Starting to become very concerned

[bryan9182]

I've made several threads about this and i'm sorry for doing it again, but I just dont know where else to ask.

Starting about 3 years ago I began to use products such as visine, clear eyes, opcon-a etc. to remove redness caused by eye strain. Being as dumb as I am I kept using the drops.....over and over and over again for several years (yes, I now know hese drops are not good for you and contain harsh preservatives...i've heard it all by now, please do not tell me again ). I began to examine dryness problems and constant redness after use of these drops. My parents say when I was little I used to blink very frequently and often complained about my eyes which leads me to think I have always had some type of dryness problem....but I do not ever remember having redness problems until after the overuse of vasconstrictors. For the last 3 years i've been suffering from red eyes.....all the time. When I wake up in the morning my eyes are very red and excrutiatingly dry. I almost cannot open my eyes at all in the morning because it is too painful.

About 3 months ago I stopped using vasoconstrictors completely hoping that my eyes could return to a normal state, but to this day they are still very red. I have talked to a few doctors both online and in person that have told me that rebound redness is NOT a condition that lasts for months and months and that there is probably another reason why my eyes are still red. I visited a doctor a few weeks ago and told him about my redness and dryness problem. I told him my eyes often feel like I need to blink all the time. Even right after I blink my eyes begin to burn and sting and feel like I have not blinked in a while. The doctor I am at now gave me a tear film break up time test and told me my time was VERY low (giving me the sensation of not blinking). He said normal time is around 8-9 seconds and that my break up time was 2 seconds. He diagnosed me with a definite dryness problem and says that my eyes are still red because of the dryness and NOT the abuse of visine and similar products. He first tried punctal plugs which had really no effect on me at all. My eyes were still red and still felt like they usually do with the plugs in. He then gave me Restasis and told me I could benefit from the use of it. I am now hearing that Restasis only works for about 12% of patients, and that is has nasty side effects.


I wish I could upload pictures of my eyes so that someone could tell me if this is a serious redness problem. I am really starting to get scared that nothing will work for me, and I will look like this forever. Has anyone ever gone through what I am currently going through? Has anyone ever been in a situation like me and had this fixed? I am starting to become very scared that my eyes will never look or feel normal ever again.

[Judy]

Hey Bryan,

Please don't give up because things can get better. It sounds like you need to find a good eye dr. who is up on all the latest and greatest for dry eyes. I did the Visine thing (and Prefrin and other vasoconstrictors) for the longest time and they messed my eyes up greatly. I kept wearing my contacts and trying any and every drop (even those which stated in the directions not to use with contacts)... My eyes are doing much better after doing the warm compresses (with rice baggies which you can buy on-line here). Restasis is helping me as are Refresh Eye drops. I'm wondering if you have some new allergies or something from what you've said. Please don't give up hope as you can and will get better. You need to find a new Dr. perhaps, and keep experimenting with some of the ideas you will read about in this website. God Bless! Judy

[bryan9182]

How long did you use vasoconstrictors for? and if you dont mind me asking, how old are you?

I feel a little better being the age I am (im only 19). This helps me feel better about recovering because im still young and healthy. My doc took pics of the back of my eyes the other day and he told me I have a very healthy looking eye. He showed me pics of not-so healthy eyes to compare them too and I indeed did have pretty well looking eyes. I sort of have a feeling it could be the dryness that is still giving me the redness. My eyes often burn and sting pretty bad so that might be why theyre still red. :/

[Rebecca Petris]

The preservatives in vasoconstrictors can cause harm with longterm use but I'd sure be inclined to be very optimistic for you based on what you've described.

My parents say when I was little I used to blink very frequently and often complained about my eyes which leads me to think I have always had some type of dryness problem....

Sounds right. For many people with dry eye of some sort, there is a trigger that pushes them over the edge into a vicious cycle. Perhaps vasoconstrictors did that for you with the redness. Different from saying they "caused" it.

Bear in mind that it can take a long time and a lot of patience to get things fully under control. I know that it's very hard to be patient especially if you aren't fully confident in the diagnosis or the treatments. But patience and methodical treatment are the name of this game. Sounds from what you describe like MGD treatment and some really good night protection strategies are in order (sorry if I'm being repetitive... lousy memory, not sure if this has been covered in other discussions).

[bryan9182]

isnt MGD a bacterial infection of the eyelids or something related to that? I'm pretty sure I do not have this. I've heard of eye lid scrubs though, maybe they could help? I dont really know for sure.

