hello everybody

[angelicab]

Probably shouldve introduced myself before posting a reply.. oops not very good at this. been watching the posts for a while too chicken to get involved.

I was diagnosed june 2009 with dry eye associated with ocular rosacea. didnt realise I had a problem till severe eye infection resulted in painful light sensitive corneal ulcers which were twice misdiagnosed as 'iritis' by my doctor,resulting in permanent damage to my eyesight.
after antibiotic treatment for the infection was advised to use hot compresses twice a day plus preservative free tear drops, and lacrilube at night to prevent recurrence.
this year the condition has worsened so that I needed to put artificial tears in every 20 mins.The opthalmologist said that even if I follow the cleansing regime drops etc a recurrence is inevitable!! and to increase the cleansing to 4 times per day, (which is so convenient!)
I reached a very low point , considered taking my own life. the pressure of trying to prevent another ulcer was intolerable.
As a visual artist and photographer, the impact on my quality of life has been huge. I now need glasses and shades after having perfect eyesight all my life.
This may I was given punctal plugs which helped a bit. the drops prescribed to me now, hylo-forte are the best Ive tried and, believe me, I have tried a lot. I take vitamin supplements and omega 3/ flaxseed oil at the minute im trying the areds formula
I use lacrilube at night but its uncomfortable and nights are hard.
If it looks like my eye is red or irritated I know its really important to try to prevent another ulcer from forming as it can happen really quick.. the last one developed while in the eye emergency waiting room. to help with this I use prednisolone 0.5% drops to stop the eye from overreacting.
Im now trying to follow the advice of my eye consultant (you'll just have to get used to it)... sensitivity and empathy not being their strong point... and trying to reach a point of acceptance. Im in training to be a psychotherapist.
thanks for listening

best advice Ive found apart from your good selves is good hope eye dept www.goodhope.org.uk

[Súil Eile]

Welcome Angelicab!

I can't imagine what kind of impact your eyes must have on your career that's based so much on vision! It's so disheartening when your eyes impact your life to than extent. Congrats on your new career as a psychotherapist! I hope it goes really well for you.

I'm another 'every 20 mins' eye drop user. Doctors just don't appreciate the inconvenience of using single dose unit vials all day, or having to use compresses every few hours. But I could handle the lack of empathy if they could diagnose me

Acceptance is such a huge thing...and I know I struggle with it at times. Maybe your training will give you a new strength to deal with it.

Hope you have a good eye day today

[rooneyandfergie]

Hi Angelicab,

I am in the IT line of work myself and I know the kind of effect that dry eye can have on your career. I am in the midst of trying to deal with it as well which has been a difficult battle which i have never really overcome.

I use tons of drops as well especially when I am in the office. It's never really very effective. None of the drops seem to work very well. My eyes are still red, discomfortable and itchy. Some of the doctors i have seen seem to be like ' oh you got dry eyes, have you tried using artificial tears' or ' just use artificial tears more often'.

I have experienced the low point you talked about many times. It's so frustrating that you are in so much pain but there's no real effective treatment for it. The low point is a big part of dry eye syndrome i guess. Doctors are sometimes not very understanding of how draining it can be on a person and the impact on the quality of life.

The website you posted is great. seems very informative. i hope you find success with your training to become a psychotherapist.