Poll:What are you doing/not doing for your eyes now?

[Norm1966]

I tried it all...

You know sometimes I think visiting a bucnh of diff eye doctors you get such wide opinions. I still dont really know what I have. Like someone said earlier it like a box of chocloates. Some days are better then others, but after trying all the drops that they give as samples and antibiotic drops, erothrymicin, allergy, gel drops, supplements. I was finally put on restasis at the first of the yr with doxy. I did it for about 3-4 months. Stop everything but the supplements for now. I think the doxy did the most good as some of my glands were stopped up. I know some swear by restasis. Not only is it pricey, but I'm not sure it really did as much as the doxy for me. What is the old saying too many cooks spoil the pot. I feel that going round and round to find a good eye doctor is about the same. I still really don't know what I have. I'm not sure I caused this when I may have inadvertanly used 6 yr old allergy drops, but my eyes were sensitive before, but started to look and feel worse after that. I hope and pray everyone gets relief from this. It's caused me much anxiety as I hate the way it looks. The warm compresses and gel drops made it feel 10x worse this past winter. I just could not stand it. The redness & buring is what bothers me the most. Take care and best of luck to all.

[Guest]

Doing:

-Cold compresses 3 times daily (I use 1/2 a cup of rice in a nylon stocking for my compress)
-Sleep mask at night
-Using Dwelle exclusively
-WileyX regular sunglasses for outdoors.
-WileyX sunglasses with light-transitioning lenses for indoor use.
-Wild Fish Oil (for the omega 3's) - 3 grams per day
-I avoid reading for pleasure and watching TV - I also limit computer use to 1 hour per day - any more than this makes my eyes feel horrendous
-I listen to audiobooks to get my reading fix!


Not doing:
-Tranquileyes - tried them for 2 months, and did not notice any improvement. Mind you, my eyes were insanely flared up then... so I'm thinking since things are more under control now, I should give them another try... maybe I'll notice a difference this time.
-HomeSpa routine as per Dr. Latkany's book - tried this for a couple of weeks, but again, eyes were insanely flared up... might try again now that things are more under control...
-Genteal Gel, Gentreal Drops, Refresh Ultra, Blink, Systane, Systane Ultra, Bion Tears, TheraTears

[Aaron77]

Doing:

Not doing:
-Tranquileyes - tried them for 2 months, and did not notice any improvement. Mind you, my eyes were insanely flared up then... so I'm thinking since things are more under control now, I should give them another try... maybe I'll notice a difference this time.

I tried them too, did'nt work. I think my eyes actually may have had a reaction with the material they are made of which made the eyes worse.

What I'm doing now:
50mg doxy per day
Refresh Plus
8000mg combined flax oil and fish oil
Waiting on my order of Restasis
Showers at least twice a day
Lid rinsing throughout the day
Not going to crazy with the computer use
Spending way too much time on the dryeyezone

Simply just splashing my face with warm water in the office today has made a huge difference in my comfort level, unfortunately only for a few minutes. Once I'm back on the computer the eyes feel terrible again.

[stella]

Doing really well now for last 9 months --
Steaming for 5 minutes last thing at night, then massage
followed by occusoft then rinse
next anti biotic ointment to lid margins and vasaline to outer lids

then bed - I sleep all night and can open my eyes fairly easily most mornings
I only use clinitas ultra 3 (freshcote) and only during the day if i feel dry ie between one and three times daily but always just before sleeping

Most of the time i forget about my eyes and feel i have the condition well under control

The 2 things that have helped most - the steaming and the ointment at night
Also the clinitas is the best drop for me

[Arj]

What I'm doing

Warm compresses

Preservative free artificial tear drops
-Systane
-Bion Tears

[Gretchen]

Doing:
IPL every 3-4 months
Oracea daily
Ocusoft Plus pad at night to remove my eye make-up (and yes I get to wear all the eye make-up I want now - THANKS DR TOYOS!!!)
Enjoying every day as it comes

Not Doing:
Warm Compresses
Any eye drops or gels or rinses
Alrex - nasty stuff
Restasis - ditto nasty stuff
Obsessing about tomorrow

[regina]

What I am doing.....

Doing hunidifier at home
honey on eye lids when they start burning
dwelle when desperate...seems my eyes hate alll drops
cyclosporine .02 percent once a day
cold compresses when needed
burts bee balm chapstick on eye lid margins when desperate
and desperate enough to try red light therapy

wearing moisture chambers and then swim googgles at my little he** hole (work)when the eyes refuse to make tears then switch back to moisture chambers when wet again...;( And found out I dont get much done during the swim google time..too fogged up!

Staying home in my humid envoronment as much as possible...ho hum!


Not doing
make up...tried them all even concealer...;( Yup not looking good...I need it!
nighttime ointment
all drops unless desperate
warm compresses
expressing lids by doc once a week...they are finally open now!
allergy drops...just say no!
going out to clubs bars...movies etc
steroid drops

will be trying exovac for dry eye and mouth and doxy for rocacea...as soon as i get to another doc!

[msienkiewicz]

Doing:
Living life to the fullest...
Thanking God for every day!
Have 2 more facial IPLs to complete
(not specifically targeted to eyes, but I do believe they helped)
Going on my daughter's choir tour as the accompanist this weekend.

Not doing:
warm compresses
scrubs
drops of any kind
restasis - quit
lacriserts
goggles
ANYTHING!!!
worrying about the future

I hope this gives you hope. I was once using drops every hour with severe burning and using lacriserts daily. Things are not perfect but pretty close!

Melissa

[regina]

your so lucky to get that treatment...im actually writing a doc in my area to go get classes in washington state...and for him to expand his treatment to include dry eye IPL...he already does it for redness. If the docs only knew how much this would increase their business....haha

[Martush]

Current routines

Doing:
1) Thera Tears throughout the day
2) Patanol drops against allergies
3) Cold compresses
4) Eye lid scrubs
5) Omega 3 supplements
6) Physical activities- biking, running

Not doing:
1) Went back to reading.
2) No ointments at night. They make my eyes red and irritable the next days.
3) No warm compresses

My eyes are much worse during certain days, at others they are almost normal. I try to be outdoors more, especially in the morning, because I noticed that for some reason it is the worse for me to stay indoors for a long period of time. Avoiding A/C at all cost, would rather melt than be dealing with my eyes in a conditioned room...