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Hi everyone,
Well, I've been lurking this site for a while now and I thought I'd finally join as all of my friends/family are tired of hearing about my eye issues and they just don't get it.
This all began in November of 2012, when I noticed my eyes would become slightly irritated and red after a long day or if I wore my contacts too long. I just attributed it to my contacts and honestly didn't think much of it at the beginning. When it started to get worse at the beginning of 2013, I began drowning my eyes in Visine all day and all night, while continuing to still wear my contacts. This went on until April when I finally saw a doctor, gave up my contacts, and quit Visine cold turkey. My doctor at the time told me that I had become allergic to my contact solution and prescribed me Lotemax to get rid of the infection she told me I had. At the time, my eyes didn't feel dry, it was just the redness that bothered me.
However, both my eye comfort and eye redness have only gone downhill since. I think it may have even been the Lotemax that caused my eyes to develop more eye veins. I've seen four different eye doctors since then and have since been diagnosed with severely dry eyes and MGD (as well as perhaps Ocular Rosacea).
This situation has truly been one of the hardest things I've dealt with and I feel so superficial/vain for saying it, but I can't help it. I used to LOVE my eyes and they used to be my best feature - I used to constantly get compliments on them. I never thought the day would come that I would be hiding them and trying to avoid making eye contact. Hate to say it, but I used to love looking in the mirror - I just don't look anymore if I don't have to. And of course, this all began just around the time that I graduated college and started my first, real job, so needless to say I've been struggling with my self-esteem on all levels. My eyes have made me seek help from a therapist because my boyfriend and friends thought I must have major mental issues that I was letting a vanity issue effect my life this much. And please don't think my eyes are just a tiny red. They get BRIGHT red and veiny, especially under the florescent lights at work.
Anyways, enough about that. Here is a list of the things I've tried/are doing:
*Lotemax (have taken twice, I think it actually made my eyes worse. The newest doctor I saw just recently prescribed it to me for a third time and I tried it again but my eyes couldn't handle it. My eyes really can't handle anything with any preservative at all in their current condition).
*FML (worked, but the redness came right back afterwards. This was early on in all of this).
*Month course of Doxy (noticed no improvement).
*Restasis (have currently been on it for 6 months now. It's maybe improved my eyes by 10%. Luckily I don't experience any of the uncomfortable side effects others have reported)
*Accupuncture/Cupping/Chinese Herbs (did not do anything for my eyes. The herbs actually threw my system out of whack)
*Parasite Cleanse (My eyes actually showed signs of improvement in terms of redness while on this. Perhaps I have Demodex??)
*Liver Cleanse (I try to do these once every three weeks. I do notice some improvement for a few days afterwards).
*Hot Compresses (I did these religiously for a few months for 5 minutes twice a day. They seemed to be helping my eyes and my eyes would actually be white for a bit after using them, but then it seemed they started to make my eyes worse. I stopped doing them and I think my eyes are better off without them, which is making me think I might have Ocular Rosacea).
*Fresh Kote drops (these unfortunately stung my eyes and turned them more red)
*NAC eye drops (these stung SO badly and turned my eyes even more red. The only drops I can really use are Refresh Optive Advance Preservative Free vials).
*Allergy diet (I had bloodwork done and actually have significant food sensitives. It has been two months now that I have eliminated all of my "trigger foods". I've basically eliminated all caffeine, sugar, yeast, eggs, dairy and a few other high histamine foods. I'd say this has also helped about 10%)
*I'm currently also on a detox right now, but still have two more weeks to go
I'm also currently working with a Naturopath and am probably overdosing on all of the supplements I'm taking, so if anyone is interested about that just let me know. And I am seeing a new Opthomologist next week for IPL, so I will keep everyone updated on that also.
That's enough about me. I'm really just looking for support and to have people to talk to who understand what this awful condition does to you.
Well, I've been lurking this site for a while now and I thought I'd finally join as all of my friends/family are tired of hearing about my eye issues and they just don't get it.
