my story...

[cereallover]

i'm a 20 year old female and finally was diagnosed with dry eye back in july. i'm not sure where to begin, considering i'm not sure when this began. back in january of this year i woke up one morning with pink eye. i never went in to see the doctor, i just called and told them "i have pink eye and i need drops please." so a week goes by, pink eye is gone, eyes feel wonderful, and i go back to wearing contacts. i have worn contacts since i was 15 or 16? two weeks later, i wake up with pink eye again. this time a week goes by and it does not go away. i go to the eye doctor who diagnoses me with viral pink eye. my eyes are incredibly itchy and annoying, but the first time they were not at all, which is why i think i had bacterial the first time. anyway, a month goes by and i am told i am allowed to wear contacts again. i try and my eyes are red and not liking the contacts at all. this process continues on and off as i try every month or so to wear them again. i go to several eye doctors, none who is quite sure of what is wrong wtih my eyes..."well it looks like it may be allergies" or whatever else they say.

finally i find a doctor who knows that what i have is actually dry eye. severe dry eye. he said he thinks it is partially due to contacts and partially due to allergies. plus i am on allergy meds which dry out my skin. anyway, i went to another one back at home (since i was at school before) who has been trying to help me ever since. i've had plugs put in, which i don't really notice a difference at all but maybe that's the reason why my eyes are no longer itchy. i have been on restasis for about two months now and fish oil (about 1500mg) and flaxseed (about 1000mg) for about a month. so the only real difference i noticed is the itching is gone. other than that, sometimes i wonder if it's getting worse. it had definitely became worse over the course of the months. my eyes are really red. i still wonder if this dry eye could be partially a result of the viral infection?

sometimes i wonder if eye drops really help or hinder the situation. genteal gel used to make my eyes feel wonderful; now it does make them feel better, but not to the same relief. it makes me wonder if they are getting better so that's why it doesn't do as much (my eye doc said once it starts to get better the gel will be annoying, i wouldn't say it is though--it's just there i guess??) or if my dry eye is in fact actually getting worse. before he said he could have me in contacts by the beginning of november, i went and saw him last week and he said doesn't look like then, but it looks like my eyes are gettign better. i'm really not too sure though. the first doctor i went to actually told me that i was close to having the disorder where my eyes were so dry that i will never be able to wear contacts again, but that i didn't have it. i am scared to see him again for fear that he will say i can't wear them.

anyway,sometimes i feel really just depressed, hopeless and frusturated about the situation. i constantly think back to life when it was "normal" and i miss it a lot. i miss going out all the time like i used to and living my life like i did before. i keep thinking about ways i might have been able to prevent this. i hate waking up in the middle of the night with my eyes all gritty and dry. i feel way too young to have this. i also feel like this is petty since there are many worse diseases out there, life threatening, so i shouldn't be so upset. i know this is being vain and naive but i hate wearing glasses. i do not mind wearing them every once and a while, but every day is awful. plus i can no longer wear make up either, which is hard for me because i only used to wear eye makeup, and it was everyday. is there any sort of makeup which doesn't irritate it or should i just avoid it altogether?

is there anything else i should be/could be doing? did anybody notice any effects from the fish oil or flaxseed or retatsis? what effects if you did and how long did it take? sorry this is so long and thank you for reading i appreciate it

[erinlins]

My heart goes out to you!

Hey,

I'm also very young too (23) and woke up with this whole dry eye thing in november of last year. I could still wear my contacts until about may and then my eyes became unbearable. And then the major depression set in. I too used to go out all the time, and wear tuns of fun eye make up. I never really minded wearing glasses but the thought of wearing glasses with a dress really killed me!

Anyway, I made a lot of improvements since then. You really just have to step back and think about your life. No one really cares if you wear glasses. Actually I have found that guys find glasses to be attractive. (For some reason I have had the most dates since dry eye when ironically I thought I looked the least attractive) Buy a few pairs, and mix it up. I treat glasses like purses now haha...I have a fendi and a prada pair! Glasses are actually coming back. I went to Germany this summer and so many gorgeous girls were wearing glasses! As far as eye make up goes I still wear it. I use gel shadows b/c they do not flake into my eye and waterproof mascara and liner.

