Tweet
I've found myself doing a lot of research on various symptoms I've been experiencing for a few months now. Dry eye is just the latest in a stream of issues I've been plagued with since Aug. 2011. It started with a spike in blood pressure during a very stressful time. The vision problems started immediately upon taking the first round of BP meds, Benicar HCT -- within a couple of hours my vision blurred and I had trouble focusing. I refused to take the medication again and asked the doctor to switch me to something else. Several meds and 2 doctors later, I got the BP stabilized, went back on estrogen (I had panicked and gone off HRT following BP spike and an irregular mammogram result). When I went to my optometrist for yearly exam, he found a significant change in vision since last year, and recommended I see an opthamologist because he thought I had a narrow channel for drainage which could lead to glaucoma -- laser iridotomy? Doing some research, I read about hydrochlorothiazide and vision issues, so I took it upon myself to go off that particular med. There was some relief within a couple of days. Finally, I saw an opthamologist last month, and will return for follow-up next week. She said I had severe dry eyes -- they looked like a sandy beach! She's going to do another glaucoma test next week, something different than last month's test. The Systane Ultra High Performance drops, almost hourly, seems to help but I'm still blurry. The nighttime ointment version leaves my eyes feeling like they've been scratched. It gets better as the day wears on but I don't like it! Help!
-
-
From what I understand if your eyes get better as the day goes on you have MGD but if your eyes get worse you have aquaus defficient. -
Anna64 did you have the iridotomy?Comment
-
I don't know too much about Systane because I've never tried it, but make sure you're using a preservative-free version. Especially if you're using it so frequently. Preservatives in some eyedrops cna make your eyes worse. I use hylocare (think this is the same as hycosan plus), sometimes hycosan extra, and thealoz. These all seem to help me. The best night ointment I've used (only been on it for around a month) is xailin night.
Like Tanner says above, I've been told MDG likely when your eyes feel worse in the mornings. I have this, but suspect I also have another form of dry eye becasue my eyes get worse in the evenings. Are you doing the compresses/eyebag? And lid scrubs. I was using baby shampoo but someone here kindly suggested some better alternatives (sorry, I wrote them down but haven't got them to hand. I'll post back when I find the names if someone doesn't get there first).
Be aware that if you do have glaucoma, some of the drops they use can make dry eye worse. I think you can get preservative free drops - but guessing these are more expensive as people have to specifically request these. Perhaps you should look into this so you can go in prepared (I keep failing to assert myself whenever I see eye doctors but hopefully you'll fare better than me).Comment
Comment