Red eyes that burn/stings with red lines for 3 months.

[Alan27]

Hello,

I'm 27, I have been wearing glasses for 10 years (I never used lenses) and here's my problem, in late October 2011 while I watch TV my eyes started to feel painfull, after awhile it started burning and I had the feeling of sea sand was in my eyes, also in rooms illuminated by sunlight that passes through the frosted glass windows such rooms would feel bloomy, misty or steamy and also a large red "vein" appeared on my left eye.

So I try an eyedrop for treatment of drye eyes to get better but it didn't get any better, when I saw it was no better after two days so I go to a general practicioner who prescribe the same eye drop I used to take my 1 month and Opticrom and to take for 1 week. A month after that I still had "bloomy" "misty" effect in the rooms with lighting in white, also it was still tingling / burning around the eyes, red large vein in the left eye was still there. I tried to watch the TV again, but my eyes still burned and stinged.

So I go back in late November to the GP who prescribed me this time, Visine eye drops (for irritations such as conjuctivitis) and the same dry eyes eye drops to take for a month and he told me to go try to consult with an ophthalmologist.

Visine eye drops (for irritations such as conjuctivitis) was "hard to digest" for my eyes and gave me feelings of "heavy eyelids" each time I woke up.

I go to the hospital, an internal gave me Celluvisc (artificial tears) to take a month, so I stopped Visine and took Celluvoc plus dry eyes eye drops and I no longer feel the sensations of "bloom", "mist" or "steam" but I still had eyes that burn and the "red veins".

Mid December I see an ophthalmologist who told me to try several products VISMED, Celluvisc, Visine, and same dry eyes drops and an eye wash (boric acid etc) to take for a month. So I try to diversify to try the 5 eye drops I was given, after awhile little red lines started to appear on the white of my eyes, the old "veins" red spread.

January 2012, I will see another GP who told me to stop because all these eye drops because I do not have conjunctivitis and that my problem is linked to a deterioration in the quality of the protective film, so he tells me to use the eye wash (boric acid) and four minutes after that applying Tear-Gel Hyabak Protector he prescribed me and do that 3-4 times a day for 1 month.

I rest my eyes for eight days, no PC or TV, just novels and I take eyewash + Hyabak Protector 3 times a day. 8 days later the eyes are still red with even more new red lines that are appeared and older red "veins" that spread more, but my eyes don't burn anymore burn anymore it just stings.

So here I can not watch TV for 3 months, I have red veins and stains pink / red in the corners of the eyes that do not disappear and even though I took eye drops, eye wash and artificial tears for 3 months instead of improving it only gets worse from week to week.

What to do? What is the problem?

[PotatoCakes]

Don't go back to any of the physicians that prescribed you Visine. The stuff could absolutely be contributing to your problems and it won't make them better in the long run. Depending on how bad your dry eye is, the red veins may never go away (lots of us on here have them) but it is possible that the Visine is causing a rebound effect. Think of it as an addiction. Your eyes are addicted to Visine and without it, they are red. To break the cycle, you need to stop using Visine and depending on how long you've been using the drops, it can take quite a while for the redness to get better.

Stick to preservative-free drops (typically in individual vials) like Refresh Plus, Celluvisc, Systane, etc.

I notice that you're in France. Perhaps someone here can recommend a doctor that's familiar with dry eye near you. In the meantime, Rebecca has a good list of things to do for an appt. I tried to find it but couldn't -- perhaps someone on here can post a link. I'll keep looking for it when I have an opportunity if no one posts it.

[spmcc]

eye doctor in France

There is another thread about finding a good eye doctor in Europe: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...light=baudouin

A number of people mention Prof. Christophe Baudouin at Hôpital Quinze-Vingts in Paris.

Can you get to Paris?

Good luck.

[Alan27]

Hello,

Thank you for your replies.

Don't go back to any of the physicians that prescribed you Visine. The stuff could absolutely be contributing to your problems and it won't make them better in the long run. Depending on how bad your dry eye is, the red veins may never go away (lots of us on here have them) but it is possible that the Visine is causing a rebound effect. Think of it as an addiction. Your eyes are addicted to Visine and without it, they are red. To break the cycle, you need to stop using Visine and depending on how long you've been using the drops, it can take quite a while for the redness to get better.