I am going to use Restasis to see if this helps me. I deffinatly know I have a dryness problem, because I can feel the burning/stinging and scratchiness in my eyes all the time.....I'm just not 100% convinced yet that this is the reason why my eyes are persistantly bloodshot.

[Rebecca Petris]

MGD is a broad term for any dysfunction of the meibomian glands. (Bacterial infection is one of the possible causes.) MGD is a very common cause of dry eye symptoms. It's also frequently not diagnosed or treated.

[bryan9182]

can I buy anything OTC that will help? I think i'll give this a shot

[RCK]

re: can I help?

Bryan,

I'm Rhoda, in Boston. I have complex eye problems but also use plugs (lower lids) and restasis, over a year now, no side effects! Plugs help me, as without normal tearing, restasis would clump, versus spread through the eye. Plugs help by allowing other normal eye lubricants, called mucins, to spread through the eye, and distribute the restasis. It takes some time for these interventions to work, eye don't heal rapidly but they do heal. On the other hand, do you feel you have an accurate diagnosis yet? Without that, it may be hard to know what is appropriate treatment. I noticed you listed your location as Massachusetts, can I offer MD names? I'm in a medically related field, have complex eye problems, have fired the MD's I felt were not competent and have found some terrifically skilled and nice MD's.
Can I help?
Rhoda

[bryan9182]

Yes please feel free to list any MD's you think can help. I live about 20 minutes south of boston in a town called Walpole. I mean the doctor im seeing now did tell me my tear break up time was extremely low causing my eyes to be dry, so I do think I have dry eye. I didnt really notice much difference with plugs at all to be honest.

[RCK]

re: MD's

Bryan,

Michael Raizman, MD, corneal specialist, Opthalmic Consultants of Boston/ 50 Staniford St./ off Cambridge Street near MGH. asst. name Lily, phone# 617 367-4800 ext. 1015. website is www.eyeboston.com

You can use my name if you wish, Rhoda Kupferberg, I'm on their "frequent flyer" list. You might also want to check with Rebecca re: referrals, but he is very good and also nice, rare combination. He has helped me enormously, if this referral doesn't work for you, I have others. What else can I do?

Rhoda

[bryan9182]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to look up some specialists for me. Is there anything closer to Walpole though?

[bryan9182]

also, with Restasis....it starts working after 3 months of use correct? Is Restasis something that could help with eye redness being caused by dryness? The only reason I am still concerned is because even sometimes when my eyes feel somehwhat normal, they are still very red. I really hope my eyes can return to normal someday. I've tried almost everything thinkable that a doctor hasnt givin me yet. I look at myself with these red eyes all the time and almost think about just going back to using the vasoconscrictors to make myself look normal for the couple of hours that they work, but I dont do it because I want to fix this problem forever.

[RCK]

re: MD's

Bryan.
Opthalmic Consultants of Boston has offices in Beverly, Stoneham, Waltham, etc. I know Dr. Raizman sees patients in Waltham on Mondays, if you call his asst., ask for the closest location to you, you should find something possible with him. If not, I will ask him at my next visit, about one week, if he knows someone in Walpole. Also, there are non profit organizations that help get medical patients to care as needed, if that would be helpful to you. I know its hard to resist the urge to go back on the vasoconstrictors but try to if you can, it will make things so much harder in the long run.

Best Wishes,
Rhoda

[bryan9182]

I think im going to go down to CVS and look for OCuSOFTLid Scrub Eyelid Cleanser. I'm reading on their site right now that this can help with dry irritated eyes. This is probably hit or miss with me though, as a lot of OTC products have not worked for me. Does anyone hear know anything about these? Are there better ones out on the market that I should try first? Could these help with dryness and redness?


EDIT: Now that I think of it, when I close my eyes for say 2-3 minutes and then open them again, I notice that my eyes are a lot redder than before. Does this sound like an eyelid problem? When I wake up in the morrning the redness is at its worst and so is the dryness. Theyre both very bad in the morning.

[Judy]

Bryan,

I like the Ocusoft foaming eyelid scrub. As you say your eyes appear really red when you wake up in the morning, there could be a chance that your eyes don't fully close during the night as this is the case for many. If so, your eyes would get very dry and irritated during the nighttime. Some people tape their eyes shut. You might try an experiment with this and see if your eyes do better when you first wake up, both comfort wise and redness wise.