RCE's for 45 years

[gja]

I have had RCE's for 45 years. Of late they are much worse. Corneal specialist did the "scrapping" on one eye and I wore a clear contact for 2 weeks while it healed.
I'm still having trouble. Very little sleep. Use Refresh PM or Genteal at night. Refresh drops during day. Wear mask at night. It's very tough to get any sleep. I guess I'm not alone out there. Amazing to read this blog.

Liz suggested dietary changes that might help. Any suggestions?

[mgshutterbug]

What a survivor you are!

gja,
I truly don't know how you have dealt with all this for so many years. My hat is off to you! Maybe you can provide me with some new ways of coping, give me a new perspective.

Re: your RCEs - from what you've written, I'm not clear re: whether you are using ointment at nite, or gel drops, or regular drops. Which are you using? What has helped to keep my RCEs down, is the use of ointment. That is the only thing that keeps me from having erosions. My eyes are bone dry. I developed an extremely severe form of DES from complications from a surgery for trigeminal neuralgia. My old corneal specialist did have some positive attributes, including starting me on Muro drops and ointment. Do you use drops during the day? Do you use moisture chamber glasses? They are glasses with special inserts that block the wind, and drying air from your eyes. They do a pretty good job of keeping the moisture in. You can look in the Dry Eye Shop on this website. Rebecca has a nice selection of various moisture chamber glasses.

I'm glad you found this website. You'll find everyone supportive, and the sharing of experiences helps increase our knowledge on this condition. Also, check out Rebecca's blogs and Dry Eye Bulletin. She posts about current research being done.

[neve]

Welcome to the forum!

I know that you will find lots of great information here as well as amazing people that can completely understand and commiserate. I too suffer from RCE and have been diagnosed with map-dot-fingerprint, along with other things. My routine is Muro drops 4 X daily and Muro ointment at night. I use Systane Balance Restorative drops once or twice a day only, mainly because they get my eyes too gummy if used more. The Muro is the one and only thing that helps me to feel human and it does prevent erosions for me *knock on wood!* I will be starting Restasis shortly.

I don't know much about dietary changes. I do take flaxseed oil gelcaps which may or may not help. Don't know yet. But it seems that fish oil or flaxseed oil is usually recommended for dry eye conditions.

Anyway, no, you are not alone! Do you know why your erosions are getting worse lately? I am sorry to hear that you have had to suffer like that for so many years. Hoping that you can find something to make your life easier!!

Talk soon-

Neve