New Here and Really Nervous, Scared and Depressed...

[Ljonz67]

Hi Everyone,

In September I started having a burning sensation in my eyes but it was very random and not constant. I had just starting seeing a energy healer who also uses homeopathic remedies. For years I suffered with chronic Lyme Disease and had finally turned the corner with that. I've had quite a few years of stress as well...going through a rough divorce, dealing with anxiety/OCD/panic attacks and a myriad of other things. I was so hopeful that things were going to get better. In September I had decided to change my thryroid med from Levothyroxcine to Armour Thyroid. I also changed a few other things and added some new supplements. The burning eyes got worse about four weeks ago after I had sinus surgery--I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it. I do have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis as well. I decided three weeks ago that maybe the Armour Thyroid was causing my eyes to burn so I stopped it and changed by to Levothyroxcine. At that time I also realized that the prescription for Armour was techinically a higher dose than my Levothyroxine. I was having tremors and night sweats as well. At this point my eyes are not only burning but they will feel gritty and dry at times too. I have moments of relief when I'm distracted. Being in malls and stores where the air is really moving bothers me and I just want to get out. Things seems to have also gotten worse when I did some research and found out about Sjogren's. I'm worrying about that a lot since I already have Hashimoto's. I feel so depressed, anxious and scared. I'm having suicidal thoughts althought I would not to that because I have a young daughter and a great family. I"ve been to two opthamologists and both have said "yes, your eyes are dry but mild--a 1 on a scale of 1-10. My thoughts are my gosh if this is mild what would severe feel like. I don't know if I can handle other chronic health problem again. The past two nights have been horrible and scary because my eyes are feeling dry when I'm trying to sleep. I'm sure the lack of sleep isn't helping. Sometimes I feel that putting too many drops in my eyes ends up making them feel worse. I've spent a fortune already for every drop possible, sunglasses, tranquileyes, cold pack, hot packs, books, HEPA air purifiers, humidifiers, etc. I'm going out of my mind and feeling so overwhelmed.

I do have an appointment with a doctor at a dry eye center in NJ. His name is Dr. Calderone in Cranford. I'm praying that he can give me more insight than the last two doctors that gave me drops and told me not to worry.

Any insight or suggestion would be so appreciated. I feel that my life is over. I'm 46, believe I'm in perimenopause too so that my be contributing to my eyes as well. I had stopped taking xanax a few months ago but in the past couple days have started taking it here and there to control my anxiety.

Sorry for the long rant...I'm just feeling desperate.

Thanks, Lori

[Guest]

So sorry to hear about your eye trouble!! It's normal to feel desperate at first - so many of us go through that!

The first thing I'd do, particularly since moving air is causing you discomfort, is to get a pair of moisture chamber glasses. I wear Wiley X AirRage ones, and they are a lifesaver. (if you buy those, keep in mind that they just changed the foam gasket on them to one that doesn't seal as well for many of us - apparently they are going to make the previous, better sealing foam gasket again, starting in the new year) If you can't stand the look of them, just try what I do, and don't look in the mirror - then pretend you still look like the old you when interacting with others, and things will work out fine - you'll see! Better for your mental health to do it that way, rather than constantly looking in the mirror an lamenting how much you can't stand the way the "new you" looks (not saying you'd have done that, but I know that I struggled with it, so just mentioning it in case you might also be that way)

Also, check out the chapter on dry eye management in the DEWS report:

http://www.tearfilm.org/dewsreport/

Don't be intimidated by the length of the report - just skip to the chapter on management/treatment of dry eye - it's not a hard read, and anyone can do it - just take your time with it.

Then, if you haven't already, get a referral to a corneal specialist, ideally, one with an interest in dry eye. Armed with the information you'll have from the DEWS report, you'll be in a good position to assess if the dr. is prescribing reasonable treatments for you. It can be a slow process getting throught the "getting to know you phase" with a new dr., but if you find a good one that listens and seems to want to help you, then stick with them - it'll be worth it to have someone like that on your team.

The DEWS report also goes over potential causes of dry eye, so that will likely spark some good ideas as you try to figure out why this is happening to you. (if you can find the why, you may even be able to fix your eyes completely!)

Since you mentioned that your eyes look good to previous doctors, yet are still in a lot of discomfort, maybe you have some issues with your corneal nerves being overly sensitive - Dr. Perry Rosenthal is doing a lot of work to try treating patients like this - http://www.bostoneyepain.org/who-are...rosenthal-bio/ - I saw him back when he was still with the Boston Foundation for Sight, and he's a wonderful doctor and such a nice man - he helped me improve further when I'd reached a dead end with mainstream treatments in the DEWs report.

Try the DEWS report stuff first, but worst case, if you reach a dead end there, might be worth getting in touch with Dr. Rosenthal.

