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Hello everyone, I am a 17 year old male and have had bloodshot eyes for about 3 years now. I cant trace it back to any event or anything that could have caused this. My eyes up until the age of 14 were always perfect, extremely white and a vibrant blue which I used to get comments about all the time. They started getting red at school, at first i thought it was just irritation from my contacts so i started wearing my glasses but it didnt get any better. In the begining my eyes would be fine outside or at home, but if i was in school they would be the worst, they would sting and burn. i have been to many eye specialists that say my tear production and everything is fine so its not dry eye. Iv been told that it isnt allergies or anything like that and that my specialist right now doesnt know whats wrong. Iv tried steroid drops, patanol ( which worked amazingly well the first week) and all other mast cell stabalizers and nothing seems to work. I put in artifical tears throughout the day , this seems to help a tiny bit. I have also noticed that if i go to the movie theater or mall my eyes get so red people are constantly asking me if im on drugs. My latest eye specialist bascially told me to just deal with it because there isnt anything she can do. I believe that this is bs, she has only tried a handful of different things and she is already giving up. All this happend only a couple months after my father passed away so it only added to the stress. After using prednisolone drops my eyes got a little better but have gone back to being red 24/7, my eyes no longer itch or burn they just get red. If I never looked in a mirror I wouldnt know my eyes were red because they no longer hurt at all. I have recently started back at school and am desperate for anything to get the red out of my eyes. I have posted this on other forums related to eye problems without any responses, Im just getting desperate here cause I need change, I cant remember the last time I could look someone in the eyes with confidence.
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I am so sorry to hear what you've been going through and how long it has been! I'm glad you are persistent because I firmly believe there ARE answers to be had... but it will take some research, legwork and maybe a few more specialists.
You're right and your specialist is wrong and I'm glad you know thatOriginally posted by Bmatheson View Post
I'm going to hazard a fairly simple suggestion... however, you may or may not find it simple to do it:
Get a pair of foam-lined moisture chambers of some kind. The cheapest are Onion Goggles, then there's also fancy sunglasses like 7Eye, Wiley-X and some others. (See the link to the Dry Eye Shop at the top of the screen and then click on the Eyewear section. Not trying to push products on you - you can buy them anywhere - just informationally, the Shop is a good place to read about things like this.)
Once you've got them, try to wear them as much of the day as possible. If, socially, you're not comfortable with that, at least put them on for as many hours at home as you possibly can. - With that kind of persistent redness it's really hard to believe that it's not related to allergies, dry eye or both, and if you get any relief from wearing moisture chambers, that'll give you a good strong indication that it IS one or both, despite what the doctors have said so far. EDIT: Oops. On re-reading this I realized you wear glasses so this won't be as simple as I hoped. Possibly though you can still experiment with them in contexts where you don't have to see (if you've got a low prescription?) and IF you get relief you could consider getting them in prescription.
I'd also check out the suggestions on this site for night eye care... sometimes really pampering your eyes at night can make for better days.Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Foundation
dryeyefoundation.org
800-484-0244 -
Ill definetly look into those goggles. I have seen a new specialist and he told me that my eyes looked completley healthy besides the redness of course, and thats what really confused him. My tear production and everything is fine, I dont think its allergies because there is no discharge or ichiness. My eyes really flare up when I go into a mall, movies, and especially my school. Im hoping that may be a clue to whats going on because it all started when my highschool got renovations and got a new ventilation system and whatnot. Its been all downhill from there so school has been a huge issue for me. I got referred to a new doctor, hes a corneal disease specialist or something like that, the specialist that reffered me to him said if he doesnt know whats wrong nobody will, he even chuckled at it which really angered me.Comment
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diagnosis
Did your doctor mention the possibility of ocular rosacea? I gave up on doctors a few years ago; however, I have been reading on different message boards and medical websites about ocular rosacea. I believe that is my problem, as light and stress are irritating factors.Originally posted by Bmatheson View PostComment
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ocular rosacea has never been mentioned to me but I will definetly check it out. This morning when I woke up my eyes were actually doing pretty good, but now the tops of my eyes feel gritty.Comment
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maybe you have an allergy, most likely to milk.
