afraid of becoming blind

[maximus]

Hey there!

It's the same every day. I'm extremly stressed and nervous because I'm so anxious about becoming blind due to my dry eyes.
And if this wasn't enough I go crazy as a consequence of my sorrows how I can manage my future (Study, work etc.).

Anybody else who has the same problems?

thx!

[kitty]

From what I have read, the risk of becoming blind from DES is extremely low. You would have to sustain considerable corneal damage for that to happen, and most people are able to manage their disease well enough to prevent that from happening. I had similar fears when I was first diagnosed. I found it best to put my energy into learning how to manage my DES. I wish you well.

[dianat]

Maximus,

I worried about blindness a lot when I was at the heart of my depression and anxiety dealing with early lasik-induced dry eye. Now that I'm well past the depression, I can see how unreasonable it was for me to dwell on this and actually lose sleep. I would also lay awake wondering about who would instill eyedrops in my eyes while I was in a nursing home...which could be 50 years from now.

While I do worry about the aging process, I do have a healthier and more reasonable outlook. I am confident that there will one day be an effective pharmaceutical product.

Also, at the most extreme, if we found our vision to be diminishing in the future, which I do believe is rare, we could be fitted with sclerals to slow any additional damage to the eye. There are people out there with severe burns and damage to their eye who can still see...some with the help of sclerals and some without.

Please keep the faith in your dry eye journey. I wish you progress on this, and a happier outlook.

Diana

[maximus]

thank you for your response! I try to calm down a bit. I'm under big pressure to get my future in order by studying and so on...and to get blind...it would be the worst horror-scenario!

maximus