This all began in November of 2012, when I noticed my eyes would become slightly irritated and red after a long day or if I wore my contacts too long. I just attributed it to my contacts and honestly didn't think much of it at the beginning. When it started to get worse at the beginning of 2013, I began drowning my eyes in Visine all day and all night, while continuing to still wear my contacts. This went on until April when I finally saw a doctor, gave up my contacts, and quit Visine cold turkey. My doctor at the time told me that I had become allergic to my contact solution and prescribed me Lotemax to get rid of the infection she told me I had. At the time, my eyes didn't feel dry, it was just the redness that bothered me.
However, both my eye comfort and eye redness have only gone downhill since. I think it may have even been the Lotemax that caused my eyes to develop more eye veins. I've seen four different eye doctors since then and have since been diagnosed with severely dry eyes and MGD (as well as perhaps Ocular Rosacea).
This situation has truly been one of the hardest things I've dealt with and I feel so superficial/vain for saying it, but I can't help it. I used to LOVE my eyes and they used to be my best feature - I used to constantly get compliments on them. I never thought the day would come that I would be hiding them and trying to avoid making eye contact. Hate to say it, but I used to love looking in the mirror - I just don't look anymore if I don't have to. And of course, this all began just around the time that I graduated college and started my first, real job, so needless to say I've been struggling with my self-esteem on all levels. My eyes have made me seek help from a therapist because my boyfriend and friends thought I must have major mental issues that I was letting a vanity issue effect my life this much. And please don't think my eyes are just a tiny red. They get BRIGHT red and veiny, especially under the florescent lights at work.
Anyways, enough about that. Here is a list of the things I've tried/are doing:
*Lotemax (have taken twice, I think it actually made my eyes worse. The newest doctor I saw just recently prescribed it to me for a third time and I tried it again but my eyes couldn't handle it. My eyes really can't handle anything with any preservative at all in their current condition).
*FML (worked, but the redness came right back afterwards. This was early on in all of this).
*Month course of Doxy (noticed no improvement).
*Restasis (have currently been on it for 6 months now. It's maybe improved my eyes by 10%. Luckily I don't experience any of the uncomfortable side effects others have reported)
*Accupuncture/Cupping/Chinese Herbs (did not do anything for my eyes. The herbs actually threw my system out of whack)
*Parasite Cleanse (My eyes actually showed signs of improvement in terms of redness while on this. Perhaps I have Demodex??)
*Liver Cleanse (I try to do these once every three weeks. I do notice some improvement for a few days afterwards).
*Hot Compresses (I did these religiously for a few months for 5 minutes twice a day. They seemed to be helping my eyes and my eyes would actually be white for a bit after using them, but then it seemed they started to make my eyes worse. I stopped doing them and I think my eyes are better off without them, which is making me think I might have Ocular Rosacea).
*Fresh Kote drops (these unfortunately stung my eyes and turned them more red)
*NAC eye drops (these stung SO badly and turned my eyes even more red. The only drops I can really use are Refresh Optive Advance Preservative Free vials).
*Allergy diet (I had bloodwork done and actually have significant food sensitives. It has been two months now that I have eliminated all of my "trigger foods". I've basically eliminated all caffeine, sugar, yeast, eggs, dairy and a few other high histamine foods. I'd say this has also helped about 10%)
*I'm currently also on a detox right now, but still have two more weeks to go
I'm also currently working with a Naturopath and am probably overdosing on all of the supplements I'm taking, so if anyone is interested about that just let me know. And I am seeing a new Opthomologist next week for IPL, so I will keep everyone updated on that also.
That's enough about me. I'm really just looking for support and to have people to talk to who understand what this awful condition does to you.
I hope you find here all the support you need and of course really good information. 
I'd do pretty much anything at this point. Trying to heal inside with help from a naturopath. Got tested for candida yesterday.. Will have results in a month!
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