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Hi everyone. My name is Miv, and I'm happy to connect with people who are going through this misery of dry eye.
I'm 57, and started having symptoms over a year ago, but didn't go to an eye doctor for many months. Finally I did, and he told me I had Dry Eye, which I had never even heard of. He thought it might be connected to menopause, which does tend to dry everything out . He suggested a bunch of home remedies, such as. Fish oil, hot compresses, liquid tears, humidifiers, washing my eyelids. He then suggested I start restasis. I was reluctant to try it, especially after reading that it wasn't all that effective and sometimes has side effects. But by then my eyes were so bad I decided to try. My eyes did get somewhat better over the next several months. But the progress eventually stalled, plus the restasis seemed like it was irritating my eyes more than helping. And I noticed one of my eyes kept getting extremely bloodshot for no obvious reason.
I went back to the doctor and he wanted me to take more restasis, and to try doxycycline. Antibiotics? No thanks.
So I then went to my optometrist, who is overall much nicer. He suggested I try a different lubricating eye drop and get much more consistent about using it 4x per day. He also gave me an ointment for a slight abrasion at the corner of my eyelid. I started using the eye drops - refresh celluvisc - and I stopped using restasis. Things have actually improved,except I still have days when that eye gets red for no reason, and my eyes still get irritated at night when I'm reading in bed.
So there's my tale of woe. I'm interested to hear what other people have tried, and what has worked. I'm going to an acupuncturist in a couple weeks, who has reportedly had success with dry eyes.
Thanks for listening. It's great to connect with people who understand how completely annoying and uncomfortable this condition is, and who get why I might occasionally be crabby. Oh, and by the way, I'm a therapist
Nice to meet you all,
Mivk
I'm 57, and started having symptoms over a year ago, but didn't go to an eye doctor for many months. Finally I did, and he told me I had Dry Eye, which I had never even heard of. He thought it might be connected to menopause, which does tend to dry everything out . He suggested a bunch of home remedies, such as. Fish oil, hot compresses, liquid tears, humidifiers, washing my eyelids. He then suggested I start restasis. I was reluctant to try it, especially after reading that it wasn't all that effective and sometimes has side effects. But by then my eyes were so bad I decided to try. My eyes did get somewhat better over the next several months. But the progress eventually stalled, plus the restasis seemed like it was irritating my eyes more than helping. And I noticed one of my eyes kept getting extremely bloodshot for no obvious reason.
I went back to the doctor and he wanted me to take more restasis, and to try doxycycline. Antibiotics? No thanks.
So I then went to my optometrist, who is overall much nicer. He suggested I try a different lubricating eye drop and get much more consistent about using it 4x per day. He also gave me an ointment for a slight abrasion at the corner of my eyelid. I started using the eye drops - refresh celluvisc - and I stopped using restasis. Things have actually improved,except I still have days when that eye gets red for no reason, and my eyes still get irritated at night when I'm reading in bed.
So there's my tale of woe. I'm interested to hear what other people have tried, and what has worked. I'm going to an acupuncturist in a couple weeks, who has reportedly had success with dry eyes.
Thanks for listening. It's great to connect with people who understand how completely annoying and uncomfortable this condition is, and who get why I might occasionally be crabby. Oh, and by the way, I'm a therapist
Nice to meet you all,
Mivk