My story

[Blueyes]

Another update

Hello Everyone,
Over a week ago, my eyes felt terrible again, and on Thursday, February 21, I went to see my old opthalmologist (not the "buffet" cornea specialist, but the one that I was seeing regularly for the past few months). With her it is easy to get an appointment, so I went at lunchtime. This time she was really amazed how bad I was and concluded again from my stories that I have to have allergies. I tried (ansewring Diana's question here) Patanol and Alrax before, with very little result. This time the doctor gave me Lotemax 4 times a day, however, with the idea that I need to use less and less of it as I get better. I was immediately better after taking these steroids, I could tell the difference the same night.

Well, unfortunately I had to postpone my Wednesday appointment with doctor Latkany. Since last weekend, I have been in bed with severe bronchitis. However, I have an interesting development. My dry eye symptoms are suddenly gone! I stopped Lotemax on Monday, February 25, since then my eyes have been normal 100%.

I haven't been to work since Thursday, February 21. For the last few days I have been so sick with the bronchitis that I haven't even do my usual lid washing thing, compresses, put in nothing in my eyes - I practically slept all the time after taking my codeine syrup... now my eyes are beautiful, big and blue and whites are white again!

Now, for me, two things have changed.
I am not staying in my appartment, I am in the parents' house in the suburbs.
I am not at work.

Strategy for now:


Next week I am going back to work see what happens. I am going to stay with the parents for a while just to eliminate one factor at a time.

[Zarla]

The codeine syrup might also be ******g the dry eye symptoms - it's good for the worst pain although it's not usually prescribed specifically for DES. DES is such a 21st century disease - and the more we work with computers, interactive white boards and in air-conned offices, the more people are going to be logging onto this great site. If you've ever had dry eye, working on the computer for any length of time (even for up to an hour)is almost guaranteed to aggravate or bring on the symptoms - as is sustained reading or indeed any 'close-work'. Living in big polluted cities like London and New York are other no-nos. I live in London and have to do hours of reading and computer work; I accept that while I do that I am going to experience dry eye symptoms. Sometimes it is chronic and bearable; other times (like last night) it is acute and unbearable. When I go on holiday to little villages by the sea and spend lots of time swimming or sight-seeing, I feel like I don't have dry eyes at all! Roll on retirement! It's almost impossible to avoid computer work now in 'white-collar' jobs but if you're still young you could,if you wanted, base your lifestyle choices around your dry eye needs. Otherwise, you just have to grimace and bear it. Once it's there, it won't go unless you make major changes. It might seem gone now but that's because you're away from the city and the computer. I doubt there was much dry eye about pre-20th century!!

[Blueyes]

Hi Zarla,

I think you have made a lot of valid points in your post, air-conditioning and computers are probably making the healthiest eyes dry and uncomfortable in the long run.
Believe me, I have been rethinking my career choices since my eye problems started many, many times... I still hope though that there is something that causes my severe symptoms that I can eliminate...

BTW: I am taking syrup with codeine for my cough - not for my DES. Why would it mask the symptoms? For sure it makes me sleep like a baby and a bit "high" during the day...

[Blueyes]

Reconsidering what I wrote before - the syrup probably does mask my symptoms, just because in addition to codeine it contains promethazine, which is an antihistamine. This would mean that I have allergies indeed and that they can be under control.

[Zarla]

I think I meant codeine would temporarily calm the pain that goes with dry eye - but you're right, it wouldn't mask the redness!

[Jumpy]

Wow

I am new to the site and have been reading like crazy [my poor red eyes!] I had to find this site to find out what a real problem this is. I thought I was the only one and got no help from the Docs I have seen. I am being treated for Gloucoma, after seeing my third Doc I told him I could find no one in my searching that had pain with Gloucoma, he said 'oh that's a different problem!' what the???? thats how I found out it's not just 'dry eyes.. use these drops' he even told me to massage my eyes before trying to peel them apart in the moring as they were scarring, that sent my search in a different direction AND for another Doc.
What is going on? Is this something new and they don't know much about it? How can so many of us be suffering? I have a high pain tolerance, that has not served me well in this situation, I just pretended it wasn't happening. I am marrying a man 10 yrs younger than myself and don't want him to think I am falling apart so I don't complain, besides nobody wold ever understand this crazyness! OK back to reading and finding some relief.
Is the night the worst for anyone else? I wake and put in drops 3/4 times!
Thanks, Jumpy

In my not altogether humble opinion... THAT IS ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS.

Run, don't walk, to a new doctor.

Sorry, but I am fuming. Practice of medicine is one thing, a self-service buffet is another!

