New member - Problem with computer work - Eye fatigue & poor vision

[Mathias]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and I hope I will find some help for my problems.

I've worked on computer for around 10 years (I was already a heavy user before that ) and in the last around 3 years I got more & more problems with eye fatigue, way more than my friends experience in a similar situation. Even if I do my best with 15 seconds pauses every 10 minutes: I roll my eyes, watch farther, move them top to bottom and/or left to right... and I take a 10 minutes pause every 60 to 90 minutes. On the computer, I reduced the contrast & use a warm setting on the screen and I also use F.lux.

I consulted a doctor a couple of times, I have dry eyes and he prescribed some drops but it did not help much until now, I tried: Tears Naturale, Genteal, Systane Ultra, Systane Balance & Systane Gel Drops.
With the last ones I was a bit better but I was overusing them I believe (every 60-90 minutes) and they have two inconvenients: They're a bit too wet for the first 10 minutes and vision is blurred because the eyes are just too teary. The second is that it's very sticky and eyelashes become very dirty.

I take some Omega 3 (fish oil) and bought a pair of new glasses that are designed for computer use (Hoya BlueControl) but it did not help.

Gradually my vision got poorer, I have difficulties to finish my work days mainly later in the week, it now affects my regular reading, cellphone is harder to read too and even TV is a bit tiresome for the eyeys sometimes. On the computer, I need bigger fonts (zoom & fonts settings are already pretty high), image are unclear and I have the impression to just see less well, mainly late in the day where it's sometimes blurred. I will consult my doctor again but I'd like to try to find solutions on my side.

I've taken antihistamines for years, it probably does not help.

Any tips are welcome.

[Mathias]

Did you experience deteriorating eyeseight because of dry eyes (like seeing smaller, growing difficulties focusing...)? If yes, did you adapt your eyeglass?

I wonder if it would help as it gradually gets worse, I mean, I won't change eyeglasses every 2-4 months. :/

[elliemee]

Have you tried putting a blue light blocking screen on your computers/phone? I recently put on on my phone and this on my laptop. I want to get an actual screen for my laptop also. It seems to help me. https://justgetflux.com/ It also helps stop disruption of melatonin production when reading at night.

[Mathias]

Hi, thanks for your answer. Yes I use F.Lux but it does not seem to help. My main problem is really dry eyes of some sorts I believe, it "just" makes eye fatigue worse and now I have the same problem for other activities and I can't focus long, have difficulties reading small stuff...

Regarding this, I've been referred to another doctor who prescribed me Fluorometholone & Celluvisc for one month. It's not much better after one week but I keep hope.

For those interested, Eyeleo is a good complement for it is to remind to take breaks.

[elliemee]

Hi, thanks for your answer. Yes I use F.Lux but it does not seem to help. My main problem is really dry eyes of some sorts I believe, it "just" makes eye fatigue worse and now I have the same problem for other activities and I can't focus long, have difficulties reading small stuff...

Regarding this, I've been referred to another doctor who prescribed me Fluorometholone & Celluvisc for one month. It's not much better after one week but I keep hope.

For those interested, Eyeleo is a good complement for it is to remind to take breaks.

You're welcome :-) I think maybe a real screen will work better. I'm looking for one that fits my laptop. On my phone it seems to work better. I also notice my eyes get very dry at the laptop and I have a lot of similar issues as you do.

Is celluvisc an rx lubricant? I haven't hear of it before but it seems to have the same ingredient as some otc lubricants. I haven't heard of Fluorometholone either but I looked it up and found out it's a steroid. I used a steroid drop diluted in a very low dose for 2 years and that was the only thing that helped me significantly. I had pretty bad inflammation and upper eyelid swelling when I started on it and it calmed down after 2-3 months a lot. I think zaditor drops which I'm using now is having a similar effect but I think it also makes me feel dopey and anxious like a lot of those antihistamines do. I'm using oflaxicin drops now for a scratch from removing contacts lenses that got stuck in my eyes. It's an antibiotic and it seems to dry my eyes out a bit an make them itchy too.

When I was first developing dry eye it started out like conjuctivitis and I fully expected it to go away. My regular eye doc told me to use baby shampoo, which I stupidly did and it made me much worse. She refused to give me an rx drop but I ended up going to the on call doc on the weekend a week or two later when things got worse and he said it was blepharitis and rxed an antibiotic/steroid ointment which helped a lot. He also said to wash my eyelids with ocusoft eye scrubs and do warm compresses. But then it just became a chronic thing which got worse and worse with various other disease processes going on which were undiagnosed.

You're in the early stages and I hope yours clears up completely... I would stay off the computer as much as possible and see if this helps you. Maybe get the computer orange glasses- they block blue light also. Tranquil eyes have helped me a lot as well as fresh kote drops, hylo- forte and now zaditor. I also wear motorcycle goggles a lot and sleep with a humidifier at night.

I looked at eyeleo they don't have a mac platform so I can't use it.. it looks good.

[Mathias]

Hi, I don't know if Celluvisc is RX sorry.

The steroid is to try regenerate the eye as he explained me, he said it may be too late as the earlier the better but it's worth trying.

I don't know if I'm at early stages, hope it'll get better too, it gradually (and quickly) got worse in the last months sadly and I cannot stay off computer as my work is all on it.

Does the humidifier help?

Thanks a lot again for your answers!