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Hi all,
I'm new to posting, but have followed this forum off and on for a few years now. Here is my (long) dry eye story:
My first dry eye symptoms appeared in September 2012, at the age of 25. At the time, I was working at home in Colorado. The first thing I felt was a sharp pain in my eye that would last for a few seconds, and then go away. This happened about 20 times a day, for about a week. Then one day the pain got replaced with a general feeling of dryness. I discovered two things quickly:
1. Putting on contact lenses made me feel better
2. I could feel better if I got away from my computer for a few hours
Fast forward a couple months, and I'm working in an office in Phoenix, AZ. I'm a data analyst, so I'm spending probably 8-9 hours in front of a computer at the office, and then 3-4 hours in front of a computer/TV at home. Over the next few months (early 2013), my symptoms are getting worse and putting on contact lenses no longer helps me. I still can feel better if I get away from the computer, but it now takes about a full day away from the computer before I feel better.
I see my first ophthalmologist in June 2013. He doesn't really do any tests - mainly just looks at my eyes. He says I have inflammation and prescribes Restasis for me. While on the Restasis, I also order a heat mask from Amazon and find it helps me. After taking Restasis for 6 months, I don't see any real improvement. It's clear at this point that the doctor can't really do anything else for me, so I start seeing my second opthalmologist in January 2014.
The new doctor diagnoses me with MGD, and we do Lipiflow on my right eye in February 2014. It doesn't really help me, so we try other things such as Doxycycline and HydroEye supplements. The HydroEye actually helps me for a while, but I'm gradually getting worse and in May 2014 my eyes start to feel gritty.
This is where I really start going downhill. I continue to work at my office job, but it's getting increasingly harder to mentally get through each work day. Eventually, I decide that enough is enough and I quit my job in October 2014. Before I quit, and through the end of that year, I seek second opinions on my dry eye.
In December 2014, I start seeing my third ophthalmologist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She diagnoses me with a tear deficiency as well as MGD. In June 2015, we try serum tears and IPL simultaneously. The grittiness improves, but my meibomian glands still aren't functioning well. After three IPL sessions, she determines we shouldn't do any more IPL sessions, as they likely wouldn't be effective. In October 2015, she refers me to another doctor at the Mayo Clinic who can potentially fit me into scleral lenses. I try the lenses, but they aren't very comfortable and am told that they would take a few months to customize the fit for. Since my lease is ending soon at this point and I plan to move out of Arizona, we settle on wearing a new brand of daily contact lenses from Acuvue called Oasys HydraLuxe. At my last appointment with her, she takes an image of my cornea to look for nerve damage. She can't really find any problems with the nerves, but does refer me to a corneal specialist in Boston.
In November 2015, I move back in to my parent's house in the Seattle, WA area. I'm wearing the new contact lenses every day, but can't put in serum tears as much (since you're not supposed to put in serum tears when wearing contacts). After a month of doing this, I'm starting to feel bad again. I decide to go see the Boston doctor.
I fly out to see the Boston doctor in December 2015. He confirms I have tear deficiency and MGD, and with the help of a high resolution imaging machine, adds corneal neuropathy to my list of problems. He puts me back on serum tears 8 times daily, along with nortriptyline daily and Lotemax two times a week. A month later, the grittiness is pretty much gone, but I still have some irritation. One year and a meibomian gland probing procedure later, I'm feeling the best I've felt in a long time. My nerves are virtually all repaired, there's no grittiness, and the inflammation is under control.
I now see my Boston doctor every three months. I'm immensely grateful for what he's done, and after four years of dry eye, I feel like I'm close to establishing a routine that I can maintain until better things come along (and hopefully they come sooner rather than later).
Throughout these four hard years, I've learned the following things about dry eye. This is what I would have told myself when my symptoms first appeared:
1. Go to an ophthalmologist to be treated for dry eye, as they are more likely to know more about the disease than an optometrist. That being said...
2. Not all ophthalmologists are equal. Dry eye is still fairly new to ophthalmology, so many are ignorant about it. Due to the progressive nature of the disease, it is absolutely imperative that you find someone who is knowledge about it or your eyes WILL get worse. To screen the right doctors, you should...
3. Evaluate ophthalmologists when they are evaluating you. They should do a battery of tests on you. If they don't take at least one image of your eye (e.g., Corneal Imaging, LipiView), then they don't have any business treating you. To help the doctor who is evaluating you, you should...
4. Make note of EVERYTHING that either helps or hurts your eyes. This will not only help the doctor diagnose and treat you, but it will also help you figure out what works best for YOU.
5. Lastly, Be Patient! Dry eye is a chronic disease that can't be fixed overnight. It took me four years to find ONE combination of things that worked, and even then I know I'm still not done.
I hope this helps anyone who is a new dry eye patient.