As far as the red eyes go, most people will never notice. It took me almost a year to realize this. It is like having an eating disorder. I was utterly obsessed with the condition of my eyes. It became so bad that I started to avoid going places for fear of my eyes killing and turning red. It sounds horrible but if my eyes were perfectly white I would have gotten over this a lot easier.

I wish you the best. My eyes feel completely normal now after I gave up contacts. I don't even use drops anymore. I had very severe dry eyes a schrimer of 2, and ocular rosacea. However, by doing lid scrubs, taking fish oil, restasis, AND JUST RELAXING, I got over this.


If you ever need to talk feel free to private message me. It is really hard for young people, especially young women, to get over this condition. I don't mean to be rude to others on the board but sometimes reading about 50 year olds whom feel that their lives are over made me more upset. Also, try not to search the internet like I did for all this information. I read so many studies and they really just don't apply to us. Most participants were in their 40s. In general are eyes are a lot healthier and are bodies are more likely to regenerate and heal.

Good Luck!

[cereallover]

thank you !!!

thank you so much for writing that, you seriously put a big smile on my face i really appreciate it! i'm glad to hear that your eyes are better!! so do you think you'll ever wear contacts again or do you like wearing glasses? when did your eyes get better? did you notice gradual changes or what exactly? i definitely know what you mean about how depressing it can get though. also, what's a schrimer? is that to see how much tears your eyes produce? i know the doctor when he looked at my eyes said something like a "++2" for one eye and a "++3" for the other and he said those were bad.

i don't mind wearing glasses sometimes especially when i can wear eye makeup, but since they get all red and start to burn i rarely ever do which makes me not want to wear them. and i think you are totally right glasses are coming back thanks for telling me about the girls in europe i think you're right that i need to just step back and look at everything.

do you think i should get scrubs? how much fish oil were/are you taking? that's funny about the dates, i've actually dated a few guys since too since i got this condition and i was really suprised. but in general, i feel more invisible then i did before. i just get really sad when my friends do their makeup and i can't (lame i know). you know what's funny is that wearing glasses with a dress and sometimes other things really bothers me too! i feel like i can't pull it off anymore. i will definitely try waterproof mascara, the liquid eyeliner, and the gel eyeshadow. hopefully they won't irritate my eyes.

it's funny because i always think like why couldn't this have happened when i was in my 50's or so, because even though that would still stink, i feel like right now is my like "prime" time you know? it's weird because two of my roomates mom's both have it too, but i wouldn't mind as much if i was older i think. i never really thought about our bodies healing better and faster because we are younger, that's a really good point. thank you so much for writing all that, i really appreciate it! i may e-mail you sometime too and sorry that i asked so many questions.

[erinlins]

haha no problem do not worry about the questions. I can relate bc I'm a huge girly girly that prides myself on looking the best I can and keeping up with the latest trends etc. I really don't think I am going to go back to contacts again, and if I do it will definately be a rigid gas perm bc they let in more oxygen and do not suck away your tear film.

This is what I have done since may:

Every morning after I shower I take a qtip, soak it in warm water and press the bottom lids right along the lash line. I use restasis 2x a day, and take fish oil tablets (2 a day). That is pretty much it. On bad days I use refresh plus drops. I have found that using less drops have improved my eyes greatly! Now I yawn and tears flow down my face! Also get a humidifier, it really helps when you wake up in the moring.

If contacts truley caused your dry eye then it is because the lack of oxygen desensitivized the nerves that tell your glands to release tears. Your eye needs time to heal. I figure if nerves can grow back after lasik, then there has to be hope for us too! My eyes are not perfect, but they are a lot better.

I really changed my diet. I eat a high vegatable /fruit low protein diet (well expect I eat tuns of fish). Basically an anti-inflammatory diet. If you look up stuff on autoimmune diseases...... I basically mirrored that diet. I gave up coffee, but I still go out and drink with my friends.

