Tweet
Hi Everyone,
After about a year of looking at this forum (which increased exponentially the last few months), I have decided to become an 'active poster'. As I am now an active poster it seems right to introduce myself. I'll say a couple of (short) things about myself first and then elaborate extensively on the history of my dry eye condition.
Short bio
I live in The Netherlands, male, 25 years old. I finished university last year and am currently working full time as a programmer. As you can imagine, I have a lot of exposure to screens due to my job.
Dry eye history
Experience with (ro)accutane
My experience with DED started when I went on my first course of (ro)accutane, back when I was 19. I had mild dry eye symptoms (some irritation when conditions were windy). I believe this had to with me being on a pretty low dose of accutane. After finishing my course of accutane my skin cleared up and I no longer had eye issues. Several months later my acne came back and my dermatologist put me on a higher dosage of acctuane. Surely, the dry eye symptoms returned and, as my accutane dosage increased, dry eye symptoms got worse. At one point I felt like the dry eye symptoms were ruining my life more than the acne and I asked my doc to reduce the dosage. The dosage was reduced and dry eye symptom wise I felt some relief. After finishing this round of accutane my acne stayed away for much longer and my eyes returned to normal. Then, when I was 21 years old, my acne came back but not as severe as it used to be. My dermatologist decided to put me on a very low 'maintenance' dose of accutane. My acne subsided and I did not really experience any dry eye symptoms. Ever since I stopped this course my acne has not returned. However, after about 6 months of quitting accutane for good, my dry eye symptoms started to develop again. At this point I'm pretty sure that my past acctuane courses have caused my current dry eye. At the moment, of course, I really regret using accutane as much as I have done in the past. However, my dermatologist assured me that my dry eye symptoms would not be permanent, so I suppose I had no way of knowing that, in fact, damage done by accutane eyes can be permanent. Hell, I would take on severe acne again if it would mean my eyes would go back to normal.
Mild DED
In the beginning, I was about 22 years old, my symptoms were very mild. I had some problems during the evening if I had been using the computer all day, but only if I continued using the PC during the evening. I did not use any drops or other treatments at this time. Life was still pretty good. After several months my symptoms worsened, leading to problems every evening, even if I did not use the PC heavily. I decided it was time to visit a doctor. The doctor told me to use artificial tears. I did not experience symptom relief from using the artificial tears. The doctor decided to refer me to an eye specialist. The eye specialist diagnosed me with blepharitis and put me on a 2xday hot compress regime in combination with proper lid hygiene. This improved my symptoms, and, although I still had issues with using the PC for way too long, I could cope very well with my condition.
Moderate DED
Last year, I started to experience more moderate symptoms of DED, even though I was still doing the 2 times a day hot compress routine. I did some research and decided to use omega 3 (fish oil) supplements alongside with my lid hygiene routine. This helped a lot again and my dry eye symptoms went back to mild. As I finished university and would start working 40-60 hrs a week as programmer this year I decided to take some precautions, even though my dry eye was pretty mild. I visited a clinic that does IPL treatment, and started off with IPL. During these treatments (I had 3) I also started with my new job.
Moderate/severe DED
Sadly, my DED only seemed to get worse after the IPL treatments. I don't know if the IPL treatments were responsible for this (could do this be?) or that it has to do with more computer time during the day due to my new job. Anyway, I went back to the eye specialist and she noticed that my eyes were pretty inflamed (red) as well. She decided to prescribe me Tobradex. I have just started using it today (am supposed to use it 3xday first week, 2xday second week, and 1xday third week), and really hope that when the inflammation subsides, symptoms will go back to being mild again (although I'm afraid this is not going to happen). If the Tobradex does not work my eye doctor said she could try placing plugs. So at least I have a backup plan.
At this point I'm constantly feeling my eyes burn, which is quite a different sensation from what I felt before. When I would only have problems during the evenings I could literally feel my tear film drying up, causing me to close my eyes. The constant burning I feel at the moment just feels different, but seems to be present at all times. My eyes also get very red. Not very consistenly though, just a red patch between my iris and my nose.
I'm sorry for the wall of text. I just tried to be very detailed hoping that someone might recognize some of my problems and that they might have some advice for me on what to change/do differently (quitting my job and looking for a different kind of job is not an option yet I'm afraid).
