To use eye drops or not to use eye drops

[Miriam]

I'm new here and feel kind of shy, don't know how to get started. I hope I'll do the right thing. I never felt my eyes dry until a doctor told me I have dry eyes. The only time I feel dry eys is when I use the drops he prescribed to treat them. Can someone battling the condition tell me what do dry eyes feel like so I can compare?

[spmcc]

Can someone battling the condition tell me what do dry eyes feel like so I can compare?

The Dry Eye Zone homepage has a lot of info: http://www.dryeyezone.com/.

One link off that homepage is called "Dry Eye Symptoms": http://www.dryeyezone.com/encyclopedia/symptoms.html

[bakunin]

I have dry eyes for sure (ok, 'dry eyes' is a name for a lot of different problems thar result in dry eyes). Three doctors precribed me eye drops (the kind of 'artificial tears'). But i had no improvement, probably any relief, and i got worse. So i drop the eye drops. The fourth eye doctor said that in some cases the eye drops makes thing worse. He said to me the most important thing he learned from what he called 'the pope' of dry eyes (a doctor that i don't remember the name and himself has dry eyes): investigate deeply your patient.

[Miriam]

To use eye drops or not to use eye drops

I have dry eyes for sure (ok, 'dry eyes' is a name for a lot of different problems thar result in dry eyes). Three doctors precribed me eye drops (the kind of 'artificial tears'). But i had no improvement, probably any relief, and i got worse. So i drop the eye drops. The fourth eye doctor said that in some cases the eye drops makes thing worse. He said to me the most important thing he learned from what he called 'the pope' of dry eyes (a doctor that i don't remember the name and himself has dry eyes): investigate deeply your patient.

Bakunin, your post gave me as much relief as the artificial tears and the lubricating drops for night time sleep which I use - all without preservavies which makes them more expensive ugh. Can you or anyone tell me if mentioning the brand name of the eye drops that bother me is permitted.

[Miriam]

What drops did he prescribe? Some prescrition eye drops like steroids can cause eye dryness but if you are using the wrong lubricating drop, then that can cause the dry feeling you are talking about. If you don't feel your eyes are dry then thats not a bad thing really. However, take some good quality fish oil and use some good lubricating eye drops at reasonable time intervals. Protect your eyes at night when sleeping and stay away from cold/hot air. Sunglasses also help.

I'm glad you mentioned to protect my eyes at night. I do use a kind of mask called (better not give the name till I know it's ok), but what a blessing it has been! I use it along with the lubricating eye drops for night time, and the regular so called artificial tears during the day. And this was fine for me till I started to use the one the doctor prescribed. I should mention that I had cataracts removed, and it was after the second surgery that the eye drops in question were prescribed to clear a lingering redness of the eye and the eye lids. The redness did clear up, but why having to keep on using them is my problem.

[bakunin]

Bakunin, your post gave me as much relief as the artificial tears and the lubricating drops for night time sleep which I use - all without preservavies which makes them more expensive ugh. Can you or anyone tell me if mentioning the brand name of the eye drops that bother me is permitted.

Miriam, for all i have read on this forum, i suppose it is permitted.

I tried Systane, Fresh Tears and Fresh Tears Liquigel (all made in brazil and non preservative free - i have never tried preservative free eye drops because the eye drops evaporate too fast anyway). I think my eyes are very sensitive to chemicals, or something.
And i think the whole concept behind 'artificial tears' eye drops is wrong and doesn't get the point. If most of dry eyes sufferers have this condition due to fast tear evaporation, the industry should make "anti-evaporative eye drops", not (only) "lubricant eye drops". I wish there was some "lipidic eye drop", like the lipid of the melbomian gland, for sale (or better, for free ). That' why i will try coconut oil in my eyes sooner or later. Today i bought it.

bests

[Miriam]

Bakunin, I was told by my eye doctor that I have an obstructed tear cannal by these tiny pimple-like postules which are keeping my tears from flowing into my eyes, but more likely, in my case, they may be slowing down the flow of tears because, like I said before, I don't feel the dry eye symptoms, which do appear if am sitting in a small room where a fan is on, or after staring into the computer for too long. But doesn't this happen to everyone or most people? So you may be right about tears and/or tear drops evaporate too quickly. But before trying any thing like coconut oil, shouldn't you make sure it's not going to cause an infection? As for brand names, you mention names of eye drops, I know and have used them so I know the Brand; that is, I know who makes them. Maybe that's why you didn't get in trouble....yet!

By the way, I noticed you are in or from Brazil, the land of Pele and the Girl from Ipanima:-) how nice.

[bakunin]

Bakunin, I was told by my eye doctor that I have an obstructed tear cannal by these tiny pimple-like postules which are keeping my tears from flowing into my eyes, but more likely, in my case, they may be slowing down the flow of tears because, like I said before, I don't feel the dry eye symptoms, which do appear if am sitting in a small room where a fan is on, or after staring into the computer for too long. But doesn't this happen to everyone or most people? So you may be right about tears and/or tear drops evaporate too quickly. But before trying any thing like coconut oil, shouldn't you make sure it's not going to cause an infection? As for brand names, you mention names of eye drops, I know and have used them so I know the Brand; that is, I know who makes them. Maybe that's why you didn't get in trouble....yet!

By the way, I noticed you are in or from Brazil, the land of Pele and the Girl from Ipanima:-) how nice.

Hi Miriam,
My fear about droping coconut oil in my eyes is exactly that: getting an infection. If eye drops need preservative against bacteria, i guess coconut oil should need either.

Yes, i was born and live in brazil. I was born in Rio. I'm living in little town on the coast. My house is 50m from the beach. The humidest place anyone could find do live. But this month i will move to a big town, far away from coast, much dryer, where i feel like i am on AC all day, even at home or outdoors I'm a little bit afraid about this change.

I didn't see Pele playing, but i saw Zico, in my opinion the best soccer player of the world after Pele has retired. About music, what i like most is 80's californian punk rock.

bests

[honeybeerose]

I'm new here and never heard of using coconut oil in the eyes. I did want to share though that it is a natural antibiotic / antifungal oil. There are actually a lot of natural products that do have these qualities. I've used coconut oil as a sort of mouth wash, swishing it between your teeth for a minute or so... and then spit into the trash. Keeps your mouth feeling clean for a long time. If you do it before bed you'll wake up with a clean feeling mouth.

[farmgirl]

Thanks for the tip homeybee I am going to try that as with my Sjogren's I wake up and need to sip water and in the morning I have really bad Dragon's Ass breath...F/G

As for your question Miriam:
Can someone battling the condition tell me what do dry eyes feel like so I can compare?

We are all different but the theme song we seem to play is burning, pink, bloodshot, gritty feeling, sensitivity to light (photophobic). Trust me there is no mistaking the symptoms. What is the name of the drop that he has you on which you feel is making you worse? Maybe the drops are aimed at getting rid of the pustules which you describe and are not lubricating drops at all. Chemia had really good advice...F/G

[Rebecca Petris]

Re: what dry eye feels like, Miriam, you might want to have a look at this thread where people share their worst symptom. As you can see there's a huge range. Personally... in the morning my eyes feel truly dry (like my lids are scraping across the surface) but if I'm using the computer without my sclerals, they feel like a mini hairdryer on low speed and cool temp is aimed at each eyeball. - An awful lot of people with "dry eye" have nothing resembling a "dryness" sensation though. I often talk to elderly people whose main symptom is WATERY eyes.