Oh and one thing that struck me was the invisible thing that you mentioned before. I totally get that. However, looking back on the summer I realize it wasn't really true, I just was so insecure about my current situation that I was always second guessing myself. Once I began to hold my head up again, it got a lot better. My old bubbly care free self is creeping back and Im starting to look at myself the way others actually see me. (NOT MY OBSESSIVE OVERCRITICAL SELF haha)

Needless to say I still have my bad days! I blame myself for wearing low oxygen contact lenses for eight years or so, and not taking care of them as much as I should. But then I think that things will get better, and they have.


Good luck and stay in touch! I hope this helps and let me know ifi you find anything else that works for you! Don't give up there are many young people who also have dry eyes! It could always be worse, we could have been one of those unlucky contact lens wearers who lost their sight from an eye infection!

good night!

[Rebecca Petris]

Anyway, I made a lot of improvements since then. You really just have to step back and think about your life. No one really cares if you wear glasses. Actually I have found that guys find glasses to be attractive. (For some reason I have had the most dates since dry eye when ironically I thought I looked the least attractive) Buy a few pairs, and mix it up. I treat glasses like purses now haha...I have a fendi and a prada pair! Glasses are actually coming back. I went to Germany this summer and so many gorgeous girls were wearing glasses! As far as eye make up goes I still wear it. I use gel shadows b/c they do not flake into my eye and waterproof mascara and liner.

As far as the red eyes go, most people will never notice. It took me almost a year to realize this....

My eyes feel completely normal now after I gave up contacts. I don't even use drops anymore. I had very severe dry eyes a schrimer of 2, and ocular rosacea. However, by doing lid scrubs, taking fish oil, restasis, AND JUST RELAXING, I got over this.

Erinlins,

Loved your post. One of the most encouraging I've read lately from someone in these circumstances! Great job. I'm so, so pleased to hear about how things have improved for you.

[kimby2007]

Story

I enjoyed your post very much as well. I have been struggling with Sjogrens since June and although my eyes are seriously dry I think I have done more to debilitate my own self consumed with fear and anger. It may sound silly but the other night I went for a walk with my father (who remains my cheerleader). He literally had to pry me out of bed and convince me that I wasn't going to burst by talking a walk. I had gotten myself in such a state that I avoided the outdoors pretty much completely. But there I saw myself talking a nice walk with my father enjoying the unusually warm weather and looking at the stars. I don't know how to explain it--since for so many people such a thing wouldn't matter at all-but the ability to be outside and let the wind hit my face made me want to push on--that there is hope. Sometimes it is hard to grasp on to it when I wake up in pain or have to wear my goggles but in that momment everything was ok again and it made me believe that I still have fight left in me. Hope I don't sound like a basket case but although my eyes are defintely bad I am sure that I made myself think that I was even worse.

[EYE]

Im 20 years (im a male) and i got dry eyes in June 2007. It happened on a friday night when i was sitting behind my computer i felt terrible stings on my eyes and around my eyes, my feeling told me this was real bad.
I immediately removed the contacts from my eyes but the pain continued.

The next day i felt better and i put my contacts in, but after an hour the pain came back.
I went to a Specialist in July and since then im getting all kinds of drops, but the problem isnt just my eyes I also experience heavy headaches almost on a daily basis.
It really depresses me, my eye doctor says that my eyelids are irritated. I have enough tears but they evaporate too quickly.
I use hot compresses twice a day, scrub my eyelids and use eyedrops.
The dryness aint that much of a problem but the headaches are really killing me...

Did someone experience the same thing i did? i stopt wearing contacts for 6 months now because its just impossible....

[armyoftwo2007]

Hello. I a 24 and I now have MGD and dry eyes. I know how upsetting it is!!! I am very girly also and this has been a huge adjustment. I worry that I did this to my self but there isn't much I can do.
I agree, that it isn't best to search the net. It only gets me more and more upset

[TD2007]

I can relate

Eye,

I am a 32 year old female. I started having problems with my eyes in July 2007. One of my biggest initial complaints were headaches. The constant headache went away after about two months for me. Now I am more susceptible to get headaches, but typically when I get stressed or anxious. So I try to stay calm.

