My Story

[Hope4Johni]

Dry eyes started August 2012.

At first had lots of new floaters then eyes felt dry. Had never had dry eyes before. Long time RGP contact lens wearer (44 yrs). Never even had to use eye drops. Had gotten a booster shot for Dtap a couple of weeks before my first symptoms. Think there may be a connection since it happened so suddenly. Think my immune system was stirred up and attacked my eyes. Will never know for sure.

Other likely factors include:
Post-menopausal woman with hot flashes
Was very hypothyroid but am not getting back to normal (Hashimoto's)
Blepharitis/meibomitis
Long-term contact lens wearer
Was on computer a lot not so much now

Have been taking doxycycline monohydrate 50 mg and just finished a week of AzaSite. Eyelids have improved a lot. Dr. wants me to do AzaSite once a week for 6 months. Anyone ever heard of that? How can I do that without breaking the bank when the AzaSite only lasts for 14 days? If I can get eyelids cleared up Dr. will let me try Restasis.

In addition, I am extremely nearsighted with astigmatism so my glasses are very thick and I can't see that well out of them. Should not wear eye makeup because of eyelid problem. At first was very upset about my appearance, but now just want my eyes to be comfortable.

Had some low blood sugar episodes from not eating often so I have been eating more healthy and more often and walking the treadmill almost every day for 30 minutes.


This has affected the quality of my entire life. I stay at home where I can control the environment as I live in a cold weather climate and the dry heat really bothers me. I sleep in a room with the air vents closed. Sometimes have to go to bed really early just to close my eyes.

I don't understand why everything with this disease takes so long before you know if there is improvement but I do have hope.

[gormz]

Has your doctor looked under your eyelids for GPC (giant papillary conjunctivitis)? If your tear levels are normal that might be a good place to look, especially since youve worn contacts for so long.

[marsupial32]

Having had dry eye for 19 months I have gone through many OTC drops none of which worked for any length of time. After 6 months of treatment by incompetent ophthalmologists at a large HMO in Los Angeles I finally diagnosed the problem myself with the help of "Dr. Google" and this website--Meibomian Gland Dysfunction. I tried the Lipflow treatment at UCLA last summer and my eye got a lot better over 2 months then it started to get worse again. It cost just over $1000 not covered by insurance. Finally this past January I got into a PPO health plan & went to a very good doctor. He sent me to the Doheny Eye Institute where the doctor prescribed autologous serum eye drops (ASED) made from my own blood. March 11 I had the blood draw & the next day I got my drops at the pharmacy. It is a simple procedure, but expensive & not covered by isurance.I am happy to say IT WORKED! All the other medicines I had tried--antibiotics, pred forte, durazol,etc. all contained BAK, a preservative, which caused even more pain & inflammation. Even Restasis was intolerable probably due to the castor oil. None of these drops has what your own serum has: vitaminA, growth factor, wound healing factors, antibacterial substances, lipids, anti inflammatories and the serum is of course non allergenic. I had results in a matter of hours, not weeks or months. My redness disappeared,swollen lid became normal,itching and blurred vision stopped, and best of all I could wear eye makeup again! The serum is diluted with saline to various percentages determined by your doctor--mine is 50 % as my dry eye was rather severe. I use the drops 4x a day in both eyes (even though only one eye is affected) The blood draw was $130 and the compounding pharmacy was $265 for a 3 month supply of drops (14 small bottles) Sounds like a lot of $$ but over 19 months I'm sure I spent nearly that amount on useless prescriptions & numerous copays to doctors, to say nothing of the damage to my quality of life. I am post menopausal, use transdermal hormones and have worn contacts for 30 years. What caused my eye condition I don't know;it might be the use of Spiriva for 6 years as it causes dry mouth, throat,nose--dry everything. I did come across a few cases of dry eye mentioned in articles. One other thing I tried last summer was a 3% transdermal testosterone cream prescribed by my endocrinologst. It did not do much good. I have heard that the drop form stings the eyes so I never investigated them-- now I don't have to. The ASED have been around since the 1980s and have come back into use in the past few years.That is probably why most doctors don't know about them. If you decide to give serum a try read up on it and be sure to have a reputable lab do the work as regulations vary & the procedures must be done under sterile conditions.