, i am still afraid to wear glasses that are non-tinted as my eye redness problems has remained. I have sometimes received some crude remarks about the tinted glasses which has made me conscious. My weight has dropped by quite a tremendous amount and i am no longer as active and outgoing as in the past. Hopefully, Restasis will eventually provide some major improvement to my eyes over the long term. I was told 3 months was needed to see any real effect. It is the only eye drop i am using that actually treats the underlying cause of dry eye.
The dry eyes still causes a big drain on me and causes me great inconvenience and discomfort on a daily basis. But at least i am happy to see a little improvement to the extent that at least i can now work a bit more comfortably. everything is far from certain but at least there is hope. I have posted all these not to discourage any of the new or existing dry eye sufferers. Very frankly, dry eye will definitely cause major discomfort and inconvenience to most of our lives. We will not be able to do a lot of the things that we enjoyed and did so comfortably in the past. Some of us who have the more severe forms may even worry if we will ever be able to work again. It is sad that there is no cure for this condition.
However, we should not give up hope although it is human nature to do so. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Somewhere, somehow, sometime, there will be someone or something that could be able to help us. Just like how my manager lifted my spirits when i was really down and out. Sometimes the future may look very bleak but there is always hope. I still feel discouraged many of the times when i feel discomfortable but i always try to think positive and understand the dry eye condition better by researching. There has been slight improvement over the last 10 months and hopefully that will continue. Everything in life happens for a purpose. I have seen quite a few new dry eye sufferers who have just posted in the forum recently who are also relatively young. It reminds me very much of myself about 10 months ago. Hopefully new research will help to uncover more effective treatments for the disease. I wish all dry eye sufferers out there improvements in their dry eye symptoms and may there be supportive friends out there who can sympathize and understand the pain you are going through.
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