Stick to preservative-free drops (typically in individual vials) like Refresh Plus, Celluvisc, Systane, etc.

The eyewash seems to be no good either, it was okay the first week, but after awhile it looked like it was only making things worse and after two weeks my eyes looked like they were burned with acid or something.

Plus on the notice it said that the eyewash was Sodium Borate + Boric Acid

and that it was a Local Antiseptic / Light Astringent for ophthalmic use in case of conjunctival irritation.

But it also said that a possible side-effect would be ocular irritation.

So I stopped taking the eyewwash yesterday afternoon and instead took a shower to wash my eyes and hydratate them, out of the shower my left eye was blood red with tons of vessels on one part and after I dried myself I applied the Tear-Gel Hyabak Protector, this one is more effective and last longer than Celluvisc or Vismed and doesn't irritate my eyes.

Is my problem really just dry eyes or it's something else? Infection or something else?

It seems that my eye problem only starts around 3 weeks after I finish using Nasal Decongestants (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sodium monosulfide), I used an nasal decongestant for 1 month and a half (1st September 2009 to Mid-October 2009) and 3 weeks later after the end of the treatment problems with painful eyes while watching TV, I used a dry eyes eye drops for a week and it went away on it's own.

Now from 11 August 2011 to 19th September 2011 (1 month and a week), I used the same nasal decongestant and 3 weeks later after the end of the treatment I started experiencing pain with my eyes, I tried to use the same dry eyes ey drops, but this time it didn't make it go away.

Also, I noticed that I have been getting small amount of sticky/viscous secretion stuck in my Lacrimal caruncle each morning since August 2011, also I noticed the first signs of conjonctival irritation was on the 15th October 2011 (just five days before my eyes started hurting while I was watching TV) when I was reading a novel and I felt a burning sensation on the part of my eyes that is hidden under the Plica Semilunaris, I go look in the mirror by turning my eyes like this:



And I noticed that the whole contour part of the conjonctiva hidden under the Plica Semilunaris is red as if it had been rubbed with sand or sandpaper or something, at the time I tough it might have been normal.

But aside from that I don't have any eye discharges or any apparent swollenness of my eyelids, my eye problems just seem to involve the conjunctiva.

There is another thread about finding a good eye doctor in Europe: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...light=baudouin

A number of people mention Prof. Christophe Baudouin at Hôpital Quinze-Vingts in Paris.

Can you get to Paris?

Good luck.

I am 400 miles away from Paris...

[Tanner]

My dry eye came on suddenly too. I am so sorry. The red veins can be from dryness. My eyes hurt and I havent' read all the replies. Stay away from visine. I think you should go to paris and see a doctor there. I don't think you are getting good advice from your doctors.

[PotatoCakes]

I found two links that might be helpful.

The first is something I found in an old thread. I skimmed it but did not read it thoroughly but it is from the Amer Optometric Assoc and another poster found it helpful:
http://www.aoa.org/documents/QRG-10A.pdf

The second is a link to a post by Rebecca (this site's founder) on 'How to get better care from your doctor':
http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...ht=list+doctor

[Rebecca Petris]

Couple of thoughts:

VISINE: As PotatoCakes said, keep away from it. To the best of my knowledge ALL of their eyedrops have benzalkonium chloride (BAK) which all dry eye patients should avoid wherever possible.

WASHING EYES OUT: Most eye washes contain BAK. Check the INACTIVE ingredients list on yours to see. In any case with any eye wash you have to keep in mind that while cleaning up it's also washing out things you actually need in your eyes so I would be inclinced to use a lubricant drop that you tolerate well afterwards.

Washing eyes out with tap water can be terribly irritating. If I washed my eyes in the shower they'd be bright red too. What I would suggest as an eyewash is preservative free saline. In the US we have Unisol 4. In the UK they have Steripods. Not sure what they have in France but ask a pharmacist.

I wouldn't be surprised if the decongestant played a big role in setting this off for you. It's a known side effect.

Finding a good doctor (or educating a doctor) is going to be really necessary. I don't think any GP can help and most GPs could inadvertently do a lot of harm to someone with dry eye by prescribing things that make it worse right at the beginning. Even with optometrists and ophthalmologists it's hard enough to find someone with the right training let alone a GP

[Alan27]

There is another thread about finding a good eye doctor in Europe: http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...light=baudouin

A number of people mention Prof. Christophe Baudouin at Hôpital Quinze-Vingts in Paris.