I'm new to posting, but have followed this forum off and on for a few years now. Here is my (long) dry eye story:
My first dry eye symptoms appeared in September 2012, at the age of 25. At the time, I was working at home in Colorado. The first thing I felt was a sharp pain in my eye that would last for a few seconds, and then go away. This happened about 20 times a day, for about a week. Then one day the pain got replaced with a general feeling of dryness. I discovered two things quickly:
1. Putting on contact lenses made me feel better
2. I could feel better if I got away from my computer for a few hours
Fast forward a couple months, and I'm working in an office in Phoenix, AZ. I'm a data analyst, so I'm spending probably 8-9 hours in front of a computer at the office, and then 3-4 hours in front of a computer/TV at home. Over the next few months (early 2013), my symptoms are getting worse and putting on contact lenses no longer helps me. I still can feel better if I get away from the computer, but it now takes about a full day away from the computer before I feel better.
I see my first ophthalmologist in June 2013. He doesn't really do any tests - mainly just looks at my eyes. He says I have inflammation and prescribes Restasis for me. While on the Restasis, I also order a heat mask from Amazon and find it helps me. After taking Restasis for 6 months, I don't see any real improvement. It's clear at this point that the doctor can't really do anything else for me, so I start seeing my second opthalmologist in January 2014.
The new doctor diagnoses me with MGD, and we do Lipiflow on my right eye in February 2014. It doesn't really help me, so we try other things such as Doxycycline and HydroEye supplements. The HydroEye actually helps me for a while, but I'm gradually getting worse and in May 2014 my eyes start to feel gritty.
This is where I really start going downhill. I continue to work at my office job, but it's getting increasingly harder to mentally get through each work day. Eventually, I decide that enough is enough and I quit my job in October 2014. Before I quit, and through the end of that year, I seek second opinions on my dry eye.
In December 2014, I start seeing my third ophthalmologist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She diagnoses me with a tear deficiency as well as MGD. In June 2015, we try serum tears and IPL simultaneously. The grittiness improves, but my meibomian glands still aren't functioning well. After three IPL sessions, she determines we shouldn't do any more IPL sessions, as they likely wouldn't be effective. In October 2015, she refers me to another doctor at the Mayo Clinic who can potentially fit me into scleral lenses. I try the lenses, but they aren't very comfortable and am told that they would take a few months to customize the fit for. Since my lease is ending soon at this point and I plan to move out of Arizona, we settle on wearing a new brand of daily contact lenses from Acuvue called Oasys HydraLuxe. At my last appointment with her, she takes an image of my cornea to look for nerve damage. She can't really find any problems with the nerves, but does refer me to a corneal specialist in Boston.
In November 2015, I move back in to my parent's house in the Seattle, WA area. I'm wearing the new contact lenses every day, but can't put in serum tears as much (since you're not supposed to put in serum tears when wearing contacts). After a month of doing this, I'm starting to feel bad again. I decide to go see the Boston doctor.
I fly out to see the Boston doctor in December 2015. He confirms I have tear deficiency and MGD, and with the help of a high resolution imaging machine, adds corneal neuropathy to my list of problems. He puts me back on serum tears 8 times daily, along with nortriptyline daily and Lotemax two times a week. A month later, the grittiness is pretty much gone, but I still have some irritation. One year and a meibomian gland probing procedure later, I'm feeling the best I've felt in a long time. My nerves are virtually all repaired, there's no grittiness, and the inflammation is under control.
I now see my Boston doctor every three months. I'm immensely grateful for what he's done, and after four years of dry eye, I feel like I'm close to establishing a routine that I can maintain until better things come along (and hopefully they come sooner rather than later).
Throughout these four hard years, I've learned the following things about dry eye. This is what I would have told myself when my symptoms first appeared:
1. Go to an ophthalmologist to be treated for dry eye, as they are more likely to know more about the disease than an optometrist. That being said...
2. Not all ophthalmologists are equal. Dry eye is still fairly new to ophthalmology, so many are ignorant about it. Due to the progressive nature of the disease, it is absolutely imperative that you find someone who is knowledge about it or your eyes WILL get worse. To screen the right doctors, you should...
3. Evaluate ophthalmologists when they are evaluating you. They should do a battery of tests on you. If they don't take at least one image of your eye (e.g., Corneal Imaging, LipiView), then they don't have any business treating you. To help the doctor who is evaluating you, you should...
4. Make note of EVERYTHING that either helps or hurts your eyes. This will not only help the doctor diagnose and treat you, but it will also help you figure out what works best for YOU.
5. Lastly, Be Patient! Dry eye is a chronic disease that can't be fixed overnight. It took me four years to find ONE combination of things that worked, and even then I know I'm still not done.
I hope this helps anyone who is a new dry eye patient.
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