How painfull is your dry eye

[Gemj]

On a scale of 1 to 10 how painfull is you dry eye.

[Colin P]

Gem. From my own personal experience the damage has been done, but once you address the things the bring on 'dry-eye' and maintain the 'managing your eyes' then over 12 months maybe? a nerve regeneration takes place or new undamaged cells? then it will become less painfull, the first 12 months are the worst.
Although it's difficult probably impossible not to beat yourself up over this, many people get hit to different degrees of mental fatigue as well and that dont help either, eventually I got on top of this and the confidence/normality comes rushing back which seemed at one point an impossibility..

[dryeye4ever]

the constant pain and anxiety is absolutely terrible i would say a good 8.5 but when i use the computer it becomes 9.5 easily. The wind doesnt help too.

[jax8it]

My eye pain varies throughout the day and by the day. I usually wake up with mild discomfort that progressively worsens throughout the day. Yet, some days are worse than others. In the morning I am about a 2-3 and as the day wears on the pain can reach a 5-6 on some days or 8-9 on other days. I have to agree with Colin and dryeye4ever that the anxiety associated with this can really compound the pain. I still suffer from the anxiety brought on by dry eye, but I am dealing with it a lot better than I did in my first 7 months (I had lasik in January of this year). Don't get me wrong I still have emotionally bad days. I am just better equipped to handle the emotional side of this. Sometimes I just go to bed early because I know in the morning the pain will not be that bad. As one sassy Georgian once said, after all tomorrow is another day.

[Mawsky]

I agree with jax8it, mine varies, I usually wake up not too bad, but depending on the day and circumstances (don't know what they are ever) my eyes are worse, I wear contacts now which help tremendously, but some days I can feel them and put in drops constantly. I still can't cry a tear to save my life, which causes a lot of anxiety at times. I can get pretty down at times, thinking this will always be with me. I have the worse problem at work even when I put in new contacts that day about 4 hrs into work I'm feeling the pain. I can't go anywhere without my drops and can't sit through a meal at a restaurant without having to put them in, the longest I can go is maybe half hour or so, which really impacts my life. On a scale of 1-10 my good days are 2-4 my bad are 8-10. Wish we had a cure.

[Max]

10

And not one doctor since the Lasik surgery has even uttered the words nerve regeneration.

I was diagnosed with cataracts. They become severe. I was told I had dry eyes in the early 90's but they didn't bother me. As I waited for cataract surgery my dry eye became an increasing problem. I was told it was probably due to menopause.

When I was ready for surgery I investigated crystal lenses but my regular eye doctor/surgeon didn't offer them. I found a surgeon who did and asked first for him to treat the increasingly painful dryeye which has been treated earlier with punctal plugs - they ended up scratching my corneas and had to be removed. The new surgeon cauterized my tear ducts and then we talked about crystal lenses which sounded like they would help my vision. It was at that time that he said I might be a good candidate for Lasik and that he could cut flaps, do the crystal lenses and then go in and do Lasik and he predicted I'd have better than the best vision I'd ever gotten from glasses.

After the flaps were cut, a horribly painful affair, my eyes looked like they'd been attacked by a wild animal but the doctor wanted to proceed with the cataract surgery one eye at a time. The pain afterward and increased dry eye almost drove me mad. I was given powerful painkillers for a time. He suggested we not wait any longer and do the Lasik.

My vision was significantly worse. we tried Restasis and Lacreserts and one lubricating drop after another. I decided to go back to my original surgeon who was aghast that I had had Lasik done. He used a porcine materal to increase the depth of my lower lids to retain the Lacriserts and tweaked the outer edges of my eyes to tighten them up.

In the records forwarded from the doctor who did the Lasik surgery it was suggested I was a neurotic.

I am now trying to get Jupiter lenses fitted properly and have great hope for these. I'm on my 4th try.

I also wear goggles with wet inserts that I purchased from this site and it's helped me get through the night with much less pain. Wish me luck.

[bunnyrabbit123]

Dear Max,
To you and DCRdry eye and everyone here, I wish every good thing the universe can send your way.