Can you get to Paris?

Good luck.

I can take the train, so I called to take an appointment and the secretary asked me if it was the first time and I said yes, she said in that case I need to address a letter to Christophe Baudoin detailing him my case and my problem? Never before have I had to write a letter to take an appointment...

Do you have any example of how I should write the letter and what writing style and format I should use?

Stick to preservative-free drops (typically in individual vials) like Refresh Plus, Celluvisc, Systane, etc.

Refresh Plus use a preservative:

Purite


Systane use another preservative:

Polyquad


Allergan claim that "Oxidative preservatives, such as Purite, tend to be kinder to eyes, and break down into the natural components of tears (water, oxygen and salts)." then in their section for dry eye drops recommended for lite to moderate dryness 3 products which contains Purite are listed, one of them being Refresh Plus, yet Refresh Plus is claimed to be "preservative-free and suitable for the use of scleral lenses".

Source: http://associationgeniris.free.fr/do...servateurs.pdf


Source: http://www.dryeyezone.com/encyclopedia/polyquad.html

Couple of thoughts:

VISINE: As PotatoCakes said, keep away from it. To the best of my knowledge ALL of their eyedrops have benzalkonium chloride (BAK) which all dry eye patients should avoid wherever possible.

To make matters clear I haven't actually been prescribed Visine, the one I have been prescribed is CROMOPTIC (you don't have it in the US), but it is similar to Visine as it is for allergic conjuctivitis and also contain benzalkonium chloride.

The eyewash I have been prescribed is DACRYOSERUM and it also contains benzalkonium chloride AND benzododecinium bromide.

Preservatives (such as benzododecinium bromide) irritate the eyes and benzalkonium chloride highly dries the eyes, no wonder my eyes were getting worse NOT better.

Do you think these eyedrops made irreversible harm to my eyes? Because my eyes were fine back in October 2011, all I had was a tiny red vein on the left eye from forcing myself to watch too much TV despite my eyes stinging, that's all.

Right now I dropped everything except GEL LARME of Laboratoires Théa

Here is the list of eyedrops I have been prescribed so far:

NUTRIVISC (contains benzalkonium chloride)

DACRYOSERUM (contains benzalkonium chloride and benzododecinium bromide)

OPTICROM (contains benzalkonium chloride)

CROMOPTIC (contains benzalkonium chloride)

GEL-LARMES

VISMED

CELLUVISC

I wouldn't be surprised if the decongestant played a big role in setting this off for you. It's a known side effect.

May it go away eventually like it did last time in 2009?

Right now the contour of my eyes are filled with red veins and red/pink irritated spots, but it doesn't hurt to use the computer (17" screen) or do anything else. My next Ophtalmologist appointment is not until the 22 February, I have been straining/tiring my eyes and irritating them for 3 months taking totally worthless and harmfull eyedrops, that contains products that either irritate, corrode, dry-up the eyes are toxic to the eye and damage the eye by breaking down cell membranes. So should I just hold off from putting anything in my eyes until I go to my next appointment to a new Ophtalmologist in 27 days?

What about these two products:

http://www.spectrum-thea.co.uk/Apps/...nt.aspx?fid=12

http://www.spectrum-thea.co.uk/Apps/...nt.aspx?fid=39

?

[PotatoCakes]

Refresh Plus contains (active) Carboxymethylcellulose sodium and (inactive) calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, purified water, sodium chloride and sodium lactate. The box also says it may contain hydrochloric acide and /or sodium hydroxide to adjust pH.
Nothing about Purite.

http://www.refreshbrand.com/html/consumer/_prodPlus.asp

Are you looking at the ingredients for the regular Refresh? (the regular bottle does have preservatives). I believe it's similar with Systane, although I don't have a box handy. It's important to get the individual-use vials because those are the ones that are preservative-free (thus, individual-use). Commercial, multi-use products contain some sort of preservative, although some contain a 'disappearing' preservative, such as Genteal Gel. Some people can tolerate the disappearing preservatives more than others. I like Genteal Gel (found in a tube, not a dropper) when I need a little extra although I try not to use it often because I'm very sensitive to preservatives.

