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Hi All,
I'm new to this forum. I believe I read about it in Dr. Latkany's book, which I bought when I realized that the doctors I visited weren't taking my problem seriously and couldn't give me an explanation as to what was happening.
My dry eye problem started a year ago. Perhaps there were a number of factors that contributed to it, I don't know for sure. It was cold and dry, I was working long hours at the computer and I also started wearing contact lenses at work b/c I felt I could see better this way. Prior to that I was mostly wearing glasses to work and wore contact lenses on the weekends.
One day I noticed some redness in my right eye that didn't seem to go away. I had a check up with my optometrist and asked her whether I could still wear contact lenses. She said that redness around my eyes suggested I had blepharitis. She said that contact lenses weren't an issue and that I had the best contact lens on the market--I was wearing Day and Night at the time though I was not sleeping in them. She also prescribed Alrex for a couple of weeks to reduce the inflammation.
About a month later, I started getting intense pain in my eyes during work, to the point that I couldn't keep my eyes open. It became clear that contact lenses were contributing to it though they never bothered me before except for occasional tearing and styes, which I thought were normal. I stopped wearing them completely and went to see a different doctor.
By the time I saw the doctor, my eyes became covered in very enlarged and prominent red blood vessels going across both of my eyes. Despite not wearing contact lenses, both the redness and the pain kept getting worse. This doctor gave me a list of over-the-counter drops I should try. As for the blood vessels, he said they rarely go away. The drops didn't help and I was getting extremely depressed, so I found an ophthalmologist in the area who did lid expressions. She said she could help me. A few days after the visit, my eyes were feeling a bit better. She also prescribed Lotemax to reduce the inflammation, but it did nothing. In a few weeks, the burning and the pain returned.
At the beginning of March, I found Dr. Latkany's book and started doing warm compresses and eyelid scrubs. Some days I would feel better, but it never felt quite right. I thought that maybe it had something to do with my computer, so I played with resolution, reduced brightness and got anti-glare screens. For a while this seems to do the trick. The pain and the burning went away, but my eyes were as red as ever. My doctor than prescribed Flurometholone for a few weeks, but I had an adverse reaction to it, so I didn't finish the entire course.
I didn't want to give up, so I found another doctor. While everyone I saw seemed to agree that I had blepharitis, they didn't know why nothing I tried was working. She tried to test me for tear production by putting little pieces of paper on my eyelids and giving me some drops, but the test failed because my eyes started tearing. It's hard to tell whether it was a reaction to the drops or the realization that no one will be able to help me. Eventually, we decided to try Doxycycline (100MG twice a day). I've been taking it for 3 months now--the burning and the redness got worse.
I'm not sure what else to do. No compresses or scrubs or prescriptions seem to make it better. I tried doing eyelid scrubs with tea tree oil shampoo and baby shampoo, and it’s not doing anything. I use GenTeal drops and other preservative free drops multiple times a day. Sometimes the symptoms seem to go away only to come back again. But even when my eyes feel better, they remain devil red, and it keeps getting worse. I can't use contact lenses at all at this point because even wearing them for a couple of hours results in immediate permanent redness. But even with glasses, the condition keeps getting worse albeit at a slower rate.
Is there anything I can try to reduce the pain and to make the blood vessels less visible? It’s been a year, and my eyes are covered in them. Even when eyes start feeling better, they never look better. I don't want to use vasoconstrictors because I know they will only make it worse in the end and I haven't been, but is there anything else that could help? The only thing that I haven't tried at this point as far as I know is Restasis and plugs. Could these do anything for me? I refuse to believe there is nothing that can be done. Could the diagnosis be incorrect? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!
I'm new to this forum. I believe I read about it in Dr. Latkany's book, which I bought when I realized that the doctors I visited weren't taking my problem seriously and couldn't give me an explanation as to what was happening.
My dry eye problem started a year ago. Perhaps there were a number of factors that contributed to it, I don't know for sure. It was cold and dry, I was working long hours at the computer and I also started wearing contact lenses at work b/c I felt I could see better this way. Prior to that I was mostly wearing glasses to work and wore contact lenses on the weekends.
One day I noticed some redness in my right eye that didn't seem to go away. I had a check up with my optometrist and asked her whether I could still wear contact lenses. She said that redness around my eyes suggested I had blepharitis. She said that contact lenses weren't an issue and that I had the best contact lens on the market--I was wearing Day and Night at the time though I was not sleeping in them. She also prescribed Alrex for a couple of weeks to reduce the inflammation.
About a month later, I started getting intense pain in my eyes during work, to the point that I couldn't keep my eyes open. It became clear that contact lenses were contributing to it though they never bothered me before except for occasional tearing and styes, which I thought were normal. I stopped wearing them completely and went to see a different doctor.
By the time I saw the doctor, my eyes became covered in very enlarged and prominent red blood vessels going across both of my eyes. Despite not wearing contact lenses, both the redness and the pain kept getting worse. This doctor gave me a list of over-the-counter drops I should try. As for the blood vessels, he said they rarely go away. The drops didn't help and I was getting extremely depressed, so I found an ophthalmologist in the area who did lid expressions. She said she could help me. A few days after the visit, my eyes were feeling a bit better. She also prescribed Lotemax to reduce the inflammation, but it did nothing. In a few weeks, the burning and the pain returned.
At the beginning of March, I found Dr. Latkany's book and started doing warm compresses and eyelid scrubs. Some days I would feel better, but it never felt quite right. I thought that maybe it had something to do with my computer, so I played with resolution, reduced brightness and got anti-glare screens. For a while this seems to do the trick. The pain and the burning went away, but my eyes were as red as ever. My doctor than prescribed Flurometholone for a few weeks, but I had an adverse reaction to it, so I didn't finish the entire course.
I didn't want to give up, so I found another doctor. While everyone I saw seemed to agree that I had blepharitis, they didn't know why nothing I tried was working. She tried to test me for tear production by putting little pieces of paper on my eyelids and giving me some drops, but the test failed because my eyes started tearing. It's hard to tell whether it was a reaction to the drops or the realization that no one will be able to help me. Eventually, we decided to try Doxycycline (100MG twice a day). I've been taking it for 3 months now--the burning and the redness got worse.
I'm not sure what else to do. No compresses or scrubs or prescriptions seem to make it better. I tried doing eyelid scrubs with tea tree oil shampoo and baby shampoo, and it’s not doing anything. I use GenTeal drops and other preservative free drops multiple times a day. Sometimes the symptoms seem to go away only to come back again. But even when my eyes feel better, they remain devil red, and it keeps getting worse. I can't use contact lenses at all at this point because even wearing them for a couple of hours results in immediate permanent redness. But even with glasses, the condition keeps getting worse albeit at a slower rate.
Is there anything I can try to reduce the pain and to make the blood vessels less visible? It’s been a year, and my eyes are covered in them. Even when eyes start feeling better, they never look better. I don't want to use vasoconstrictors because I know they will only make it worse in the end and I haven't been, but is there anything else that could help? The only thing that I haven't tried at this point as far as I know is Restasis and plugs. Could these do anything for me? I refuse to believe there is nothing that can be done. Could the diagnosis be incorrect? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!
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