My EYEZ

[jim220]

Hello Everybody!
I am a new member here but I have been reading posts here for quite a while and I felt like sharing my story with you and I hope some of you might benefit from it.

I am 25 now and started having a problem with my eyes 5 years ago. The past 4 & 1/2 years of my life have been hell. A single day did not pass without me having pain and my eyez were always bloodshot (24/7) and that killed my social life. My GPA went down from 3.6 to 2.4 so I had to take a year and half off from school. Nothing in the world alleviated my symptoms. I used lotemax, patanol, Doxy. , restasis ( which I had a very bad reaction to) and the list goes on. I gratuated with a MS in computer science last spring and did not bother to apply for a job because my DES and computers don't really get along. I had been to 8 opthmologists. 5 diagnosed me with allergic conjunctivitis and 3 diagnosed me with dry eyes. one of them said I have MGD and others just said I have DES without explaining to me whether it is evaporitive dry eye or a deficient lacmirial gland.
Here is the stuff you want to hear . In the past 6 months my symptoms have improved by 80% and here is the 4 things I did that made my eyes really really good:

1. Punctal plugs: When I had those plugs I did not notice any immediate improvement it took about 4 months to notice the difference and to those guys who just got plugged, please be patient they take some time to work because I think your eyes take a while to heal but honestly my ocular surface is a lot better and it seems like it healed almost completely and it is still healing.

2. Quit smoking CIGARETTES: I started smoking when when I was 17 and until recently I quit smoking and guess what, the day I quit my eyez felt better and I think all the inflammations I had in my eyez were because of cigarette smoke. So, if you smoke and your eyez are inflamed, do your eyez a big favor and quit smoking, it is really worth is. When I am around people who smoke I almost get those old symptoms back, my eyes burn and they get bloodshot. GUYS, I am really wondering if smoking causes dry eyes.

3. I went to an accupuncturist and I had six sessions with him and after the last session I felt some difference. I think accupuncture helps with inflammation because I felt that my eyez are less hot now.

4. I stopped using all my eye drops (I am not recommanding this to anybody) but I really had to break that cycle of dependcy on drugs and to me, that was the best thing I ever did for my eyez. I have not used a single drop since december 2005. I trashed all the crap.

Anyways, I am not saying I am totally cured but my eyez are much much better and I really feel what all of you are going through and I hope everybody will get much better. and again, pleaze do yourself a favor and quit smoking and you will notice the difference


JIM

[calli66]

Hi Jim and welcome!

4. I stopped using all my eye drops (I am not recommanding this to anybody) but I really had to break that cycle of dependcy on drugs and to me, that was the best thing I ever did for my eyez.

I went for years (since about 1988 I think) using plain saline to moisten my dry eyes (and contact lenses). Daytime wasn't too bad, but nighttime I woke up 5-6 times to put saline in. I think I was addicted to it--like you said, a cycle of dependency. I only stopped because my eyes got DRASTICALLY dry about a year ago. Then the Drops, all kinds, Rx and OTC. I'm still dependent on gel and drops at night. And, as you say---when I overuse them--my eyes feel worse. All that liquid upsets the tear balance. But the idea of giving them up makes me really nervous.

Glad to hear you're doing better!

C66

[jim220]

Dependecy

Hello Calli66,
Thanks for replying, yeah, I know what you mean by being nervous. Honestly, I first thought I would not get off these medications and my whole life just depend on them. You may not believe what I am about to say, but when I stopped using these medication I stayed home for like 4 days straight and I did not even get out of the house. I was very nervous but guess what, I started noticing that my eyez got better. I did not dare to throw them in the trash can until like 2 months later after I stopped using them. It is just like that, I really did not need them and they made my eyez much worse. Anyways, I hope you will get better. Yeah, about gel and drops, I don't know why I always felt foreign bodies in my eyez when I use Gel and the artificial drops always made my eyez feel much drier .

Jim220

[shells]

Hi Jim!

Welcome to Dry Eye Talk! Great to hear that you are feeling so much better, and thanks for sharing with us! It is so encouraging to hear of people getting relief! There has been alot of talk lately in another thread about dry eye and cigarette smoking, so I'm sure that the others that are trying to quit will find your post very encouraging.

About your plugs...do you still have them now? Are you only plugged in your lowers? I'm currently experimenting with plugs and did not get much relief from the dissolvable 90-day ones, and I think my next step is going to be the permanent ones with the little cap on them so I can keep track of them. It is great to hear that you got relief from them, even though it wasn't immediate. Anyway, I just wanted to say welcome, and I'm happy to hear about your recent progress!

-Shelley

[jim220]

Plugs

Hi Shelley!
Thanks and I hope you get better too. Yeah, about the plugs, I had all 4 ducts plugged and about 3 months ago, the upper plug in my right eye just disappeared, I went back to the doctor and he told me it had fallen out. Anyways, he offered me to replace it, but I refused because my right eye was feeling good even it only had one plug and my left eye sometime gets flooded especially when i go outside and it is cold. And yeah, it takes sometime to see some result, I was really patient and I left them there anyways because I was like, it make no difference because they don't bother me . but 4 months later, I noticed the difference and I got off artificial tears completely and my eyez felt more moisturized. What I like about plugs is that my morning symptoms are completely gone. I used to wake up with bloodshot eyez and a very bad burning sensation. I also used to feel like there is sand in my eyez but not any more. Good luck with your plugs and please, again be patient because I think eyez heal very slowly for some reason


Jim

[jcorbett]

I can relate to what jim200 says about morning dry eyes. I have one plug in my right eye. During the day, I sometimes notice that eye is slightly moister, but nothing real significant. But mornings that eye is noticeably better than the unplugged one. If that plug ever falls out, I will see if I can go without it. But for now, I don't even know it's there, so it can stay.

