35 yo female new to dry eye-- feeling so discouraged

[vickiesf]

Hello, and thank you for reading my post:

My history: I am a 35year old female who up to 3 months ago, wore contact lenses for almost 15 hours/ day. No redness, no problem.

On Christmas eve suddenly I awoke in the morning with red bloodshot swollen eyes. I thought they were allergies, but I was then diagnosed by 2 different docs to have dry eye.

I no longer wear contacts, switches to glasses, but I am so discouraged. I feel like in the past few months the redness and the pain associated have gotten worse, not better. I have been using refresh plus preservative free drops, been drinking lots of water, and staying away from alcohol. My self esteem has plummeted tremedously.

Can anyone else suggest anything? Has anyone had success with taking omega 3's? Can anyone recommend a dry eye doctor in the san francisco bay area? Please help, I sometimes am on the verge of tears because of this.

As a side note, I asked my doctor to work me up for autoimmune disease, but that came out negative which is great. Also, how do I get my eye doctor to help me figure out what's causing my dry eye?

[bp77]

Hello, and thank you for reading my post:

My history: I am a 35year old female who up to 3 months ago, wore contact lenses for almost 15 hours/ day. No redness, no problem.

On Christmas eve suddenly I awoke in the morning with red bloodshot swollen eyes. I thought they were allergies, but I was then diagnosed by 2 different docs to have dry eye.

I no longer wear contacts, switches to glasses, but I am so discouraged. I feel like in the past few months the redness and the pain associated have gotten worse, not better. I have been using refresh plus preservative free drops, been drinking lots of water, and staying away from alcohol. My self esteem has plummeted tremedously.

Can anyone else suggest anything? Has anyone had success with taking omega 3's? Can anyone recommend a dry eye doctor in the san francisco bay area? Please help, I sometimes am on the verge of tears because of this.

As a side note, I asked my doctor to work me up for autoimmune disease, but that came out negative which is great. Also, how do I get my eye doctor to help me figure out what's causing my dry eye?

hi, u need to ask ur doc if u have bleph or mgd? do u have any allergy? did they give u any medication? I am also female, 33 with dry eye and bleph. I used to wear contacts since i was 14, now I can not use them any more.Also, i can not wear make up too. it is very hard. not every one understant how it feels. did u use any medication before this?

[Rebecca Petris]

Sorry to hear this. We're the club no one wants to join, but anyway I'm glad you found us. Sudden onset dry eye is sooo frustrating.

Can anyone recommend a dry eye doctor in the san francisco bay area?

Michael Gagnon at Valley Eyecare in Pleasanton. I know, it's a ways to go but he's worth it. Nobody in dry eye care is perfect, and we all have to educate ourselves and become good advocates for ourselves, but I can only say that Dr. Gagnon is the only one in the Bay Area (thus far) that I have consistently had good feedback about from his patients.