A little less pain

[fernellen]

for no good reason and maybe all the right reasons, I experienced an hour of no pain. It was midnight and after a day of being mainly on the couch with the eye mask and a lot of drops. I was able to eat and comfortably watch a little tv. Hoping for more better hours

[Hokucat]

Well that's good, fernellen. Sounds like the mask and drops shielded your eyes from the air since your tear quality is poor, and not using your eyes may also have been helpful. During the day, along with your mask/goggles, try using the Genteal Severe Dry Eye Gel you recently bought (per your other post) instead of the Retaine MGD, and see if you have more better hours.

[fernellen]

Thanks. Last night was awful. I ended up using the genteal and got two hours of sleep. I have been dealing with the pain for three hours. And that is after compresses, lid massage, eyelid wash, Xiidra and Lotemax and Systane. The genteal may be next.

[fernellen]

Maybe the blephadex is too strong

[Hokucat]

Blephadex has tea tree oil. I know some people find it helpful cleaning their lids, but tea tree oil totally irritated my eyes when my tear film was poor and eye surface severely dry. I could not even use it. There are several other lid cleaners, perhaps take a look at these in this forum's Dry Eye Shop, and you can even call them and they might be able to recommend one based on your condition:

https://dryeyeshop.com/collections/l...aning-products

Also, Lotemax contains the dangerous preservative BAK, which can cause further damage to dry eyes. Ask your doctor to prescribe a preservative-free steroid eye drop, if you really require a steroid drop.

When I had severe dry eyes and for several years my regimen consisted of doing at least a half dozen or more things like compress, massage, lid scrubs, multiple rx and otc drops, it often seemed to further exasperate my eyes, not make them feel better. If the things you are doing are not helping, perhaps talk to your doctor about what you can discontinue or change. At the very least, any drops you use try to get preservative free.

[fernellen]

Thanks. I feel ready to get off the steroid and just use the Xiidra. I am 9 days on Xiidra and there is less stinging and cloudy vision. I believe there is a little less pain. Today I took out the trash bins and the cat kept me up half the night; two months ago, it would be no problem. Now everything is calculated.