[untkicker29]

jim220,
I was wondering what was the cause of your dry eye? I have dry eye because of the drug Accutane and have been dealing with it for about 13 months now.
You said you improved 80%. What exactly does that say about how you feel? Do you still feel dry eye symptoms?
I would love to reach a point where I didnt have to think about my eyes 24/7!!!!

[sazy123]

Hi yea like untkicker siad it would be interesting to know the cause, because if its just your lifestlye that was effecting your eyes (smoking etc) and it just appeared-got worse, then it would make sense that stopping smoking etc would help, unfortuantely i have tried everything you have suggested and more, 1 year on i have had not much improvement (not the improvement i want anyway), i never smoked much in the first place however. But in my case, I hate to think it but where my dry eye was caused by medication I think it may be abit more permanent (intervention is needed). I hate the thought! .

[jim220]

The cause!

Hi yea like untkicker siad it would be interesting to know the cause, because if its just your lifestlye that was effecting your eyes (smoking etc) and it just appeared-got worse, then it would make sense that stopping smoking etc would help, unfortuantely i have tried everything you have suggested and more, 1 year on i have had not much improvement (not the improvement i want anyway), i never smoked much in the first place however. But in my case, I hate to think it but where my dry eye was caused by medication I think it may be abit more permanent (intervention is needed). I hate the thought! .

Hi Sazy
Well, about the cause of my dry eyez, I don't know what caused it. It happened all of the sudden. Or it might be related to extensive computer use. I went to school and graduated with a degree in computer science but did not bother to apply for a job because my eyez has not reached that point where I can really tolerate to work on a computer all day but I hope that I will be able to do that soon.

Jim

[Amy09]

i have a couple questions for you jim. first of all, you said you eyes were better when you stopped using drops altogether. what kinds of drops did you use? did the ones you use have perservatives in them? until I went to a dry eye specialist, I was using over the counter eye drops (as directed by an eye doctor! ) and it actually dried out my eyes more. the last time i used the perservative eye drops was almost two years ago. i now use drops with no perservatives and things are going much better with them.

2nd question- can you explain more about the accupuncture??? i am definately willing to try this if it helped you like you said. where did they put the accupuncture needles? was it expensive? what did they say the accupuncture was helping with?

i'm glad things are going so much better for you, and i hope they continue to improve and that you can finally get a job.

[jim220]

Answers

i have a couple questions for you jim. first of all, you said you eyes were better when you stopped using drops altogether. what kinds of drops did you use? did the ones you use have perservatives in them? until I went to a dry eye specialist, I was using over the counter eye drops (as directed by an eye doctor! ) and it actually dried out my eyes more. the last time i used the perservative eye drops was almost two years ago. i now use drops with no perservatives and things are going much better with them.

Hi Amy, well, I used all kinda drops ranging from over the counter(i.e refresh plus, Genteal, refresh ointment. in other words all those you see on the shelf when you go to Rite Aid or any other drug store). Prescriptions, such as patanol, alrex, Restasis, Lotemax etc.). None of those drops helped my conditions. I never had good luck with artificial tears because they all made my eyez worse in terms of burning and foreign body sensation. I am emphasizing this again, I am not recommanding you to stop using you medications. I did what I did because I did not get any relief fromt them and I got tired of flooding my eyez with those drops and see no results.

2nd question- can you explain more about the accupuncture??? i am definately willing to try this if it helped you like you said. where did they put the accupuncture needles? was it expensive? what did they say the accupuncture was helping with?

Yeah, about accupuncture, well give it a shot. And they don't hurt . My accupuncturist put them in my feet, legs, hands, arms and face. One in each foot, 2 in each leg( one in the middle between my knee and my foot and the other one is very close to the knee). a needle in each hand between the thumb and index finger. One in each arm ( very close to the elbow). The face part had the most needles. A needle above each eyebrow ( exactly in the middle). One in between the eyebrows. One in each cheeck ( close to the nose). And One in each side of the face ( close to your ears). About the cost, it costed me about $50 a session. They said that the accupuncture helps with improving the blood circulation in the eyes and it also helps with the inflammation. I hope I answered all your questions.

i'm glad things are going so much better for you, and i hope they continue to improve and that you can finally get a job.

I hope you do the same and get well very soon

[dianat]

Jim,

One quick suggestion I have for you since you are a computer guy...

Situate your monitor low on your desk somehow...or I suppose adjust your chair so it is higher. That way you are looking down at your computer screen and your eyes will be more closed helping to preserve exposure of your eye.

[jim220]

Jim,

One quick suggestion I have for you since you are a computer guy...

Situate your monitor low on your desk somehow...or I suppose adjust your chair so it is higher. That way you are looking down at your computer screen and your eyes will be more closed helping to preserve exposure of your eye.

Thanks dianat, I will try it and see what happens and it really makes a lot of sense .