Dry eyes and permanent veins in eyes

[Bones1579]

It's nice to hear that your eyes are feeling better. Do you have any other pain in your eyes, or is your only symptom the red eyes now?

Well it's too early to say. It seems like I have good and bad days. Sometimes my eyes feel fairly normal and other times they feel like sandpaper. What I'm hoping for is my eyes to feel normal for several days in a row.

Right now my eyes feel pretty good but the redness and veins remain. I'm waiting for the Luminesse eye drops to be released and I'm gonna start taking Vitamin A and Vitamin B2 to see if it helps with the redness and veins. I really wish the redness and veins would go away and at this point I'm willing to try almost anything besides surgery, which is too dangerous and will most likely be banned in the US.

[Bones1579]

I made an appointment with a dry eye specialist. We'll see how it goes.

[pythonidler]

I made an appointment with a dry eye specialist. We'll see how it goes.

Glad to hear it.

I hope you can see the bigger picture here - that the overall health of your eye is far more important than how it looks. Try not to be disappointed if the doctor says (s)he can't do anything about the redness.

[Bones1579]

Glad to hear it.

I hope you can see the bigger picture here - that the overall health of your eye is far more important than how it looks. Try not to be disappointed if the doctor says (s)he can't do anything about the redness.

I understand that but my eyes are still feeling like sandpaper sometimes and even if the health of my eye is good that doesn't mean I want to have eyes that are always red/bloodshot with veins everywhere for the next 60 years.

Do you have red/bloodshot eyes with veins or just sandpaper feeling eyes?

[pythonidler]

My eyes used to be super gritty. The grittiness was caused by a condition called corneal neuropathy - basically the nerves in your eye are damaged and send false signals to the brain. Luckily, I've been using serum tears for the past 15 months or so, and I'm much better now.

Serum tears are eye drops made from your own blood. They contain regenerative factors that heal your nerves. But they are somewhat pricey (on the order of $1000/year) and need to be kept refrigerated at all times. Their lifespan in the fridge is much like milk, actually - I've been told to keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months and the fridge for up to a week.

I don't have extremely red eyes, but I would say the veins in my eyes are more noticeable than other people. In all honesty, I've had dry eyes for long enough (4+ years) that all I really care about is how my eyes feel, not how they look.

[Bones1579]

The Eyeseals 4.0 Sleeping Mask seems to be helping. I've been using it every night for a week now and my eyes aren't feeling like sandpaper as often.

[RedEyez]

The Eyeseals 4.0 Sleeping Mask seems to be helping. I've been using it every night for a week now and my eyes aren't feeling like sandpaper as often.

how about the redness? is it getting better since you used the 4.0 Sleeping Mask?

[pythonidler]

The Eyeseals 4.0 Sleeping Mask seems to be helping. I've been using it every night for a week now and my eyes aren't feeling like sandpaper as often.

That's great news. Using this mask would be a lot cheaper than having to keep buying nighttime ointments. Personally, I find it very hard to keep a mask on while sleeping, but if you can do it that's great.

[Bones1579]

how about the redness? is it getting better since you used the 4.0 Sleeping Mask?

Yes it's not as bad cause my eyes seem to be staying protected and lubricated better cause it traps the moisture. I'm assuming I sleep with my eyes partially open.

I had my first appointment with the doctor and here's what I recall.

1. My eyes have inflammation
2. Tear volume is low
3. I can't remember what the doctor was referring to but they said mine is 2mm and usually it should be 4mm
4. Partial blinker
5. No staining on cornea and eye pressure is good

I have to do blinking exercises and I was prescribed Alrex, which I will take 4x a day for the first week, 3x a day for the second week, 2x a day for the third week, and 1x a day for the fourth week.

Then I will go back to the doctor.

[farmgirl]

I have a question for you chuto. What drops do you take for the glaucoma?

[pythonidler]

Yes it's not as bad cause my eyes seem to be staying protected and lubricated better cause it traps the moisture. I'm assuming I sleep with my eyes partially open.

I had my first appointment with the doctor and here's what I recall.

1. My eyes have inflammation
2. Tear volume is low
3. I can't remember what the doctor was referring to but they said mine is 2mm and usually it should be 4mm
4. Partial blinker
5. No staining on cornea and eye pressure is good

I have to do blinking exercises and I was prescribed Alrex, which I will take 4x a day for the first week, 3x a day for the second week, 2x a day for the third week, and 1x a day for the fourth week.

Then I will go back to the doctor.

What other tests did the doctor do on you? Did he do a Schirmer Test (putting test strips in the eye to measure tear production)? Did he do meibography (taking pictures of your meibomian glands)?

[chuto]

I have a question for you chuto. What drops do you take for the glaucoma?

Dear farmgirl,

My eye pressure is 23-24, which is quite above the normal limits. But since I have dry eye problem, doctors avoid prescribing me glaucoma drops for the time being, I am under close follow-up, they monitor my optic nerves every 3 months, if they will notice a worsening in my nerves they will start glaucoma eye drops..

[farmgirl]

If they do, make sure that they are preservative free drops, they are available. Whatever you do make sure that all drops (including the ones that you currently use) going into your eye are free of BAK (BAC) benzalkonium chloride.

[RedEyez]

Has anyone tried Doxycycline? I am on 100 mg dose twice a day.. It's been a week but no change

[LindaDawn]

I used Doxycycline 100mg daily for 7 months last year and now have another 3 month supply. I do think that after 4 months last year that I was starting to get some oils produced later evening.