Thank you for reading!
After about a year of looking at this forum (which increased exponentially the last few months), I have decided to become an 'active poster'. As I am now an active poster it seems right to introduce myself. I'll say a couple of (short) things about myself first and then elaborate extensively on the history of my dry eye condition.
Short bio
I live in The Netherlands, male, 25 years old. I finished university last year and am currently working full time as a programmer. As you can imagine, I have a lot of exposure to screens due to my job.
Dry eye history
Experience with (ro)accutane
My experience with DED started when I went on my first course of (ro)accutane, back when I was 19. I had mild dry eye symptoms (some irritation when conditions were windy). I believe this had to with me being on a pretty low dose of accutane. After finishing my course of accutane my skin cleared up and I no longer had eye issues. Several months later my acne came back and my dermatologist put me on a higher dosage of acctuane. Surely, the dry eye symptoms returned and, as my accutane dosage increased, dry eye symptoms got worse. At one point I felt like the dry eye symptoms were ruining my life more than the acne and I asked my doc to reduce the dosage. The dosage was reduced and dry eye symptom wise I felt some relief. After finishing this round of accutane my acne stayed away for much longer and my eyes returned to normal. Then, when I was 21 years old, my acne came back but not as severe as it used to be. My dermatologist decided to put me on a very low 'maintenance' dose of accutane. My acne subsided and I did not really experience any dry eye symptoms. Ever since I stopped this course my acne has not returned. However, after about 6 months of quitting accutane for good, my dry eye symptoms started to develop again. At this point I'm pretty sure that my past acctuane courses have caused my current dry eye. At the moment, of course, I really regret using accutane as much as I have done in the past. However, my dermatologist assured me that my dry eye symptoms would not be permanent, so I suppose I had no way of knowing that, in fact, damage done by accutane eyes can be permanent. Hell, I would take on severe acne again if it would mean my eyes would go back to normal.
Mild DED
In the beginning, I was about 22 years old, my symptoms were very mild. I had some problems during the evening if I had been using the computer all day, but only if I continued using the PC during the evening. I did not use any drops or other treatments at this time. Life was still pretty good. After several months my symptoms worsened, leading to problems every evening, even if I did not use the PC heavily. I decided it was time to visit a doctor. The doctor told me to use artificial tears. I did not experience symptom relief from using the artificial tears. The doctor decided to refer me to an eye specialist. The eye specialist diagnosed me with blepharitis and put me on a 2xday hot compress regime in combination with proper lid hygiene. This improved my symptoms, and, although I still had issues with using the PC for way too long, I could cope very well with my condition.
Moderate DED
Last year, I started to experience more moderate symptoms of DED, even though I was still doing the 2 times a day hot compress routine. I did some research and decided to use omega 3 (fish oil) supplements alongside with my lid hygiene routine. This helped a lot again and my dry eye symptoms went back to mild. As I finished university and would start working 40-60 hrs a week as programmer this year I decided to take some precautions, even though my dry eye was pretty mild. I visited a clinic that does IPL treatment, and started off with IPL. During these treatments (I had 3) I also started with my new job.
Moderate/severe DED
Sadly, my DED only seemed to get worse after the IPL treatments. I don't know if the IPL treatments were responsible for this (could do this be?) or that it has to do with more computer time during the day due to my new job. Anyway, I went back to the eye specialist and she noticed that my eyes were pretty inflamed (red) as well. She decided to prescribe me Tobradex. I have just started using it today (am supposed to use it 3xday first week, 2xday second week, and 1xday third week), and really hope that when the inflammation subsides, symptoms will go back to being mild again (although I'm afraid this is not going to happen). If the Tobradex does not work my eye doctor said she could try placing plugs. So at least I have a backup plan.
At this point I'm constantly feeling my eyes burn, which is quite a different sensation from what I felt before. When I would only have problems during the evenings I could literally feel my tear film drying up, causing me to close my eyes. The constant burning I feel at the moment just feels different, but seems to be present at all times. My eyes also get very red. Not very consistenly though, just a red patch between my iris and my nose.
I'm sorry for the wall of text. I just tried to be very detailed hoping that someone might recognize some of my problems and that they might have some advice for me on what to change/do differently (quitting my job and looking for a different kind of job is not an option yet I'm afraid).
Thank you for reading!
Comment