Also, not sure what the climate is like where you live, but if you live somewhere that's getting a cold winter now, the indoor humidity will be dropping - for many of us, that makes our eyes feel much drier. If this applies to you, I highly recommend you invest in a humidifier - depending on the size of your living space, you may need several large ones going at the same time. But a small cheap hygometer so you know what the humidity is before and after you turn on your humidifiers - you want to know if the humidifiers are making a significant difference in humidity before you decide if they are helping. In my case, once indoor humidity drops below 40%, I notice a decrease in my eye comfort, need to use more drops etc. But if I can keep it higher than 40% with a humidifier, I feel much better.

IF the humidifier thing works, and you have forced air heating in your house, you can get a furnace contractor to install a humidifier next to your furnace - it will humidify your entire house (can get ones with no filters to change, and no water to top up since they can hook it up to the house water pipers), and is less work than keeping portable ones running all the time.

Hope these ideas help!

[Faith1989]

Hi there!

Just know what you are feeling right now emotionally is temporary and normal. When my eye problems first started, I feel like I was in a state of shock, I came home crying everyday. I didn't know what was wrong or what I could do to fix it. It felt like it happened overnight, and at first I thought it was pink eye. I went to several opthomologists until I found one who was willing to give me the time of day, and experiment with treatment options. You still have many prescription treatment options to try that you never mentioned. There is still much hope for recovery.

Also, take a look at the "dry eye triumphs" section, where people have gotten over dry eye. I do this at times as it gives me hope.

[NotADryEye]

I too have Hashimoto's and went on Armour for only one day because I ended up in the ER with a racing heart and irregular heart beats, stayed overnight, wore a Holter monitor, had a stress test and all my doctors agreed, that I had a bad reaction to Armour and that the dose of pure T3 was way too high. I now take 5mcg of Cytomel (also pure T3) 2x per day with no problem, and needed it when my last thyroid panel showed low T3, normal TSH and T4, indicating that I am not coverting T4 to T3, plus the elevated TPO of Hashimoto's.

When you switched from Levothyroxine to Armour Thyroid, what was your Levothyroxine dose originally, and what dose of Armour were you on? If Armour was too high, it's possible your became hyperthyroid. It would certainly explain your racing heart, etc.

Also, if your last thyroid panel showed low T3, your doctor may have prescribed Armour to give you a boost of T3. I've found that when my T3 is low, my eyes feel drier. Also, you mg's might be producing less oil. But when your T3 was too high, you might have felt worse (hyperthyroid). And now that you are back on Levothyroxine, your T3 is again too low, so your eyes are still feeling dry. You might just need some Cytomel aka Liothyronine, in addition to the Levothyroxine you are already taking.

Regarding your choice of doctor, you're going to see someone who, as per his website, is a Lasik, Lasek and PRK specialist. These procedures are some of the reasons why there are people on this website in agony and searching for help. The doctor also claims to be a dry eye specialist while advertising Lipiflow, which may help some people but is not the end-all in dry eye care. If your form of dry eye (and also it is important to note that dry eye is a multifactorial disease that frequently includes many co-morbidities or diseases that occur at the same time) is due to Hashimoto's which causes inflammation in the meibomian glands and causes aqueous deficiency then I would agree with, SAAG that you might want to see a corneal specialists rather than a Lasik/Lasek/PRK doctor.

For example, you might keep the appointment you have, while already searching for and setting up a new one so that you aren't waiting in case the doctor you are planning to see is not able to help.

Above all, don't give up hope. There is no reason to. Many of us were like you, at some point, searching for help, going from doctor to doctor, and not finding relief. But eventually we got the diagnoses and care that we needed. It's out there.

[Ljonz67]

Thank you everyone for the great responses. It is very confusing and difficult finding the right doctor. I decided since I'm so close to Dr. Latkany that I would attempt to make an appointment there. I thought I'd have to wait forever...but NO! I got an appointment for next Tuesday. Hopefully, he will do a complete exam and give me some answers. The thought of running from doctor to doctor just makes me more anxious.

NotADryEye...my dose of Armour was 60 mgs and my dose of Levothyroxine was 50 mcgs. The chart comparing dosages says that 60 mgs of Armour equal 100 mcgs of Levothyroxine. I felt like I was going hyperthyroid. I also see my new endocrinologist the first week of December. At this point I don't know if it's just a coincidence that my eyes starting burning right after taking the Armour but I guess I'll soon get some answers.

I appreciate the encouragement. I read the scary stories and get myself so freaked out...my body feels so out of sorts right now. I"m going to try to avoid anymore reading about dry eye until I see the doctor.

[Gerri55455]

Hello SAAG,

Hope these ideas help!

I tried to send this as a private message but was told you've chosen not to receive private messages. I had to say it, though. SAAG, you are a very kind person. I've read many posts in which new members have written seeking help and you have truly reached out to them. The above one is just one example. Below are others I've read:

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...e-please-read-!!!
http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showt...ith-myself-%28

If there is a positive thing to my suffering at all, it is that it has allowed me to interact with truly good human beings. I've reached out to people who responded with a lot of kindness. Thanks for your helping others with your kind words. It makes the pain just a little less. ~Gerri