I thought I was crazy before I discovered this forum

[kingofthebraves]

I just found out about this forums and I am very excited to finally meet people who are dealing with the same issues I have! I thought I was going crazy with my eyes literally degenerating before I read about your stories so I’d like to share mine.

I’ve been wearing Eyeglasses since I was 12 years old and have been using eye drops (systane) for my dry eyes for more than 10 years now but until recently, these past 2 years have been extremely difficult for me. I wake up every day with a slight haze in my vision and sometimes I get the feeling that there’s something inside my eye that shouldn’t be there but rubbing it off or rinsing it with water does not help. I’ve always thought this was associated with sleeping for such a long time and that it’s normal for eyes to slowly “wake up” and get accustomed to. Whenever I’m at work my eyes would literally burn up by midafternoon to the point that I cannot get any more work done because My eyes cannot focus anymore. Strangely enough I noticed that whenever I step outside for a long drive in the afternoon I do not experience the same sensation. Same goes when I work at home for long periods of time, my eyes would just feel tired but no burning sensation at all. For the past 6 months I have seen 4 different eye optometrists and every single one of them have told me that I’m fine and my eye’s grade has not changed. Switching eye drops did not help and I even tried switching the lights at our office in the hopes that my problem is caused by the glare to no avail.

When I finally read other stories I realized that it was the air conditioner in the office that was drying up my eyes. I tested my theory for a few days of not opening the AC and it did show a remarkably improvement. I now also know why I feel so refreshed every time I sleep without the air-conditioning on. My only problem now is that I live in the Philippines which is an extremely hot and humid country and it’s almost approaching summertime! I’ve tried installing a small air cooler in the office that dispenses water along with the air via a fan and I do feel it helps but not as much as I’d want it to be. I work in front of the computer mostly around 6 hours per day and it will be extremely difficult for me to get any work done if I don’t turn the AC on.

I just want to thank each and every one of you for sharing your stories because knowing the source of my problems has dramatically increased the quality of my life! This might be a minor annoyance to some but it’s been a big problem in my life to the point that it’s always on mind 24/7. At least now I know that I should be avoiding air conditioning if unnecessary.

Does Dry eye syndrome get worse with prolonged usage of the computer? Does it get worse with age?

I am 5'7, medium build asian and I'm planning on buying goggles to put prescription lenses on. What would you guys recommend? The dustbuster medium? I have sensitive ears and I'm worried I might have trouble wearing them for a long period of time.

Also for my sleep, I need something to protect me from the air conditioning while not having to constantly change the foam on the goggles since buying from America takes up to two weeks to get to my country.

I also tried looking at the lubrication section at the store and noticed oasis tears. How does it compare to systane and cellufresh which I currently use?

[littlemermaid]

Anyone have experience of choosing wraparound prescription goggles to help KingoftheBraves? or Oasis tears v Systane?

Welcome KofB - have you found an optometrist or eye doc that you like?

I'm thinking it's important for you to take these sensible careful steps at this stage to keep your eye surfaces as good as possible, especially if you want to continue working on the computer OK - it helps very much to adjust your desk so that you are looking down on the screen, not staring straight ahead, eg by using a laptop or tablet.

Can you get high humidity at your workstation? Ironically, people are using humidifiers.

Allergies, chemicals and dust particles also become a problem as the eyes' defences are lessened by less tearing and tear film, so it helps to reduce allergens.

[kingofthebraves]

I haven't seen a doctor since I found out about my condition since every one I've seen in the past was not able to link my burning sensations with my dry eyes. Mind you I have been to some of the most reputable in my country. I'm using a mist blower for my office and I have to find a way to increase humidity more without the heat. The Philippines can be an oven especially in the summer months that's why we're all holed up in places with air conditioning lol.

Some updates:
1. I noticed that my eye problems are definitely related to my work environment as well. I work in a textile factory which has a lot of floating dust/cotton particles in the air. I've tried using baby shampoo to wash my eyes regularly through out the day and it has been marginally helpful at best.
2. I'm on my 4th week of Omega 3 and they are still holding up, I'm still experiencing problems with dry eyes but NEVER to the point that they burn/sting. I highly recommend anyone having these issues to try these as well.

What I'm trying to figure out is why eyedrops like systaine and cellufresh, which have been more than adequate for my dry eyes all throughout college and high school , are suddenly ineffective and at times even painful to apply to my eyes. I find washing my eyes with baby shampoo more effective in some occasions.

[littlemermaid]

My teenage daughter has had to switch eyedrops through the years like you - Celluvisc, saline vials, Hyloforte. The eye docs think people become sensitive to ingredients in chronic use and obviously they contribute to changing the eye surface, but we need them. Research is pursuing eydrops with a beneficial osmolarity and ingredients nearer to the human tear and tear film (see Indrep's posts) but meanwhile we have used what helps and stopped what doesn't help.

If the dilute baby shampoo eye cleaner helps at the moment, would you say, looking back, your main problem in eg college years was meibomian gland dysfunction?

Sounds like allergies to your work environment doesn't help - do you think wraparounds at work would stop that?

You have burning eyes and they haven't observed problems with the tear film, tearing, or meibomian glands?

[kingofthebraves]

Actually I am looking for good wrap around glasses that I can put prescription lenses on, still trying to read up about everything though since I will be ordering online and there is no way to know if it will fit properly. I was perfectly fine in college and only experienced severe dry eye syndrome after working for a year in the factory. Weirdest thing is that all the eye doctors I've seen told me that my eyes are very healthy and that they see no damage at all.