Terrible eye problems out of NOWHERE..age 31

[amandag2003]

I have occasionally looked at many dry eye zone posts, but was hesitant to join, because I find that often times folks who are suffering are the ones who are in these forums, and the ones who have found solutions are off living the good life and no longer seeking help or responding to posts...rightfully so.

So this post is to seek anyone out there who has found positive and successful solutions/help to eye problems...not looking for anyone to commiserate with me, but rather to say..."Try this, it worked wonders for me."

My story in short...

1 year ago- tired eye feeling slowly progressed into burning eyes, with the feeling of bruising, and foreign object sensation. It seems to have only gotten worse.

I have never worn contact lenses, and have tested negative for every autoimmune disease out there (although i know it can take several years of testing for positive results).

I am 31...my only other major health issue is severe GERD (reflux) which after years of suffering I have under control with diet.

I have tried the following:

warm compress (little to no help)
restasis (never stopped burning)
Lipiflow (twice! no luck)
MGD drops ( these build up too much on bandage lenses)
I tried not taking birth control (no relief)
allergy tests

I use the following currently:

OTC refresh drops
Bandage water based contact lenses (this is the only way i am able to function...i sleep in them as directed, too)
Lotemax- seems to help with the bruised feeling
Fish oil (not sure if this does much)
Moisture chamber (helps on occasion)

There is no explanation for why I am all of a sudden where I am...my eye doc indicated that inside my upper eyelid is very inflamed and when i blink the inflammation bumps on my inside lid scratch my eye...this is why the bandage lenses help so much.

I am almost oil-less the last time I was tested...my oil production has decreased within the last year even with all of these treatments.

My next step is scleral lenses...I am wondering if anyone has had success with these?

Also, I didn't see much on here on amniograft...this seems pretty invasive but natural, has anyone tried this?

I am a strong believer that diet can make a huge difference...has anyone had luck with major diet changes.

I do take a daily claritin...was wondering if stopping this might help...anyone have success with that?

I am willing to try anything to get my eye life back. As the symptoms have been debilitating at times.

I would LOVE to hear success stories of what did work! So hopefully some of you are still out there helping people like me and many others still looking for a cure..or at least something that helps.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this.

Amanda

[charlotte88]

Hey Amanda so sorry to hear about your condition, I know how terrible it can be suffering from eye complications, I have suffered from Blepharitis myself for several years. But don't worry though this is not pity post, I am actually still on this site exactly for the reasons you describe namely that a lot of people stop writing on these forums when they solve their problems. I have indeed found something that helps me. From your description it actually sounds a little like you could have blepharitis too. In any case I can highly recommend using a product called the style'n'clean pen which you can use to clean your eyelids with and it comes with a great cleansing gel which relieves dryness, redness and soreness. Hopefully this can also help you.
Take care
Charlotte

[lizlou29]

The success stories are mostly here http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/forum...y-eye-triumphs I do appreciate it when people come back to give updates.

[NatUK]

So sorry to hear of your suffering Amanda as know how debilitating it is. Have you been to an opthalmic consultant? You should get a refer from your doctor or just pay private and get a quick diagnosis. Not sure where you live but I have been able to get some private prescriptions on the Nhs as my doctor has been happy to transfer them.
Make sure you keen your margins clean with cotton buds and don't wear any eye make up. Also when you do the hot compresses don't make it too hot and don't rub too hard.
You will find relief but really recommend you get looked at by a decent eye doctor.

[Greg Dahlen]

NEI's website mentions that if you try cyclosprine, such as Restasis, it can take three to six months for it to be maximally effective. Have you tried it, and for sufficient time? The info is at https://nei.nih.gov/health/dryeye/dryeye

If you have, and it didn't work, or want to know about another option, I will tell you one thing that helped me with eye pain. It is an extreme solution, but for me it has worked quite well: for the last eight years, and currently, I have been living on milk. Every day I drink somewhere between one and two gallons of cow skim milk, and really hardly eat or drink anything else. It really seems to make my eyes feel tolerable. I think the reason is that milk is a very easy food for the body to process because it is made from food that has already been broken up by the mother. I have tried the kind of diet that nutritionists recommend, which is fruits and vegetables, and fish; but for me that diet didn't work, and I had eye pain on it. But when I returned to milk, my eyes felt better, and tolerable. Since my body probably doesn't work too differently from other people's, I would guess that since it worked for me, it might work for others. In truth I can't see any harm from trying. Living on milk you might miss a few nutrients, but I believe it has enough of the important ones that one does okay. If people on dryeyezone tried it for a few weeks and it wasn't working for them, I suppose they could stop it, and return to whatever they were doing. But wouldn't it be nice if it helped them as it has helped me?
My primary care physician knows about the diet and is okay with it. She says if it works for the patient, then she's okay with it.
The diet may sound a bit monotonous, but surprisingly in practice it's quite enjoyable. Milk tastes quite nice and is quite refreshing. For me I'm really motivated to do it because it makes me feel better physically. It might work that way for other people as well.
If you do try it, would you let me know how it goes, whether it works for you, and how well, doesn't work, or whatever your experience is. If it turns out it works for people other than me, I can spread the word.
The idea isn't mine. I got it from the Masai tribe of Kenya, who are famous for living only on food from their cattle, beef and milk. I just emphasize the milk part

I will say that I lived on milk for six years and that solved my pain. Then about two years ago I was experiencing tiredness I couldn't shake. So I started going to daily Catholic Mass. And I have found that the combination of living on milk and going to Mass keeps my eyes feeling okay.

If you try living on milk and it helps let me know. Then when I share it with people I can say it helped two people instead of just me.