do you drink alot of cow's milk or eat it with your cereal? cow's milk is the most common I think, almost 60% of the world's population has some kind of reaction to it, whether it be severe or not. one thing I think is odd, is that we drink alot of it in the world, but we are the only mammal that continues to drink the milk of another mammal after we are weaned from it as a baby.
think about this. Cat's milk is designed for her kittens, Gorilla's milk is designed for her young, Cow's milk is designed for her calf. you've got to ask yourself this, do we look like calves? actually in nutrition and in school textbooks they always tell us we need our milk to get our calcium, but really it is milk that causes osteoporosis, and calcium deficiency. I'll tell you why!
Milk is mostly made of a liquid protein called Casein, and contains alot of phosphorus, well when our body processes all this protein, and also a high amount of phosphorus, it has to draw calcium from our bones and teeth to be able to do it.
if you look at human breast milk that was specifically designed for human beings in their first year or so, it contains only 1.9% protein, and is mostly fats and carbohydrates. our body's weren't designed to consume alot of concentrated proteins. search it up on the web. the meat and dairy industry is subsidized by the government, they pay for all the "GOT MILK?" advertisements. milk congests our bodys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXugZChaFoY
rhadComment
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Um, rhad: I'm with you on the milk concerns but I have no idea why you are mentioning it here. I don't recall ever seeing or hearing anything remotely connecting milk with red eyes. If you've got something solid establishing such a connection please say so. Thanks.Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Foundation
dryeyefoundation.org
800-484-0244Comment
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I agree with calcan's said...
definitely look at the possibility of ocular rosacea. It can occur long before any facial symptoms appear. I have it and it started around age 19 but only when I would go to certain retail stores - immediate redness would result. Once I left, my eyes were fine again. Flourescent lighting is everywhere (stores, schools, offices, etc.) and is my biggest trigger along with stress, sunlight, and wind. Unfortunately there apparently isn't much that can be done about it (according to the many docs I've seen) other then avoidance of those places (impossible I know). Doxycycline is often prescribed in low doses for ocular rosacea and can help a bit too as well as using artificial tears (please don't use redness reducing drops, they will make matters worse) like you mentioned you already use. Preservative-free drops are your best bet as many with OR can't tolerate the preservatives in drops. If you do have any facial symptoms (persistent pink in your skin or episodes of flushing and blushing, then topical facial treatments can sometimes help the eyes a bit too).Comment
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My doctor just prescribed me Doxy for a month, 100mg a day so hopefully this helps a bit. I do blush very easily so I dont know if that means anything. I was wondering if red eyes can be genetic, my mom has always had red eyes she has told me, but the redness in our eyes are different because I have lots of small veins that I can move on the conjunctiva and my moms veins seem to be large thick ones that look to be perminant.Comment
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I would just like to add, that I have the same *exact* systems as the OP. I am 25yr old male, and everything triggers red eye. I use systane drops daily, but nothing helps.
Doctors told me the same thing as well, everything is fine, and to deal with it.Comment
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Red eye veins
I never thought about it until now, but as a teenager my eyes would also turn red in the mall and then get better when I would go home. I always thought I was allergic to the dyes in clothing or something. Now I have permanent red veins.
My eye doc said I have developed them, because my eyes are dry and that the blood vessel dilate to provided more moisture to the cornea. They eventually become permanent. None of the eye docs every mention ocular rosacea. However, a few years after developing DES, I developed redness in my checks and pustules which my derm said was rosacea. I think most eye docs totally miss ocular rosacea.Comment
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Hello
This situation sounds like a mirror image of my life - I too had the exact same experience when I was in high school - one day I was walking down the hall and my eyes started really hurtiing and burning - I was taken to several doctors and no one knew the cause -
I honestly believe it has to do with floursecent lighting in the schools -
I can truly sympathize - because this was my life - red eyes in school - tried every medicine available - BTW clear eyes is the only thing that worked - not visine -
I agree this is not dry eyes - my eyes are dry now and I have just had blood work and am going to an Ears Nose and throat specialist for my dry mouth -
If you need support - email me - I have a 17 yrs old and 18 yr old son and daughter - timothycarroll@verizon.netComment
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