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As a busy mom, I've thought about posting on the forum for about 3-4 years and am always humbled by the variety and severity of eye issues for many members of this forum; I've been fortunate enough to keep my dry eye problems under control for the most part. I suspect my problems began years ago in college, when I accidentally slept with both contact lenses in my eyes overnight (they were NOT for nighttime). In the morning I panicked and instead of calmly trying to remove them, I tore the dry contacts out of both eyes, injuring them in the process. The recovery was quick and I had no problems for years after that until my 30s, but doctors tell me my eyelids do not close all the way at night, and my guess is that is probably the reason.
So I began having abrasions in the morning in my early 30s. At first it was happening only occasionally, so I began putting gels in my eyes at night and wearing a mask. As I got older, had children and my job increasingly involved staring at a computer screen, the early morning abrasions increased in both eyes. Some of the were severe enough to require treatment by doctors with antibiotics and/or bandage contact lenses. I began taping my eyes shut at night, which seemed to help for awhile but with a newborn it wasn't a permanent solution. In 2013 it got to the point where I was having about one abrasion episode per month, switching off from one eye to another. By this time I recently began using the Quartz moisture chamber goggles at night with a mask covering it, but times were stressful.
In 2014 I had horrible abrasions in both eyes one morning, and decided right then and there to discontinue use of contact lenses. I continued using the Quartz at night, with 40 blinks eye mask on top of that, plus Systane preservative-free tears and nighttime gel. This lessened the abrasion incidents, though they still happened every few months. In 2015 I had possibly my worst incident ever in my right eye. For the past 3 years, I'm very fortunate to have had an eye doctor (not ophthalmologist) who is always seeking out new treatments and continuing her education for eye treatments, including dry eye issues. She has tried more than other eye doctors or ophthalmologists I've been to in the past. At this point in severe pain, she wanted to try using a Prokera lens for the injury; my insurance covered it and I agreed to it. After wearing it only overnight, she checked my eye again, but an ulcer appeared, so she decided to remove it. Getting the ulcer treated and healed was a scary experience itself, and I also went to an ophthalmologist during that time. In spite of that, after healing my right eye actually felt more moist than the left eye for over a year after that treatment.
Not long after that incident, I quit my job and believe that my eyes have improved by decreased screen exposure. I went from several abrasions a year to one or less. For instance, in my right eye, I had no abrasions for a year and a half. My left eye went about a year with no abrasions. A couple of months ago I did have a fairly painful one in my left eye, which prompted me to talk with my regular eye doctor about having the Prokera done in my left eye, since I felt the long-term benefits in my right eye. (I had forgotten and missed in my notes the fact that the Prokera lens had possibly given my eye an ulcer --- yikes, er, revisionist memory because of the long-term good outcome.) She suggested a dry membrane this time instead of the Prokera (a wet membrane). So about a month ago I had the BioDOptix inserted in my left eye. It wasn't as uncomfortable as the Prokera, more like a contact lens, but still very dry. My eye did not react well to it, but I persisted. My eye doctor checked me the next day and my eyes were doing fine. Then the pain worsened even more by day 3, so she checked me again after hours on a Sunday morning. Four ulcers had popped up overnight in the left eye, so she took out the lens right then and I had immediate relief. She checked on my left eye and treated me with an antibiotic and a steroid for a couple of weeks until the ulcers had closed up. Upon consulting with other eye doctors and ophthalmologists, she realized I had some sort of acute immune reaction to the lens. My eyes are allergic to some element of these types of amniotic membranes and although there does appear to be a long-term benefit, it's not worth getting the ulcers. We agreed I'll never use those types of treatments again and as we both reviewed our notes we recalled that the right eye Prokera treatment probably caused the one big ulcer in that eye.
So for now our next plan of action is to try one of the scleral contact lenses on my eyes, which provide a moisture chamber to my eye during the day, as she tells me that my eyes are constantly drying out during the day. I'll be doing research of my own but am opening to just trying them. So, that's my experience and most of the treatments I've tried. I'm VERY thankful I never opted to have LASIK done on my eyes, as it was an option to me almost ten years ago, but I realized it might make my dryness worse. I'm very thankful for this forum ... I've been buying products from the Dry Eye Store for years and everything I didn't learn from my eye doctor I have learned here. Although many have more serious issues than I do, hopefully this can be helpful for someone.