Also, I am sorry for all those who are younger than me who are dealing with this condition. While I still currently feel slighted to have this at my age, I can only imagine how unsettling it is for a person who may be trying to start their career or is in school.

I have improved, but I still feel obsessive over this condition, especially when I have bad days. I also agree that it is important to limit how much you research this condition over the internet. Even though for some, it seems as if this condition happened overnight. It did not. That is why it is important to remember that it will take time to get better.

[Terri]

Another alternative to glasses

I agree with erinlins perspective on both glasses and relaxing. I have some new eyeglasses that make me look absolutely HAWT (and I'm 56 ).

There is another alternative to consider, though. Based on my own personal experience, it is possible to retrain your vision so you reduce or eliminate the need to wear either glasses or contact lenses. I currently wear corrective lenses only when I drive (I used to need them to see people and presentations across the room at meetings), and my goal is to be able to drive without glasses within the next two years. I have plano (no correction) goggles that I wear outside when I need protection from the wind.

If you're interested, there's a book called "Relearning to See" by Thomas Quackenbush that explains this approach. The book is long, and probably contains way more information than you need, so you can skim some sections. The principles it outlines are not only good for reducing your need for corrective lenses (or the magnitude of your current prescription), but they help with environmental and lifestyle changes that benefit people like us with DES.

[calli66]

I got that book back in '99 and used some of the techniques to help improve my vision. The relaxation exercises are good, as is the emphasis on being Aware and Conscious of the state of the eyes and acuity.

One thing he could add which would be helpful: dry eye sufferers often have decreased acuity and go to the optometrist repeatedly and pay big bucks for several pairs of glasses over the course of just a few years. This happened to me after 2002, when my eyes got radically dry. I couldn't understand what was happening. With each new pair of glasses, I still couldn't see well. I switched to contacts but the problem continued. Couldn't see well to drive at night, my biggest problem.

Dr. Latkany mentions this in his book--about blurry vision due to dryness. The main thing to remember when trying natural vision improvement, is that there many reasons for decreased vision, some of which are serious---like retina and macular degeneration, cataracts, etc. With dry eyes, it's especially important to be under a doctor's care, and to diagnose any immunological or systemic diseases that might be affecting vision.

Calli

[cereallover]

There is another alternative to consider, though. Based on my own personal experience, it is possible to retrain your vision so you reduce or eliminate the need to wear either glasses or contact lenses. I currently wear corrective lenses only when I drive (I used to need them to see people and presentations across the room at meetings), and my goal is to be able to drive without glasses within the next two years. I have plano (no correction) goggles that I wear outside when I need protection from the wind.

If you're interested, there's a book called "Relearning to See" by Thomas Quackenbush that explains this approach. The book is long, and probably contains way more information than you need, so you can skim some sections. The principles it outlines are not only good for reducing your need for corrective lenses (or the magnitude of your current prescription), but they help with environmental and lifestyle changes that benefit people like us with DES.

wow that is amazing to hear i'm glad that you do not have to wear your glasses much anymore! thank you for letting me know! what prescription were you before and about how long did it take to get where you are now? i am in the -6 range, but that would be absolutely great to start retaining my own vision and i think i'm going to get that book, i just read a bunch of great reviews on amazon and everyone seems to praise the book.

[Terri]

what prescription were you before and about how long did it take to get where you are now?

I have three refractive corrections: 1) myopia; 2) astigmatism; and 3) prism. The most aggravating vision issue for me was the need for a prism of 5 in order to correct double vision. (The double vision started after the same neurosurgery that caused my dry eye four years ago.)

I started working on correcting my double vision in September. At my eye exam in November, the optometrist said I'd reduced my need for prism correction from 5 to 2. (That took just under 3 months.) I am planning to get eye exams every 6 months to check on my progress, and at my next exam I'm hoping to have eliminated my need for prism correction completely (and maybe to have made some progress on myopia/astigmatism as well.