Evaporating Tear Film and Losing Sight with no Diagnosis

[Saytz]

Back in mid-October of last year I started having problems focusing on my work on the computer, after dealing with it for a couple weeks I went to the optometrist and he said that my tear film was evaporating too quickly and that I should start using drops to help. I assumed at the time that this was the result of years working and playing on the computer pretty much all the time for years and not blinking enough and went with it. After a few weeks of using the drops my sight still seemed unfocused and I started waking up with my left eye completely numb and blind for a few minutes each morning. I then went to a ophthalmologist who said that my eyes were healthy and a little dry. I started taking vitamin A supplements and that seemed to help for a while though my eyes were watering a lot and I would wake with my eyes crusted shut.

Then in February I noticed my night vision and vision in low light was getting hazy and that my vision would dim in good light, resulting in things getting a little dark and colors to be washed out. I went to a retina specialist who then repeated the same thing; healthy eyes, but a little dry. He recommended using preservative free drops, a warm compress in the morning and at night before and after bad, as well as washing my eyelids with baby shampoo. I started using preservative free drops and the other stuff he mentioned, but my sight continued to get worse. When I went back to the optometrist at the start of April to give Restatsis a try I had learned that my vision had gone from 20/25 to 20/70 since my visit in October, he said that my vision was just changing because I am getting older. I was on Restatsis for two-and-a-half weeks and that correlated with slowly decreasing tear production. I stopped after I had a sudden change in vision causing me not to perceive light, become sensitive to light, and lose color. I kept my eyes covered completely and stopped using drops for a week as a result. When I saw a cornea specialist a week after my vision had changed she again said the same thing; that my eyes were completely healthy but a little dry. Healthy cornea, good blood vessels, no retinal tearing or detachment, no signs of degeneration. She said that she could see no reason for my night blindness or loss of color.

I then had a follow-up with the optometrist the following week and again my prescription had changed and sent me on my way, this time recommending I start omega-3 supplements. Yet here it is a week later and I already can tell I need a new prescription and I haven't even gotten my latest one yet. I can only guess that my dry eye and extended computer use is working together to rob me of my vision because dry eye is all I have gotten from seven different eye doctors now.

[epicjinx]

If helps any... I got dry eye unknowingly from computer use i feel so stupid and regret it most day but still use them. Im on my 7th product for fish oil and lost hope. Nothing's working for me allergies are my main thing with mgd. All I can say is, find a good doctor with good treatment and find something thats worse. Also go onto the main page and look for a petition and sign it because the more it gets signed the more we can do about this problem and more research pushed. I'm sorry if it isn't helpful, I'm struggling myself as it is. I wish you good luck and willing to talk to you if you'd like.

[Saytz]

Without a doubt my dry eye has been caused by my extended computer use. I have been managing well enough so far it seems between all the eye drops, gels, and supplements. I just try my hardest to blink as much as possible and take frequent breaks while on the computer.

However I may have found the reason for my vision loss after months of trying to find out what was going on. A little over a month ago I had an appointment with a eye muscle specialist after the cornea doctor I saw a few weeks prior referred me after examine my eyes and finding them completely healthy. As it turns out my dominate eye had developed a severe case of strabismus over the past few months and he believes that it could very well be the cause for most, if not all, of my vision loss. The down side is whatever medicine was used to dialate my eyes was far too strong as it took my eyes five days to return to normal, and my dry eye has become more severe to the point of causing me severe pain, as well as seeing black spots and light flashes in my vision.

I'll be making an appointment to see my optometrist this week to get my eyes checked because I am worried that the medicine they used may have had BAC in it, or that I may have an eye infection. Perhaps I haven't been doing as great a job at managing my dry eye as I thought. I'm hoping this is just me worrying too much but the pain is too much to just be dry eye, and these new symptoms don't help either.

[Greg Dahlen]

Well, what helped me is two things. One is that for eight years now I've been living about 92% on fluid cow milk and cream products. So every day I drink between one and two gallons of fluid cow milk and cow cream products. That could be skim milk, whole milk, 1%, 2%, half and half. For six years that was enough. Then, about two years ago I had some general body tiredness I had trouble dealing with, so I added getting quite involved in religion. Now the combination of living 92% on milk and cream products and participating in religion has me feeling okay, including my eyes.

The National Eye Institute also has good information on their dry eye page: https://nei.nih.gov/health/dryeye/dryeye