My story

[dryinseattle?]

Hi!
So glad to have found you all!
I am new to your club so please forgive me if I do this wrong!

Found to be legally blind around 13. Got fitted for contacts. From the start I noticed that my soft lenses didn't feel so great after about a month of wear (a lot of protein production)....At one point the eye doc had me try hard lenses but those were even worse! (He said my lids were extremely tight to the eyeball?) I remember another doctor putting the papers in my eye to test for tearing at which point they found that my right eye didn't even get the paper wet...it just stuck there.

So I go along for about 14 years with what I can say now is minor dryness, irritation, etc......Drops and generous shots of saline to the eyes seem to work okay....And then another doctor suggests LASIK.....Which I get.......
Unbeknownst to me that it will make dryness worse.......

For the most part I get by for many years with lots of drops 'round the clock....get woken up at night about 3 times with lids stuck to eyes.... (Did you ever see that commercial where the woman walks into the sprinkler to get her eyes wet....I totally related to that commercial!) and I finally find a new doctor that suggests punctal plugs.....Cool!
I get one plug put in both eyes and for a while I can sometimes sleep through the night without drops. (We did experiment with all 4 plugs but during the day I would actually tear....Wow did that actually feel good! But not a good look to live with.)

So then I'm good for a few months and then the dryness is worse again even with plugs so I start on Restasis....This was okay for about a month and then my eyes feel like they are burning all the time with the drops! So I quit those....and try to manage with lubing my eyes up before bedtime with both the oily GenTeal product and the thick liquid gel. This works for about 6 months. (I am usually okay during the day at this point.)

(Meanwhile I have experimented with at least 5 different types of birth control pills.....and tried adding fish oil and flaxeed into my diet...no help.)

So then about 3 weeks ago the dryness and burning is back with a vengeance. Which leads me to internet research and finally finding your website! Wahoo! I order the tranquileyes and receive them on Friday! Now it is just getting used to wearing them at night. And so far things seem to be improving....

So then I am up last night trying to find the tranquileyes at 3AM in the covers, as I seem to keep removing them in my sleep, and then I have an OH! moment and realize that the only difference in the last month has been a new tempurpedic pillow. So I threw that off the bed and will now see if the extra burning and drying goes away.......

(I did do some additional research on the pillow and found an interesting website for those of you who may have a foam bed, pad or pillows.)
http://www.chem-tox.com/guest/guestbook.html

Thank you so much for listening and for being such a wonderful wealth of eye knowledge!

[kitty]

Welcome! Am I correct to assume by your screen name that you are in the Seattle area? I note that my eye burning has been worse the last 3 weeks or so as well. I discovered last year that pollen makes my burning worse. I eventually progress to itching if I don't use my Patenol.

[dryinseattle?]

Yep! I actually work in Redmond. I do not know if I have any allergies...or reactions to pollen. But what is Pantenol? Is that an eye drop you use?

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi there & welcome!

I'm a neighbor too, across the Sound in Silverdale. I don't have allergies per se but my left eye has been dripping with goop for the last coupla days and my eyes in general have been acting up for a coupla weeks.

Patanol is an allergy drop. Caution recommended for regular use, since it's got a very harsh preservative, but there are many people who find it helpful. I've also heard good reports about the homeopathic allergy drop from Similasan.

[kitty]

Yep! I actually work in Redmond. I do not know if I have any allergies...or reactions to pollen. But what is Pantenol? Is that an eye drop you use?

Hello neighbor! I am in Bellevue! My eye allergies have gotten so bad since the onset of DES, and made worse with the plugs, that I had to make a decision about the risk of preservatives vs. the benefit of the Patanol. In my case, the itching would drive me mad if I did not use the stuff. I'm hoping that by using it only during allergy season that my eyes will recover from any ill effects during the winter months.