[Blueyes]

An update

Hello Everybody,
I haven't been on the forum for a while... Well, I had some further development of my case. It has been established that I had allergies, most likely to something in my office. The allergist determined that I had a severe allergy to dustmites, I mentioned that in my other thread here:

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?t=5367

The allergist, however, after looking deeper into my case and running more tests concluded that, yes, I am allergic to mites, but if it was the sole cause of my breakouts I would have problems at home as well, not mostly at my workplace.

I also saw another opthamologist, who consulted with the one I was seeing regularly. He gave me some other kind of anti-allergy drops (non-steroid, I do not remember the name) and talked me into trying Restasis.

Desperate, I started Restasis twice a day. To my surprise, it did not burn at all! What is more, after as little as 3 days my eyes were tearing like crazy... You have no idea (or actually, you do!) how much better I felt. I saw the doctor after 2 weeks and he was amazed that all the dryness was gone. He said that they will have to rewrite the books on Restasis because of me... cause he never saw such a great response. Anti-allergy drops did not work for me - they caused my eyes break out even more.

Anyway, I still break out and get red, itchy, sometimes burning eyes, but no dryness. The underlying cause - allergy - has not been eliminated. Restasis, however, made my life 90% better and I am much happier. I even put my make-up back on from time to time!

[Julie1]

Blue Eyes,

I am so glad that you are getting some relief!! And, you may even see more improvement with time!

I thought you mentioned that you had an appointment to see Dr. Latkany. Did you go see him? What did he say?

-Julie

[Blueyes]

I thought you mentioned that you had an appointment to see Dr. Latkany. Did you go see him? What did he say?

-Julie

Hi Julie! I haven't seen Dr. Latkany yet. I had an appointment with him about 2 months ago, but I got severe bronchitis that week and had to cancel. Since my bronchitis gave me the clue that this was an allergy (My eyes got better when I was at home and taking anti-allergy syrup - I wrote about it in my thread "Allergic, but to what?"), first thing I did once I got better was to go to the allergist.
I am still planning on seeing Dr. Latkany in the nearest future.

[Blueyes]

One more thing I noticed after starting Restasis. Since my eyes are not dry anymore, I can identify better when I am getting allergic breakouts. Before I had symtoms all the time, probably because my eyes were so dry (Schirmer's test 0 and 4). Now it seems like once I get exposed to something, I break out violently, but the reaction also goes away rather quickly.

I break out mainly on the NYC subway and at work. Interestingly, in the restrooms in my office building my reaction is the strongest. Every time I go there, my eyes are tearing, get very red and burning. Maybe it is some chemical they use to clean?

[NYer]

NYC Subway

Um, how can I put this delicately...the common thread between the restrooms at your office and the NYC subway is the smell of urine.
Maybe it's ammonia setting it off?

[Blueyes]

I saw Dr. Latkany today!

Hi all,

Finally I got to see Dr. Latkany today. He really took time with me, listened to my whole story asked me a lot of questions and also explained a ton.

He thinks that there is most likely something in the building where I work, most likely mold (due to bad air circulation) that causes my allergic reactions. Actually today I was at work only for about 7 hours before the visit (usually I am 9-10) but I had it really bad. Interestingly, I always feel worst on Mondays (I try to keep track).

I am supposed to stay on Restasis, use Pataday once daily and make cold compresses every couple of hours at work. However, he said, this is just going to alleviate the symptoms, which is really not a way to go. I am supposed to see him in a month and bring the reports from my allergist and he will decide if we do more allergy tests.

He said that if I continue to have this permanent allergic reaction I will develop chronic dry eye sooner or later.

At the end he assured me that we will figure this out.

My husband after hearing all this wants me to quit my job. He says it is not worth staying and dealing with all this.

I do not know what to think... I do not want to be that person that quits for this reason... What if I quit and it does not go away?

[lboogie]

Hi there,
Did Dr. L. say anything about your lasik as being part of the cause?

Thanks for sharing!

[Blueyes]

Hi there,
Did Dr. L. say anything about your lasik as being part of the cause?

Thanks for sharing!

lboogie,
No, he did not mention anything about Lasik contributing to it. He thinks it is allergy. I also have mild rosacea that in his opinion might contribute to my sensitivity, however, he thinks I am being exposed to something.

I do not think I wrote this in this thread before - my "bad day" from the beginning of the thread - when I had the symptoms the very first time - was exactly 3 days into my new job. I never had any problems before. After the Lasik procedure (November 2004) I had a couple of months of dryness, but it went away pretty quickly.

[odydnas]

Both my allergists consider Restasis to be a very strong allergy medication because of the way it works. That could be a reason why Restasis is working so well for you.