22 year old girl from Norway

[mihhj94]

I was diagnosed with dry eye syndrome in november 2016, after 4 months with eye issues. The problems seemed to come from nowhere, but NOW I understand that it must have been due to my lifestyle.

I had recently made it all the way to the European championchip (fitness), which I decided not to compete in (various reasons for that, including my state of mind) and I was still very ripped. With years of hard training behind me, I felt strong and healthy ... I can really say the dry eye syndrom got me by surprise, but as I said - I SHOULD have known it could turn out this way.

Since I was about 13 y/o I had been using contact lences, and 3 years ago I was put on Cipralex and Tolvon for anxiety and lack of sleep. I didn't knew that these medications could cause dry eyes, so I never thought of it one second. On top of those medications I also use Ritalin for my ADHD, which also have some sort of impact.

Well, one day in july my eyes said stop. They wouldn't accept any sort of contact lenses anymore, and first I thought I've gotten an eye infection or something. Short after I went to a eye doctor, which said that I have dry eyes. Later on I went to Tørreøyneklinikken in Oslo, where I got confirmed my dry eyes by an expert. He also gave me Ikervis, and told me that my dry eyes most likely would disappear when I get off my medications. I've started to reduce the dose already, which have been hard.

I'm very excited to see what's gonna happen when I'm finally coming off Cipralex and Tolvon. My body didn't tolerate Ikervis very well, so mabye I will get punctal plugs now.

After getting dry eyes I became very frustrated and almost depressed for a while. It's still hard to deal with, but my eye doctor said that my results on Schirmer test (7 mm) isn't very bad, and I only have 25% reduction in the MGD.

The worst part with this for me (I know I probably sound superficial) have been to completely cut off wearing contact lenses and makeup, and of course - the struggle it is to put on eye drops so often. It does not feel like I'm 22 anymore ... I wish I got this when I am 80, not so young. It feels like my life is being taken from me, but I know there are people out there who struggle a lot more with this, than I do.

I'm also afraid that this is the shit that's gonna end me, that I never get to be the person I once was. I'm literally so afraid that my eyes will get worse and worse, so I never will be able to study psychology this fall. It feels so unfair, but I need to keep my head straight. I need to have faith.

[pythonidler]

Welcome to the forum.

I also got dry eyes from using contact lenses too much. And from all the posts I've read on this forum, many other people have as well. There should probably be a warning on the boxes that says "long-term wear increases the risk of dry eye", or something like that.

I agree that it sucks to get it so young - I was 25 when I had my first symptoms. But as we've been told many times before - life isn't fair. We just have to try to deal with what we're given.

It's good that you've figured out what caused your dry eye. Now that you've stopped the medication, you've given yourself a chance to get better. It's also good that you've acted quickly, as chronic dry eye only gets worse if left untreated.

My only advice to you at this point is to be patient with your progress. Many people on this forum have taken months to years to improve. If you're persistent and try as much as you can to get better, then you WILL improve. The only question is when, not if.