Help Me

[japrincess]

Hi I am new to this site and I am really happy I found here. There is a lot of useful information here.

I have a major problem hopefully y’all can assist me.

For the past several months I have been experiencing a burning feeling in my eye. At first I thought ok my eyes are being strained and I need glasses so I went to the eye doctor and explained my symptoms and he checked my eyes and said oh your need glasses, so I got glasses. A week or two after the burning in my eye continued and I had mucus forming in my eyes throughout the day. So I went back to him and he said oh you have allergies as there are some fine bumps on your lower eye lid, so he prescribed Patanol eye drops and Genteal gel. I used them for a while but got no relieve. Mucus was still being forming in my eye throughout the day and I still had the burning feeling in my eyes. I then went to another doctor an Ophthalmologist who again told me I had the allergies and he prescribed some stronger eye drops for me which I use for a week and it still didn’t work. I then went back to another doctor, this time it was a specialist, I explained my symptoms to her and she advise me to take a eye test to see if I had a infection, She gave me some antibiotic drops (The one u use for pink eye) which of course didn’t work because I didn’t have pink eye. When I went back for the results for the test she said my eyes were fine however she persisted to tell advise me that I had allergies, so she prescribe Pataday for me. Which I have been using for two weeks, however the burning sensation that I was having still persists and I am still having mucus forming in my eye throughout the day.
I am completely fed up now and I don’t know what I should do at this point, it is just so embarrassing and depressing to continue have to wipe mucus out my eyes 24/7. My main issue is people judging me and laughing when they see something in my eye. As you already know human being are extra judgmental and uncompassionate.

I know this is getting a bit long so what I would like to know is if my symptoms sound like dry eye. My symptoms again are, are burning and stinging feeling in the eye, some times I also feel like something is sticking me in my eyes and mucus forming the corner of my eyes throughout the day.

I would really appreciate y’all responses

[willwork4tears]

It could definitely be dry eye. However, your comment "fine bumps on your lower eye lid" made me think you could have meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).

The mucus you describes reminds me considerably of some older posts I read about "mucus strings." You can read that here: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...=mucus+strings


I would search for articles on DEZ on MGD and see if that fits your symptoms. MGD can cause dry eye symptoms. Also, have you asked your eye doctors about dry eye? Or are they completely oblivious? Did they measure your TBUT (tear-film break-up time), look at your eyes under the slit lamp, perform a Schirmer test (a little piece of paper stuck in your eye that measures tear production) or try to express a meibomian gland (push on lower eyelid with a Q-tip to see if oil came out)? If not, you should consider having these tests done, and *sigh* perhaps find yet another new doctor. I'm not so sure the previous drs are trying that hard.

Allergies could cause the mucus strings, but it seems like the allergy meds are not helping. Therefore, you should move on and your doctors should be considering other potential eye conditions.

[japrincess]

I asked my doctor about dry eye, but she said my eyes did not look dry. she however did not perform any test to verify if that was my problem. I don't think these doctors try hard enough to solve my problem, they keep on telling me I have allergies but I really doubt that I do. I think them, telling me that is the easiest solution for them. I think all they care about is money and not about solving my issue. Thanks so much for your suggestions. I will look into them

[willwork4tears]

My eye doctor always says the hallmark of dry eye is severe eye symptoms (patient reporting persistent dry eye) even in the absence of dry eye signs (physical/measurable traits). For example, your eyes are persistently bothering you even though they appear normal during examination.

It's something the experts have yet to explain. Some think it has something to do with hypersensitive nerve endings in the eye. Good eye doctors will recognize that eyes can feel dry even if they look normal. Not good eye doctors will only treat what they can prove and will ignore the patient's repetitive complaints. Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to find an eye doctor that will take us seriously and really work hard to find a solution.

The best things you can do for yourself is read/research/educate yourself. You've come to the right place!

[Nanerpus]

[QUOTE=willwork4tears;56301]My eye doctor always says the hallmark of dry eye is severe eye symptoms (patient reporting persistent dry eye) even in the absence of dry eye signs (physical/measurable traits). For example, your eyes are persistently bothering you even though they appear normal during examination.

Can you explain more about this? I've never felt my eyes burning or stinging or feeling dry without them physically looking bloodshot. When they look white and calm, they feel great. If they start to sting and feel parched, I know 100% that when I glance in a mirror, they will look red.

My opthalmologist has said I have an aqueous deficiency, and that he sees no signs of MGD. My tear breakup time is normal (he did a test with dye).

So I'm interestd to hear about what you mentioned. Especially since I'm now having allergies affect me for the first time in my life, and I'm sort of wondering if my DE was brought on from this since I've only had it a year or so with low-grade itching and redness occasionally until this summer, when the itchy, red, burning eyes started to get really bad (with sneezing, itchy nose, stuffiness). I'm due for allergy testing soon and when I saw the allergist, he told me that sometimes allergies CAN cause DE. Do you think this is true?

Sorry to hijack this thread, but your info made me take a step back and wonder.