I, personally, would stick to using preservative-free drops but perhaps drop everything else until you see your doctor, especially anything that causes a lot of burning and stinging. It is important to keep your eyes moisturized; not doing so can cause more damage. When I first started seeing a specialist, he told me to use preservative-free drops on the hour. I had some corneal abrasions, in part because my eyes, at times, were numb to the dryness. I was only using drops when I thought I needed them but I needed them a lot more than I realized.

Couple of things you might try in addition to preservative-free drops:
- Ditto Rebecca, saline.
- Warm, NOT hot, compresses. This may or may not help but it may be worth a try for some temporary relief. I filled a sock with rice, microwave it for 30 seconds and then wrap it in a warm, wet washcloth then lay down with it over my eyes for about 10 minutes. It is very important not to get it too warm. It may feel like it isn't warm enough after some time but it's probably warmer than you think. The skin on your eyelids is extremely delicate and you don't want to burn them. Warmth will get the lipid layer moving.
- Cool compresses. I know, it seems weird that I'd say warm compresses and follow it with cold but if inflammation is an issue for you, cool compresses can help. One of my doctors suggested using green tea bags. Just wet them under cool water, squeeze excess out, lay down and place them over your eyelids for 5-10 minutes.
- Drink sufficient levels of water.
- Consider taking fish oil, flaxseed or both. If you have MGD (common for dry eye sufferers), this may help you. Check with your doctor before you do this because it's risky for a small amount of the population. Also, work your way into it; it's not uncommon for people to experience stomach problems if they take a lot to start. I take approx 4 fish oil capsules and 2 flaxseed when traveling; at home I take 2 tablespoons of Barlean's. You may need different quantities but my doctor recommends over 1000 mg a day for me.
- Limit or eliminate caffeine, sugar and alcohol. You may not want to or be able to eliminate all of them completely (I haven't) but if possible, limiting your intake of those three may help alleviate some of your symptoms. Even if it doesn't, it's not an action that will hurt you.
- Get enough sleep. It's not always possible but like a lot of things, lack of sleep seems to contribute to drier eyes. It can make the difference between a bad day and a really bad day.
- Here's a good thread on nighttime dryness if that's an issue for you http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...ighlight=night

[magoo]

Alan, it looks like Gel Larmes also contains Benzalkonium Chloride, unless you are using the form of it in individual vials. The truly preservative-free drops come in individual vials. I use Systane drops. I don't know if this is available in France but it seems to be a good one to start with.

[Alan27]

Alan, it looks like Gel Larmes also contains Benzalkonium Chloride, unless you are using the form of it in individual vials. The truly preservative-free drops come in individual vials. I use Systane drops. I don't know if this is available in France but it seems to be a good one to start with.

Hi Magoo,

Gel-Larmes (at least the one I am using) is the single-drop preservative-free version, it doesn't seem to irritate my eyes. They don't sell Systane in France.

[Alan27]

I went to a new Ophtalmologist, she tested to see how dry my eyes were and she told me that they were a little dry but it was nothing atrocious, she also said that I had a little conjunctivitis. So she prescribed me a treatment to take for 3 months which consist of GEL-LARMES (preservative free) to use for 3 months twice a day (morning and night) and ZALERG (preservative free) to use for 3 months twice a day (morning and night), so how should I do it? I tried it once I instilled ZALERG and 5 minutes later I instilled GEL-LARMES, is that how I should do it?

Basically GEL-LARMES is to be used for dry eyes/problems with the protective film and ZALERG is to be used for "seasonal" allergic conjunctivitis.

Here are some infos on ZALERG:

http://afssaps-prd.afssaps.fr/html/p..._zabak_par.pdf

[Alan27]

Okay so far I have been diagnosed with a small conjunctivitis and minimal dry eyes by one Ophtalmologist, been taking treatment for that from 20 days now, feels better actually. And I have been diagnosed with a lower bilateral Blepharitis with bad quality protective film by another Ophtalmologist today and prescribed another treatment today involving applying a hot bath glove on my closed eyes for two minutes, rubbing the eyelids to get the irritation agent out of the eyelids and putting an anti-irritation eye drop afterward.

What is the cause of all this? Dry eyes?