22 year old girl with newly diagnosed dry eye syndrome!

[Nicola_G20]

Hi, my names Nicola and I'm a 22 year old student from Dublin, Ireland. I was diagnosed with dry eye syndrome today! I have suffered with dry eye symptoms for the past 6 months with no improvement or a proper diagnosis until now but my ophthalmologist is positive that my symptoms can be managed as she has put me on a two month course of Hyabak eye drops. She thinks it was due to an eye infection but isn't sure. Is there anyone else my age on this who has been diagnosed with dry eyes and has managed to keep it under control? I originally thought it was an allergy to make-up as my eyes flare up when I put make-up on. I haven't been able to wear makeup at all over the last 3 months as my eyes would go really red, bloodshot and burn when I used it. Have any women had this same problem and been able to wear make-up again? Any advice or information would be great as I am very new to this!

[m4shore]

Hey Nicola,

Sorry to hear this.
I'm 22 years old as well, and have suffered from dry eye ever since my Lasik 3.5 years ago.
I'm still on my journey of figuring out how to best manage this predicament, but I can say for certain that I have come a long way (thanks in large to this community)

You have come to the right place. This forum is an incredible source of information.

As all us dry eye patients seem to learn sooner or later, this is a very complex and varying disorder. What works great for some people doesn't work at all for others.
It all comes down to trial and error, persisting in trying different treatments and methods and slowly learning what works and what doesn't.

As a first step, I would find out from your Doc whether you have AD (Aqueous Deficiency - the water layer of the tear film) or MGD (Meibomian Gland Dysfunction - a deficiency in the oil layer of the tear film)
This information really helps when trying to select which treatments to try, as they both have very different mechanisms.

Feel free to ask for any additional info or message me if you'd like. I'd love to help in any way.

[melissalesley]

Hi, my names Nicola and I'm a 22 year old student from Dublin, Ireland. I was diagnosed with dry eye syndrome today! I have suffered with dry eye symptoms for the past 6 months with no improvement or a proper diagnosis until now but my ophthalmologist is positive that my symptoms can be managed as she has put me on a two month course of Hyabak eye drops. She thinks it was due to an eye infection but isn't sure. Is there anyone else my age on this who has been diagnosed with dry eyes and has managed to keep it under control? I originally thought it was an allergy to make-up as my eyes flare up when I put make-up on. I haven't been able to wear makeup at all over the last 3 months as my eyes would go really red, bloodshot and burn when I used it. Have any women had this same problem and been able to wear make-up again? Any advice or information would be great as I am very new to this!

Hi I'm 21 and have been suffering the past 6 months as well with no improvement, only when I take pain relief medication do I get any sort of a break but keep up updated with your progress, I didn't realise an eye infection could trigger dry eye this severely to go on for so long, you are doing all the right steps so see how the eye drops go and try one thing at a time so you know which one is working or not

[Nicola_G20]

Hey Nicola,

Sorry to hear this.
I'm 22 years old as well, and have suffered from dry eye ever since my Lasik 3.5 years ago.
I'm still on my journey of figuring out how to best manage this predicament, but I can say for certain that I have come a long way (thanks in large to this community)

You have come to the right place. This forum is an incredible source of information.

As all us dry eye patients seem to learn sooner or later, this is a very complex and varying disorder. What works great for some people doesn't work at all for others.
It all comes down to trial and error, persisting in trying different treatments and methods and slowly learning what works and what doesn't.

As a first step, I would find out from your Doc whether you have AD (Aqueous Deficiency - the water layer of the tear film) or MGD (Meibomian Gland Dysfunction - a deficiency in the oil layer of the tear film)
This information really helps when trying to select which treatments to try, as they both have very different mechanisms.

Feel free to ask for any additional info or message me if you'd like. I'd love to help in any way.

Thanks so much for the reply, only seeing it now! I'm surprised that my doctor hasn't addressed which type of dry eye I have (AD or MGD) as you mentioned. I have an appointment on Tuesday so I'l defo ask her about that! Thanks again!

[Nicola_G20]

Hi I'm 21 and have been suffering the past 6 months as well with no improvement, only when I take pain relief medication do I get any sort of a break but keep up updated with your progress, I didn't realise an eye infection could trigger dry eye this severely to go on for so long, you are doing all the right steps so see how the eye drops go and try one thing at a time so you know which one is working or not

Thank you for the reply! I was on accutane a couple of years ago so I'm now thinking that this is a delayed side effect from taking that medication. I have recently found out that the contraceptive pill can also cause dry eye in young people so am going to look into that! So if your on that maybe look into that as well! I'm hoping the solution will be that simple! haha

[ejw1992]

Hi, have you had any success with your dry eye treatment? I'm 23 and have dry eyes before (from prolonged contact use I think!) but never as bad as the last few months!! Struggling to sleep and keep my eyes open! Any help would be much appreciated.

[Nicola_G20]

Hi, have you had any success with your dry eye treatment? I'm 23 and have dry eyes before (from prolonged contact use I think!) but never as bad as the last few months!! Struggling to sleep and keep my eyes open! Any help would be much appreciated.

Sorry for the late reply, I havent been on this site in months! My eyes seem to have calmed down a lot. I stopped wearing eye make-up completely which helped a lot. I use hot compresses and massage the glands afterwards every couple of days, I use Hyabak drops during the day and celluvisc at night (both preservative free). Theyr the only drops that havent irritated my eyes! I also take 'Omega Eye' capsules daily (contains Omega 3 oils & Vitamin D around 3000mg) and I have just ordered NAC supplements which are meant to be good for blepharitis. I have posterior blepharitis which caused MGD btw!

[Shahara]

Hey Nicola,

i am not in my 20's, though problem began in My early 20's. It took a few years to get rid from the dry eye syndrom. Probably not cured but today i hardly use drops. Only at night, once,or when hay fever appears.

Dont give up, there are ways.

[dirkdiggler]

Hi nicola. Hope your keeping well. Just curious, did your eye doctor say that the accutane impacted on your dry eyes ?