Freaking out

[Mawsky]

I'm probably just venting here but...OK, so most of the time I'm just living my life and not really thinking about the future, when I do on rare occasions I can get really anxious. I really can't imagine my life always being like this, If I had tears with my dry eyes, I think I would imagine that there is a chance of getting better, but when I cry nothing,not-ta,nil I know that most of those with dry eyes do have some tears, they may not be enough or the right composition, but they have them. Honestly when I allow myself to think that I may never cry a tear again I get freaked out Not to mention that the other day a friend who has mild dry eyes asked her eye doctor about contacts, he told her "your talking about a band aid" and then she told me that her Dr. said "you can not wear contacts forever" They are the only thing that has helped me, before the contacts I would have disabling abrasions and would have to put drops in every 3-10 minutes "10" being the longest I could go. It effected my life to the point I felt like work was almost impossible for me. My eyes are always worse at work for some reason (I work in a hospital) it is more than likely the air movement, along with we use computers so much more now. I guess I don't know what anyone can say to me to help, but I'm hoping that someone out there in my situation has been helped. I had DCR surgery many years before I developed the Dry eyes it seemed literally overnight, but I'm sure they were coming on for some time and I didn't realize it. Has anyone been told they had to stop wearing contacts? Has anyone produced tears again? I would really love to have a good cry, but when I cry my eyes flare up really bad.

[littlemermaid]

I've noticed that hospitals do not support their own doctors and staff well, although sometimes they try. Do you have an ophthalmology department in your hospital? So many nurses and admin we've seen are using eyedrops in chronic use because of the hospital atmosphere. One of our large modern eye departments has no windows at all, like an underground bunker, and the shift can easily be 10h in there for optometrists and junior docs. One optometrist told me she never left the unit day in, day out. Obviously using their eyes without blinking or leaving the room much is the main part of the job, and this lack of break seems to be worst part. Dear lord. Who designs these places? I'm so sorry. Can you get more help on your environment?

[villfan22]

I've noticed that hospitals do not support their own doctors and staff well, although sometimes they try. Do you have an ophthalmology department in your hospital? So many nurses and admin we've seen are using eyedrops in chronic use because of the hospital atmosphere. One of our large modern eye departments has no windows at all, like an underground bunker, and the shift can easily be 10h in there for optometrists and junior docs. One optometrist told me she never left the unit day in, day out. Obviously using their eyes without blinking or leaving the room much is the main part of the job, and this lack of break seems to be worst part. Dear lord. Who designs these places? I'm so sorry. Can you get more help on your environment?

Yep I work in a hospital as well and can testify the environment is a killer. I make a concerted effort to leave the building every lunch time to try and give my eyes a break from the computer and dry air. I am seeing an opthalmologist in the hospital and I think they are a little more caring knowing that you work their as well so it might be worth popping into the department and explaining your situation.

[PotatoCakes]

I think it's important to remember, every person is different, even those of us with extreme cases of dry eye, on here. That means, while some people may not be able to wear contacts forever, perhaps you will be. If you can't wear regular contacts, perhaps Scleral Lenses will work for you (regular contacts are horrible to me but sclerals are quite manageable).

I know it's not much help when you're in a period of freaking out but when I feel badly about my condition, I try to think about all of the positives even with my condition ...
* I still have my VISION,
* Despite the pain in the rear that it is to travel with serum eye drops (figuring out refrigeration for a 10+ hour flight is fun), at least I have them and they do WONDERS for my eyes
* I have scleral lenses and while, again, they are a pain and aren't perfect (I still need to use artificial drops with them), they allow me to do things I couldn't do prior to having them -- like be in an air-conditioned room without being in agony and I'm able to keep my eyes open.
* I have faith that one day, science will provide a greater answer for all of us than has already been discovered. Restasis was a start, serum drops, scleral lenses, even plain old Refresh Plus, all of those things have helped people like us, in various degrees. With dry eye becoming more and more common and cases becoming more and more serious, the medical establishment and scientists ARE PAYING ATTENTION. We have been discovered as a profitable niche and that means improved science is on its way! Now, if I can only be patient enough ....

[Mawsky]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement, unfortunately I work in a smaller hospital with no ophthalmologist on board, otherwise I would have some back up, those I work with have seen first hand what this is like for me, and I know they feel bad for my situation. I have found that there is only one commercial eye drop that I can use, Similasan for allergy eyes, for some reason I am sensitive to the main ingredient in all the other major brands, preservative free is no help. If I develop a problem down the line with the drops I'm using now, I would guess that serum would be a option for me. I would just love to hear that tears can and do return to someone like me, my biggest fear is that my poor lachrymal glads are atrophying from lack of use Thank you PotatoCakes for the kind and uplifting words, they do help.

[Guest]

Although I don't know the specifics of your situation, I'll tell you what happened with me. When I first started posting here a few years ago, my eyes had gotten so bad that when I cried, my left eye made almost no tears... I'd cry - it would get all red and nasty looking, and if I was "lucky," I might see 1 tear roll down my cheek every now and then, but nothing like normal crying... it was freaky - it was very distressing. Right eye also had drastically lowered tear production (even if crying), although never quite as bad as my left.

Anyhow, it's now a few years later, and if I cry, the tears stream down my face. So, even after months of no tears in my left eye, it bounced back a lot.

So there's hope... just keep on trying to get the inflammation down... try Restasis, cool compresses etc.... whatever works for you... and be patient... it can be a slow process, but once you find something that is making a difference, even if small, stick to it since the benefits may be cumulative over time.

Good luck!!!

P.S. Try not to cry... it'll only inflame your eyes more and make everything worse... I know it's easier said than done, but try!!! (((((HUGS))))

[Mawsky]

SAAG,
Thank you so much for giving me some hope, I think that the inability to shed a tear is pretty overwhelming, your right about the not crying part, if I do cry my eyes just get so inflamed and it just makes things worse, I did try the restasis for over six month, the burned so bad and didn't help one bit, so I quit them, I had wished they would have helped me, I'm doing everything I know to do right now taking fish oil, flax seed oil, primrose oil, which may help some. I need to get back into the corneal specialist that started the ball rolling with the contacts, he had placed some plugs in, and I think I need to look into that it's been about a year now since then, so they are gone now, that may have some baring on why I'm not noticing as much relief now. I just want my tears back, I know that the DCR surgery I had was the main contributor to this mess I'm in now. I have Alopecia and always wanted my hair back, I thought that was such a big deal, compared to this it's nothing! I would gladly give up my hair forever just to have my eyes normal again. It is so encouraging to hear that the length of time may not mean they will never come back (the tears) That has been my biggest fear. Thank you again for taking the time to let me know that