Holy cow, is it ever DRY and cold right now.

[Guest]

We're having a real cold snap, and without a humidifier, indoor humidity drops under 20%... my furnace humidifier is only able to get the humidity up to 24% due to constantly being counteracted by the house ventilation system going on with the furnace (furnace working overtime due to the bitter cold). GAH! My eyes hate this, are red, sore... this sucks. Plus, a crazy busy 13 hour shift at work yesterday kicked the crap out of my eyes - the workload, plus extreme dryness was a baaaaaad combo.

Sooo, this is war against the dryness. In addition to the furnace humidifier, I now have 3, yup THREE more humidifiers running on my countertop... and a fourth will be added to the mix as soon as it's done being cleaned. Good grief. Kitchen humidity is now up to 30%... getting better... my eyes feel best at 40% or higher... will see how high I can get this...

Will also being going for the dramatic look haha, and wearing my sunglasses Wiley X's to all Christmas events to further protect my eyes. Good god... this is ridiculous... gotta get outta this climate.

[Hemu]

I'm sorry to hear what the effects of weather and work are having on you and I can fully empathize!

[jax8it]

Hi SAAG,

I hear ya. The dry air here affects my eyes. I can only imagine what it is like in Canada. I hope you get approved for your move.

[sunshinelover]

Me too. Minus 20 degrees c now up in northern Sweden were I spend almost 2 weeks during Chris tmas. Eyes are killing me. Last year it was no problems at all.

[Guest]

Hi SAAG,

I hear ya. The dry air here affects my eyes. I can only imagine what it is like in Canada. I hope you get approved for your move.

Yes, me too... will be a long process though... IF we don't chicken out, will be a couple of years to get everything in order to go there I think...

I'm sorry to hear what the effects of weather and work are having on you and I can fully empathize!

Thanks!

Me too. Minus 20 degrees c now up in northern Sweden were I spend almost 2 weeks during Chris tmas. Eyes are killing me. Last year it was no problems at all.

Amazing how much it can vary year to year, huh? Last year the winter was milder, so my eyes seemed better... less heating = higher indoor humidity... but this year is starting to really suck, good grief... going to listen to an audiobook and head to bed I think.

And, since it's almost Christmas Day (or maybe already is depending on your time zone)... Merry Christmas everyone!

[farmgirl]

I've a suggestion Saag, come visit me. Not to brag or anything but it's 12:30 AM Christmas day, sitting here in my capris, short sleeved T and bare feet. Humidity down to 88% and my eyes are happy this year....life's good..F/G

[Guest]

Well F/G, you never know... we might take you up on that lol One of these days I'll have to PM you for more info... before we finalize any moving plans for elsewhere. All I know for sure is staying here is no longer a desirable option, the price is too high... must leave for more a more humid climate!

[mgshutterbug]

SAAG, I know what you mean about the temperature and humidity. I live in Maryland in U.S., and our weather is as fickle as it comes. A popular saying here, is "if you don't like the weather here, wait 5 minutes!). This winter has been very windy and cold (not cold compared to you though!). I must keep my worst eye closed when I leave the house to get to my car when going to work or wherever. I haven't found anything which helps to deal with the wind, and I wear the MCGs with inserts 24/7, my coat collar up high, and a big scarf. And then once in the car, after it heats up, I can only turn the heat on very low, because the blowing air instantly makes my eye the Sahara desert. More and more, I have to turn the fan off altogether. Dealing with dry eyes can be so exasperating, not to mention depressing.

[LisaC]

I just read the above post and totally agree! DC/Maryland/Virginia has the most unpredictable weather ever. Two days ago, my office was preparing for a snowstorm of sorts and people already began plans to work from home or leave early... then Thursday came and we braced ourselves... nothing. At least this saved my hellish commute with so many people staying at home. Today it was nice and sunny out. However, although this particular DC/MD winter hasn't been extremely cold for me, it's been the worst for my dry eye. Last winter was much colder, and I was fine(?!). Two years ago, it was hell, so I went to the Bahamas and Florida for a vacation and felt awesome.

Anyways, last night I was complaining about dry eye (as usual these days), when my roommate suggested that our apartment may be making things worse. He has never complained of dry eye before, but he told me that lately he has been having a hard time opening his eyes in the morning and wearing contacts... Also, my fiance's eyes have been pretty red and dry in the mornings too. I hate that they have to share in my discomfort by having these symptoms, but I felt great knowing that maybe it's our air that is making this year especially bad for me. So I went on amazon last night and bought an inexpensive warm mist humidifier. Hopefully that helps and if so, I'll invest in a fancy one! Like I've said before, I'm still new to learning all the techniques of alleviating dry eye, so I know humidifiers have been mentioned on this forum plenty of times before, but I'm only now backtracking and reading everything!

I feel like the dryeyezone can be bad for me at times, because I am addicted to reading it and I almost feel determined to sort through all these posts someday to be as well educated as possible...but this means lots and lots of computer time! I've got to find a way to ration out my DEZ time! haha.

Lastly--my rice baggy that I ordered here came in last night and I LOVE IT. Rebecca--you should totally post pics of the travel sack that it comes with on your shop site. It is so perfect and a wonderful surprise. Anyways, in the meantime, I'll be patiently waiting for our east coast extreme humidity to return.

[Martz22]

Holy Cow!!!! I've not been this miserable since this time last year. I forgot how dibilitating this eye pain can be! I can't seem to find anything to allieviate the pain..argh!

Humidity is around 40% in the house, with boiling water etc. For some reason when I wear my onion goggles my eyes burn worse????? My normal drops and saline are burning the heck out of my eyes so I'm guessing my eyes are just raw?

SAAG-Are you still using your Boston lenses? Are they still helping? We are looking into a whole home humidifier, I think you have one? Do you like it? Would you recommend your particular brand? How about the naltraxone? We are starting to talk about going to Boston but not sure if its worth the cost since this whole issue is making us BROKE!

Trying to find the joy in life right now....

[Katewest]

I just checked my house humidity....27%. Ugh I am dying

[Guest]

SAAG-Are you still using your Boston lenses? Are they still helping? We are looking into a whole home humidifier, I think you have one? Do you like it? Would you recommend your particular brand? How about the naltraxone? We are starting to talk about going to Boston but not sure if its worth the cost since this whole issue is making us BROKE!

Trying to find the joy in life right now....

Nope, stopped wearing the Boston lenses within a month or so of returning from Boston - ended up not being the fix for me unfortunately.

Yes, def. recommend the whole home humidifier - it makes a big difference and means I don't have to run as many portable ones during a cold snap as I'd need to otherwise.

Keep searching for the joy... you'll find it as long as you don't give up trying

I just checked my house humidity....27%. Ugh I am dying

Yup, humidity so low can be pretty uncomfortable for people like us!

[Martz22]

SAAG- Which brand of whole home humidifier do you use? We are looking at aprilaire? I've searched for your Boston lens experience on here but can't find where it went wrong for you? Were they not comfortable or did it just not help?

Katewest- Get out those humdifiers and/or boiling pots of water!

[Martz22]

SAAG- Ok with a little more digging I found more posts about your lens experience. I would like to chat with you more about this. PM possible? My eyes are NOT horribly dry, just horribly sensitive. I wear mini-sclerals with minimal help esp. during winter months. When I put them in it feels like all the pain has been pushed to the outer and inner edges of my eyes, weird huh?

You are such a wealth of information, you have no idea how much your advice and suggestions help people like me who feel they are at the end of their rope and holding on by a thread. Thank you for your replies!!