So I began having abrasions in the morning in my early 30s. At first it was happening only occasionally, so I began putting gels in my eyes at night and wearing a mask. As I got older, had children and my job increasingly involved staring at a computer screen, the early morning abrasions increased in both eyes. Some of the were severe enough to require treatment by doctors with antibiotics and/or bandage contact lenses. I began taping my eyes shut at night, which seemed to help for awhile but with a newborn it wasn't a permanent solution. In 2013 it got to the point where I was having about one abrasion episode per month, switching off from one eye to another. By this time I recently began using the Quartz moisture chamber goggles at night with a mask covering it, but times were stressful.
In 2014 I had horrible abrasions in both eyes one morning, and decided right then and there to discontinue use of contact lenses. I continued using the Quartz at night, with 40 blinks eye mask on top of that, plus Systane preservative-free tears and nighttime gel. This lessened the abrasion incidents, though they still happened every few months. In 2015 I had possibly my worst incident ever in my right eye. For the past 3 years, I'm very fortunate to have had an eye doctor (not ophthalmologist) who is always seeking out new treatments and continuing her education for eye treatments, including dry eye issues. She has tried more than other eye doctors or ophthalmologists I've been to in the past. At this point in severe pain, she wanted to try using a Prokera lens for the injury; my insurance covered it and I agreed to it. After wearing it only overnight, she checked my eye again, but an ulcer appeared, so she decided to remove it. Getting the ulcer treated and healed was a scary experience itself, and I also went to an ophthalmologist during that time. In spite of that, after healing my right eye actually felt more moist than the left eye for over a year after that treatment.
Not long after that incident, I quit my job and believe that my eyes have improved by decreased screen exposure. I went from several abrasions a year to one or less. For instance, in my right eye, I had no abrasions for a year and a half. My left eye went about a year with no abrasions. A couple of months ago I did have a fairly painful one in my left eye, which prompted me to talk with my regular eye doctor about having the Prokera done in my left eye, since I felt the long-term benefits in my right eye. (I had forgotten and missed in my notes the fact that the Prokera lens had possibly given my eye an ulcer --- yikes, er, revisionist memory because of the long-term good outcome.) She suggested a dry membrane this time instead of the Prokera (a wet membrane). So about a month ago I had the BioDOptix inserted in my left eye. It wasn't as uncomfortable as the Prokera, more like a contact lens, but still very dry. My eye did not react well to it, but I persisted. My eye doctor checked me the next day and my eyes were doing fine. Then the pain worsened even more by day 3, so she checked me again after hours on a Sunday morning. Four ulcers had popped up overnight in the left eye, so she took out the lens right then and I had immediate relief. She checked on my left eye and treated me with an antibiotic and a steroid for a couple of weeks until the ulcers had closed up. Upon consulting with other eye doctors and ophthalmologists, she realized I had some sort of acute immune reaction to the lens. My eyes are allergic to some element of these types of amniotic membranes and although there does appear to be a long-term benefit, it's not worth getting the ulcers. We agreed I'll never use those types of treatments again and as we both reviewed our notes we recalled that the right eye Prokera treatment probably caused the one big ulcer in that eye.
So for now our next plan of action is to try one of the scleral contact lenses on my eyes, which provide a moisture chamber to my eye during the day, as she tells me that my eyes are constantly drying out during the day. I'll be doing research of my own but am opening to just trying them. So, that's my experience and most of the treatments I've tried. I'm VERY thankful I never opted to have LASIK done on my eyes, as it was an option to me almost ten years ago, but I realized it might make my dryness worse. I'm very thankful for this forum ... I've been buying products from the Dry Eye Store for years and everything I didn't learn from my eye doctor I have learned here. Although many have more serious issues than I do, hopefully this can be helpful for someone.
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