18 year old guy here new to forum. Anyone know how I got dry eyes out of nowhere?

[Sean]

what are the causes

im a contact wearer
i started wearing them when i was about 13
and they were fine for maybe 1-2 years

used acuvue moist (which im still using after trying other brands like trueye, other acuvues, all dailies)

and my eyes were always quite moist and shiny
people commented on how my eyes always seemed shiny/glazed

then all of a sudden they started to become dry (mostly while wearing contacts)
ive seen an ophthalmologist (maybe optometrist) and they said my tear film is low, and said my eye pores were clogged
(meibomian gland dysfunction i guess?)

and told me to use the warm eye compress (10 mins daily)
it's a hassle
but i find that when i dont do it, i often have dry eyes

should i also invest in a sleep mask in case improper eyelid closure is an issue?

my diet is very healthy and i supplement with fish oil as well (i take about 4-6 pills daily, partly for bodyuilding as well)

my eye doctor appts have not been too satisfying or informative

my case i belive is somewhat mild compared to others on here

i also use eyedrops (refresh plus) but maybe i should get some made for contacts? (preservative free of course)

thanks a lot

my dryness varies so much and i'm really starting to notice how when i do manage to do the eye compresses that my eyes are much better the next day

it's kind of annoying to have gotten this seemingly out of nowhere?
i have no idea what caused my eyelid pores to become clogged

[hankm9]

http://eyelabs.wordpress.com/2013/02...2-to-3-months/

[JoolzB]

Even having mild dry eye isn't pleasant! My own tip is to try taking 2 x teaspoonsful of flax seed oil each day. I already do lid hygiene routine etc. and use Theratears drops but taking the flax seed oil has definitely given me a further improvement and my eyes usually feel less dry. I used to take Theratears Nutrition capsule but I think the flax seed oil content of these wasn't enough for me.

[littlemermaid]

i take about 4-6 pills daily, partly for bodyuilding as well

Sean, What are you taking? Anything that might alter your hormones and cause dry eye or MGD? Nice link, Hankm.

[Sean]

Sean, What are you taking? Anything that might alter your hormones and cause dry eye or MGD? Nice link, Hankm.

Hi well I started to get dry eyes before I started taking anything. And it was weird it wasn't even like I was just starting puberty or something. I started puberty early, so at 14 I looked pretty much the same as I do now.

4-6 pills I was referring to the fish oil capsules actually. I also take a multivitamin, sometimes vitamin c/calcium/vitamin a.

I take pseudoephedrine HCL (sudafed) for nasal decongestion, just started to take two nasal sprays (flonase (corticosteroid spray) and azelastine (a nasal antihistamine)). I sometimes take an oral antihistamine also like allegra.

I was just put on lexapro (antidepressant) as well, which I dont think I really need but my parents want me to try out.

[Sean]

Hi thanks for that rec!
so you think flax seed oil is superior to fish oil? and also is the liquid version better than capsule?

I just have 1000mg fish oil capsules

also what's your lid hygiene routine? should i be scrubbing in addition to warm eye compress? how long should i be doing warm eye compresses for daily? and would the tranquileyes sleep mask maybe benefit me (it's kind of pricey). I notice that sometimes it seems like my eyes dont close completely when im trying to sleep (but that's mostly when I'm trying to go to bed but am not really tired

[littlemermaid]

Sean, do you have quite bad sinus congestion then? and lots of allergies? did you have allergies and take meds before the dry eye started?

[Sean]

Sean, do you have quite bad sinus congestion then? and lots of allergies? did you have allergies and take meds before the dry eye started?

around the time my eyes first started to get dry
i did often have bad sinus congestion/aches/mucus

definitely somewhat food related (pretty much went away when i reduced my dairy intake) but possibly other things could have factored into it (im allergic to mold for sure, so maybe a fungal infection, not really sure though, now i sinus rinse daily)

but now i have few typical "allergic" symptoms (i.e. sneezing, watery/itchy eyes, etc.) its only the nasal congestion. It's speculated that i have vasomotor rhinitis (like an oversensitivity of the vasculature to things like temperature, things in the air/odors, food/the process of eating, and im sure many other things)
it's an exclusion diagnosis so they pretty much just rule out allergies and say you have this

[Sean]

bumps
10char